Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve at 312 acres — 444 acres with adjoining parkland — is by far the largest wildlife preserve on Bainbridge Island. The island's citizens acquired it in 1995 from the late Alan Black at far below its market price with the help of a $1.25 million grant from Washington state for wildlife preservation. They intended it as a wildlife sanctuary, reflected in its first name: Gazzam Lake Park and Wildlife Preserve. A committee of citizens planned it for passive recreation — hiking and quiet appreciation of nature — unlike active-recreation parks elsewhere on Bainbridge. Its conservation easement forbids creating new trails, walking off established trails, letting dogs off leash, using an electric vehicle such as an electric bike unless you’re handicapped, and other restrictions. The easement was written “...to assure that the Property will remain forever as scenic area, forestland, watershed, wetlands, and wildlife habitat.”
Read the easementWild animals are disappearing on Bainbridge Island just as they are everywhere else in western Washington. How long will wildlife last on Bainbridge? Will there be any wildlife left for future generations of Bainbridge Islanders to enjoy? The choice is ours today.
You may have read our op-ed in the Bainbridge Island Review about this issue.
You can download a copy of it here. Several Bainbridge organizations want to cut a new trail through the last corner of untouched wildlife habitat at Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve. The new trail will run through the largest wetland near Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve. It will connect to a mystery trail that was cut by unknown parties without permission, and another, the Opal Ridge Trail, that was cut by Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve's neighbors without permission.
Many, many peer-reviewed studies show that trails threaten wildlife, yet trails at or near Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve have more than doubled in length in 30 years. Though the Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve conservation easement forbids new trails at Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve, these organizations keep adding more trails there.
If you believe as we do that this new trail is a terrible idea, contact the organizations below and tell them what you think.
Gazzam Lake and the land around it has everything from Anna's Hummingbirds up to Bald Eagles. Click the link below to see photos of them.
learn moreGazzam Lake and its surroundings are home to at least 27 kinds of snakes, salamanders, frogs, and lizards.
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