Applause in the forest: Cowling Creek celebrated

Above the mirth and gentle gurgle of Cowling Creek, under a whispering canopy of verdant and sacred evergreen trees, a joyful gathering took place to mark successful efforts to preserve them both.

The Great Peninsula Conservancy hosted its annual celebration July 12 at the Cowling Creek Forest Preserve July 12. Activities included tours of the 26-acre preserve trails and the adjacent Nooschkum Compound, located between Indianola and Suquamish, and a presentation on “Treez & Treetures” by Jim Trainer.

Bruce Macdonald, GPC president, made welcoming remarks and Suquamish Tribal Chairman Leonard Forsman gave a brief history of the area. The tribe has had salmon enhancement projects on the creek since the 1970s.

“It’s always nice to be in the woods on a hot day,” Forsman noted. “The tribe is committed to this partnership in perpetuity.”

A total of about 50 acres of land around Cowling Creek are preserved through partnerships between the tribe, GPC and private landowners.

Forsman said the Nooschkum property was mentioned in the Treaty of Point Elliott, which in 1855 established the Suquamish Port Madison, Tulalip, Swinomish and Lummi reservations, and was signed by Chief Seattle, Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens and a number of other tribes.

After updates on the efforts of the Friends of Miller Bay, who last November celebrated a successful fund drive to purchase an additional 18 acres of Cowling Creek watershed, FOMB president Paul Dorn and GPC executive director Sandra Staples-Bortner made comments to further inspire those in attendance.

Dorn said the Friends of Miller Bay “will continue working relationships with landowners throughout the watershed and preserve as much as we can.” He pointed out that saving the forest from development and preserving the creek isn’t just for future generations of people to enjoy – but so there’s a place for wildlife to roam, too.

The trails around the preserve are open to the public now, but since portions of them are primitive, explorers should contact the Friends of Miller Bay for a map (information at the end of this article). A segment of the trails loops around the oldest cedar tree in Kitsap County, estimated to be about 400 years old and 18 feet in circumference, already a centenarian many times over when the Suquamish Tribe was still living in Old Man House a couple miles to the south.

GPC presented a Community Partner award to Dorn, Dick and Nancy D’Archangel, who formed the Friends of Miller Bay in 1989 as the Miller Bay Citizens Action Group to protect the environment of the bay and its surroundings, and the spirited 92-year-old Virginia Cowling, the inspiration for what is now known as the Cowling Creek Project. She donated land and urged the FOMB to raise funds to purchase additional property in the watershed essential to maintaining the water quality of the creek. She still lives in her home nestled in the preserve.

Dave Gitch, a seven-year GPC board member, was named Distinguished Volunteer. Dana Coggon of the Kitsap County Noxious Weed Control Board made an unannounced “Ivy League” award to GPC director of operations Kate Kuhlman, for her efforts to help Indianola residents eradicate ivy from the area.

GPC also recognized recent conservation donors including an anonymous family who donated 7.43 acres along Dogfish Creek at the head of Liberty Bay, which was then transferred to the City of Poulsbo as an addition to Fish Park; the Pinsch family of Mary Bertram, Rita Martin, Irene Myres and Kathleen Pinsch for 7.8 acres on Dyes Inlet as a Barker Creek Conservation Easement; and to the late Laimi ‘Taz’ Rollins who bequested 9.07 acres on Hood Canal and the Union River in Mason County as part of the Bear Creek Preserve.

For information on the Cowling Creek Forest Preserve and Friends of Miller Bay, go to www.friendsofmillerbay.org; to obtain a trail map, contact the D’Archangels at darchangel@embarqmail.com. For information on donating land and conservation easements, contact the Great Peninsula Conservancy at www.greatpeninsula.org, (360) 373-3500.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.