The Land Bank adds a sixth preserve with water access on Orcas Island
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS |||
The San Juan County Conservation Land Bank is excited to announce the acquisition of a 23.8-acre waterfront property located on Orcas Island’s East Sound. The property hosts 1,300 feet of undeveloped shoreline, including a 260-foot pocket beach, a small intermittent stream, open fields, and forest.
“We are grateful to the seller for his forethought and patience as we worked through the purchase and sale agreement of this gem,” said Brian Wiese, Land Bank Commission Chair. He added, “The property lies within a high priority area for salmon recovery, hosts multiple forest species including yew and cedar, and adds another public access point to saltwater.”
Public shoreline access is particularly scarce on Orcas Island, with none along this section of East Sound. This acquisition, and it’s 260ft pocket beach, will provide visitors a new view and access point, as well as a resting spot for kayakers and paddleboarders. Stay tuned for future public scoping meetings to help inform the Stewardship and Management Plan before the Preserve opens to the public.
The addition of this Preserve will be the sixth Land Bank property with shoreline access on Orcas Island. Others include Crescent Beach, Judd Cove, Deer Harbor, and North Shore Preserves and East Sound Waterfront Park, co-managed with County Parks.
About San Juan County’s Conservation Land Bank
San Juan County’s Conservation Land Bank, funded by a 1% real estate excise tax paid by purchasers of property at closing, acquires and preserves areas in the county that have environmental, agricultural, aesthetic, cultural, scientific, historic, scenic, or low-intensity recreational value. The Land Bank offices are located at 328 Caines Street, Friday Harbor, WA 98250. For more information about San Juan County’s Conservation Land Bank, visit www.sjclandbank.org.
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Thank you, Brian and all the good people of the Land Bank for helping to preserve and protect the open space, wildlife habitat, and rural character of our island home.
Thanks for the shout out, Toby, but credit really goes to our excellent Land Bank staff: Director (and acquisitions specialist) Lincoln Bormann, and land stewards Peter Guillozet, Tyler Goodman and Erin Halcomb.
But while I’m here, I’ll take the opportunity to mention that I’m “retiring” at the end of this year after serving 10 years on the Land Bank Commission. There will be two “at large” Commission openings for next year; and I’d encourage anyone interested in contributing to San Juan County’s unique legacy of natural land conservation to attend a couple of monthly commission meetings https://sjclandbank.org/meeting-schedule/ and apply to the County.
I hope our new Dolphin Bay preserve will be ready to open to the public within the next year or so. Meanwhile, please enjoy the fall in our nine other Orcas preserves, and 21 other preserves open to the public on other islands.
Another wonderful preserve and in an otherwise hard place to access – very exciting! Brian, thank you for your
dedication and service!