STO Trail Archives | Page 2 of 2 | Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation

Clearing land by cloven hoof on the Sound To Olympics Trail

Clearing land by cloven hoof on the Sound To Olympics Trail

They came spilling out of the trailer in twos and threes, tentative at first, squinting into the sudden sunlight and a little unsure of the new terrain.

Then they saw green.

Then it was a pell-mell rush toward the sprawling buffet of a vacant lot at High School Road and SR305. The salad bar was open. The goats would be first in line.

“They’re happy. They’re doing what goats are designed to do,” said Tammy Dunakin of Vashon-based Rent-A-Ruminant, as her goats set about denuding the landscape. “They’re designed to eat ‘browse’ – not feed or hay, that’s not their main thing. They love to climb, and they love new things because they’re very smart and very inquisitive.

“This kind of meets all those things that they love.”

The menu on the one-acre lot next to the Chevron station featured nuisance plants like ivy and blackberry, along with various scrub […]

Clearing land by cloven hoof on the Sound To Olympics TrailDouglas2021-05-25T19:04:02-07:00

Kitsap Sun: Goats chew the way clear for new STO Trail segment

Kitsap Sun: Goats chew the way clear for new STO Trail segment

Published in the Kitsap Sun, May 14, 2021

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND – The herd of goats sits contentedly in the sun, appetites temporarily whetted, workers taking some time off the job. Vehicles motor by on Highway 305, and the temporary residents of the nearby greenbelt tangled by blackberry vines, ivy and other greenery, bleat and shuffle around, jockeying for just the right spot. A protective dog barks from inside the fence at visitors as they stop to peer in at the unusual workforce.

The Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation brought in the goats to munch away at the northeast corner of Highway 305 and High School Road through the Vashon Island-based business Rent-a-Ruminant, which sets herds of goats on properties as an “eco-friendly, green and sustainable approach to vegetation management.”

For six days, they’re working at the site to clear the way for the newest section of the Sound to Olympics Trail. […]

Kitsap Sun: Goats chew the way clear for new STO Trail segmentDouglas2021-12-07T09:37:15-08:00

Goats will clear the way for STO Sakai Pond Connector

Goats will clear the way for STO Sakai Pond Connector

Weed-munching goats will clear the way for an extension of the Sound To Olympics Trail in mid-May.

A 100-goat herd from Vashon-based “Rent-A-Ruminant” will be turned loose in a fenced area at the northwest corner of High School Road and SR305, to “mow” the lot clear of ivy and other vegetation.

The goats will arrive May 10 or 11, and will graze for six days. Visitors are invited to watch the goats in action, mindful of nearby traffic and the electrified goat pen.

Once the goats have done their work, the City of Bainbridge Island can begin construction of the STO Sakai Pond Connector, a new non-motorized trail linking High School Road with Sakai Park to the north.

The paved, 10-foot-wide shared-used trail will be the STO Trail’s first new segment on Bainbridge Island since the Winslow Connector opened in 2018 between Winslow […]

Goats will clear the way for STO Sakai Pond ConnectorDouglas2021-04-28T15:10:45-07:00

STO becoming the island’s ‘linear park’

STO becoming the island’s ‘linear park’

Nobody knows the Sound To Olympics Trail like Don Willott, and even he was surprised by the root mass of a fallen Douglas fir lying just off the path, one he must have walked past a thousand times.

“I thought there was just some not-very-attractive, root-looking stuff sticking up in the air” through the underbrush, Willott says.

That was until workers hacking vines and briars along the shoulder exposed the tremendous roots, which once supported a giant maybe 80 or 100 years old when it fell.

“When you come and see it,” Willott said, “it’s huge.”

Bainbridge Island’s newest roadside attraction – make that, trail-side attraction – came to light last week during enhancements to the STO greenway. The STO’s first leg, from Winslow Way to High School Road, is enjoying an extensive restoration this summer through the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation’s Friends of the STO Trail Fund.

Four days a week, island landscaper Bart […]

STO becoming the island’s ‘linear park’Douglas2021-04-22T09:30:19-07:00