Miscellaneous Items - 6/3/10

Back In Illahee. Seems like lots has happened recently in Illahee and we will try to catch up now that we are back. Thanks to all who provided us links to various stories. We know that a number of you do not take the Kitsap Sun, and others live elsewhere and want to keep up with what is happening in Illahee, so we have tried to provide links to keep everyone informed.

Missing Person. We read about a person missing after going jogging near Illahee State Park and assume the story is still active.

Trail Goes Cold in Search for Missing Bremerton 19-Year-Old

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/may/25/trail-goes-cold-in-search-for-missing-bremerton/

Fish Pens. We noted with interest the move of Rich Passage fish pens from the Bainbridge side to the Manchester side of the channel. Many were not around when fish pens were approved for Illahee, and had local residents not successfully appealed to the Shorelines Hearings Board, we would likely be dealing with some of the same issues. (Note that one of the reasons some feel we were successful is because of the lack of sufficient tidal action to take away fish droppings.)

Salmon Pens to Move from Bainbridge to Manchester

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/may/25/salmon-pens-to-move-from-bainbridge-to/

Illahee Preserve/Illahee Creek Restoration Project. In 2003 the Illahee Preserve Stewardship Committee established a master plan for the Illahee Preserve and with the help of the Park's department and various grants increased the the Preserve acreage to approximately 460 acres. All of the acquisitions and conservation easements were voluntary and supported by all involved. When it became obvious that the 1999 culvert under Illlahee Road was filling with sediment, Kitsap County Public Works noted that a detailed watershed study was needed to determine how best to control the sediment, and so the Port of Illahee, who was also being adversely affected by the sediment, successfully applied for a Department of Ecology grant. The grant report findings were then used as the basis for updating the master plan, which has been titled "Illahee Preserve/Illahee Creek Restoration Project - Master Plan for Acquisitions and Easements." The plan has been approved by the Illahee Preserve Stewardship Committee, the Illahee Forest Preserve (the non-profit group supporting the Preserve), and endorsed by the Illahee Community Club, and with the acknowledgement and support of Kitsap County Parks and the Port of Illahee. The plan is the basis for many of the actions that have followed.

Port Habitat Plan. The Port of Illahee is applying for next step grants to the Department of Ecology grant, to support the grant report findings, and their own master plan which is called the Port of Illahee Habitat Conservation Plan. The draft of the plan is available for reading and commenting on at http://tinyurl.com/Port-of-Illahee. We copied the following information from the link:

The Port of Illahee is applying for 2 grants from the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office. As part of these applications the Port needs to adopt a habitat conservation plan and needs to show that the community is supportive of the plan. So we are asking that the residents read this plan and submit comments. These comments, positive or negative will be submitted as an appendix to the plan as evidence that the community weighed in on the process.

Your comments are very appreciated and since the schedule is very tight for the grant process we ask that your comments be emailed as soon as possible. Like this week sometime.

Thank you,

Kitsap Sun Article. The recent article in the Kitsap Sun about the Port's response to a community petition (which was passed on in an earlier Update) evidently didn't register very well with some and a few days later a "Community Columnist" by the name of Larry Croix had the following article:

LARRY CROIX | A Step Too Far in Illahee

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/may/27/larry-croix-a-step-too-far-in-illahee/

We don't know anything about Larry and whether he is a Illahee resident or not. We have been told he is a Port Orchard resident, but have not verified it. He certainly didn't have anything nice to say about the Illahee Community Club.

Port of Illahee Response. And in Sunday's Kitsap Sun was a response from the Port of Illahee, which is linked below.

MY TURN | A Response From the Port of Illahee

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/may/30/my-turn-a-response-from-the-port-of-illahee/

Tuesday Port Meeting. And in this morning's Kitsap Sun was the latest article about the Port meeting that was held on Tuesday evening.

Few Turn Out to Hear More on Illahee Port's Proposed Land Purchase

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jun/02/few-turn-out-to-hear-more-on-illahee-ports-land/

Our Thoughts? We are holding our thoughts until we have had time to gather some more information. If you have thoughts we will pass them on. We only note a person's name if they give us permission. While we have our thoughts, we want others to be able to have theirs presented, and will pass on what you provide.

Jim Aho