Work Party & Wildlife - 1-27-11

Saturday Rotary Work Party.  Some of you have participated in previous Rotary work parties and we want to let you know about another big one this coming Saturday (1/28/11) at the Almira parking lot beginning at 8:30 am.  Our comment is that the East Bremerton Rotary knows how to host work parties, beginning with donated Starbucks coffee at 8:15 am and ending with donated snacks from Costco as they wrap up by 10:30 or so. They don't need many more volunteers, but they appreciate some from the Illahee Community. 

Work Party Task.  "Move wood chips from the pile at Almira lot onto nearby trails.  A group of Navy volunteers and folks from Washington Youth Academy are anticipated to assist with moving logs to close an unwanted trail."

Work Party Tools.  "Wheel barrows, gloves, pitch forks, rake, and a push broom.  A few extra wheel barrows are welcome."

Deer.  Last year we had 5 deer who resided close by and regularly watched our gardens, and when we left an opening unsecured in our fence, they devoured our vegetables.  This winter we are seeing only the doe and her two grown-up fawns who are now eating the garden cover crops.  Many of you have commented on how you can recognize the deer around here by their unique markings, such as those on the two young ones.  The bigger doe seems to be a typical black tail with no distinguishing marks.

A Dead Deer Report.   "We lost another little deer the other day, saw it along side the road just before getting to Canoe or Navajo turn off." 

$13,000 Deer.  We received the attached regrading a $13,000 deer, along with a note that we may need to watch the piebald (multi-colored) deer in our area.  

Here is a buck (White tail) that a hunter got in Wisconsin .  He sent these pictures to a bunch of people to see what he could get and the owner of Cabela's paid him $13,000 for the head and hide.  A calico buck, like the one below, is rarer then an albino.

Working On An Illahee Lobster Report.  Someone reportedly caught a lobster from the Illahee Dock.  We are working on getting more information and verifying this for another Update.

Thanks Again.  Thank you for all your wildlife reports.  It is fun to see all the wildlife we have in this one relatively small area that is so close to the city and the Highway 303 commercial corridor.

Jim Aho

Work Party, Levee, Wildlife - ‏ 1/3/11

Rotary Work Party.  Some major work was done at the Thompson Lane parking lot on Sunday (1-2-11) by the Rotary Club of East Bremerton (see attached photos).  It was quite amazing to watch the front end loader on the John Deere tractor fill 3 or 4 large wheel barrows to overflowing at one time.  They didn't want a big group helping them because of the tractor, so we didn't advertise this work party to others.  They moved tons of wood chips, and we thank them again for adopting the Illahee Preserve and keeping it in tip top shape.  The following is their writeup of their efforts:

Illahee Forest Preserve

The East Bremerton Rotary completed another productive work party at Illahee Forest Preserve on Sunday morning, January 2nd, 2011.  The focus was to clean-up the perimeter of the Thompson Lane parking lot along Riddell Road.  Roughly 15 loads of wood chips had already been delivered to the parking lot.  Dave White's John Deere tractor made easy work of the task as chips were dumped over the guard rail and into waiting wheelbarrows.  Thereafter the chips were quickly spread atop the area surrounding the parking lot.  The Thompson Lane parking lot looks much improved for the effort. 

The second photo shows the parking lot after a thorough cleanup by Bill Wright and his mega-blower. 

Varied Thrush Gives Its Approval.  After the work party completed Vic Ulsh photographed the varied thrush that appears to give its approval of the Rotary's efforts, see his (Vic's) email comments:

The last photo is a varied thrush who stopped by to help clean-up after we were finished.  Varied thrush is a very cool bird who comes down from the high country to spend winters in the forests of Puget Sound basin.   There seemed to be about 5 or 6 varied thrush hanging around the brush in the perimeter of the parking lot.  I'm guessing they will be staying not far from the Thompson Lane parking lot for the next few months. 

Levee Questions From Previous Update.  We have been asked to explain more about what a levee is and why it was requested, as some in the community do not understand the issue.  First, the Wikipedia dictionary definition of a levee is:  "A levee, levée, dike (or dyke), embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river or the coast."   There must have been a concern that a levee was needed to prevent Illahee Creek from overflowing its banks, or that the levee installed after the Dec 2007 storm was in danger of failing.

