Organization
The Clear Creek Project has four major aspects:
1) stream sensitive trail development
2) greenway preservation/stream restoration/salmon enhancement
3) restoration/renovation of an historical landmark barn
4) education/public awareness through interpretive center, trail signs and public outreach.
Task Force meetings arethe first Thursday of every month except December. Meetings start at 8:30 a.m. Everyone is welcome. The Task Force, under the aegis of the Great Peninsula Conservanc, is an all volunteer, community based team. The Task Force operates with an small operations budget of about $15,000 a year. Maintenance and operations funds come from individual and business contributions,public and private grants and county support. With the exception of a small percentage of barn renovation work, engineer surveying work, the pedestrian bridge and restroom construction, all project work done to date has been accomplished with volunteers. Over 14,000 professional and layperson hours have been contributed to this project since 1993
Community Activism at it’s Best
The Kitsap Land Trust received the generous donation of property with a landmark barn on the shores of the estuary, at the head of Clear Creek in 1989. The Task Force used this as it’s cornerstone. With no other assets, aside from the dedication of it members, the dream began to take shape. The Task Force created an ambitious master plan for the watershed to develop a trail system, enhance the stream for salmon and wildlife and educate and increase the awareness of the public.
Much has happened in the years since but maybe most importantly is what the Task Force itself has become and what it has come to pride itself on…a community activism group, a strong grass roots movement, a group known for it’s strong partnerships, for not just it’s willingness to use volunteers, but it’s insistence on it, it’s firm commitment to using local businesses, and for it’s commitment to involving youth -- from Eagle Scouts to Alternative to Detention juveniles. Also of great importance is what the Task Force has been able to provide the Silverdale community in terms of recreation. As a non-incorporated area, Silverdale has no formal ‘Parks Dept’. We have strived to be that informal Parks and Recreation department for the community. We have also been pleased to be a model for grass roots stream groups and part of early efforts in the county to develop and provide recreational trails in a county that has been lacking in such recreational provisions. For these reasons and many others, the Clear Creek Task Force has been a very strong, grass roots stream preservation/recreation oriented group in Kitsap County.
Clear Creek Task Force Members
Meet the Clear Creek Task Force
The Clear Creek Task Force, formed in 1993. CCTF operates under the aegis of the former Kitsap Land Trust, a 501(c)(3) organization, now known as the Great Peninsula Conservancy. The Task Force is an alliance of Kitsap County citizens, businesses, groups and service organizations. The Clear Creek Task Force’s Mission is to create and maintain a community wide network to mobilize support, educate and focus actions to preserve, protect and restore the Clear Creek ecosystem Clear Creek Task Force members and supporters envision a future with Clear Creek as a healthy stream ecosystem with clean water and salmon, plant and animal habitat, providing quiet enjoyment and evoking sensitivity and respect for the stream, a part of our natural heritage.
Meet the Great Peninsula Conservancy
In 2000, four Land Trusts: Kitsap Land Trust, Indianola Land Trust, Hood Canal Land Trust and Peninsula Heritage Land Trust merged into the Great Peninsula Conservancy. The mission of the Great Peninsula Conservancy is to work to protect forever the rural landscapes, natural habitat and open spaces of the Great Peninsula region.GPC plays an important role in the Clear Creek Trail Project as the Task Force’s 501(c)(3) organization. It handles trail agreements; conservation, acquisition and stewardship of property easements, insurance and donations along the Clear Creek Corridor; and provides a governing and advisory role to the Task Force. The Great Peninsula Conservancy serves the entire Kitsap and Great Peninsula.
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