Action shot of ICC removing old fence material
Volunteers embraced the winter hustle alongside stewardship staff to complete infrastructure and habitat enhancement projects, ensuring a fruitful spring on Land Bank preserves!
Hearty (and hardy) planting volunteers at North Shore Preserve
In January, on one of the windiest days of winter, Island Conservation Crew (ICC) members and staff removed an old fence along the Roche Harbor Road portion of San Juan Island’s Beaverton Marsh Preserve in preparation for a new fence that will improve safety for lessee’s grazing animals on the Preserve.
February highlights include the help of a hearty group of volunteers on Orcas Island, undeterred by February rainstorms, plant 11,000 bare root trees and shrubs across the North Shore Preserve, and Lopez Island Youth Conservation Corps was gifted a mild winter work day when they planted 400 native plugs at Upright Head Preserve on Lopez Island. Lucky Lopezians!
Dilapidated building removal with OIFR
New barn swallow structure awaiting arrival of new tenants
The big flex occurred at the end of February, when Land Bank staff and Orcas Island Fire & Rescue (OIF&R) collaborated on a live fire exercise to remove a dilapidated building from the Preserve. This demolition provided local emergency responders with a valuable training opportunity and supported Land Bank efforts to transition a barn swallow colony to a new nesting structure upon their return to the island this spring.