Friends of North Kitsap Heritage Park

01/18/2024

This is the Kitsap Parks Directors' environmentally ignorant vision for 'trails' through NKHP.

07/21/2023

Dear friends of the environment and neighbors of the proposed Arborwood North development,

This is a request for help in defraying the costs of an Appeal of the “Arborwood North Critical Area Buffer Reduction”. Most of the reductions and/or eliminations are located in the Conservation Easement between NKHP and the estuary. Buffer reductions of the Crabapple and Kingfisher streams and wetlands will have a direct impact upon water quality and habitat of the fish-bearing Appletree Cove estuary, the neighboring NKHP and Hillbend neighborhood, as well as the larger Kingston community whose water is supplied by the wells located in this Critical Aquifer Recharge Area.

Background:
On July 3rd the Kitsap County Development office issued a Notice of Determination of Approval for the “Critical Area Buffer Reduction” (CABR) requested by Taylor Morrison, the Arborwood North developers. In brief, the CABR allows the development footprint to extend into stream and wetland buffers of Crabapple and Kingfisher Creeks. In reading the CABR closely we had questions about apparent problems and inconsistencies, and so wrote to the Kitsap DCD. DCD answered some questions but replied that our only recourse was to file an Appeal, as there was no public “Review and Comment” period allowed on this type of decision. Therefore Joe Lubisher and April Ryan filed an Appeal on July 17th, and received notice the following day of a $1,500 fee for filing. Had we known of this ahead of filing we would have sought group approval and funding in advance. But now we are just asking for help to reimburse this unanticipated expense.

We do NOT expect the CABR will be entirely blocked, we DO seek mitigation by restoration of any wetland/watershed lost or damaged. Should this appeal go to negotiations, there are positive suggestions we can offer. And we want both the DCD and Arborwood developer to be aware of and accountable to the community it is impacting. We hope that you will join us in turning the upcoming development into an opportunity for working together for the common good.

Please reply to [email protected]:
___ Yes, I can help by contributing to defray the costs of the Appeal
___ Send me more info __ CABR doc, ___ Appeal doc
___ Keep me in the loop (Friends of Crabapple Creek)

Thank you in advance for your support of this effort,
April Ryan and Joe Lubischer on behalf of Friends of Crabapple Creek

01/28/2023

Good read

Three potential trail alignments between Kingston and Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park for the North Sound to Olympics Trail were presented at an open house Jan. 24 at the Village Green Community Center in Kingston.

11/12/2022

A big thank you to the crew who planted dozens of native trees and shrubs at the Norman Creek wetland restoration site at NKHP. A project promoted and conducted by NKHP volunteer stewards. Bravo.

10/27/2022

Steward-inspired, steward-led restoration of the Norman Creek wetland, formerly the site of a timber haul road over culverts, at North Kitsap Heritage Park.
Thanks to all those dedicated steward environmentalists who participated. A new entrance to the Cross Country trail has been constructed, by stewards, just south of the parking area. Look for the sign, and enjoy our park.

07/09/2022

Thank you to the ten NKHP stewards who showed up for our ongoing blackberry mangle project today. Four hours working for Bill, Reed, Sierra, Tom, Joe, Robin, Scott, David, Jill and Joel. Luvya'll.

06/22/2022

Thanks to everyone that came out (on Zoom and in person)
last night!

06/07/2022

Long-toed Salamander, Ambystoma macrodactylum. Smaller than the NW Salamander, it has a dorsal stripe and long middle toe, each hind foot.
Photo by Doug Fogle.

06/01/2022

Yet another wild baby trapped by the Pulte/Public Works silt fence. First they polluted Beaver Creek with heavy silt. Then they blocked amphibian access to breeding ponds at the height of the amphibian migration season. Now this fawn is trapped, unable to scale the fence to follow mom.

05/31/2022

The trails in the park are glowing.... "emerald paths"