The completed Carpenter Lake Boardwalk is the fruition of 10 years of planning by the Carpenter Lake Stewardship Committee and many other dedicated volunteers who’ve worked to preserve, protect, and let shine in the public eye a gem of the North End.

A ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony will take place 1:30 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25 at the Carpenter Lake Boardwalk, located behind Gordon Elementary off Barber Cutoff Road in Kingston. The trailhead starts behind the portable classrooms by the chain-link fence. The trail and boardwalk are wheelchair accessible.

The dedication ceremony will feature a ribbon-cutting (of a cedar bough garland); refreshments; a talk about the history of the 3.4-acre lake and surrounding 35 acres owned by the county, the geology and surrounding sphagnum bog. Members of the Carpenter Lake Stewardship Committee will be on hand to answer questions. Kitsap County Commissioner Chris Endresen and County Administrator Cris Gears will attend the festivities as well as teachers and students from Richard Gordon Elementary, staff from the county’s Department of Facilities, Parks and Recreation and those who designed and built the boardwalk. Others invited who have a history with the lake include the Suquamish Tribe, members of Cutthroats of Carpenter Creek who keep an eye on the watershed through water monitoring and restoration, and University of Washington students who conducted a study there.

The completed Carpenter Lake Boardwalk is the fruition of 10 years of planning by the Carpenter Lake Stewardship Committee and many other dedicated volunteers who’ve worked to preserve, protect, and let shine in the public eye a gem of the North End.

A ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony will take place 1:30 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25 at the Carpenter Lake Boardwalk, located behind Gordon Elementary off Barber Cutoff Road in Kingston. The trailhead starts behind the portable classrooms by the chain-link fence. The trail and boardwalk are wheelchair accessible.

The dedication ceremony will feature a ribbon-cutting (of a cedar bough garland); refreshments; a talk about the history of the 3.4-acre lake and surrounding 35 acres owned by the county, the geology and surrounding sphagnum bog. Members of the Carpenter Lake Stewardship Committee will be on hand to answer questions. Kitsap County Commissioner Chris Endresen and County Administrator Cris Gears will attend the festivities as well as teachers and students from Richard Gordon Elementary, staff from the county’s Department of Facilities, Parks and Recreation and those who designed and built the boardwalk. Others invited who have a history with the lake include the Suquamish Tribe, members of Cutthroats of Carpenter Creek who keep an eye on the watershed through water monitoring and restoration, and University of Washington students who conducted a study there.

The completed Carpenter Lake Boardwalk is the fruition of 10 years of planning by the Carpenter Lake Stewardship Committee and many other dedicated volunteers who’ve worked to preserve, protect, and let shine in the public eye a gem of the North End.

A ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony will take place 1:30 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25 at the Carpenter Lake Boardwalk, located behind Gordon Elementary off Barber Cutoff Road in Kingston. The trailhead starts behind the portable classrooms by the chain-link fence. The trail and boardwalk are wheelchair accessible.

The dedication ceremony will feature a ribbon-cutting (of a cedar bough garland); refreshments; a talk about the history of the 3.4-acre lake and surrounding 35 acres owned by the county, the geology and surrounding sphagnum bog. Members of the Carpenter Lake Stewardship Committee will be on hand to answer questions. Kitsap County Commissioner Chris Endresen and County Administrator Cris Gears will attend the festivities as well as teachers and students from Richard Gordon Elementary, staff from the county’s Department of Facilities, Parks and Recreation and those who designed and built the boardwalk. Others invited who have a history with the lake include the Suquamish Tribe, members of Cutthroats of Carpenter Creek who keep an eye on the watershed through water monitoring and restoration, and University of Washington students who conducted a study there.

The general public is encouraged to come out and celebrate this North End treasure. Carpooling is helpful as parking will be limited at Gordon Elementary.

For more information, contact Naomi Maasberg at Stillwaters Environmental Education Center, (360) 297-2875 or info@stillwatersenvironmentalcenter.org.

Carpenter Lake inspires stewardship and students

The quiet, cattail-lined lake is up to 60 feet deep, a gouge formed by glaciers passing through, fed by Carpenter Creek and home to cutthroat trout and salmon. It was once a popular place for kids to swim and was surrounded by farms. The lake got its name from the carpenters that would have their lunch there. As the official name indicates, “Carpenter Lake Natural Area – a Wildlife Sanctuary” is a protected bog habitat and wildlife corridor. It is not a public park, but is a public place for walking, bird watching, environmental education and respite from busy life. Rules that apply in the sanctuary include (in addition to the usual county parks rules of no drinking, etc.): no dogs, boating (this includes kayaks) or fishing. The boardwalk is not a boat dock or fishing pier.

The sphagnum moss bog is an unusual, fragile, sensitive area that took thousands of years to create and contains rare plants, one reason people are not allowed to walk on it. The other reason is safety – a misstep off the boardwalk could mean falling in 10 feet of water, even though it looks like solid ground.

The Carpenter Lake sanctuary and boardwalk has been in the works since the mid-1990s, having been purchased by the county in 1994. The stewardship committee formed in 1995 and plans for a boardwalk and trail began in 1996. Construction of the boardwalk leading from the nature trail finally got underway in September 2005 by Chinook Properties, Inc., a company hired by the county. The stewardship committee and classes from Gordon Elementary will work to spruce up the nature trail with new interpretive and educational signage.

Stillwaters Environmental Education Center, just a jog through the woods from the lake, has developed a watershed curriculum for teachers who want to introduce students to the unique and varied features of the Carpenter Creek Watershed that includes the lake, ponds, bog, creek and estuary.

Gordon students got a chance to explore the 360-foot boardwalk and viewing platforms, and gaze out on the lake the day it opened, Sept. 14, as part of a Science Night held at the school. Though for years students have explored the nature trail that winds through the wooded uplands of the lake before turning into the boardwalk, the bog and lake were inaccessible without hip-waders. Gordon Principal Claudia Alves brought all her teachers down the trail and out to the lake to familiarize them with the site, encouraging them to get out and explore with their classes and take on some stewardship of it, a natural connection since there are no costly transportation issues.

Third-graders in the North Kitsap School District study a salmon curriculum and fifth-graders study a Buck Lake science kit that culminates with a visit to the Buck Lake Park and the Hansville Greenway. Now the study of the Carpenter Creek Watershed can be incorporated to help boost students’ knowledge and understanding of not only the basics of science; it will also heighten their appreciation of the natural world that’s literally in their own backyard.

A trail cleanup, planting native species and bench and railing construction parties take place 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 15 and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 21. New volunteers are welcome; gardeners and carpenters are especially needed. Call Stillwaters at (360) 297-2876 to sign-up.