Hull Conservation Easement

Henry Island

When Gretchen and Lyman Hull first visited this 119-acre property one cold November day in 1984, it made a deep impression. “This place has a real flavor to it,” Lyman explained, at the time of their donation of a conservation easement on the property.  “There is a continuous rhythm of birds, creatures and bugs… always something going on.”

The property spans the southern portion of “North Big Henry” from Nelson Bay to Haro Strait. In addition to a 50-acre meadow, the acreage boasts 2,410 feet of waterfront, tidelands, mixed conifer forest, and wetlands. A grove of quaking aspen trees, uncommon on the smaller islands, stands near the northern boundary.

“We realized from the beginning that this was a unique piece of property,” Lyman recalled, and they made the decision to place a conservation easement on the entire parcel.   When preparing the conservation agreement, careful consideration was given to defining the location of their sod-roofed meadow house and two additional home sites. Screening, blending, and scale are addressed in detail to ensure that the permitted future development has minimal impact on the property’s ecologic or visual qualities.

The conservation easement also explicitly addresses forest management, habitat stewardship, and shoreline buffers. “We do not want the character of the land lost,” Lyman remarked. “We want to keep it the way it is so that down the generations it can be enjoyed by others. There is something so wonderful about being here, just the joy of the place. Protecting the land with a conservation easement has been a good choice for our family, and the Henry Island community, since our neighbors love it too.”

Although Lyman has recently passed away, his widow Gretchen continues to love and care for the property that they have now stewarded for several decades.