Levee Comments.  We did get a few phone calls and several emails regarding the levee issue.  The first one we have attached being a comment that went to Kitsap County, followed by their response, and then a response back to the County.

First Comment & Responses:  The community should question why a levee would be constructed (at taxpayer expense) for the protection of private property that was developed contrary to the advice of the county (representing the taxpayer).  It seems that the developer knowingly (admittedly) assumed the risk of building in the streams migration zone/flood plain.  Why should the taxpayer essentially bail out the developer for their bad decision? 

Fiction can be very entertaining but Kitsap County did not build any levee or other flood control feature on the Mossano property.  The Road Division crew simply performed routine maintenance on the Illahee Creek culvert by excavating sediment from the culvert outlet.  All of the material was trucked from the site and this activity was permitted by WDFW.  There were no additional measures taken by Public Works.  Thank you for your comments and, in the future, please contact Kitsap One at 360-337-5777 for information on Public Works activities in your neighborhood.

Thanks Jon for your prompt response.  Is it fiction that a levee was either authorized or authorized and permitted under an emergency HPA?

Second Comment:  On the levee question.  The property in question never should have been built on.  It is a flood plain and the owner knew this when he coerced the county into giving him a permit.  The owner should live with the consequences of choosing to live in a flood plain.  No public monies should be spent to protect a house that the county did not want there in the first place.

One Legal Question Response.  We did receive a phone call from a former environmental officer who stated that the stream natural processes take precedence over protecting property, though we have not verified it or heard from any legal experts yet.

Owl & Preserve Photos.  There are a number of people who regularly use the Preserve and also take photos.  George is one who has taken photos and posted them on the following website, which contains various photos of a barred owl and other Preserve features:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/85934826@N00/sets/72157625562766240/

Jim Aho

Preserve "The Good, Bad & Ugly" - 12/27/10

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.  The Illahee Preserve is confronted regularly with "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly," (the title of a Clint Eastwood western from years ago) and this season is proving no different.

The 'Good' Items First.  Some really good items recently have been the installation of new trail signs by Justin McAlister for his Eagle Scout project, and the completion of a new trail map and brochure by the architectural firm of Rice, Fergus and Miller.  The first batches of the brochure were printed up and will be placed in the new information boxes at Almira and Thompson Lane that Justin installed as part of his trail sign project.  We also heard today that the Rotary Club of East Bremerton is scheduling work parties in January to take care of the wood chips that have been delivered, primarily in the parking lot at Thompson Lane.  We also heard that this past weekend another 9 trees were removed from the trails by the Rotary's volunteer trail crew, making a total of 41 trees removed (by both Rotary and Stewardship crews) that came down across trials from December storms.  Without volunteers like these the Preserve would not have such a great area for hiking, biking  and wildlife.  Thanks to all those who help with the 'good' for the Preserve.

The 'Bad.'  We also heard today that the brush pickers have shown up again.  Attached is the email message we received tonight (12/27/10) indicating this person's frustrations.

This afternoon I received a voice mail call from a walker at Illahee Preserve.  They had witnessed several brush pickers near the Amphitheater.  He "gave them an ear full" and got back the standard Latin response of not knowing English.  He said they had already harvested an impressive collection of plant materials.  It seems to be a pattern for brush pickers to hit us hard during winter months.  As I recall, these plant pirates rigorously picked us for several months until March or so.  They tended to pick during the weekdays and during the middle of day.  At least that's the pattern from my reports on last year's shrubbery swipers.  Today's call came in around 12:45PM today, Monday, December 27th.  The broken gate seems to be their target for access.  I had reports of vehicles parked along Thompson Lane which were the suspected collection points for the brush pickers. 

 

These guys abused us last year.  I would love to create a lasting impact upon our faithful brush picking visitors.  How can we stop this?  Does anyone have a plan on how we can change the behavior of these forest thieves?  I welcome any thoughts.

Let us know if you have any ideas that we can pass on to the Stewardship Committee or the Park's Department. 

