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Gazzam Lake Preserve

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Welcome

Gazzam Lake Preserve is a unique place enjoyed by people and wildlife alike. The Preserve has over 4 miles of trails and is home to many birds, mammals and amphibians.

Gazzam Lake Preserve is also one of the highest points on the Island and provides significant water recharge to many wells and aquifers.

Now, we are fighting to keep the

Gazzam Preserve as the wild, undisturbed sanctuary animals and people use and appreciate.

A proposed road could lead to as many as 15 houses. These private properties are as close as 75 yards from Gazzam Lake. Development would significanly disturb:

Water recharge

Wildlife habitat

Tranquility of this unique sanctuary

We have a unique opportunity NOW to stop the road and add 30 acres to the Gazzam Lake Preserve forever.......

The red line indicates the proposed road. Yellow parcels will be the land preserved with your help

YOU CAN HELP

KEEP GAZZAM WILD!

CLICK HERE

DONATE NOW!

Gazzam Lake Preserve No Frame

About Gazzam Lake Preserve

The Opportunity

Opportunity

The Opportunity to Keep Gazzam WildOur community has a unique opportunity to assure the Gazzam Lake Preserve is never divided by a road. But we need to take action now!The proposed road would bisect the Preserve and provide access to as many as 15 new houses along the west side of Gazzam Lake.Right now we can purchase the properties (almost 30 acres at $27,000 per acre) and add them to the Gazzam Lake Preserve.The Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District has pledged to fund this acquisition if the local community can raise $225,000 to complete the $800,000 purchase price. The Bainbridge Island Land Trust is our fiscal partner.Our goal is to complete our fundraising campaign by December 31, 2011. With the Park Districts pledge and pledges to Keep Gazzam Wild, we are 85% of the way to being able to purchase this property!Your help and generosity can make the difference!The Gazzam Lake Preserve provides water recharge to a large part of our Island aquifers, protects large numbers of birds and wildlife and is a sanctuary for humans to enjoy. Please take this opportunity to donate what you can to assure this incredible legacy will continue for now and for future generations.

History

Gazzam's HistoryThe Suquamish Tribe was likely the first to know about Gazzam Lake, having camped on the shores of Crystal Springs, a beach they called "Daxxadec". The lake first turned up on maps of the Bainbridge Island area around 1856. Dubbed Crystal Springs Lake, it appeared sporadically on maps and in island histories until Warren Lea Gazzam acquired the property. A real estate speculator and honorary Alabama colonel, Gazzam dreamed of establishing a millionaires' row along the Bainbridge side of Port Orchard Channel, which runs between the island and the Olympic Peninsula. Gazzam kept the lake off limits as a place of solitude and pilgrimage.During the Great Depression, Gazzam sold a good part of the land to cover his debts. In 1938, Gazzam sold much of the forest surrounding the lake for timber. After World War II, Gazzam Lake was purchased by a local family who gradually reassembled several hundred acres of the Colonels former estate. The initial 318 acres were purchased from this generous Island family.Gazzam TodayToday, Gazzam Lake Park and Wildlife Preserve includes 444.6 acres of highly valued upland forests and wetlands in the southwest quadrant of Bainbridge Island. The Close property trail leads to a scenic rocky beach with views of the Olympic Mountains. The 550-feet of shoreline is an important habitat for spawning salmon and feeder fish. An extensive trail system winds throughout the Preserve and is a prime hiking spot in heavily populated Puget Sound. In the northwest part of the park, is Gazzam Lake itself, a 13-acre freshwater wetland which has remained substantially untouched by human development, providing scenic beauty and wildlife habitat for a variety of species.Gazzam Lake Park and Wildlife Preserve offers nearly four miles of trail when combined with the more recent acquisitions of the 49-acre Peters Property and the 64-acre Close Property. The connections to the Close and Peters trails offer more challenge and exercise for the fitness enthusiasts. The initial 318 acres of this exceptional park was purchased by the citizens of Bainbridge Island after a special bond election in February 1995, and the winning of various state grants towards the purchase. The Bainbridge Island Land Trust was instrumental in the campaign for the Preserve. A community group, The Friends of Gazzam Lake, also contributed $118,000 to the acquisition. The Peters property was purchased with City of Bainbridge Island Open Space Bond funds. The Bainbridge Island Land Trust spearheaded the effort to raise the $2.5 million to purchase the Close Property from a variety of sources including individuals, state agencies and the Suquamish Tribe.History of Keep Gazzam WildA dispute arose in 2008, when owners of the seven parcels near the parks western border began pushing for recognition of a public access easement from their properties to Marshall Road. The easement would transect the park as well as a small portion of land owned by Walt McGraw. McGraw opposed the easement. The parties went to court to decide the dispute. The McGraw family and a group of neighbors gathered to put together a petition drive opposing the development and formed Save Gazzam. Over 700 people signed the petition to Save Gazzam. A final agreement was reached in April 2011. It set the purchase price for the property at $800,000 to be paid by the B.I. Metropolitan Park and Recreation District along with funds raised by the community group, now called Keep Gazzam Wild. (For more on the Save Gazzam campaign see http://www.savegazzam.com/)Cost history:•Original 318 acres Gazzam Lake Preserve was $4 million or $12,698 per acre (1995)•Close Property, 64 acres, including 550 feet of shoreline, $2.5 million or $39,062 per acre (2003).•Peters Tree Farm, 49 acres, $1.01 million or $20, 612 per acre (2004).•An additional eight acre parcel, now a part of the Preserve, was donated by David and Joyce Veterane. •Keep Gazzam Wild campaign, 30 acres, $800,000, $26,666 per acre..

