Hansville Legend Leaves Behind a Legacy of Conservation and Preservation
Retirement for Sid Knutson was an opportunity to pursue a dream, and all of Kitsap County benefitted.
“If it weren’t for Sid Knutson, the (Hansville) Greenway wouldn’t exist today,” says Ken Shawcroft, a retired engineer who worked hand in hand with Knutson on the trail system. “He had the vision and the ability to lead. It would not have happened without him.”
Sid Knutson died Nov. 2 at age 96, but the trail system named for him will live on for a long time. He was that rare person who took an idea from inspiration to completion and generated only gratitude in his wake.
After a career in the Corps of Engineers, Sid retired in Hansville and immediately recognized the priceless natural areas on Kitsap County’s northwestern tip. He started by buying 10 acres that eventually became a land trust, but his vision for the area quickly expanded. He visualized a trail system on protected land from Hood Canal to Puget Sound and worked for nearly 20 years to turn that vision into reality.
Sid worked with county and state officials, professionals of every sort and a crowd of eager volunteers, producing the necessary information and details for every step.
“He was really a good collaborator,” Ken says, “He figured out how to make it happen and was never pushy. He knew how to work with people.”
The result was about five miles of trails that wanders through forests of red alders, cedars and pines, past two protected beaver ponds, creeks and bird gathering sites and ends in the surf at Norwegian Point—the Sid Knutson Puget Sound to Hood Canal Trail. What a legacy.
The family has reserved the GHCC for a memorial service on Saturday, Jan 22 at 1:00pm.
By Cynthia Taggart