The 'Ugly.'  We regularly deal with what some have called anarchists in the Preserve, i.e., those who are intent on destroying the good that has been done.  Within less than a week after the trail signs were installed, at least 7 of them were removed and are nowhere to be found.  Also, in the last few days one of the recently installed restoration signs was "ripped out of the ground" and evidently hauled away.

The New Brochure.  We have attached the pdf file (FRONT) (BACK) for the new brochure and thank all those who keep this information up-to-date, and then print it at no cost to the tax payers.  As we have stated before, the Illahee Preserve is nearly a completely volunteer effort to plan, support and maintain a major Kitsap County park and wildlife Preserve.  Again, THANK YOU volunteers and supporters, and in anyone is interested as they consider their tax situation, the Illahee Forest Preserve is a 501.c.3 non-profit corporation dedicated to the support of the Illahee Preserve, and donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Jim Aho

Wildlife & Miscellaneous - 11/21/10

Chipmunks.  We know there are a number of Illahee residents who have chipmunks in their yards.  We snapped a photo of one during a recent walk.  

Deer.  We heard about a big 4 point buck that got hit and killed on McWilliams last week.  The county hauls dead deer away if they are aware of them.  In past years there are usually 2 or 3 local deer, that we know of, that get hit by cars during the rutting season.

More Wildlife Comments Soon.  We realize that we need to report on some pressing matters and will continue later with more wildlife photos and information.

Illahee Creek Culvert.  Of concern to many in Illahee is the status of the Illahee Creek Culvert.  It has filled to a point where a major storm could cause major problems and possibly wash out the culvert and road.  We took a couple of photos this week to give you an idea just how much sediment has accumulated.  This is one of the possible agenda items that could be brought up at the upcoming Illahee Community Club (ICC) meeting.

ICC Quarterly Meeting 11/29/10.  The Illahee Community Club (ICC) has scheduled its quarterly meeting for next Monday evening (11/29/10) at the Port of Illahee's meeting room at 5560 Ocean View Blvd from 6:30 - 8:00 pm.  They were unable to find available times at the library and are thankful that the Port of Illahee has a place within the community where they can meet, though it may be a little crowded (it is a big room but not as big as the library meeting room) and there are currently not enough chairs (if anyone knows where they can get some folding or stacking chairs, the ICC would like to talk with you).  Parking is also limited and people will probably need to park at the Illahee store or along Madrona.  We  will send out a reminder of this meeting and hopefully an agenda later in the week.

Saturday's Preserve Work Party.  We really should have let people know about the amazing work party the East Bremerton Rotary scheduled this past Saturday (11/20/10) but we knew it was going to be big and didn't want to flood the area with too many people.  We aren't exactly sure how they do it, but they keep getting bigger work parties each time they schedule an event.  So how big was this event?  If you count just the people who signed in there were 32 from the aircraft carrier John C Stennis, 14 from Naval Base Kitsap, 19 from the East Bremerton Rotary, and 8 from the Illahee Community, which totals 73.  We have attached a group photo that was taken at the end of those who were still there.  

Piles of Wood Chips Moved.  Over the past 5 months tree companies have been dumping chips at the Preserve.  When they filled the normal chip delivery area, they started dumping them in the parking lot, and we had to move some as it is an offense to block the handicapped parking areas.  The goal was to get rid of all those chips by placing them on the trails and around the parking lot, which they did.  See the picture of them loading chips and then realize the group photo was taken were the chips were previously.

Dedication Comments.  We have been told a number of times about how those who attended the Illahee Preserve dedication (on October 26th) enjoyed it in spite of the rainy weather.  We were also told that the dedication was so special for one family that they donated $500 to the Illahee Forest Preserve (IFP), which is the support non-profit group for the Illahee Preserve.  It was the IFP that paid to have the dedication rock moved into place, and paid for the dedication plaque and installation.  If any others are interested in contributing, the IFP is a 501.c.3 non-profit corporation and gifts are tax deductible, as allowed by law, as is the Illahee Community Club, PO Box 2563, Bremerton, WA 98310.

