[Previous entry: "Sign Up Now: Summer Bike Ride on Shaw Island"] [Next entry: "The Mother of All Parking Lot Sales!"]

08/10/2007: "$120K Matching Private Grant To Keep Watmough Wild"

(Steve Horn photo
The San Juan Preservation Trust has announced that six Lopez Island families are offering to match every individual donation made to the Campaign to Keep Watmough Wild, (Background Story) up to a total of $120,000 dollars. This means that each dollar donated will earn an additional dollar from the matching grant. Qualifying donations include new gifts made to the campaign and payable before the September 7, 2007 deadline.

“Together, these six families will contribute a one-to-one match for all contributions made to the effort to prevent development inside Watmough Bight,” said David Perera, co-chair of the campaign steering committee. “It is this kind of generosity that will help us reach our $500,000 goal by September 7th of this year.”

and hope that this $120,000 challenge grant will encourage people on Lopez, and on all of the San Juan Islands, to help us protect this incredibly peaceful, beautiful, popular, and ecologically sensitive place from being ruined,” said Lopez resident Mike Halperin, who represents one of the families offering the matching grant. “Several years ago, the Lopez community worked very hard to protect much of the land around the bay for the public’s enjoyment. Today, it is our turn to protect the remaining properties that are vulnerable to development.”

The matching grant participants are: David and Shari Ashbaugh; Peter and Betsy Currie; Mike Halperin and Jodi Green; John and Patsy Sangster; and two anonymous families.

About the Campaign to Keep Watmough Wild
The San Juan Preservation Trust and the San Juan County Land Bank have formed a partnership to purchase and conserve a 7-acre property that is susceptible to development inside the largely protected Watmough Bight on Lopez Island’s southeast coast.

Local planning and development officials were prepared to approve an application to develop the 7-acre parcel adjacent to the beach at the head of the bay. That plan called for the removal of 60 percent of the trees on the property, including trees that are at least 400 years old. It also called for the construction of a house on the slope overlooking the public beach, rocky cliffs, and sensitive wildlife habitat that have already been protected by the Land Bank and the federal Bureau of Land Management

Recognizing the significance of Watmough Bight to the natural and cultural heritage of Lopez Island, Imogene “Tex” Gieling, a neighbor who owns the remaining private property within the bay, has offered to donate her land to the public. This gift, along with the purchase of the property under threat, would keep Watmough Bight free of development and accessible to the public.

Summer Fundraising Campaign has September 7 Deadline
Keeping Watmough Bight undeveloped and open to the public requires a $1.225 million community fundraising effort. The Land Bank has committed $575,000 to the project, and the San Juan Preservation Trust will contribute $150,000 of its own funds. The Preservation Trust must therefore raise the remaining $500,000 from private individuals before the September 7, 2007 closing deadline.

How to Help Finish the Bight
To support the Campaign to Keep Watmough Wild, send tax-deductible donations to the San Juan Preservation Trust, Box 327, Lopez Island, WA, 98261. Make checks payable to the San Juan Preservation Trust/Watmough. To make secure online donations, go to www.sjpt.org. For each contribution of $100 or more, supporters may receive a campaign ball cap with the Watmough logo on the front and “Finish the Bight” on the back. For more information about this project, please contact Sven Haarhoff of the San Juan Preservation Trust at 360.378.2461.