Brinnon Forest Preserve
Brinnon Forest Preserve
Acres Preserved:
326
Year Conserved:
2017
Category:
Facilitated Project
Natural Features:
We feel we have been good stewards of this land by donating it to a responsible organization that will protect it and maintain it in its natural state in perpetuity.
- Clayton Wright, former landowner
A Birds-Eye View
Brinnon Forest Preserve is an extraordinary 32-acre property located just north of Brinnon along the west side of Highway 101. The property contains key wildlife habitat, with a sliver of Hood Canal shoreline connecting directly to the upland forest to the east.
The mostly forested property includes two creeks that flow into Hood Canal and a mature forest, some portions of which demonstrate the complexity and characteristics of old growth. To find a parcel of land in this region with so much mature forest that’s also connected to the shoreline is very rare.
The property is part of a travel corridor used by the Brinnon elk herd and other large mammals. Streams pass through a ravine that runs east underneath the highway, emptying into Hood Canal, offering safe passage between forest and shoreline for a variety of wildlife. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife identifies the shoreline here as Priority Aquatic Habitat.
The Preservation Story
The land for Brinnon Forest Preserve was generously donated to Jefferson Land Trust in 2022 by Carolyn and Clayton Wright after being in Carolyn’s family for more than a century. It was initially acquired by Carolyn’s family, the Irles, in 1916. According to family lore, one of her ancestors, Dr. Ruth Irle Davies, provided medical services to a patient who couldn’t pay the bill and offered the property as compensation instead. It was passed through the family until it came into the possession of Carolyn’s uncle, Roger D. Irle, who grew up in Port Townsend in the 1930s and 40s.
Roger cared deeply for the land, but after retiring elsewhere in Washington, he became tired of the constant letters he received from loggers interested in cutting the forest, and worried about tree poachers and interlopers. He offered the property to Carolyn. If she and Clayton didn’t take it, Roger said, he’d consider giving it to a conservation organization. After Roger passed away in June of 2022, Carolyn and Clayton’s deep love of Puget Sound and consciousness of environmental causes led them to consider Roger’s suggestion.
Clayton literally stumbled upon the Land Trust’s office while strolling through Uptown, and said he was “delighted that there was a local conservation organization to donate the property to, rather than a national organization that had no particular connection to Washington State or Puget Sound.” After a conversation with Carolyn and Clayton, some of our conservation staff and community volunteer members of the Conservation Projects Committee visited the property in Brinnon, and realized quickly how special it was.
“Walking onto the land was astonishing,” said Sarah Spaeth, Jefferson Land Trust’s Director of Conservation and Strategic Partnerships. “The enormous old cedars, firs, and maples, and the ravine, elk tracks, and bear scratches on trees — it was all magical.”
We’re deeply grateful to Carolyn, Clayton, and the late Roger Irle for their actions of care and generosity toward this land — an extraordinary gift to our community, local wildlife, and to the future.
The Protected Property Today and Tomorrow
To ensure the land can never be developed or deforested, the Land Trust sold the development rights to the US Navy through the REPI (Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration) program at a bargain sale rate, placing a restrictive easement on the land.
With the beautiful 32-acre upland forest in relatively healthy condition, minimal restoration work was needed after the acquisition. The REPI funding the Land Trust received helped us remove some dilapidated structures and will fund short- and long-term stewardship activities and monitoring on the land.
Our stewardship staff, with the help of committed preserve stewards and other volunteers, regularly care for the land, monitor wildlife, and keep improving habitat conditions by removing harmful weeds.
Every 5-10 years, the Land Trust also conducts habitat health assessments on the property. These assessments, carried out with the help of volunteers, allow us to evaluate the ecological integrity and functions of forests and streams within the preserve and track the progress of our land management goals.
Now that the land is being managed for its habitat values, it will continue to support wildlife from the tidelands up into the forest.
Visiting Brinnon Forest Preserve
Brinnon Forest Preserve is protected as wildlife habitat. It’s cared for and managed by the Land Trust as a nature preserve to be a quiet refuge for local flora and fauna — a place where birds, reptiles, insects, and animals can forage, shelter, and thrive — forever.
We try to keep this place peaceful and safe for wildlife, so there are no trails, parking, or other amenities necessary for recreation. To experience this preserve, we invite you to join us as a trained volunteer as we care for this special place by removing harmful weeds and monitoring the health of the preserve’s habitat to ensure the land continues thriving.
We welcome you to visit several Land Trust preserves that have the infrastructure (parking lot, trails, etc.) necessary for visitors to safely explore the trails while the surrounding space necessary for wildlife to safely live is left undisturbed. Learn more about them by clicking the button below.
