Whirlwind of Protections

October proved to be a busy one for the Land Trust and a fruitful one for Island County conservation. Since our last eNews, three land protection projects have been successfully completed, totaling nearly 190 freshly protected acres! Included in this flurry of activity was facilitating the purchase of 21 acres by the Tulalip Tribes at Livingston Bay on Camano Island. This acquisition connects two properties that the Land Trust helped the Tulalip Tribes acquire in 2023, combining to form 150 acres that will be held for future estuary restoration.

Following closely on the heels of the Livingston Bay acquisition was the Land Trust’s purchase of 79 acres on East Harbor Road north of Freeland. This property is made up of healthy, diverse forestland that provides exceptional wildlife habitat. This acquisition, made successful by a generous handful of donors, is the first step toward creating the Holmes Harbor Community Forest, a new effort you will hear more about in the coming months!

Finally, patience paid off when the Land Trust accepted the donation of a conservation easement over nearly 90 acres on south Whidbey Island. This property, which sits in our Swede Hill Conservation Priority Area, includes beautiful mature forest, wetlands and spectacular coastal bluffs that maintain important marine habitats in Puget Sound. The conservation easement, which was over five years in the making, prevents future development of this amazing property – protecting its significant conservation values, including providing an abundance of wildlife habitat, ecosystem services and climate resilience. We are deeply thankful to the incredibly generous, anonymous of this property for their willingness to make such an impactful and perpetual gift to current and future generations here in Island County.

And the fun isn’t over for 2024! We do expect additional great news before the end of the year, so stay tuned. In the meantime, thank you to all the wonderful project partners, funders and supporters who helped make October such a spectacular success!