Tombolo Preserve Extended With New Acquisition

— from San Juan County Land Bank —

The Land Bank is excited to announce an additional 800 feet of public access to beach and tidelands located west of Bayshore Road on the San Juan Channel side of Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island. This acquisition would not have been possible without the support of the Sunset Acres Owners Association, a residential community on the west side of Lopez.

This beautiful piece of shoreline property is immediately south of the Land Bank’s Tombolo Preserve and north of the County’s Otis Perkins Day Park. Views extend across the channel to San Juan and Turn Islands, over to Shaw and up to Turtleback Mountain. This beach will be managed to provide habitat for its marine birds and mammals, and also to provide low impact recreation for everyone on Lopez.

Joanna Richey, president of the Association, said, “When we looked at this piece of shoreline, located north of our community and adjacent to other public lands, it made sense for it to be sold to the Land Bank as an addition to their Tombolo Preserve. We felt that Otis and Eleanor Perkins, who originally owned the property, would have wanted its beauty to be shared. We are happy that this sale will give people on Lopez a long, continuous stretch of accessible public beach to enjoy forever and that the Land Bank’s management will protect its ecological and public benefits.”