Submitted by San Juan County.

On Sept. 18, the San Juan County Conservation Land Bank received a 225-acre parcel on Blakely Island from the Washington Department of Natural Resources. The property is located on the island’s eastern edge and has shoreline frontage on Rosario Strait. It is one of the first places people see from the ferry as they approach the county.

The land is entirely forested with a mix of conifers, and some areas may have never been harvested due to steep slopes and difficult access. The property’s extensive shoreline also provides important marine habitat, such as kelp forests and eelgrass beds for salmonids. State Trust Land properties have a legal responsibility to generate revenue for their designated beneficiaries, such as schools, counties and critical local services. Transfer to the Land Bank, through the State’s Trust Land Transfer Program, protects this significant area from timber harvest or any other activities designed to generate income.

“The Land Bank has been very interested in this property for years because of its ecological importance,” stated Director Lincoln Bormann. He added, “This property is the last major State Trust Land property in the San Juans. It’s been a great success for the community.”

Bormann has worked over the last 20 years to support the transfer of State Trust Lands in the County to other public land entities. Once totaling 2,450 acres across the archipelago, all but 40 acres are now in conservation ownership. Previous projects have entailed long-term leases from the state as well as outright purchases. Lands previously conveyed have included Shark Reef and Odlin South (County Parks), Lopez Hill (Land Bank) and Chadwick Hill (Bureau of Land Management), all on Lopez. On San Juan, the National Park Service acquired the Mitchell Hill area adjacent to English Camp, and Washington State Parks increased their acreage on Orcas with a number of acquisitions.