San Juan County acquires lease to Lopez Hill

August 18, 2009 7:07 pm

After many years of effort, Lopez Hill is now protected through a lease between San Juan County and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

The 50-year lease, which was appraised at $5.1 million, was paid by the Trust Lands Transfer Fund, set up specifically to turn state lands over to appropriate local governmental agencies. Lopez Hill covers 399 acres, and is the highest point on the island.

The Friends of Lopez Hill have worked to gain permanent access, educate the public, and build and maintain trails on the Hill.

“Signing the lease turning Lopez Hill over to San Juan County is the culmination of over three years of hard work and dedication by the Lopez community, local legislators, the Land Bank staff and Commission, and the County Council,” Adrienne Adams and Ann Palmer, two of the founding members of the group, said. “The Friends of Lopez Hill are grateful to everyone who made the preservation of the Hill a reality and we look forward to working with the County to help protect and manage this very special piece of land we call ‘The Heart of Lopez.’”

Lopez Hill has been a traditional gathering place, as evidenced by a photo from 1897 which shows about a hundred people celebrating Independence Day. Since 1957, the DNR has managed its properties to raise money for schools in Washington, primarily through logging and agricultural leases. Management of the smaller, isolated parcels in San Juan County has proven problematic, so in recent years the DNR has divested itself of most of its local property, including land on Chadwick Hill and Shark Reef Road on Lopez.

The Land Bank, which was instrumental in acquiring the lease, will take over management of Lopez Hill.

“We are delighted to help in the preservation of the largest undeveloped parcel remaining on Lopez,” Lincoln Bormann, the director of the Land Bank said. “The beauty and natural resources of Lopez Hill have a reprieve, and the people in the county now have a say in its future.”

The Land Bank will soon publish an interim management plan to govern use and stewardship of the Hill during the process of assessing its resources and creating a permanent management plan. Public input will be solicited throughout the process, both in public meetings and through written comments.