Newberry Woods Community Forest
With stunning views of Hood Canal, the Newberry Woods Community Forest contains 1.5 miles of the salmon-bearing Little Anderson Creek and is home to trees that are over 100 years old. Just north of the Newberry Hill Heritage Park, this 202-acre community forest protects the vital wildlife corridor to Hood Canal and provides habitat for a multitude of birds, mammals, and other native wildlife. Great Peninsula Conservancy acquired the preserve in October 2022 with funding from the USDA’s Community Forest Program, Kitsap County Conservation Futures, and the U.S. Navy’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration program. Thanks to a generous donation by the landowners, a section of the forest is named the Lindstrom Family Preserve.
Community forests have many definitions, but broadly speaking, they are forest lands managed to provide community benefits, contributing to the region’s biodiversity, climate resilience, local economy, stewardship ethic, qualities of life, and people. As such, Newberry Woods Community Forest prioritizes guidance by the community to help inform its purpose and management.
Community Forest Goals
Great Peninsula Conservancy held forest tours and community meetings in January and February of 2023 to help define the long-term vision of the Newberry Woods Community Forest. These events explored the relationship of the community to this forest and uncovered the forest’s values for both people and wildlife. Attendees helped to identify dynamic management objectives for the forest that will support the needs of the community, including recreation and trail use, habitat restoration, education, and climate resilience.
Great Peninsula Conservancy’s primary management goals for Newberry Woods Community Forest (NWCF) are to create an ecologically diverse, healthy, and climate resilient forest ecosystem that provides opportunities for public recreation, environmental education, and sustainable revenue generation.
Objectives for Newberry Woods Community Forest:
- Hold NWCF land in fee to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat
- Identify and acquire appropriate conservation lands for protecting wildlife corridors
- Utilize climate-adapted, ecological forest management to 1) improve ecosystem function, services, and health; 2) enhance biodiversity; and 3) increase the climate resiliency of the landscape.
- Create and maintain a high-quality recreational trail system that expands access throughout the watershed, and is open to multiple trail users, including people with disabilities.
- Communicate with the Suquamish Tribe and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe to identify any harvest or cultural activities of importance, relevant to the community forest.
- Partner with existing groups, outreach to community groups, and form new groups to steward the community forest.
- Engage with neighboring communities before and during forest management
- Identify ways to benefit the regional economy and bring revenue and products generated through forest management back into the community forest’s stewardship.
- Connect community members to the landscape through education, volunteerism, and guided tours.
Community Forest Advisory Team
In August 2023, GPC convened a Community Forest Advisory Team (CFAT). The purpose of the CFAT is to provide input, and advice, on the various activities and management decisions for Newberry Woods Community Forest (NWCF); retain community support; and bring the voices of the community to the long-term management and use of NWCF. The CFAT works under the guidance of GPC staff and the GPC Stewardship Committee, and is a small team composed of community members and professionals with direct connection to the Newberry Woods community, GPC’s working region, and/or various activities and management that will take place in NWCF. If you are interested in learning more about the Community Forest Advisory Team, you can email Micaela Petrini, Stewardship Coordinator, at micaela@greatpeninsula.org.
Public Access
GPC is working with the CFAT to plan long-term public access to the community forest, in alignment with the NWCF Objectives. Until planning is finalized, the public is allowed to use the community forest for hiking and wildlife viewing only. Prohibited activities include fishing, hunting, camping, fires, shooting, fireworks, unauthorized harvest of forest resources, equestrian use, and motorized vehicle use.
Accessibility: Wheelchairs and mobility vehicles are permitted. At this time, there is one log at the entrance, and a steep hill at the southern boundary of the community forest (>10° slope, ~100 feet long). Part of the public access planning will be to create an accessible trail through the community forest.
If you’re interested in visiting Newberry Woods Community Forest with our staff, check out our events page and join us for an upcoming event.
Project Partners
Kitsap County Conservation Futures
Lindstrom Family
USDA’s Community Forest Program
U.S. Navy REPI Program
Related News
“Great Peninsula Conservancy partners with Navy to buy and protect forest near Bangor,” Kitsap Sun, April 2023