Volunteer Supported.  We should note that the Illahee Preserve is a Kitsap County Heritage Park that is an experiment in which primarily volunteers plan, support and maintain the Preserve.  This is possible because of the support of the East Bremerton Rotary, who not only supports with work parties, but also has paid for the signs at Thompson Lane and the Almira parking lot; along with support from the IFP, the Illahee Preserve Stewardship Committee, the Illahee Community Club, the Illahee Community, and the Port of Illahee.   The experiment is working as more and more volunteers show up to help and support the Preserve.  Thanks to all involved!!!

Jim Aho

Wildlife & Miscellaneous - 8/21/10

Salmon Jumping.  It is that time of year when we should be salmon jumping as they pass through Illahee waters, and we have a report that at least one was seen jumping north of the Illahee community dock.

Shoreline Presentation on Monday.  Don't forget to attend the Illahee community meeting on Monday at the Sylvan Way library at 6:15 pm where there will be two county persons giving a presentation on the ongoing Shoreline Master Program (SMP) update.  We have over 3 miles of shoreline and many have views of the water, or appreciate the shoreline areas, and they all should have a say as to what they want in a shoreline program. This is the best time to have your voices heard, while the county and Task Force are taking input.

Public Access at Community Dock.  We had several responses about the public access steps at the Illahee Community Dock.  Some were unaware that there were steps to get down to the beach, and others were unaware that the steps belong to the Port of Illahee and that the Port of Illahee had the steps put in a number of years ago.  Public Access will also be one of the items discussed at the SMP briefing on Monday.

Sharpe-shinned Hawk.  We received a picture of a sharp-shinned hawk the other day, which is attached.  This one is at the waterfront, which seemed rather unusual.

Coyote Reports.  We have had several reports about coyotes, and in some areas residents are warned to keep their cats inside.  The following report shows that they may be expanding their territory.

Tues. night at dusk in the vincinity of the Rue Villa mailboxes an animal made a quick crossing of the Illahee road from the water side to the uphill side. It was smaller than a young deer but larger than most dogs in the area, light in color and fast. My initial impression was that of a coyote. There have been some mauling and killing of racoons in the area recently. I have never seen a coyote in the Illahee area. 

Dead Deer.  We have been asked not to show pictures of dead deer on these Updates, but we need to report that at least one doe and one fawn have been hit by cars and killed in the area.  Some were wondering if the two twin fawns they saw without their mother, could have been the offspring of the doe that got hit.  Two neighbors buried it.  

The other report of the dead fawn is a sad one as the mother stayed in the brush near the fawn until it was picked up by the county road crew, and then the mother was seen going up and down the area, seemingly looking for it.  We need to let residents know that the county will pick up dead deer along the road if you call them.  Please let us know also so we can try to keep track of what is happening.

Illahee Preserve Work Party Report.  There was another massive work party at the Illahee Preserve this past Wednesday.  Our estimate was about 50, though not all signed in, so we don't have a totally accurate count.  We have found out one of the secrets to the Rotary's work party successes, which is also having water and food.  There were at least 5 Illahee residents who showed up.  And it was notable that there were 20 wheel borrows in use to move the wood chips.  We will try to attach two photos, one showing a log being moved to line the path of the rain garden, and the other being a group photo, but after a number had already left.  Below is the East Bremerton Rotary report of the work party:

The East Bremerton Rotary conducted another very productive work party at Illahee Forest Preserve on Wednesday, August 18th.  The focus was beautification of the Almira parking lot, as well as adding wood chips to the trail system.  36 people helped out including Marines from Bangor, members of Washington Youth Academy, and 13 East Bremerton Rotarians.  Thanks to grillmaster Andy Graham of McClouds Restaurant for bringing & tending the BBQ and thanks to Costco (JeanMarie Harmon) for providing the food.  Attached is a photo excluding the Washington Youth Academy who needed to leave before the photo was taken.  Andy Graham is the one in the back doing a Y-M-C-A spell out.

