Setting Strategic Priorities

Thanks to your input, our 2024 Conservation Plan is complete. The plan provides the strategic priorities for our land protection work to ensure we’re protecting the islands’ most important lands and waters for this and future generations.

Conservation Plan Background:

The 2024 Conservation Plan is the fourth iteration of the plan that was originally adopted in 2004 as the Land Protection Plan, and updated in 2010 and 2018. This plan guides our work by identifying priority areas within which we focus landowner outreach to ensure we’re saving the most important and irreplaceable lands and waters in Island County.

To develop the plan, the Land Trust compiled the best available scientific data from agencies and organizations, sought input from natural resource experts, and garnered public input to identify the types of lands that should be given the highest protection priority.

This data is stored in geographic information systems (GIS), a powerful mapping tool that assists in identifying those island landscapes and properties that are the most important to protect.

Each successive update has involved thorough data updates and extensive public input that has resulted in the refinement of priority areas.

A Look at Priorities

The priorities in the 2024 Conservation Plan are to:

• Give the highest protection priority to intact wildlife habitats, working farmlands, wetlands and streams, and coastal lands.
• Focus our work within our Protection Priority Areas and adjacent to protected lands (e.g., state and county lands).
• Protect the most significant and threatened lands that enhance the health and connectivity of the islands’ natural systems, making our islands more resilient to climate change.
• Protect connections between existing protected lands to allow trail connectivity and improve public recreation opportunities.