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Foundation, Land Trust to work with community to preserve 39 acres at Grand Forest East

The Bainbridge Island Land Trust and the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation acknowledge the recent announcement by the Bainbridge Island School District (BISD) that it plans to surplus its 39-acre property that functions as part of Grand Forest East parkland.

The Grand Forest nature complex is a treasured Bainbridge Island landscape, known for its interconnected trail network, intact forest core and vital natural habitats.

Recognizing the conservation and recreational value of this land, our organizations are united in our commitment to protect it permanently, ensuring that it remains undeveloped and accessible to the community for future generations.

On January 9, the School Board voted to surplus the 39-acre parcel. The Land Trust and Parks & Trails Foundation will work closely with the Bainbridge Island community, local leaders, and other stakeholders as we explore ways to safeguard this valuable resource.

We encourage everyone to join us in helping to conserve one of the Island’s […]

Foundation, Land Trust to work with community to preserve 39 acres at Grand Forest East2025-01-13T13:33:54-08:00

Join us for the MLK Day of Service, Jan. 20

Join Bainbridge Island Metro Parks, the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation and supporting partners for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 at Blakely Harbor Park.  

Conservation projects for all ages are planned: planting native wildflowers, mulching young plants, and removing invasive species like ivy, spurge laurel, and blackberry. Park District and Parks & Trails Foundation staff and volunteers will be on hand to share knowledge about the park and its restoration. All tools are provided.  

Sign up to volunteer as an individual, family, team or club. […]

Join us for the MLK Day of Service, Jan. 202025-01-08T10:04:30-08:00

A warm December welcome for 8 Acre Woods

Befitting a park with trailheads on three sides, everyone seemed to come to 8 Acre Woods from a different direction, metaphorically speaking.  

Andrew Schmid grew up on nearby Manitou Park Boulevard and knew the Skiff Point parcel as all woods and no trails, too dense and impenetrable even for rowdy kids on BMX bikes. 

Those more recently familiar with the land knew it precisely for trails, built with intention over the years by the property owner who invited all to walk and share the land.  

Then there’s Jim Kondek. He’s lived on neighboring Falk Road for almost 40 years and reckons he’s walked every mile of Bainbridge Island trails, but had somehow never crossed the green threshold into what would become known as 8 Acre Woods.  

“I knew it was here and was a good-sized parcel, but I had no idea there […]

A warm December welcome for 8 Acre Woods2025-01-13T13:34:21-08:00

Gift of fir, pine highlight Moritani restoration

Len Eisenhood has enjoyed Moritani Preserve since its opening, often walking the park’s winding paths with friends to slow down and chat and enjoy the wildlife. A landscape painter, the resident of nearby Grow Community has also captured the preserve’s quiet scenes and settings as part of an art-centric healing journey.  

“In walks, I’ve seen pileated woodpeckers,” he recalls with a painter’s eye, “that red shock among all the green, you can’t miss it.”  

Eisenhood used proceeds from the sale of his artworks to fund the gift of two new trees, a Grand fir and a Shore Pine, to the Preserve. Gifted through the Parks & Trails Foundation, the trees were installed this week during a year-end restoration event with Bainbridge Metro Parks staff and volunteers.  

The trees commemorate the lives of a neighbor and a college friend whom Eisenhood recently […]

Gift of fir, pine highlight Moritani restoration2024-12-16T16:02:57-08:00

8 Acre Woods dedication is Dec. 12

Join the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation and Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District to dedicate the island’s newest park, 8 Acre Woods, at 2 p.m. Dec. 12.

Nestled in the woods near Skiff Point, this beautiful property has been donated to the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District by a conservation-minded donor for use as a walking-trails-only park.

The owner has allowed neighbors to enjoy the property for years, and this generous gift will make it a park in perpetuity.

8 Acre Woods is located at the corner of Manitou Beach Drive and Mountain View Road at Skiff Point.

8 Acre Woods dedication is Dec. 122024-11-27T14:17:18-08:00

Land gift creates 8 Acre Woods park near Rolling Bay

The gift of a wooded parcel near Rolling Bay is creating a new 8-acre neighborhood park.

To be known as 8 Acre Woods, the park property has been gifted by a conservation-minded donor to the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District via the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation.

