The hillside along the trail leading down to the Port of Kingston’s North Beach got a makeover, thanks to the efforts of a local teenager who took on the project to earn his Eagle Scout rank with the local “Triple Nickel” Boy Scout Troop 555.
It was a natural fit when Marc Bissonnette decided on North Beach as his dad is a port commissioner. The project included clearing out invasive plant species clogging the sandy terrain and landscaping it with native plants.
Adding welcome serendipity to the project, Marc found out that the Washington State Department of Transportation was closing down one of its plant nurseries and willing to donate about 500 drought-resistant plants to the project to be enjoyed not only by beach-goers but also those riding WSDOT’s ferries as they come and go from the adjacent dock.
Marc is the son of Lillian Cone, who teaches chemistry and physics at North Kitsap High School, and Marc Bissonnette, director of marine operations and senior captain with Victoria Clipper.
The younger Marc is enrolled in the Running Start program at Olympic College, working towards an associate of arts degree and will receive his diploma from Kingston High School this spring. He’s been involved in the Kingston Scouting program since before kindergarten.
“I’m a lifer,” he said.
Before digging into the hillside, Marc sat down with Ken Drecksel, resource planner with the Kitsap Conservation District, to draw to scale a landscape design, indicating where the plants would be arranged.
“He’s easygoing but very detailed,” Drecksel said. “His design is very scientific.”
Drecksel offered a few pointers and contacted WSDOT to coordinate getting the donated plants from the Olympia nursery.
Clear skies and warm temperatures made the project a lot easier to contend with. Invasive butterfly bushes and Scotch broom between the stairs leading down to the beach and the observation deck were removed Feb. 9 by Marc, his dad and Ed Clark of the port with the help of eight Kitsap County “diversion workers” (juvenile offenders required to put in community service time), who together logged about 70 hours of labor that day.
The following week, Marc, his dad and Drecksel marked off planting areas and put in color-coded stakes corresponding to the different varieties of plants including ocean spray, snowberries, nootka roses, woods roses, scouler willow trees, beaked hazelnut trees and red-flowering currant.
After removing trash and other weeds, planting took place over the weekend of Feb. 16-17. Members of Troop 555 joined in the efforts.
While some were planting, diversion workers and port staff continued to clear out the butterfly bushes and Scotch broom all along the hillside to the ferry ramp.
Once the new plants leaf out and begin growing, they’ll add a pleasing variety of color to the hillside and provide habitat and food for wildlife. The plants will need to be watered for the first year or so, which the Port of Kingston and Scouts will take care of, but then the drought-resistant varieties should thrive on their own.
“It will take some time before these look like much, but in 5-10 years, (it) should be a nice place and attract wildlife,” Marc’s dad said. He mentioned with great pride how much self-directed time and energy his son put into planning for and undertaking the project. “We all slept well that night, (and) could not have asked for such a confluence of great things to have it all come together.”
He estimates the total hours tallied up for the project are 300-400.
Marc, looking tired and happy at the end of the weekend, said he thought the project went very smoothly and he was glad to have so many help him accomplish his goal. He has to submit documentation about the project to the Boy Scouts and expects to get the Eagle Scout badge this spring.
