Introduced Conifers at Dolphin Place

 

When we were young we spent our vacation time visiting the forests and waterways of the Cascade Mountains, the Olympics, and throughout the Puget Sound Basin.

 

The calmness and beauty of the deep trees were punctuated by the bright sunshine bursting down from the cathedral window breaks in the tree tops into the glades and glens.

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Many trails ended at either a windy beach or alongside a running creak dancing and spraying as it tumbled down by the trail.

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These experiences led us to attempt to find and protect a small repository of the wholesomeness of the ancient forests and their inhabitants.

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We were blessed when we were able to purchase the land which became Dolphin Place in 1973.  The mature second growth forest of the property abutted a salmon creek and estuary allowing us to conserve a sliver of a number of different ecosystems that occurs in the Pacific Northwest.  Half of the property was deep Cedar and Hemlock forest, while the other half was either large Douglas Firs or successional Maples and Alders.

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By purchasing the land, we saved it from the logging that was in full throat during the 1970s.  Many do not realize what had been without seeing it themselves.

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The first activity on the property was to briing in additional plants into the successional portion of the property, and replace the invasives like scotch broom.

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Later on, we carefully built our home amongst the trees and did not have to remove any for the structures, hand carrying most of the materials through the trees.

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And after twenty years, we were able to begin in earnest to conserve many of the understory plants native to Bainbridge Island that were being pushed out by development.

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We offered a conservancy to the Bainbridge Island Park District, providing periodic public education and tours to inform our community of the plants and small animal life that used to form the ecosystems of the region.

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And finally in the 2010s, after solving the difficulties of employment, we were able to introduce native trees that we remembered from the wanderings of our youth.

 

We selected conifers that grew naturally within 75 miles of our property to be added to our site to provide additional educational opportunities for those interested in studying in more detail the natural history of the Puget Sound .  These plants allow people to  see up close the identifying features of the less common trees which are so important to our region.

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