North Kitsap County Park lies on the north end of the Kitsap Peninsula. The Kitsap Peninsula is a wide finger of land moated by the Hood Canal on the west separating it from the vast wilderness expanse of the Olympic Peninsula, and on the east by Puget Sound across which lies the Seattle metropolitan area that holds the majority of Washington State’s population and dominates its politics. The Kitsap Peninsula is still largely well forested by second and third generation forest that remains in places a working forest.
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WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
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Kitsap County purchased the land for North Kitsap County Park from Olympic Property Group, a successor to Pope & Talbot, one of the oldest and most dominant lumber companies in the Puget Sound area. The park land had been logged by Pope & Talbot and others for the last 150 years. The Park now comprises 809 acres of woodland crossed by old logging roads and interconnected trails. The Park is being managed in a way to improve the ecosystem by increasing wildlife habitat and diversity, and forest health.
My wife and I explored North Kitsap County Park one Saturday forecast with nice weather. Any day here in November where no rain is forecast is classified as nice weather. Our underlying mission was to find korv in Poulsbo. Korv is a type of Swedish sausage made with ground pork, beef, onions and potatoes, a Christmas dinner tradition with my wife’s family. Poulsbo is a town on the Kitsap Peninsula originally settled by Norwegians and still maintaining its Scandinavian theme attractive to tourists.
Before fulfilling our korv mission, we walked the trails of North Kitsap County Park, walking about 5.5 miles of old logging roads, trails, and gentle grades. The forest vegetation varies because of a patchwork of prior logging and replanting efforts. There are areas of even-aged pure stands of Douglas fir planted after logging. Some areas are covered by red alder interspersed with bigleaf maple. Red alder typically pops up right after logging. Red alder is a fast growing and short-lived tree, that harbors nitrogen-fixing bacteria on its roots, thus enriching the soil for successor evergreens. Other areas include a mix of lowland evergreens: Douglas fir, western redcedar, and western hemlock along with red alder and bigleaf maple. Interspersed among the trees are huge cedar stumps reminding us that a primeval forest once existed here. The common lowland understory includes western sword fern, salmonberry, and Cascade Oregon grape. The open disturbed areas include invasive Scotch broom and Himalayan blackberry. Fall rains bring up mushrooms and we saw many kinds.
Help me identify the mushrooms. I’m working on my mushroom ID skillz.
"SPOTLIGHT ON GREEN NEWS & VIEWS" IS POSTED EVERY SATURDAY AT 3:00 PM PACIFIC TIME ON THE DAILY KOS FRONT PAGE. IT'S A GREAT WAY TO CATCH UP ON DIARIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED. BE SURE TO RECOMMEND AND COMMENT IN THE DIARY. |
Now It's Your Turn
What have you noted happening in your area or travels? As usual post your observations as well as their general location in the comments.
Questions for thought:
What is prime mushroom season where you are?
Do you forage for edible mushrooms?
Is there a park near you that has been established to preserve and enhance habitat?
Thank you.