Submitted by the San Juan Island Conservation District.

“I believe that Patos Island is called ‘Penawen’ in Coast Salish and means Moon of the Camas Harvest,” explains Given Eisenhardt, a member of the San Juan Islands Youth Conservation Corps. In this week’s Nature Nugget, Given and his peers help us track the YCC crews as they undertake stewardship efforts on Patos Island, including retrofits to the historical lighthouse, trail maintenance and forest health projects in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and Keepers of the Patos Lighthouse.

“The lighthouse was having a problem with mice getting in through the rotting baseboards and we helped to seal those areas up,” Given explained. “Now mice can no longer get into the lighthouse. I’m proud of how we have impacted the island in a positive way.” It wasn’t just Given and his San Juan Island crew that got down to business on Patos – crews also from Orcas and Lopez each pitched in on separate two-night camping trips to complete a major overhaul of lighthouse windows and other infrastructure, plus island trails.

The Lopez crew removed old plexiglass from the windows and rotting baseboards from the structure during the first week of the project, setting up the Orcas crew for a successful effort, repainting window frames and pouring fresh concrete to seal out rodents during the second week. The San Juan crew finished the job, reinstalling windows with new plexiglass to improve durability, visibility and aesthetics.

While each crew of 10-15 members poured their hearts, minds and muscles into a diverse mix of stewardship projects, it was the San Juan crew that hit the jackpot on wildlife sightings. According to Given, “We saw Orcas swim by while we were working on the lighthouse. Working on the trails we saw seals with pups and then back at camp we saw orcas again and an otter. There were also a lot of birds around the island like blue herons, bald eagles, a hawk, and lots of gulls.”

Fellow San Juan crew member Wynn Wall provided a bit of history about the Patos lighthouse. “The lighthouse was constructed by the US Coast Guard after two gigantic coal ships wrecked on reefs near the island in the late 1800s, which made them realize that a lighthouse was needed.”