The Land
Dogfish Moon sits on 77 acres of Kitsap Peninsula, in the Poulsbo countryside. With the wide Pacific Northwest skies above and a broad aquifer below, bordered on three sides by running water, the sanctuary houses and is held by an amazing watery energetic of stillness and depth.
The steep hillside forest to the northwest was logged for her timber 6 years ago, leaving the valley to attempt to manage a tremendous influx of water.
The 20 acres of alder woodlands to the east were suffused with so much water they became beaver ponds upriver to the clogged DogFish creek. The forest on Sawdust Hill Road, owned by Kitsap County, was recently completely pillaged for her timber. Our valley will continue to flow even more.
The site includes a 100-year old homestead - an original 1904 farmhouse and two barns - and 40 acres of former dairy farmland. That farmland is home to deer, bear, coyote, beaver and salmon. DogFish Creek runs the whole length of the parcel. The aquifer below has long been a sacred source of water for much of North Kitsap County. In many ways, the land is in recovery from modern and settler agricultural industry.
We are collaborating with the Kitsap Conservation District to rehabilitate the landscape and Dogfish Creek to benefit spawning salmon, beaver and other resident species and to preserve the quality of a precious community water source.