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07/24/2008: "Land Bank’s Shoreline Preserve Benefits"

(Students from Orcas Island Elementary School’s 5th grade classes participate in beach seining and exploration of the tidelands at Deer Harbor Waterfront Park with the San Juan Nature Institute.)

Press Release: Two acres with over 650 feet of marine shoreline in Deer Harbor have undergone a transformation under the ownership of the San Juan County Land Bank.

Slated for residential development in 2004, the property was on the market and caught the attention of members of the community and the Land Bank because of its potential for public shoreline access and preserved open-space in the active heart of the Deer Harbor Hamlet.



After completing the purchase in 2006, the Land Bank set about clean-up and planning. “The property came with wonderful features as well as some unique challenges”, recalls the Land Bank’s Orcas Preserve Steward Ruthie Dougherty. “The challenges included a dug well which had to be legally abandoned and made safe; 7 tons of creosote logs on the beach; and the long derelict remains of a concrete saltwater swimming pool.” With input from the community the “Deer Harbor Waterfront Park Stewardship and Management Plan” was adopted and work began.

“We were fortunate to have been able to partner with the Department of Natural Resources on the creosote log clean-up” explains Land Bank Director, Lincoln Bormann. “Their streamlined permitting and funding support made it possible for us to clear the leaching creosote logs from our shoreline. Removing the concrete pool was more complicated, expensive and time consuming, but a $22,000 grant awarded by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) allowed us to complete the project.”

With the concrete walls removed from the intertidal zone, the natural shoreline processes and restoration of habitat linkages that benefit Chinook and chum salmon, Pacific herring and eelgrass has begun. It may take years to fully appreciate the significance to the function of the near-shore environment, but the benefits to the community are already evident.

Views across the park from Deer Harbor Road are framed by a stretch of beach, open meadow and mixed woodland. A meandering foot path and small parking area have made the property safe and welcoming for those who wish to observe activity in the harbor or explore the shore.

As with all Land Bank preserves, visitors to Deer Harbor Park are asked to “leave no trace”, remain on established trails and keep pets on leash. Fires, camping, commercial use, collecting and overnight parking are prohibited.

For further information visit www.co.san-juan.wa.us/land_bank/contact.html http://www.co.san-juan.wa.us/land_bank/aboutus.html or call the Land Bank office at 378-4402.