Grand Forest Archives | Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation

Stop weeds – brush those boots before you hike

Stop weeds – brush those boots before you hike

Brush your boots before you hike? It’s good policy, and good trail hygiene, catching the spread of invasive weeds and seeds before they’re tromped all over trails and parks.

To that end, you’ll find new boot-brush stations at two island trailheads: Gazzam Lake Preserve (Deerpath Lane) and Blakely Harbor Park (3-T Road). Two more are on the way, at Grand Forest West (Miller Road) and another at Gazzam Lake (Marshall Road trailhead, this one an Eagle Scout project and also funded by a Parks & Trails Foundation grant).

“They’re exactly like what people might on their front porch to scrape mud off their boots before they head inside,” says Morgan Houk, volunteer program manager for Bainbridge Metro Parks. “They can be used coming in and out of trail systems to catch invasive weeds – especially in the wintertime, when we tend to […]

Stop weeds – brush those boots before you hikeDouglas2023-08-25T09:19:44-07:00

Thanks to Windermere for Hilltop broom pull

Thanks to Windermere for Hilltop broom pull

It wasn’t so long ago that the Scotch broom at Hilltop meadow grew this tall. Use your imagination to picture just how tall this is, and it was taller than that.

Restoration of the 5-acre meadow, bridging Grand Forest east and west, has been an ongoing challenge since it was preserved a decade ago. Keeping the noxious broom at bay is central to that effort.

“The restoration is rather fresh, in ecological terms,” says Morgan Houk, volunteer coordinator for Bainbridge Metro Parks.

Windermere’s Bainbridge Island office took up the cause this month, through the ParksCorps program of the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation.

Nine Windermere agents put in a morning of service at the Hilltop meadow’s west edge, combing the tall grass to root out Scotch broom starts before they can flower and […]

Thanks to Windermere for Hilltop broom pullDouglas2022-06-21T12:50:42-07:00

Podcast: The Future of the Grand Forest in a Changing Climate

Podcast: The Future of the Grand Forest in a Changing Climate

Host Barb Trafton, Executive Director of the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation leads a group conversation of specialists regarding the popular Grand Forest in a changing climate environment. Participants include Dan Hamlin, Park Services Director at the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Rec District; Jared Moravec, Deputy Chief at the Bainbridge Island Fire Department and Stuart Johnson, Landscape designer at AHBL, a multi-disciplinary Landscape Architecture Firm, and a researcher at the Grand Forest.

The conversation invites the listener to participate in thinking about what does forest health mean and to become actively involved in this much beloved open-space park in the heart of the island. Each contributor offers their unique perspectives, reflecting values and concerns all contributing to a deeper understanding of this magnificent treasure.

Podcast credits: BCB host, Barb Trafton; audio editor, Keith Doughty; and publisher, Bob Ross. Register for the Environmental Conference

Podcast: The Future of the Grand Forest in a Changing ClimateDouglas2021-04-16T07:28:18-07:00