Environment

Gig Harborites love the natural surroundings in which they live, and Gig Harbor Now staff members keep them apprised of opportunities to enjoy and preserve their forests, waters and creatures.

Two in Tow & On the Go: Love-locks in Gig Harbor

Jul 21, 2023 | By:

Last week, the kids and I stumbled on a love-lock bridge right here in Gig Harbor. Roughly 150 padlocks hang from the crisscross of cables along the city bridge over Donkey Creek. They’re cute, but not everyone is a fan. Here’s a closer look.

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On Fox Island, an old Navy acoustics lab gets a new life

Jul 07, 2023 | By:

As a youth, Ty Clarke liked to water-ski and wake-board from his parents’ beach on the southwest shore of Fox Island. Cutting through the glassy water of Carr Inlet, at the turnaround point on their runs, Ty and his friends couldn’t help noticing something off-putting: a neglected concrete box of a building squatting on the

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The Battle for Carr Inlet pitted local community against the Navy

Jul 06, 2023 | By:

Think the fight against Walmart in the 1990s, or the more recent flap over building 35 new dwelling units at the bottom of Harborview Drive, stand as the biggest citizen crusades in peninsula history? Those were minor disagreements when compared to the Battle for Carr Inlet, fought in the early 1950s. Decades before the term

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Jennifer Chushcoff: Hidden deserts in our midst

Jul 05, 2023 | By:

If you spend more time maintaining your lawn than enjoying it, it’s time to consider your alternatives. Removing a lawn, or at least a portion, is good for the planet and for you. Looking out the window, those lush lawns seem pretty harmless. That’s only because a glance doesn’t reveal the truth. A lawn is

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PenMet Parks proposing levy lid lift renewal

Jun 22, 2023 | By:

PenMet Parks will ask voters in November to renew a six-year levy lid lift that would allow it to continue to collect property taxes of up to 6% more than the previous year instead of the state limit of 1%. When residents voted to form the district in 2004, they agreed to pay 75 cents

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State keeps South Sound closed to crabbing for sixth summer

Jun 22, 2023 | By:

Preseason testing showed one bright spot. Nisqually Reach averaged 7.3 Dungeness per pot pull. Chambers Bay drew 1.8, and the other six sites brought in fewer than one.

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County delineates first phase of airport tree removal

Jun 08, 2023 | By:

The first phase of tree cutting at Tacoma Narrows Airport will take down only a fraction of the total number designated for removal. Neighbors of the Pierce County-owned facility received a postcard recently describing Phase 1 of the project. The county sent the cards in late May to about 1,100 residents near the airport, according

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Dry weather induces early Pierce County burn ban

Jun 07, 2023 | By:

With rainfall about one-third less than normal, Pierce County issued a burn ban that began today, June 7. It applies to yard debris and land clearing, not burn pits and barbecues.

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Advisory panels offer different recommendations on Burley Lagoon geoduck proposal

May 26, 2023 | By:

Two local land-use advisory commissions this week issued contrasting recommendations about shoreline permits that would allow Taylor Shellfish to convert 25.5 acres on Burley Lagoon from Manilla clam and oyster farming to growing geoducks. The Pierce County hearing examiner will analyze the public comments, recommendations, environmental impact statement and other information and hold a public

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Two in Tow & On the Go: Kenneth Leo Marvin Veterans Memorial Park

May 19, 2023 | By:

With Memorial Day right around the corner, we wanted to give a local shoutout to Clara and Wyatt’s current playground of choice – Kenneth Leo Marvin Veterans Memorial Park on Gig Harbor’s west side. With its tall tower slide, friendship-making disc swing, and a stone monument for local veterans, this Gig Harbor city park is sure to be a fast fave.

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