Celia Hunter

1919 – 2001

Ten acres on the southwest-facing slope of San Juan Islands’ Mount Dallas was bequeathed to the San Juan Preservation Trust by Celia Hunter, a well-known Alaskan environmental activist with longtime ties to the San Juans.

Celia was involved in every significant conservation issue in Alaska’s history, beginning in the 1940s. She was a founding member of the Alaska Conservation Society, a board member of both The Wilderness Society and Alaska Nature Conservancy, and she served on the Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission. In 1991, she was given the John Muir Award, the Sierra Club’s highest honor.

The stunning view property, which Celia owned with her longtime companion Ginny Wood, was protected with a “forever wild” conservation easement donated to the Preservation Trust in 1992. It encompasses open forest, rock outcrops, grassland, and a wooded area along West Side Road. The upper reaches provide perch sites and hunting grounds for raptors, but the land is most prized for its native wildflower habitat.

Under Preservation Trust stewardship, the Celia Hunter Preserve will be safeguarded in perpetuity — a tribute to the legacy of an extraordinary woman with an unwavering passion for nature.