2024 Conservation Partner Celebration

Saturday, June 22, 2024
3:00 – 6:00 pm
Dancing Fish Vineyards – 1953 Newman Road, Freeland, WA 98249

We’re very much looking forward to a day of celebrating and appreciating YOU, and everything we’ve accomplished together over the past 40 years! RSVP today by clicking here or the button below. Please register by June 16. Thank you!

RSVP HERE

(See tour choices below)

A Big Thank You to Our 2024 Conservation Partner Celebration Sponsors

These generous sponsors help make this event possible.

Optional Tour Choices

Lagoon Point Community Forest – Sneak Peek!

Level of Difficulty: Moderate. 2 miles of rolling forest trail with a few short inclines.

Time: 12:30 – 2:30 pm
Location: Greenbank

Tour Description: Get a sneak peek at one of the Land Trust’s most exciting on-going projects, the Lagoon Point Community Forest. Join us for a guided walk along trails through the project area, highlighting plant and animal biodiversity, the importance of this wildlife habitat corridor, and the future recreational and habitat enhancement opportunities the project offers.

Indian Point Preserve – Forever Wild

Level of Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult. Expect 1.5 miles of uneven forest trail.

Time: 12:30 – 2:30 pm
Location: Clinton

Tour Description: Join Land Trust staff for a visit to this unique preserve that has gone untouched for almost a century! Indian Point Preserve protects 64 acres of coastal forest and tidelands located along Admiralty Inlet on the southwest side of Whidbey Island. This preserve is home to osprey, eagles, owls and hawks, to name just a few! Don’t miss this rare chance to wander through the nearly pristine forest and learn about this amazing ecosystem at work.

Island County Salmon Recovery – Indoor Presentation

Level of Difficulty: Easy – no walking. Join this fun talk being held in the Land Trust offices at Greenbank Farm.

Time: 1:15 – 2:30 pm
Location: Greenbank Farm

Tour Description: Salmon and Orca whales are iconic Pacific Northwest symbols, and keystone species for the Salish Sea food web. As indicators of the region’s ecological health, it is deeply concerning that Chinook salmon and the Southern Resident Orcas that rely on them are currently endangered due to habitat degradation and pollution. But hope is not lost! There are dozens of groups working hard around the Salish Sea to improve habitat to aid in the recovery efforts of these amazing animals. Join staff of the Land Trust and Island County, and learn how local projects are assisting with these efforts, including on-going work to make sure that salmon and Orca recovery are successful and these charismatic species remain part of the Camano and Whidbey Island experience for generations to come.

Sher-Footed Farm – Expanding Regenerative Agriculture

Level of Difficulty: Easy to Moderate. Expect walking about a mile on gently sloping ground.

Time: 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Location: Oak Harbor

Tour Description: In 2023, the Land Trust worked with landowners and the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program to place a conservation easement on the 130-acre Sher-Footed Farm. Learn about this farm and why local farmers decided to work with the Land Trust to ensure its perpetual protection. Topics will range from the history of the farm to the current farm operations, which include regenerative farming practices that build the health of soil and promote food security under a changing climate.

Hammons Preserve – A Great View with a New Trail to Explore

Level of Difficulty: Difficult. 2 miles of trail through field and forest with slight elevation changes and section of wet trail with thick vegetation.

Time: 12:30 – 2:30 pm
Location: Clinton

Tour Description: Join us for a guided walk through a field with stunning views of Cultus Bay and into a beautiful, secluded forest. Learn how Hammons Preserve was protected and about Washington State’s Trust Land Transfer program. Come see the new five-acre expansion protected this year, as well as a sneak peek of the new trail expansion. We will also highlight local vegetation, wildlife, and the importance of wildlife habitat corridors.

Double Bluff Beach Geology Tour

Level of Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult. Approximately 2.5 to 3 miles along the beach.

Time: 12:30 – 2:30 pm
Location: Freeland

Tour Description: Join a University of Washington Geology professor on a hike along the spectacular Double Bluff shoreline to observe the sediment record preserved in bluffs and exposed by erosion. Observe evidence of seismic activity along the South Whidbey Fault Zone, peat beds deposited during interglaciation, and fossilized palm frond imprints preserved in a glacial erratic.

Strawberry Point Preserve Expansion – More Places to Explore on the Horizon

Level of Difficulty: Difficult. 2 miles of walking on uneven terrain and through long grass.

Time: 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Location: Oak Harbor

Tour Description: Strawberry Point Preserve recently expanded with the addition of 35 acres of forest and field that creates new opportunities at this popular site. Join stewardship staff for a walk through the new area and get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the work that comes with a newly protected piece of property. Discussion will include possible future public access, habitat restoration planning and much more. The tour will walk through open fields and visit an in-progress wetland restoration project on the larger preserve.

Lake Hancock – Pristine Estuary Visit

Level of Difficulty: Difficult. 2+ miles of unstable terrain with logs and rocks; wet ground, with some areas of heavy vegetation.

Time: 12:30 – 2:30 pm
Location: Greenbank

Tour Description: Join a wetland specialist for a special look at one of the best-preserved estuaries on Whidbey Island. Explore portions of the over 400-acre forest and estuary protected by the U.S. Navy and the Nature Conservancy. Lake Hancock estuary is over 200 acres and consists of emergent saltmarsh, freshwater marsh, tidally inundated lagoon, mudflats, forested bog and scrub-shrub wetland. Learn about the history and ecological importance of this rarely visited property. This property is not open to the public, so this is a special opportunity!

Pacific Rim Institute Prairie & Nursery

Level of Difficulty: Easy to Moderate. 2 miles of walking on trails and farm roads.

Time: 12:30 – 2:30 pm
Location: Coupeville

Tour Description: Pacific Rim Institute (PRI) is a center for environmental stewardship, located in Central Whidbey that is currently working with the Land Trust on the placement of a conservation easement. Join PRI staff on a tour of the mature forest and large, active prairie and oak savannah restoration areas, and visit their plant nursery that grows over 50 varieties of native prairie plants.

Pollinators at Admiralty Inlet Preserve

Level of Difficulty: Easy. Join this fun walk at Admiralty Inlet Preserve just outside of Coupeville.

Time: 1:15 – 2:30 pm
Location: Coupeville

Tour Description: With native pollinator populations in decline worldwide, ecological restoration is the key to their recovery. Admiralty Inlet Preserve is home to one of Washington’s rarest ecosystems, Westside prairie, which the Land Trust has worked with partners for over a decade to restore and expand. The preserve hosts a number of rare plant species, including golden paintbrush, and provides excellent habitat for bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects. Come to this engaging tour led by volunteer Andi Kopit to learn about the ecology of pollinators at this iconic Whidbey preserve.