Jim Aho  

A Big & Successful Work Party.  It was a big, busy and successful work party on Wednesday (8/4/10) at the Almira parking lot to the Illahee Preserve.  There were 48 volunteers, which makes it one of the biggest work parties that we are aware of.  Most of the helpers were from the East Bremerton Rotary, the Navy and the Marine Corps, with a handful from the Illahee community.  See the picture of the group and the Rotary write-up below:

Illahee Forest Work Party  8/4/10

East Bremerton Rotary, in conjunction with personnel from Marine Corp Security Force Bangor and the USS John C. Stennis, completed a very productive work party at Illahee Forest Preserve on Wednesday evening, August 4th.  A great deal of trail maintenance was completed including applying wood chips to the trail system.  Much was also accomplished to improve the rain garden landscape feature located in the middle of the parking lot.  A total of 48 people participated in this activity.  Thanks to Costco and Starbucks who provided support for the evening's refreshments. 

Parks Department Support.  The Parks Department also helped by supplying 4 additional wheel borrows, which were needed, and tools.

Some Work Pictures.  There were many work areas being manned at the same time, some projects did not get photographed.  We have provided a sampling of the photos so you can see some of the work that was in progress.

Definition of Word "Illahee."  We did have some of the volunteers who were new to this area get confused between the Illahee Preserve and Illahee State Park, which reminded us of something we saw on the State Park's Dept website, which is a definition of th word "Illahee."  The first part of the definition certainly was applicable to all who worked the land, earth, and ground on Wednesday. 

Illahee State Park was acquired in seven parcels between 1934 and 1954. The word "illahee" is from Chinook Jargon and has many meanings: "land, earth, ground", "place; and/or location where one lives", "home place", "heavenly place" or "place of rest". 

Jim Aho

Miscellaneous Items - 8/3/10

Preserve Inundated With Wood Chips.  After a long drought of not being able to get any wood chips for the Illahee Preserve, the log jam broke and we are now inundated with wood chips, and they need to be moved onto the trails.  See the attached photos showing the multiple piles of chips.

Work Party Workers Needed.  With so many chips to move we decided to put out the call for more work party helpers.  We will have some from the East Bremerton Rotary, and some from the John C. Stennis, and some from the surrounding community and the Illahee community, but we never know exactly how many will be there.  We have had large work parties and others have been small.  We never know how many will show up, but this time we know we have lots of chips to move, so we are asking for whoever can make it to come and help.

Multiple Tasks To Do.  In addition to moving wood chips to cover the trails, we have a number of special projects.  One is closing a trail by burying a log at its entrance to keep it from being re-established.  We have some medium sized rocks to move to the corners of the rain garden plots.  We will line the paths through the rain garden with logs and put down landscape fabric to prevent the weeds from coming through.  We will weed the rain garden plots, which should be easier now that the mulch has all been distributed.  We will have our volunteer botanist there to help with any plant or weed identification.  We will also line the water flow path with landscape fabric and place river rock on it.  Ambitious jobs that will require lots of help and if we have lots of people we should be able to finish before dusk.  

Date and Time.  The work party is Wednesday (8/4/10) and the time is between 5 and 5:30 pm. 

Tools Needed.  We will have a few wheel borrows, but will need others to bring one, along with pitch forks to load the chips.

Missing Person Found.  It is sad to report that the body of Kara Radabah was found on Sunday morning and was confirmed by the coroner on Monday as being Kara.  The links to the Kitsap Sun articles on the story are:  http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/aug/02/coroner-confirms-identity-of-body-found-sunday/

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/aug/01/body-found-near-lllahee-may-be-missing-19-year-old/

No 'Miracle' for Kara  http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/aug/01/for-bremerton-womans-family-dashed-hopes-for-a/

Local Arborist Debuts Tree Book.  Local Illahee Arborist Jim Trainer has a new book called "Kitsap Trees" for sale. It's about 10 trees in the Kitsap area (2 in Illahee) and the stories about them . The cost is $10.00, plus $3.00 for shipping and tax.  If anyone is interested in purchasing this interesting book, please call 360 792 2449.  It has been suggested that since the Illahee Community Club is supposed to have an August meeting (date yet to be determined), that we try to have copies of Jim's book available for purchase there.

Jim Aho

Miscellaneous Items - 6/21/10

Tuesday 6/22/10 Illahee Events.  Two big events going on in Illahee on Tuesday afternoon/evening.  The weeding and mulching starts at 5 pm and the Port meeting begins at 7 pm.  

