Field Notes | Summer 2025

Since the onset of spring, visitors to Land Bank preserves have been on the rise, and that’s not counting the bi-pedal! Staff observed (and heard!) California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) hauled out on the rocks of San Juan Island’s Westside Preserve; Coho salmon fry (Oncorhynchus kisutch) were found in abundance during the annual seigning with Jenny De Groot (Speckled Trout Consulting) and Steve Boessow (WDFW) at Coho Preserve on Orcas Island; and a special discovery by Kwiáht’s Christian Oldham atop Turtleback Mountain Preserve – a male and a female Sharp-tailed snake (Contia tenuis) under the same cover board – a first for that location!

Our work party pace has picked up as well! In April, Third Thursdays at the Salish Seeds Project nursery started, and a visiting volunteer group of six from the KEEN shoe company spent a week working on the preserves. They performed trail maintenance and pulled noxious weeds at Mount Grant and Westside Preserves on San Juan and then island hopped to Orcas to assist the Islands Conservation Corps (ICC) in improving  trail drainage and replacing deteriorating steps at Coho Preserve. (Read their first-hand account in their blog post: keenfootwear.com/blogs/keen-blog/happier-trails-in-the-san-juan-islands)

Lastly, we welcomed two new seasonal field assistants in June: Scot Devereaux on Orcas and Claire Waterman. Scot owns TerraMar Droneworks and, along with general land management experience, brings a diverse background in environmental education and natural resources data collection and analysis. Claire has been on Lopez the past few years farming and is excited to be learning new things with the Land Bank! Be sure to say hello if you see them in the field.