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
Peninsula Metropolitan Park District (PenMet Parks) will acquire fee-simple ownership of approximately 39 acres in unincorporated Pierce County adjacent to the Urban Growth Area for the City of Gig Harbor. The Trail Property Acquisition project will expand existing protected public lands on the urban growth boundary, safeguarding one of the last sizable tracks of undeveloped land in the larger Gig Harbor region, and provide a critical refuge for wildlife in this increasingly urbanized area. The target property contains diverse, mature forest, intact stream corridor and wetland habitat, providing cold, clean water from ESA-listed Chinook and steelhead trout, as well as chum salmon, coho salmon, and cutthroat trout. Protection of this property will expand the existing 219-acre contiguous habitat block straddling the urban growth boundary, providing habitat for bear, river otter, deer, coyote, racoons, and variety of migratory bird species, as well as expanding public access opportunities for passive recreation such as hiking and nature viewing.