A PHOTO CONTEST WINNER FROM 2021 SWAN COUNT | SHEILA BOLKA
February 2021
Postcard from the Islands
Help us protect the islands you love!
PRESERVATION TRUST NEWS
ADULT AND CYGNET, ORCAS | SHIELA BOLKA
WE [HEART] SWANS
This year, the Preservation Trust coordinated its largest group of volunteer swan counters yet. What stood out this year was the large number of juveniles. This “flush” of young is a hopeful sign. What's even more remarkable is that a pair of adult swans with seven cygnets was spotted on Orcas Island! Thanks to all who participated in our photo contest. "Read more" for photos and full regional results.
WALTER MACGINITIE AT 2010 SJPT ANNUAL MEETING | STAFF ARCHIVE
TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND
The Preservation Trust lost a member of its extended family shortly before Christmas, 2020: Walter MacGinitie. He and Ruth, his wife of 70 years, donated conservation easements in 1998 and 2009, forever protecting 13 acres of their property—including 2,347 feet of shoreline—on the west side of San Juan Island. 
MARBLED MURRELET | MICHAEL NOONAN
VIDEO: MEET THE MAMU
Marbled Murrelets (MAMUs) show the ecological connection between land and sea. They feed on forage fish (such as sand lance) in the Salish Sea while nesting in scarce old-growth forests as far away as the Olympic Peninsula, some 40-60 miles from where they feed in the islands. Learn more about these hardy yet endangered seabirds.
SYLVAN LOOP TRAIL | STAFF ARCHIVE
NEW TRAIL TO OPEN
March 1 is the official opening day for the newest addition to the Preservation Trust's trail network. The two-mile Sylvan Loop Trail meanders through a scenic sampling of the Marilyn and Fred Ellis Preserve's varied forest landscapes.
OUR 2020 CLIMATE SCHOLARS, RACHEL SNOW AND ARLA SUTTON
YOUTH SCHOLARSHIPS
We are pleased to announce the second year of the San Juan Preservation Trust's Climate Leadership Scholarship program. The program, which is entirely financed by donations from SJPT board members, will award two $5,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors—$2,500 per scholar for each of their first two years of college.
WHITE-FROSTED FOREST WITH TURTLEBACK IN THE BACKGROUND
A SNOWY VALENTINE'S
Our mid-February snowfall gave Craig Canine, SJPT's director of communications and outreach, a good excuse to launch his drone and capture some aerial video above his home on Orcas Island. He "choreographed" the video footage to the soundtrack of a well-known winter waltz.
LEAVE YOUR LEGACY IN THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS
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The Gann Society is a group of individuals who have notified us that they have provided for the San Juan Preservation Trust in their estate plans.

Protect these islands for generations to come with a bequest to the San Juan Preservation Trust. 
UPCOMING EVENTS
Feb. 25 Western Bluebird Project Training/Refresher
We are looking for volunteers who live on San Juan Island and are willing to annually adopt a bluebird trail as a part of the San Juan Island Western Bluebird Project. Training is via zoom.

5:30pm–6:15pm
Feb. 27 Beach Clean at Peach Preserve
Winter storms and high tides brought decades worth of trash from the Salish Sea onto our beaches. Please join us to remove this accumulation of garbage from Peach Preserve.

10:30am–1:00pm
March 1 Spring Planting at Ellis Preserve
The deer exclosure fence is up at Ellis Preserve, on Shaw Island, and there are a diversity of trees and shrubs to help plant inside this protected area!

10:00am–2:00pm
March 5 Spring Planting along False Bay Creek
SJPT staff needs help planting a variety of native trees and shrubs to create riparian habitat along False Bay Creek corridor on Sundstrom Farm Preserve.

10:00am–1:30pm
PHOTO OF THE MONTH
EASTSOUND WATERFRONT PARK, ORCAS ISLAND | SHEILA BOLKA
Are these altocumulus or cirrocumulus clouds? Whatever their type, these clouds inspired photographer Sheila Bolka when she visited San Juan County Land Bank's Eastsound Waterfront Park and captured the ripples in both sky and water.
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The San Juan Preservation Trust
PO Box 759, Friday Harbor, WA 98250
360-378-2461 | SJPT.org