Weeding and Mulching Volunteers Needed.   On Tuesday 30 yards of mulch is being delivered to the Illahee Preserve's Almira parking lot.  This is one big load of mulch which will fill one large truck and one large trailer.  Volunteers are needed to weed the rain garden plots before the mulch is put down and it is hoped that with enough volunteers the project can be completed on Tuesday, though we have also planned for Wednesday if needed.  If you can help it would be appreciated as the mulch will be dumped at the parking lot and needs to be placed quickly between the plants in the rain garden plots.  Please email us if you have any questions.

Tuesday Port of Illahee Meeting.  We noted Monday that there are a number of signs out in the community notifying residents of the Port of Illahee information meeting on Tuesday (6/22/10) at 7:00 pm at the Port's new office at 5560 Ocean View Blvd .  The Port is hoping for another evening of good attendance as this the third community meeting where they explain what their options are with respect to the Illahee Community Club petition that will be distributed soon to the majority of residents, and has been distributed to a few neighborhoods.  If you haven't received a petition yet they will be available at the meeting.  

East Bremerton Rotary Citizen of the Year.   We have been asked to include the following announcement in an Illahee Community Update of the East Bremerton Rotary Citizen of the Year:

Special Announcement

This past Friday Jim Aho was honored by East Bremerton Rotary as our Citizen of the Year .  Jim was recognized for his phenomenal contribution to Illahee and the greater East Bremerton community thru his tireless contributions toward protection and preservation of Illahee Forest and Illahee Creek.  East Bremerton Rotary adopted Illahee Preserve as an on-going Club project roughly 5 years ago.  East Bremerton Rotary Club members have taken a strong interest in Illahee Preserve and have seen first hand how Jim has poured himself into the improvement of our community thru his work in "all things Illahee."  This is an annual award provided thru the Rotary Club of East Bremerton.  Jim and Kay attended the annual officer installation meeting last Friday where we surprised Jim by presenting him with this award.  The East Bremerton Rotary is grateful for all Jim Aho has done to make our community a better place to live.  Hooray for Jim Aho!

Comment re Announcement.  As the person who edits and distributes the Illahee Community Updates and for the time being has the Update lists, it was necessary for the local Rotary representatives to ask me to include the above announcement in this Update.  While I appreciate the honor and the award, I am continually impressed by Illahee residents and the surrounding community for their support of the Illahee Preserve and Illahee Creek.  And we all need to be especially appreciative of the East Bremerton Rotary for all their support for the Illahee Preserve, from the purchase of the large signs to the spreading of wood chips on the trails.  They are really an amazing and dedicated group supporting many community projects and needs, and we appreciate their adopting the Illahee Preserve as one of those projects!!!

Jim Aho

Miscellaneous Items - 7/19/09

Kitsap Sun Article.  We like to pass on newspaper articles about Illahee and there was an interesting one in the Kitsap Sun's Sunday paper regarding the Illahee Community's appeal of the Hearing Examiner's decision to approve the Timbers Edge project.  Reporter Brynn Grimley was in attendance at the Commissioner's work study session where the appeal was briefed to the Commissioners and she wrote the linked article:  http://kitsapsun.com/news/2009/jul/16/commissioners-preparing-to-hear-appeal-to/ 

Commissioner's Meeting.  There were also 4 Illahee residents at the meeting to listen to the county's briefing which took about 45 minutes.  What is interesting is the Illahee Community will have roughly 10 minutes to present its appeal arguments to the the Commissioners, which may be fine if this was a simple appeal, but in this case there were over 400 exhibits and two days of testimony. 

Timbers Edge Counter Proposal.  The community is reported to be working on a Counter Proposal to be presented to the developer.  The process has been ongoing off and on for two months and reports are they are getting final approvals from the ad hoc committee and the 15 member Illahee Community Club board.  Afterwards it will be voted on by the Illahee community at an August meeting, yet to be scheduled.  We will pass it on in an Update once it becomes available to us.

Copies of Counter Proposal.  We just heard that they are hoping to have copies of the Timbers Edge Counter Proposal available at Illahee Day on August 1, 2009.

Illahee Day on August 1st.  This is a reminder that Illahee Day is next Saturday.