Important Habitat

The Gazzam Lake Preserve is one of the largest contiguous closed-canopy forest within 12-mile radius of downtown Seattle.It hosts a mosaic of early forests, older second growth stands to old growth pockets with six foot diameter Douglas-Firs standing as sentinels over rich cobble shoreline interface. Fish and wildlife species: Approximately 75 species of birds have been documented on the existing Gazzam Lake properties, with up to 95 species being possible given the upland forest and wetland habitats. Including those species associated with the contiguous marine environment would add an additional 35-40 species of birds that potentially utilize the immediate Gazzam Lake Preserve habitats. Lack of fragmentation provides good habitat for species associated with interior forestincluding: Winter Wrens, Swainsons Thrushes, Black-throated Gray Warblers, Wilsons Warblers, even American Robins have a much higher apparent survival in reserve areas over developed landscapes.Amphibians: Gazzam Lake is probably a significant breeding site- any road intrusion would compromise access and increase mortality during the breeding migration period. Pacific treefrogs (Pseudacris regilla) heard in preserve, red-legged frogs (Rana aurora) have also been recorded in the preserve.No comprehensive surveys for salamanders have been conducted in Gazzam Lake Preserve, however, the presence of a permanent lake/wetland habitat is an ideal breeding environment for pond/pool breeding species, including: Northwestern Salamanders (Ambystoma gracile); Long-toed Salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum); Roughskin Newts (Taricha granulosa), In addition, terrestrial breeding species associated with large woody debris are likely to be present (and breeding) as well: Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzi)and Western Redback Salamanders (Plethodon vehiculum).Quality of habitat:Current lack of fragmentation or large perforations into the preserve has created a large interior forest core with diverse age classes and structural diversity, resulting in a very high quality wildlife habitat.Trees: Over 12 varieties includeing: Vine Maple, Big-Leaf Maple, Native Cherry, Western Yew, Madrone, Western Red Cedar.Shrubs: Blackberry and HuckleberryFerns: Lady Fern, Deer Fern, Licorice Fern Sword Fern and Bracken.Other plants: Over 35 varieties including: Tall Oregon Grape, Vanillaleaf, Wild Ginger, Bleeding Heart, Twinflower, Nootka Rose, Thimbleberry, Oceanspray, Orange Honeysuckel, Native Solomon's Seal, Miner's Lettuce, Nettle, Piggyback Plant, Fringecup Salmonberry, Bedstraw and more.... Low numbers of invasive plant species overall, though significant pockets of English Ivy, sporadic English Holly and some Scotch Broom in natural openings. Adapted with persmission from Dr. Stan Rullman's work.

