The in basket: The Road Warrior today will step a few feet off the road (Chico Way, precisely) to ask about an enormous stump that has found its way onto Kitsap County property in Chico.
I saw the behemoth when I took advantage of the Salmon Tour the county offered a few weeks ago. On the Golf Club Road park property, there the stump sat. Some of those touring the site photographed their kids sitting on it.
There was no sign of a big hole from which it tipped. It was well-weathered, indicating it hadn’t been alive for years, if not decades. Moving it there looked like it must have been a gargantuan project.
I asked its history.
The out basket: Doug Bear of Kitsap County Public Works says the large stump was transported to the site in 2009 by a contractor for public works.
“It was the stump of a large tree that washed out in South Kitsap during the big storm in December 2007,” he said.
“The plan was to store it there for future use in stream restoration and culvert replacement projects. Since then Kitsap County Public Works has accumulated over 270 trees with root wads and 300 trees without root wads that we store at the former Markwick Property (just north of Silverdale).
“Public Works obtains the trees that are marked for cutting during construction projects, such as the (Central Kitsap) treatment plant expansion or expansion of a storm pond. The trees are ‘recycled’ and used in restoration projects, including the Sunde Road culvert replacement.
“Their new purpose is to provide habitat for juvenile salmon, cutthroat, provide a natural mechanism to catch stream sediment, and enhance habitat.
“We hope to construct the Dickerson and Clear Creek floodplain projects in 2015-2017, where over 300 trees will be needed for Clear Creek alone. By storing these ‘byproduct’ trees the county saves a large amount of money and giving these trees a new life.
I believe DCD is developing plans now to restore a portion of Chico Creek just south of where the stump is now. I don’t know if the stump will be used there, or not.
A few months ago the Kitsap Sun ran a story about the replacement of the bridge to the KGCC.
In the fall of 2012 we were lucky to receive a Backyard Habitat Grant that remove two rock walls from Dickerson Creek and replace them with the root wads and logs. The salmon love the new habitat and the root wads are working like they’re supposed to work. This is a great example of the trees being recycled to enhance the environment.