Illahee Day.  Save Saturday, August 1 for Illahee Day 2009.  The theme is the ABC's of Illahee.  A for an Attractive Illahee, B for Breakfast and lunch at the community dock, and C for Community clean-up in-between breakfast and lunch.  Breakfast at the dock between 9-10 am.  Community clean-up between 10am -12 pm.  Lunch at 12 pm.

5 Clean Up Teams.  You can pick the clean-up team you would like to be on. The five of them are:  Team Dock, Team Illahee Road North, Team Illahee Road South, Team Ocean View & West, and Team Illahee Preserve.  The attached brochure provides the details.

Volunteer Receive .....  All volunteers will receive Illahee T-Shirts, and there will be drawings and prizes.  Sign up by sending an email or leave a message with your name and shirt size atdocdmsret@msn.com or call 340-7257.

Illahee Preserve Trash Dumping.  We are attaching a picture of some major trash dumping at the new Illahee Preserve parking lot on Almira.  They are realizing that they will need to open some "windows" through the trees so that those doing the illegal trash dumping might be seen and caught.

Rotary Work.  Thank God for the East Bremerton Rotary Club that has taken the Illahee Preserve on as one of their projects.  Not only are they doing a stellar job of trail work, and promoting the Preserve, they also took care of illegal dumping that occurred (see the attached report),

East Bremerton Rotary completed another successful work party at Illahee Forest Preserve on Thursday evening, July 16th.  10 Rotarians participated in efforts to tidy up the Almira Drive parking lot.  Activities included spreading wood chips around the perimeter of the parking lot and removal of construction debris which had been dumped in a hidden corner of the parking lot.  Thanks to Ron Pettygrove for taking care of this disposal task.  Hooray for Ron!

Wildlife Reports.  Just a few wildlife reports coming in.

Plant Nibbling Deer.  Near nightly nibblings by deer passing through the neighbor hoods have been reported. 

Otter Family Increases.  There are reports the numbers of otters in the area have increased.  We don't know if it is because of new young ones or not.

Blueberry Addicted Goose.  There evidently is a lone Canada goose that has become so addicted to blueberries he is able to repeatedly defeat mesh netting.  We understand the wife paid for an additional four foot high fence around the berries so the husband wouldn't shoot the goose.  We hear that emotions can run quite high as people try to cope with wildlife.

Brownsville Weather Station.  We haven't had time to research the Illahee weather station, but did receive the following information that there is a Brownsville weather station.

I don't know if this would be any use to you.... but the Port of Brownsville has a weather station set up on the dock, it records rain, wind, pressure and such... I have included the web site, http://www.portofbrownsville.org/      on top left is weather and events click that, then just click weather, it's interesting and would be worth a few minutes just to look around, it also gives all the upcoming events such as BAD in September , which is Brownsville appreciation Day, very cool, well I am signing up for the big clean-up on August 1, so I will see you then.

Aquifer Meeting Airing on BKAT.  We owe the community more information of the aquifer meeting that was held on June 30, 2009.  In the meantime the meeting was taped and is being rebroadcast on the Bremerton Kitsap Access Television (BKAT) station at the following times:

“The Illahee Watershed Aquifer Protection Plan” will air:
7/20      11am
7/22      10:30pm
7/24      3pm
7/30      10am
BKAT is Kitsap's local TV channel.
Channel 12 - Comcast
Channel 3 - WAVE

Illahee Creek Posting Inadequate?  We just got word that a letter sized yellow sheet of paper was stapled to a telephone pole by Illahee Creek.  The posting is a "Statement of Exemption From Shoreline Substantial Development Permit Requirements."  Evidently Kitsap County wants to clean out the culvert again and deposit the material on the beach.  We understand there are some who are concerned about the continued dredging of the stream and are asking if there is a long term plan.  The yellow paper says it was posted on July 10th and needed to be appealed within 10 days of the decision, which was noted on the paper as July 6th.  Some are wondering if this is proper notice and if this provides adequate time to find out what is being planned.  We took a couple pictures of the posting and we'll let you decide. 

