Trails Update: Harvey Manning Park

The legacy grows. With the completion of the acquisition by the City of Issaquah of the former Bergsma property, Harvey’s original namesake park has been expanded by over 33 acres. The wilderness within has grown!

 
 

All New Trails

The expanded park will have a new trailhead on Newport Way and new trails that will connect to the larger trail system within the adjacent Cougar Mt. Regional Wildland Park and up to the Talus neighborhood.  In 2021, the City hired the Mountains To Sound Greenway and Washington Trails Association to do initial trail planning, and included IATC and other partners in the process.  The map below is the result of this preliminary work.

 
 

But First…

Before any trail building can start, a number of other steps must first be completed:

  • The land is currently being searched for cultural resources.  Should any be found, steps must be taken to protect them.  This assessment could impact where trails or other ground disturbing work can be performed, such as the removal of invasive plants.

  • Steep slopes, wetlands and streams and their buffers must be studied.  This information will shape the trails and help finalize the design.

  • A project plan to build the trails must be developed and the whole packet submitted for permitting.  Only once the permit is in hand will the timing of the work be known.

Jennifer Fink, the City’s Park Planner and Project Administrator has shared all this information with us, and more.  In a recent email Jennifer says she anticipates starting “study/design work soon with a goal of achieving permitting and possibly construction towards the end of 2022.”  We like the sound of that.

About Those Invasive Plants

Like many other places within the Alps, Harvey’s expanded park has its share of non-native, invasive plants, including English Ivy and English holly.  According to Jennifer, the City will be looking to its Green Issaquah partnership to help with these invasives.  IATC’s own Anne Newcomb is a Green Issaquah trained forest steward and has been focusing her efforts on invasives removal at Bernsten Park alongside Issaquah Creek.  Going forward, Anne’s and IATC’s plan is to direct our invasives control and restoration energies towards Harvey’s expanded park via Green Issaquah.  Joining Anne and IATC on these efforts will be the soonest and best way for people to get their hands dirty and be part of the community effort to transform Harvey’s expanded park into a natural, native landscape that all trail users can enjoy and where humankind’s impact respects the land.

But Wait, There’s More

Another role that Harvey’s expanded park could play is in the carbon credits market. This market is designed to reduce the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.  It works by giving companies or any entity that wants to offset its carbon footprint the opportunity to pay a forest owner to preserve the carbon locked away in its trees and soil.  That owner can use the money to protect the land and grow even more carbon holding capacity by planting trees or preserving even more land.  The City has partnered with the nonprofit City Forest Credits to develop just such a program for Harvey’s expanded park.  Should the City’s plan take root, then the additional sequestered carbon will be yet another way that Harvey’s legacy will grow.

IATC strongly supports the City’s plan for the newly expanded Harvey Manning Park and will work with them to see it become a reality.  Watch this space for updates and opportunities to join IATC in helping Harvey’s legacy grow.

Paul Winterstein