Closing the Gap at Grover’s Creek
Sometimes the answer is right in front of you. That’s how it was for Our Forest Fund as we started looking into our “next big project”.
Turns out our partners at Great Peninsula Conservancy were closing in on a fundraising goal to secure 38.5 acres of mature upland and wetland forest from potential development. The clock was ticking and they needed about $18,000.
Our Forest Fund toured the property and realized what a treasure it is and made a donation to fill the funding gap before the May 25 close date. The acreage is adjacent to the Grover’s Creek Preserve and is an important addition to a northend wildlife corridor running from Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park to North Kitsap Heritage Park.
When we visited the parcel, we could only go in a bit at the edges, because much of the acreage is peat bog and beaver pond. We saw a very healthy natural forest, with Douglas firs, western red cedars, hemlocks, pines, big leaf maples, red alders, and even a number of large Sitka spruces.
The undergrowth was dense and varied, brimming with all the native plant species one would expect. The forest floor was spongy with moss and peat as a bog should be. We had to go carefully to avoid punching in up to the knee. This is an area best left to the beavers, bobcats, bears and other wildlife. GPC is conducting wildlife studies using trailcams in the Grover’s Creek Preserve. Their bird census includes:
- American Goldfinch
- American Robin
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Barred Owl
- Bewick’s Wren
- Black-headed Grosbeak
- Brown Creeper
- Band-tailed Pigeon
- Black-throated Gray Warbler
- Chestnut-backed Chickadee
- Cedar Waxwing
- Common Raven
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Great Blue Heron
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Mourning Dove
- Northern Flicker
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Pacific Wren
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Pacific-slope Flycatcher
- Purple Finch
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Song Sparrow
- Spotted Towhee
- Steller’s Jay
- Swainson’s Thrush
- Warbling Vireo
- Western Tanager
- Western Wood-pewee
- Willow Flycatcher
- Wilson’s Warbler
This was filmed in the original preserve that is adjacent to the acreage just secured:
Our Forest Fund is happy to support the good work of others in Kitsap to save trees, enhance wildlife habitat and build climate resilient landscapes — because forest conserved anywhere helps the planet everywhere.