Healthy Shorelines
Protecting land so our seas can flourish
Conserving land along shorelines supports the entire marine web, from seabirds and starfish to salmon and whales, including our southern resident orcas.
Good stewardship means removing seawalls and derelict structures, planting native plants, monitoring invasive species and keeping beaches clean.
Our Conservation Land Bank protects and stewards approximately 13 miles of shoreline to support the health of our Salish Sea.
Photo: The new North Shore Preserve on Orcas
“On islands where much of the shoreline and panoramas are privately owned, the Land Bank offers all of us places where we can explore the waters and beautiful vistas that surround us. Not to mention forested lands where we might have the good fortune of encountering the occasional pileated woodpecker or river otter. And all that for a one-time fee when buying property.”
— Kyle Loring, San Juan Island
Why I Support the Land Bank
Explore Healthy Shorelines
This 20-acre preserve combines with other conserved areas to protect unique habitat near the southern tip of San Juan. A sandy intertidal salt marsh and rare saltwater lagoon support wildlife including nesting bald eagles and great blue herons. Monitoring the lagoon regularly for European green crabs helps improve chances of early detection to protect native marine species.
Photo: Monitoring Third Lagoon for European green crabs, one of the world’s worst invasive species
Third Lagoon Preserve
In 2022 the Land Bank secured the last unprotected area on Lopez’s Watmough Bay. The 11.6-acre property connects to 450 acres of conserved land and includes 2,053 feet of rocky shore and pocket beaches in a high priority area for salmon recovery. The Land Bank installed mooring buoys in the adjacent bay to help protect eelgrass from anchoring by boats.
Photo: The Watmough Preserve addition was an important reef net site for Coast Salish peoples.
Watmough Preserve Addition
Orcas Island’s new 58-acre preserve has undergone major cleanup to protect its 1,800 feet of shoreline and uplands. The Land Bank removed 10 dilapidated buildings, 101 buried tires and thousands of feet of defunct fencing. A steep eroding beach access road was stabilized and repurposed as a walking trail, and more than 10,000 native seedlings planted.
Photo: The Land Bank removed unsound structures near the shoreline at North Shore Preserve in 2023.
North Shore Preserve
Acquired in 2019 and 2020, this preserve’s highly visible shoreline stretches for nearly 1,600 feet and is also ecologically significant: the tall eroding bluffs “feed” the beaches with crucial sediment for forage fish spawning. The 18-acre preserve abuts Spencer Spit State Park.
Photo: The feeder bluffs at Spencer Spit Preserve provide important sediment for spawning
Spencer Spit Preserve
This 20-acre preserve links to two other Land Bank preserves and a state park to a to create a 172-acre protected shoreline zone on San Juan Island. Diverse forest, coastal prairie, wetland, a seasonal stream and nearly 1600 feet of gravel beach, tidepools and rocky bluff combine to form a biodiversity hotspot in an area favored for land-based whale-watching.
Photo: The tidepools and rocky banks at Deadman Bay teem with life.
Deadman Bay Preserve
The 29-acre Spit Preserve defines the entrance to Fisherman Bay on Lopez. This rich and varied preserve protects rare coastal dunes and wetlands, a grassy headland, cultural sites and a mile of sandy shoreline. The property was threatened by an approved five-lot subdivision when the Land Bank negotiated for its purchase.
Photo: Young volunteer on beach cleanup day at Fisherman Bay Spit Preserve
Fisherman Bay Spit Preserve
Three parcels purchased over eight years created this 11-acre preserve on Orcas Island’s northern East Sound, one of just five remaining herring spawning areas in the county. Beach restoration included removing a dock, bulkhead and creosote pilings to improve natural shoreline processes and enable eelgrass beds to expand. Plans are underway to restore the small stream that flows into the cove.
Photo: Judd Cove Preserve is located in just one of five remaining herring spawning areas in the county
Judd Cove Preserve
The threat of residential development at this near pristine 465-foot stretch of sandy beach on Lopez’s west side led islanders to fundraise a downpayment and contact the Land Bank to purchase. The 9.5-acres acquired in 2017 includes upland forests that filter runoff and erosive bluffs that support the marine food web by feeding sediment to area shorelines.
Photo: Lopez volunteers brave January temperatures to collect microplastics at Channel Preserve
Channel Preserve
These 34 acres on Waldon’s north shore includes more than 2,500 feet of low-bank beach and feeder bluff in the region’s highest priority for salmon recovery. This property connects with adjacent conserved lands to protect more than 6,300 feet of natural shoreline supporting juvenile Chinook salmon and other marine species. The Land Bank purchased a CE to limit residential development.
Photo: The Huntley Conservation Easement combines with other conserved lands to protect 6,300 feet of shoreline