— from Barbara Courtney for the San Juan Preservation Trust —
Visiting the Mount Grant summit (left to right) are Julie Gralow, Val Gorder, Sally Jewell (U.S. Secretary of the Interior), Warren Jewell, and Lucy Gorder, the Labradoodle.
The Campaign to Save Mount Grant passed two notable mileposts in August. First, a $500,000 challenge was successfully met. Donors from more than 450 households have generously provided gifts and pledges totaling more than $500,000 since the start of the challenge on March 1. These gifts will be matched dollar-for-dollar by challenge grant donors Eliot and Tina Scull. Secondly, the San Juan Preservation Trust has surpassed the halfway mark in its effort to raise $2.7 million in private, charitable contributions toward the $4.2 million total needed to acquire and care for the 141-acre Mount Grant property (formerly known as “Lawson Ridge”).
“We’ve been thrilled by the community’s enthusiastic response to our Sundays at the Summit,” says Thor Hanson, co-chair of the campaign. The road to the top of Mount Grant has been open on Sundays since July 5, and thousands of people have made the drive up to see the stunning 360-degree views. “We’ve stationed volunteer docents at the summit to help visitors get oriented, and to answer questions about the campaign. The most common word we hear up there when folks first see the view is ‘Wow.’ In fact, because Sundays at the Summit have been so popular, we’ve decided to extend them. Each Sunday in September and October, the road will be open from 10 am to 4 pm.”
Community support for the fundraising campaign has been broad, generous and creative. Twelve-year old Raylee Miniken has been selling her Mount Grant inspired notecards at the Saturday Farmers Markets. San Juan Island-based artist Maria Michaelson will donate the sales proceeds from a sculpture to the campaign. The San Juan Island Trails Committee and the Island Trail Riders have been actively promoting its support and encouraging their members to contribute to the campaign.
Recently, campaign supporters Julie Gralow and Val Gorder hiked with visiting friends to the Mount Grant summit. The friends, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and her husband, Warren, loved the views and were interested in the unique partnership between the Land Bank and Preservation Trust in acquiring this land for all to enjoy.
An additional $1.1 million is needed before the Campaign is complete, so that the Preservation Trust and the Land Bank can pay off the note on the property, build and maintain trails and other visitor amenities, maintain the summit road, and care for the land in perpetuity.
For more information about The Campaign to Save Mount Grant or visiting the preserve, please visit www.sjpt.org/mountgrant or call the San Juan Preservation Trust at 360/378-2461.
