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03/30/2009: "Some Progress On Mitchell Hill"

(SJI Trails Committee map)

The efforts of the County Council, the San Juan Island Trails Committee , and other interested groups in the county to protect the 320 acres that make up Mitchell Hill on San Juan Island have reason for some optimism to preserve the land. Representative Norm Dicks and others are working to include a transfer of the land from the DNR to another group or agency that will restrict development of the land.

Dicks serves on the appropriates sub-committee for the Interior Department 2010 budget, and sources familiar with the project report that pressure and lobbying is underway to fund the National Park Service’s acquisition of the land. One of the 2009 priorities of the SJ County Council is “Save Mitchell Hill.”


It has been estimated that between $4.5 to $8 million dollars of money -or value in kind- will have to be either raised, or moved around between state and federally agencies, to protect the hill from private development. One idea has one agency making a trade of land for another as a way of moving DNR ownership of the land to the National Park Service.

It is hoped that Mitchell Hill can become part of English Camp; an action already approved by the San Juan Island National Historic Park plan.

The Conservation Fund, Congress, National Parks, Department of Natural Resources, and San Juan County are all working together to make this happen, and the efforts have gained support from various politicians both at the federal and state levels.