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04/13/2008: "Who Should Be Allowed To Use Turtleback Mountain?"

The Land Bank Commission held their regular monthly meeting in Eastsound on April 11th.and the first hour of the meeting was for public comment regarding the Management Plan (Draft Stewardship and Management Plan) for Turtleback Mountain.

There were about 40 members of the community present, included citizens from Lopez Island; San Juan Island; Center Island, and Orcas Island. Many of the speakers were passionate in their testimony, with a majority speaking in favor of multi-use trails on Turtleback.
There were speakers against any public use, and a few who spoke in favor of restricting access to hikers only. The current restrictions include: No camping; No fires; No hunting; No firearms; No vehicles; No bicycles; No horses, and No commercial use.

One of the areas of discussion was how broad is the definition of “low impact public access” within the context of the land Bank’s oversight of the property. How restrictive can the Conservation Easement the Preservation Trust has on Turtleback be, and still meet the definition -and the objectives- of public access.

The Island Trail Riding Club recently met with Land Bank staff to discuss the use of the property, and there are those who are opposed to the ban on bicycle riding. The Land Bank Plan retains the right to close public access if they decide it is necessary to protect the stated goals for the property, as contained in the Management Plan.

Many of the 80 plus people that had attended a March 10 public meeting felt that the Management Plan “was a done deal”, and that their testimony had not been passed through to the Land Bank Commissioners. There were concerns that it was not possible for those who work to attend a daytime meeting. In response to public concerns the Public Comment period had been extended from March 31 to April 18.

Turtleback was not purchased by the Land Bank using only their normal excise tax funding. There were donations made by an estimated 2000+ private citizens in a $18.5 million community fundraising campaign. The San Juan Preservation Trust and the Trust for Public Land were also partners in the campaign. As a result, The legal mandate that the Land Bank normally uses may be able to be looked at a little differently for this piece of property, since the extent the public may use the property has been enhanced by their past financial contributions.

Tim Seifert of the Preservation Trust spoke at the end of the session, and wanted to make it clear that the Preservation Trust is paying attention to the public input.