Want to get outside and share your love of nature with local youth? GPC’s Land Labs program is calling all volunteers interested in helping with its summer field trip series. No experience needed! We’ll teach you everything you need to know at our next Land Labs Volunteer Educator Training on Monday, July 15th from 10am-1pm. The training will focus on how best to support youth as they engage in real-world science questions out on GPC preserves. Visit our website to learn more and sign up. 

When: Monday, July 15th, from 10:00am-1:00pm
Where: Arness Roadside Park, Kingston, Washington

Since 1999, the Stillwaters Environmental Center has been dedicated toward informing and empowering the Kingston community to make ecologically responsible decisions for the health of the Puget Sound. In 2023, the founders of the organization decided to step down and pass the management and care of Stillwaters and the surrounding natural areas of the Carpenter Creek Watershed to Great Peninsula Conservancy, and in doing so, protect the land and its legacy for generations to come. In order to celebrate this transition, GPC is staging a series of events (on July 19th and 20th) and inviting the Kingston community to come on down and join them!

Friday, July 19th:

• Picnic at the Village Green

Saturday, July 20th:

• 8-11 am BioBlitz
• 11 am-1 pm Legacy and Future Presentation
• 2-4 pm Land Labs’ Beach Exploration (Kids’ Event!)
• 5-7:30 pm Walk and Talk: Kayak Tour of Carpenter/Crabapple Creek Estuary

All events will be free and open to the public, though some may require registration. To learn more or RSVP, visit our website.

Join Great Peninsula Conservancy for the The Great Scotch Broom Pull at Newberry Woods Community Forest! We are thrilled to announce an exciting stewardship work party series to help open the new community trail at Newberry Woods Community Forest! This is our first big push to make this beautiful trail accessible to the public, and we need your help to make it a success. 

The Newberry Woods Community Forest spans 202 acres and contains 1.5 miles of the salmon-bearing Little Anderson Creek. This incredible forest, just north of the Newberry Hill Heritage Park, is home to trees that are over 100 years old and serves as a vital wildlife corridor to Hood Canal. It provides essential habitat for many birds, mammals, and other native wildlife. 

Our goal is to maintain a stunning view of Mt. Baker and Hood Canal by removing invasive Scotch broom and from the walking trail, so the area remains a space for all to enjoy. Visit our website to learn more or RSVP. 

When: Saturday, July 27th, from 8:30am-11:00pm
Where: Newberry Woods Community Forest, Silverdale
Questions? Email Ashlyn at ashlyn@greatpeninsula.org 

European Green Crab Molt Search Training

On June 13^th, Great Peninsula Conservancy hosted a Molt Search Training at Misery Point Preserve in conjunction with Washington Sea Grant’s Crab Team and Washington State University Extension. Molt Search is a collaborative program launched in 2023 to expand community engagement in systematic, early detection of European green crab. Invasive European green crabs threaten shellfish populations, eelgrass habitat, and native crab species, such as the Dungeness crab. The program works closely with organizations across the region who host Molt Search events and trainings in their communities. Learn more about how you can conduct your own molt search. 

Assessing Efficacy of Wildlife Habitat Feature Creation

Thanks to an ongoing partnership with University of Washington’s Program of the Environment, GPC is hosting two capstone students for their summer internship. The students, Abigail Rocke and Maya Clauson-Nehus, are assisting GPC’s stewardship team with the project Assessing Efficacy of Wildlife Habitat Feature Creation, which builds off of work the stewardship team has been conducting for the past four years, funded through NRCS’s Conservation Stewardship Program, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative.

Students will spend 10 weeks working with the stewardship team to take measurements on a sample of girdled trees, habitat piles, and constructed logs, to assess success and failure of these features, and to better understand the longevity of the features, how they change over time, and inform future efforts with best practices and anticipated outcomes.

This project is funded through Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative. Stay tuned for more information and future results.

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