Trillium Blooming In Preserve. One of first flowers to bloom in the forest are Trilliums. We took the following picture on Sunday to show just how beautiful these flowers are. A couple of interesting facts from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillium are:
Picking a trillium seriously injures the plant by preventing the leaf-like bracts from producing food for the next year. A plant takes many years to recover. For this reason in Michigan[1] and Minnesota[2] it is illegal to pick and/or transplant trilliums from public lands without a permit from the State.
Trillium is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants. At maturity, the base and core of the trillium ovary turns soft and spongy. Trillium seeds have a fleshy organ called an elaiosome that attracts ants. The ants extract the seeds from the decaying ovary and take them to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes and put the seeds in their garbage, where they germinate in a rich growing medium.
North Perry Water Response. We received the following response from North Perry Water's General Manager, George Smalley, regarding our inquiry whether the community could help or show support for a possible relocation of the Riddell well:
I know it seems that there is always a correction to be made every time a news letter goes out, so here it is.
It’s not that the Tribe “ shut NPW down” on the proposed well site on Almira Drive.
It was the simple fact that the Tribe and Dr. Massman were convinced that pumping at the new site on Almira could possibly affect a stream in Tracyton, which is a closed stream with a healthy salmon run.
North Perry Water did not want to end up in Court over the appeal by the Tribes and could not agree on where or how much water could be added to several streams throughout the District to offset perceived pumping affects on the streams from Tracyton to Brownsville and Illahee.
The new well site on Almira was to be drilled into a deeper aquifer than the well on Perry Avenue, which is near the beginning of Illahee creek., ( Perry Ave well site), and the Pickering well site @ maple and Pickering St. That would have allowed NPW to pump the shallow aquifer less at those sites, and hopefully give the aquifer more time to recover between pumping times. It would not affect how often the District would be pumping the Riddell site. It should be noted however that the Riddell well does pump from a deeper aquifer than the Perry site and the Pickering well site. Right now the aquifers looks very healthy and water levels are good For whatever reason the District, has been pumping and selling less water over the last five years than previously, as are other purveyors in the County.
I believe it is the result of the economy and conservation efforts that are responsible for this.
Even though the shallow aquifers look good, we do believe that getting into the deeper aquifer is the right thing to do . The District is still looking at other options when it comes to pumping out of the shallow aquifer.
It is good to know that the people of Illahee are willing to help in negotiations on a new site in the future if needed.
Piebald Deer Movement? We were asked whether the piebald deer seen south of Illahee State Park, is the same one that was observed north of Illahee. And so we have included the attached info on the north Illahee piebald deer so those around the State Park can tell us if it is the same one.
This is probably the same piebald deer that visits us every few days. I am sending a couple of pics to see if its the same one. I have pics of this deer from Summer of 07, so he is about 4 years old. We actually are starting to see what I believe are some of his offspring. They have a few white spots but are mostly cream colored. I hope hunters don't try to shoot this deer. I have talked to the major land owners in my area and they have said they won't allow hunting on their land.
Hopefully there is no hunting in the Illahee Preserve and the surrounding areas.
Rolling Hills Golf Course Gifting Finalized. We have been waiting to hear that the gifting of the Rolling Hills Golf Course by Don Rasmussen and Kerma Peterson to Kitsap County has been finalized and just heard yesterday that it has. Thanks to Don and Kerma and to Commissioner Josh Brown for helping to make it all happen.
Possible Next Step re Timbers Edge? We heard that the finalization of the Golf Course gifting is what the Illahee Community Club has been waiting for as they will now be contacting the two Land Trusts that expressed interest some time ago about the possibility of purchasing the Timbers Edge properties. The golf course is evidently a major part of the bigger plan for expanding the Illahee Preserve and now they feel that they are in a better position for a land trust to want to come in to help.
Illahee Garden Tour This Summer? We were notified that a core group of Illahee gardeners are pursuing whether there is enough interest to have a garden tour in Illahee this summer. If you would like to be part of this group or have some suggestions for possible gardens that could be toured, please let us know and we will pass the information on.
Jim Aho
