Get ready for Great Peninsula Conservancy’s 2023 Earth Day Stewardship. On Saturday, April 22nd, join GPC staff and volunteers from the Port of Bremerton to get started on restoration efforts at Newberry Woods Community Forest. This 200-acre forest preserve currently struggles with a major invasive Scotch broom infestation and we need your help! Sign up today to be part of GPC’s Earth Day event and initiate the invasive species removal work on an important stretch of Silverdale forestland. GPC will provide weed wrenches, loppers, and gloves, but please feel free to supplement our equipment with your own. Don’t forget to bring your muscles! (Can’t join us on Saturday? No worries! Earth Day Stewardship kicks off on Friday! Learn more about that event HERE).

Details:  

• When: Saturday, April 22nd, 9am-12pm 
• Location: We will meet at Newberry Hill Heritage Park parking lot, located at the SE corner of NW Newberry Hill Road and Tieton Place NW, Silverdale, WA, 98383. Google Maps directions to the parking lot.  
• Terrain: From the parking lot, our group will walk approximately a half-mile to the Newberry Woods Community Forest and an additional half-mile to the restoration site. The terrain will be mostly flat, but does include one moderately steep hill. We recommended closed toed shoes or hiking boots.   
• Weather: We are still in the rainy season! This event will happen rain or shine – all you will need to bring is yourself and whatever clothing you need to brave the elements. We will communicate with you prior to the event if weather conditions are prohibitive. 
• Food: GPC will provide drinks and snacks! 

For more information please reach out to GPC’s Community Stewardship Coordinator Aaron Gaul (aaron@greatpeninsula.org) 

Not-so-fun facts about Scotch broom: According to the USDA, Scotch broom is a noxious weed that competes with native tree seedlings for nutrients and water. Scotch broom is not an ideal food source for grazing animals, and replaces the native plant species that provide pollination and nesting habitats for birds. In addition to the threats that Scotch broom poses to forest habitats, functions, and biodiversity, we also know that the longer Scotch broom is left in the ground, the more long-term impacts it has on our forest ecosystem. As an allelopathic plant, Scotch broom actually changes the chemical makeup of the soil it grows from, making it increasingly hard for other plants to grow and compete with it. We also know that a single Scotch broom plant can produce thousands of seeds, each of which can live dormant in the soil for 60-80 years! Obviously, there are lots of good reasons to get outside and start taking a stand against this noxious weed!