Notes From The Field

November 27, 2023

Have you visited Turtleback Mountain Preserve recently?
Multiple enhancements have taken place this year, the most recent of which created a better transition […]

November 14, 2023

Over the past several weeks stewardship staff have planted Garry oak acorns and sowed native seed at Turtleback Mountain and Kellett Bluff Preserves. Garry oak (Quercus garryana), also known as Oregon white oak, is Washington’s only native […]

July 27, 2023

These smiling faces belong to the 2023 San Juan Island Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) who have been busy helping Land Bank Stewards, map and assess “big and old” trees along the northwest side of Cady […]

June 14, 2023

Gravity finally caught up with this Doug fir snag along the road at Mount Grant Preserve, just before the Newt Pond Trailhead. Early this week, stewards noticed the tree had collapsed and was dangling above the road by a single root. They altered their work […]

June 6, 2023

Did you know a mature Scotch broom plant produces in excess of 10,000 seeds that can be ejected as far as 20 feet?! Stewards spent last week clearing the golden […]

May 24, 2023

The latest trail at Beaverton Marsh Preserve is coming along nicely, thanks to our tremendous Trail Blazer volunteers and stewardship staff. Once completed, this multi-purpose gravel trail will be an option for visitors to walk beyond Island Rec’s […]

April 27, 2023

Jenny DeGroot discovered salmon babies at Coho Preserve on Orcas Island! She notes “the white-tipped anal fin is a sure sign that another generation of Coho salmon are live in Cascade Creek!”

December 13, 2022

If Santa were ever to recruit humans for the North Pole, he’d do well to visit San Juan County. Volunteers and stewardship staff wore smiles and an extra layer (or two?!) while working in LSR (Land scape Scale Restoration) areas on Orcas and San Juan […]

July 19, 2022

The wild summer weather has kept stewardship staff – and volunteers – on their toes! Shauna Barrows snapped this pic of volunteers Bob Williams and Carol Jackson after last week’s noxious weed pull at Limekiln Preserve. That’s a lot of thistle heads in that bucket! […]

June 9, 2022

A bright spot in the crazy sun, rain, rain, rain, sun weather pattern is the formerly “threatened” native Golden paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta) are having a tremendous season! Jacob snapped this pic whilst working in the Garry oak restoration area on Cady Mountain Preserve this week.

Covered […]

March 2, 2022

Conservation Land Bank staff and the Islands Conservation Corps are having fun this week with “theme” plantings on Orcas Island. Over the course of three days a total of 2,250 shrubs and trees were planted.

Monday’s plantings at Turtleback Mountain Preserve included the berry producing […]

January 25, 2022

Last Friday these stalwart volunteer stewards donned their warmest winter wear and spent a couple hours picking up plastic and foam along the beach at Channel Preserve on Lopez Island. Their combined efforts filled a garbage bag, […]

November 8, 2021

The sun gleaned last Friday morning while Amanda, Shauna, and Jacob cleared creosote logs and deconstructed the old dock that had been sitting the field for years at the Spit at Fisherman Bay Preserve. 

September 13, 2021

The signs of fall are popping up – mornings are cooler, leaves blanket the ground, and now, sheep graze the eastern pasture of Beaverton Preserve. Shephard Family Enterprises are the new lessees of the Preserve’s designated agricultural […]

July 16, 2021

In the last week stewardship staff dismantled two fire rings with wood and kindling stacked and ready to light on both Turtleback and Turtlehead Preserves. Your Conservation Land Bank and the San Juan Preservation Trust would like to remind visitors that wildfire is a […]

March 11, 2021

Over the last two weeks our local Civilian Conservation Corps has helped stewardship staff plant close to 5,000 bare root plants and forbs on Orcas and San Juan Island Preserves. Stewardship coordinator, Erin Halcomb, captured […]

February 8, 2021

Did you know that local, state, federal, and non-profit conservation land management agencies have a working group that helps coordinate and support each other’s work? The Land Bank helped establish the San Juan Islands Terrestrial […]

January 28, 2021

Wolf Hollow Update on Bald Eagles Found at Mount Grant Preserve

– submitted by Shona Aitken, Education Coordinator | Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

We thought you might like to hear a little more about the two Bald Eagles that were unfortunately found dead atop Mount Grant […]

January 25, 2021

Tom Marschner and his faithful walking companion, Ellie the Golden Retriever, encountered a rare and sad occurrence while hiking Mount Grant Preserve Friday afternoon. Nearing the summit, they discovered a pair of dead Bald Eagles splayed out […]

January 12, 2021

Orcas Field Assistant, Kayla Seaforth, and Salish Seeds Project Nursery Assistant, Sarah Benson, begin planting seedlings on Turtleback Mountain Preserve during a January deluge. With the help of the Washington Conservation Corps (WCC), 14,000 native seedlings […]

DECEMBER 9, 2020

A conservation easement owner admires a snag (standing dead tree) on his property. Dead trees are a bit of a misnomer. They teem with life. A variety of fungi, insects, amphibians, birds and mammals utilize snags. In […]