Letter to Editor | Land Bank provides protection, restoration

||| FROM MAUREEN SEE |||

Preserving land helps keep our aquifers replenished and protects our lakes, streams, groundwater and shorelines from pollution. Who doesn’t want protection and restoration around lakes, streams, shoreline and wetlands?

Healthy forests make our air and water cleaner, provide windbreaks and importantly helps protect us from wildfires. Managing preserved lands reduces the risk of catastrophic fires and protects the safety and health of our community and wildlife.

The San Juan County Conservation Land Bank preserves land that protects and contributes to the wellbeing of our community. By conserving land along our shorelines, they protect and defend marine systems by removing seawalls & derelict structures, planting native plants, and keeping beaches clean.

Land Bank is a gift to SJC citizens. If you haven’t hiked the trails, or walked the shorelines carefully nurtured by the Land Bank, you are missing out on ways to celebrate our precious county. I am glad we are the only county in the state smart enough to support a citizen-
founded Land Bank. Because of their stewardship, we enjoy a better quality of life here. I cannot imagine life on SJC without our Land Bank.