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September 10th, 2010 News and Events

A Year of Connections

Posted: Mon, Jan 4, 2010

2009 was a year of connections for the San Juan Preservation Trust. With our strategic conservation plan as our guide, we acquired land and easements – through donation and purchase – that tie large patchworks of adjacent protected lands into singular landscape-scale preserves.

Some examples:

• A new conservation easement on a 5-acre parcel on the west side of San Juan Island knits together six adjacent easements and 6,700 continuous feet of undeveloped shoreline (see photo, below).

Westside shoreline

• A bequest of 100 acres on Shaw Island ties several protected parcels together, including two previously-detached portions of Shaw County Park, to create a solid block of 260 acres of preserved land.

• The purchase of a highly-visible 120-acre farm at the gateway to San Juan Valley on San Juan Island, when combined with adjacent farmland that has already been conserved, makes 1,050 contiguous acres of important agricultural soil permanently available for farming.

• With the donation of one 20-acre conservation easement on Lopez Island’s Iceberg Point, we have tied together a 300 acre network of public and privately-conserved lands to permanently protect almost that entire picturesque peninsula.

• With the support of the entire Guemes Island community, we worked side-by-side with the Skagit Land Trust to raise $2.2 million to acquire a 70-acre parcel at the summit of Guemes Mountain. This acquisition brings adjoining Preservation Trust protected farmland, forest, shoreline and state wildlife lands together, creating a combined 540-acre preserve on the island.

With additional donations of land in Olga (Orcas), Pear Point (San Juan) and University Heights (San Juan), along with a “forever wild” conservation easement donated on an entire 7-acre island (Armitage), we protected a total of 328 acres and 3,509 feet of shoreline on 6 islands during the year.

Why focus on connecting conserved lands? A quick glance at a parcel map reveals that most of our islands – particularly near the water – have been chopped into relatively small parcels. Important natural features, be they ecologically or culturally significant, usually aren’t owned by a single landowner. Re-assembling landscapes with critical conservation value can be a slow process, but this work ensures that our beloved vistas and farms and wildlife corridors will survive in perpetuity, and it allows us to implement more coherent and effective stewardship strategies for these places.

The connections we made in 2009 transcend our conservation program. Our rejuvenated outings and events calendar is connecting our members with memorable experiences and exclusive access to beautiful places. Our volunteer program is harnessing the considerable enthusiasm and talents of our supporters to advance our work. And, along with our partners and an army of enthusiastic islanders, we are successfully reconnecting the Western bluebird to its historical home in the San Juans.

On behalf of all of us here at the Preservation Trust, and - more importantly – on behalf of future generations of islanders (human and otherwise), thanks to ALL OF YOU that donated land, conservation easements, money and time. You have made a significant and lasting contribution to these islands that we love.

Posted: Mon, Aug 23, 2010
Guemes Mountain Trail Building To Begin in September

Posted: Mon, Jul 19, 2010
San Juan Preservation Trust Conveys Marine Shoreline to Moran State Park

Posted: Wed, Jun 16, 2010
Preservation Trust Seeks Director of Philanthropy

Posted: Mon, May 24, 2010
Your Dream for the Islands: Results from our Online Survey

Posted: Thu, Apr 1, 2010
Join Us For Our 3rd Annual Summer Social, Saturday, July 31

Posted: Mon, Feb 8, 2010
SJPT Loses Giant of Conservation: Remembering Fred Ellis, Sr.

Posted: Thu, Feb 4, 2010
Western Bluebirds Have Returned to San Juan Island

Posted: Wed, Feb 3, 2010
SJPT Members Encouraged to Nominate Candidates for Board of Trustees

Posted: Mon, Jan 4, 2010
A Year of Connections

Posted: Thu, Oct 1, 2009
Guemes Mountain: WE DID IT!

Posted: Tue, Sep 29, 2009
Local Legends of Land Conservation

Posted: Tue, Sep 29, 2009
Jack Island Fieldwork Party Captured In Video