Jim Aho

Miscellaneous Items - 6/10/09

Update Frequency.  The slower frequency of updates has brought some questions.  We have been trying to do some extra projects and gardening including trying to keep the deer at bay with fencing only to have trouble with slugs and cutworms eating our new starts.  We feel like parents trying to protect their young ones until they are old enough to be on their own.

 

Garden Tours?  We have had a number of people mention that it would be nice to have a tour of some of the Illahee area gardens.  They noticed the advertisements for the Bremerton Urban Garden Society (BUGS) edible gardening tour a couple of weeks ago and thought it would be good to try something of the sort for Illahee.  Let us know your thoughts on this and if there is enough interest we will try to get the interested parties together.  If you know of some interesting Illahee area gardens (flowers and or vegetable), let us know, and we will pass that on also.  .

 

Canada Goose Gathering.  Recently there was an early morning gathering of Canada geese along the beach that numbered 32.  There were 4 goose families, one with four fairly good sized goslings, and the others smaller in size and numbering 5, 4, and 1 goslings.  There were four mated pairs that had no offspring, and two that were without mates.  We were able to get a picture of three of the families, which is attached at the end of the email.

 

Other Wildlife.  The river otters have been active as have the ravens and the bald eagles. 

 

Illahee Preserve.  We went for a walk in the Illahee Preserve on Wednesday evening and were greeted with newly laid wood chip trails, courtesy of the East Bremerton Rotary.  They evidently had a bunch of chips that were delivered to the new parking lot today (Wednesday) and decided to put them on some of the new trails they had blazed from the new parking lot.  We were amazed at the amount of chips they put down in one evening.  We have also impressed by the number of people using the Preserve. 

 

Thanks to the Preserve Volunteers!  Thanks to the Rotarian's, the Illahee Preserve Stewardship Group, and the Illahee Forest Preserve (the non-profit support group for the Preserve) for all their trail work and support of this forest treasure.

 

Jim Aho

Illahee Preserve Items - 1/21/09

Parking Lot Construction. Construction has begun on the primary parking lot for the Illahee Preserve. The new lot is off of Almira, just south of the intersection with Fuson Road. BLEWS Construction out of Spokane is the construction company. We met with Martha Droge, the lead Parks Planner with the Parks Department, Larry Achibald, the Project Manager, and Cheryl, the Superintendent this morning to discuss the project, which will complete in about 6 weeks, pending on the weather cooperating.

Parking Lot Design. The design of the parking lot has been going on for a number of years. It took about two years for the Stewardship group to settle on a final location and rough design, and another two years of discussions with Park's planners, and then another two years of getting a final design and money into the Parks Department's budget. Pat Fuhrer of MAP Ltd in Silverdale is the engineer who took the rough concepts and plans and developed the parking lot drawings, which will sometime in the future include nearby restrooms.

Ecological & Functional Design. The design of the lot features a rain garden where stormwater will be directed at the center of the parking area with any overflow going to a bio-retention stormwater facility. The retention facility will be planted with wetland types of grasses and will hopefully, because of a seasonal relatively high ground water level, provide water for the Preserve wildlife during wet periods. The Stewardship group has talked about providing a fountain or other system in the pond area to provide water for wildlife during dry periods. During high rainfall times the overflow from the bio-retention facility will go into the County's storm drain system.

New Sign From The Rotary. The East Bremerton Rotarian's are providing the sign that will placed by the parking lot. The sign is being built by Sign Man Archie out of Silverdale and is reported to be half finished. It will be similar to the other Illahee Preserve signs.

New Trail Photo. Near the end of Thompson Lane is the new trail that was built a couple of weeks ago as can be seen in the attached photo.

Raven Photo. Also attached is a picture of a couple of the Ravens who have been inhabiting the Illahee Preserve. They are seen on the top of the North Perry Reservoir at the top of Riddell Road.

Request To Apologize. We have been asked to apologize for the comments in the email we attached about the car damage received by one of the work party volunteers who parked their car on Thompson Lane and it appeared to be deliberately sideswiped. The email seemed to denigrate the whole group of residents living at the end of Thompson Lane. The Update was passed on to someone who knows most of the residents and they were sure it wasn't any of their acquaintances. And so we apologize for not properly editing the email.

Responses Appreciated. We appreciate any and all responses, especially corrective ones.

Jim Aho