Earlier this year, your Conservation Land Bank stepped up to purchase a key, unprotected parcel along Watmough Bay. The newly protected parcel fits perfectly into a larger puzzle of private lands held under conservation easement and nearly 400 acres of public BLM lands designated within the San Juan Islands National Monument. This acquisition completed a decades-long goal of creating a contiguous conservation area in SE Lopez.
“Small, but spectacular, the 11.5-acre property features over 2,000 feet of shoreline and expands the Land Bank’s conservation efforts along Watmough to roughly 25 acres,” said Land Bank director, Lincoln Bormann. “This last bit of bight provides an outstanding opportunity for salmon recovery in a high priority area.”
The southeastern shore of Lopez Island is the only area in the County that consistently hosts wild, juvenile Chinook from U.S. waters. These young salmon migrate out from the Skagit and Nooksack Rivers and use Watmough Bay, and the surrounding area’s pocket beaches and seagrass beds, as refuge from the Straits’ swift currents and deep-water predators. The new preserve has two pocket beaches, which are being sampled for forage fish, and joins together 1.27 miles of undeveloped, jigsaw-curved shoreline.
The Land Bank acted quickly to secure the property once we heard the Higgins family estate wanted to sell. The final purchase price was $2.55 million. To help offset the cost of acquisition the Land Bank is now applying for grants including, the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account, and discussing future partnership opportunities with the BLM.
The next few years are designated as an interim period for the property. This provides focused time to perform resource assessments, and to stabilize both future funding and stewardship activities for the site. “As with most Land Bank Preserves, the Watmough addition imbues multiple features of our mandate,” remarked Lopez Steward, Amanda Wedow. “Its ecological, cultural, and historic qualities will be all taken into consideration during the resource assessment process.” The property also has potential for low-impact recreational use. However, it will be closed to public access during the interim period.
Still, we are eager to share this special place. 
Land Bank staff will offer periodic guided tours as an opportunity for the public to safely visit the property and to hear about our progress. Dates for this summer are June 29th, July 29th, and August 29th. Sign-ups for the tour are required. For more information and to register please email Outreach/Volunteer Coordinator Tanja Williamson at tanjaw@sjclandbank.org or call 360-378-4402.