Turtleback Mountain Preserve

The 2020 Turtleback Mountain Preserve forest assessment (click here to view) outlines a variety of forest management actions aimed at improving forest health and habitat value in the face of climate change. Staff incorporated many of the recommended actions into the Draft 2022 Turtleback Mountain Stewardship and Management Plan (click here to view).

In anticipation of a future that includes more active forest stewardship, the Land Bank applied for and received a $30,000 grant from the Washington Department of Natural Resources to implement small-scale forest management projects that demonstrate the practices described in the forest assessment. These include stand thinning, downed wood and snag habitat creation, chipping, scattering, piling, and pile burning.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) provided funding support beginning in 2022 through a Landscape Scale Restoration Grant for Garry oak enhancement work on South Turtleback. With field support from the San Juan Islands Conservation District’s Island Conservation Corps, the Samish Department of Natural Resources and private contractors, the Land Bank is removing small-diameter conifers from Garry oak habitat, burning much of this material in small piles and planting oaks, native seed and wildflower plugs in those areas.  The Land Bank is also establishing shaded fuel breaks along access roads and completing priority thinning projects identified in the forest assessment.

For more information regarding this project, please contact Preserve Steward, Peter Guillozet at 360-289-0052 or at peterg@sjclandbank.org.