Wildlife List

Partial Wildlife List

Birds:Pied-Billed GrebeCanadian GoosePheasantQuailMallardBand-tailed PigeonHooded MerganserAmerican WigeonBald EagleOspreyBuffleheadGreat Blue HeronSharp-shinned HawkRed-tailed HawkNorthern Pygmy OwlCommon NighthawkRufous HummingbirdKingfisherDowny WoodpeckerNorthern FlickerPileated WoodpeckerOlive-sided FlycatcherWestern FlycatcherPacific-slope FlycatcherWestern Wood-PeweeWillow FlycatcherTree SwallowViolet Green SwallowBarn SwallowStellar's JayAmerican CrowCommon RavenBlack-capped ChickadeeChestnut-backed ChickadeeBushtitRed-breasted NuthatchBrown CreeperBewick's WrenWinter WrenGolden-crowned KingletRuby-crowned KingletSwainson's ThrushAmerican RobinVaried ThrushCedar WaxwingEuropean StarlingHutton's VireoOrange-crowned WarblerYellow-rumped WarblerBlack-throated Gray WarblerTownsend's WarblerWilson's WarblerWestern TanagerBlack-headed GrosbeakEvening GrosbeakRufous-sided TowheeFox SparroaHouse SparrowSong SparrowWhite-crowned SparrowDark-eyed JuncoRed-Winged BlackbirdBrown-headed CowbirdPurple FinchHouse FinchRed CrossbillPine SiskinAmerican GoldfinchWood DuckGreen-winged TealBarred OwlGreat-horned OwlWestern Screech OwlNorthern OrioleVaux's Swift.......and moreWildlife:Large-mouth BassMinkFlying squirrelsDeerRaccoonBatsCoyoteBlack BearSalamandersNewtsBrown squirrelGray squirrel

Water

Water is a finite resource, even in the rainy Northwest. All public water systems (and private wells) on Bainbridge Island are dependent on groundwater as a source of domestic potable water. A recent USGS study indicates that Bainbridge Island's groundwater resources are in decline, as are potable water resources in much of the rest of the world. The vast majority of the recharge of the groundwater resource originates as precipitation that falls on the Island.While overall there are sufficient groundwater resources for Bainbridge Island, its availability varies considerably throughout the Island. For example, the southern portion of the Island, which is generally underlain by Tertiary Bedrock, has limited groundwater availability, while several prolific aquifers underlay the north and central portions of the Island.1The Gazzam Lake Preserve is one of the highest points on Bainbridge Island at approximately 370 feet. The Lake and its drainage provide groundwater recharge to between 178 and 291 wells 2. Water from the Gazzam area flows both northeast towards Eagle Harbor and south southwest towards Rich Passage, recharging thegroundwater in these populated areas.Development in the Gazzam Lake Preserve area would include several home sites (as many as 15) paved roads and driveways, greatly diminishing the amount of land available and open to groundwater recharge. Retaining the forests, native plants and wetlands in the Gazzam Lake Preserve will greatly assist with groundwater recharge to many Island aquifers.References:1 City of Bainbridge Island,Level II Assessment,An Element of the Water Resource Study, Kato & Warren, Inc., Robinson & Noble, Inc., December 20002 USGS Study

The Opportunity
History
Important Habitat
Wildlife List
Water

Photos Courtesy Pete Saloutos

Donate

Donate Now !

To print out a donation form and mail with your check:

kgwdonateweb.pdf

To pay by credit card**, you will be linked to the Bainbridge Island Land Trust's website. Please be sure and select "Keep Gazzam Wild" from the drop-down menu when making your donation!

Click Here

** Please consider making your contribution by check. We incur credit card service charges, deducted from your donation, when you pay with a credit card.

Photo Courtesy Pete Saloutos

The Bainbridge Island Land Trust is our fiscal partner.

The Land Trust is a 501 C (3) nonprofit corporation.

Your generous contribution is tax-deductible.

Thank you for your support!

Volunteer

Volunteer to Help

Page 1

I want to volunteer to Keep Gazzam Wild!

Name:

E-Mail:

Cell No.:

Message:

A few ways to help:

Help at events/host a dinner party

Sit at tables at Gazzam Lake entrance

Conduct property tours

Write thank you notes

Spread the word about Keep Gazzam Wild

Photo Courtesy Pete Saloutos

KEEP GAZZAM WILD C/O BAINBRIDGE ISLAND LAND TRUST P.O. BOX 10144 BAINBRIDGE ISLAND WA 98110