Tree farm outside Bremerton could be Kitsap's next 'community forest'

The U.S. Forest Service announced a $600,000 Community Forest grant for a project east of Green Mountain.

A forest conservation project in Kitsap County was one of just eight nationwide selected for a recent round of U.S. Forest Service grants, moving ahead a process aimed at preserving public access, forestry and habitat on timber land east of Green Mountain.

The Great Peninsula Conservancy will receive $600,000 toward an ongoing effort to establish what is formally known as a community forest, similar to GPC's 202-acrea Newberry Forest , outside Silverdale, and a 467-acre parcel known as The Divide, in North Kitsap . The community forest model sets aside timber land for public activities, like trails, while also preserving some forestry and selective logging, done with community