— from The San Juan Preservation Trust–
See two new films focused on land preservation and its impact on salmon
The San Juan Preservation Trust announces the release of two short films it has produced with marine conservationist and internationally syndicated cartoonist Jim Toomey (Sherman’s Lagoon). The films were conceived and created to convey complex information about the uniqueness of island land conservation in an accessible and entertaining manner.
“In 2013, we acquired a parcel with shoreline that provides critical habitat for juvenile salmon”, explains Tim Seifert, Executive Director of the San Juan Preservation Trust. “When we communicated this success to our membership, we received the question ‘What does protecting land have to do with salmon?’ We realized that we needed to do a better job of explaining how land conservation work in the San Juan Islands influences the sea around us. We called Jim and asked if he could help us tell that story.”
The first film, “Islands Are Different,” describes how our islands are naturally vulnerable due to their small size and relatively large proportion of shoreline. (San Juan County has more shoreline than any other county in the United States.) It illustrates how human activity on islands has a greater influence on surrounding waters than in mainland areas, and how the interconnectedness of land and surrounding water on islands is much more pronounced. The second film, “Shorelines: Connecting Land & Salmon,” focuses on the linkage between land and shore, and shows how shoreline health impacts marine life. In one scene, our ecosystem “food web” is illustrated: small forage fish, which depend upon our sandy beaches, shoreline vegetation and rocky shorelines to spawn, support salmon populations, which in turn support larger marine and terrestrial species (including orca whales and even humans). Another scene explains how shoreline structures, such as docks and bulkheads, can threaten or even eliminate habitat that supports the species near the bottom of the food web, which then reverberates up the web.
“The San Juan Islands are very special to me, and the subject matter is close to my heart,” said Toomey. “It was a pleasure to help the Preservation Trust tell these stories.” The short films are light-hearted and the issues are handled in a clear, simple manner, making them appropriate for young people and adults. Recent screenings before audiences of scientists and policymakers working throughout the Puget Sound region enlisted tremendous enthusiasm and requests to share the films with their own audiences. The Preservation Trust will make the films available so that they may have wide circulation.
The films may be accessed at: https://sjpt.org/jim-toomey-videos
The creation of these films was supported with grants from the Horizons Foundation and the Mountaineers Foundation. For more information about or to request permission to screen these films, please contact the San Juan Preservation Trust at 360/378-2461.
ABOUT THE SAN JUAN PRESERVATION TRUST
Founded in 1979, the San Juan Preservation Trust (www.sjpt.org) is a nationally accredited private, non-profit and membership-based land trust dedicated to helping people and communities conserve land in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. The Preservation Trust has permanently protected more than 280 properties, 40 miles of shoreline, 21 miles of trails and 15,000 acres on 20 islands, including land now managed as public parks, nature preserves, wildlife habitat, and working farms and forests.
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