Grand Forest Archives | Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation

39 acres at Grand Forest East saved, with major gift through Parks & Trails Foundation

39 acres at Grand Forest East saved, with major gift through Parks & Trails Foundation

Thirty-nine acres of Grand Forest East will be preserved for public use, after a successful $2.2 million fundraising effort by the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation and Bainbridge Island Land Trust.

The property will be purchased by the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District, under an agreement with the Bainbridge Island School District. The 39-acre parcel has been managed as part of the Grand Forest parkland for more than 30 years, while it was owned by the School District as a possible school site. The School District surplussed the property for sale earlier this year.

The preservation effort was anchored by a $1.6 million gift from a private conservation fund established by an island family, made through the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation.

Hundreds of individual donors gave separately through the Bainbridge Island Land Trust and Parks & Trails Foundation, through […]

39 acres at Grand Forest East saved, with major gift through Parks & Trails FoundationDouglas2025-05-02T13:43:37-07:00

Foundation, Land Trust launch campaign to preserve Grand Forest East

Foundation, Land Trust launch campaign to preserve Grand Forest East

The Bainbridge Island Land Trust with the support of the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation have launched a campaign to raise funds to protect 39 acres at Grand Forest East, allowing purchase by the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District.

The Park District on February 21, 2025, announced its intent to purchase the property, contingent on a successful fundraising campaign. With negotiations now underway, the fundraising campaign, Stand for the Grand Forest, is expected to be over $2 million, said Cullen Brady, Executive Director, Bainbridge Island Land Trust.

The Board of the Bainbridge Island School District voted to surplus the 39-acre property.

“This is an urgent campaign,” Brady said. “The School District’s January 9, 2025, action to surplus and sell this property, among their first order of business in the new year, started the clock ticking. We need the community to […]

Foundation, Land Trust launch campaign to preserve Grand Forest EastDouglas2025-03-24T14:49:25-07:00

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

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 EastDouglas2025-02-21T08:13:26-08:00

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