Category Overview
Urban Wildlife Habitat projects fund close-to-home places to play and explore nature. As our urban areas are increasingly expanding and densifying, these grants protect important fish and wildlife habitat within five miles of densely populated areas, creating green refuges that help keep our ecosystems healthy and provide places to enjoy nature right in our backyards.
Project Highlights
Great Peninsula Conservancy will permanently protect through fee simple acquisition 350 acres of undeveloped land located within 2 miles of the City of Bremerton in Kitsap County. This land encompasses high quality wildlife habitat including mature and diverse forest stands, wetlands, and streams supporting ESA-listed salmonid species within the Chico Creek watershed. Protected as part of this project is Dickerson Creek, a major tributary of Chico Creek. The Chico Creek system has the highest natural production of chum and coho salmon, as well as significant steelhead and cutthroat trout runs, on the Kitsap Peninsula. The land also features a non-motorized trail system that is well utilized for recreational and educational opportunities by local schools, tribal groups, environmental organizations, and a growing nearby urban population. Acquisition of these upland areas of the Chico Creek watershed will preserve a crucial link within a contiguous 70,000-acre forest landscape, providing wildlife corridors, important spawning and rearing habitat, as well as public access for connecting and interacting with nature within a rapidly developing region.