An open house and dedication will be held at the park at 2 p.m. Dec. 12.

8 Acre Woods is located at the corner of Manitou Beach Drive and Mountain View Road at Skiff Point. It shares a property line with the Fieldstone of Bainbridge, a  senior living center.

The property owner is a longtime supporter of the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation and was aware of the organization’s effort to bring opportunities to the areas of the Island underserved by parks and trails.

Informal walking trails on the property will be […]

Land gift creates 8 Acre Woods park near Rolling Bay2024-12-16T14:09:02-08:00

We join the No on I-2117 Coalition

The Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation has joined the No on Initiative 2117 coalition, joining more than 500 Washington environmental groups, firefighters, small business owners, doctors, labor unions, Tribal Nations, farmers and more.  

Other local groups opposing I-2117 include the Bainbridge Island Land Trust, Sustainable Bainbridge, IslandWood, Puget Sound Restoration Fund, EcoAdapt, Friends of Little Manzanita Bay, Friends of the Farms, and Climate Action Bainbridge.  

Learn more about the No on I-2117 Coalition here: […]

We join the No on I-2117 Coalition2024-12-16T14:11:08-08:00

Lovely new entryway at Moritani Preserve

If a stroll through Moritani Preserve seems a little sunnier these days, well, it’s not just that summer is finally here.

Strategic thinning of over-dense stands of fir has opened the park to the gift of sunlight from above, and a budding of healthy new understory on the forest floor.

“When you look out, you can see spacing between the trees. Sunlight is filtering in through the canopy,” said Lydia Roush, Park Superintendent for Bainbridge Metro Parks. “There’s tons of new sword ferns regenerating, tons of new osoberry (Indian plumb) coming up already. It’s exactly what we want to see. It’s beautiful.”

Park District staff and volunteers replanted the preserve’s southeast entrance in June, supported by a grant from the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation.

Ferns, Oregon grape, bitter cherry, red flowering currant, mock orange, dogwood and kinnikinnick now line the entry path, along with a tumble of granite boulders. The path refresh […]

Lovely new entryway at Moritani Preserve2024-06-27T15:49:02-07:00

Weed-munching goats return to Blakely Harbor

Weed-munching goats are back at Blakely Harbor Park, for a week of environmental stewardship on the hoof funded by the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation.

The herd some is deployed along the park’s south trail, there to suppress ivy, blackberry and other noxious weeds as only goats can: by eating them.

The herd from Vason-based Rent-a-Ruminant is comprised of “rescue” goats always eager to do their part for park restoration. The herd has worked Blakely Harbor Park several times in recent years, most recently munching invasive understory near the park meadow last summer.

The goats are one part of a progressive ecological restoration at the signature shoreline park. Student Conservation Corps, EarthCorps and year-round volunteer programs including the Parks & Trails Foundation’s ParksCorps follow the goats with weeding, mulching and other activities.

The goats are funded by a grant from the Parks & Trails Foundation. The grant will also fund reintroduction of native […]

Weed-munching goats return to Blakely Harbor2024-06-11T08:58:44-07:00

It’s Earth Month! Get involved with great activities

April is Earth Month on Bainbridge Island, and we’re proud to partner with Sustainable Bainbridge, Bainbridge Metro Parks and other great

See the full list of activities here, or find great ways to celebrate Earth Month below:

Earth care book displays, April 1-30, at the Bainbridge Public Library and Eagle Harbor Books – Learn more about individual and systemic actions that are restorative to a healthy planet by perusing and perhaps borrowing or buying books from the displays at the library and bookstore.

Prevent Food Waste display, April 1-15, Bainbridge Public Library – Food tossed in the trash is one of the biggest causes of methane emissions from landfills. Check out the lobby display case created by Kitsap Solid Waste for tips on making food last and using it up before it goes bad.

Attract Predatory Insects to Protect Your Garden, Tuesday, April 2, 6:30-8 pm on Zoom – Meet the many insects that protect […]

It’s Earth Month! Get involved with great activities2024-04-01T14:01:52-07:00

Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation

Mail:
PO Box 11127
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Office:
The Marge Williams Center,
221 Winslow Way West, Suite #104
Phone:
206.842.4971
Email:
info@biparksfoundation.org

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Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Tax ID# 91-1855049
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