we are grateful for you!

You and your fellow 3,000 members of the San Juan Preservation Trust are what makes our work possible. You have the vision to preserve these beautiful islands so future generations may enjoy and cherish them just as we do now. You support the work of our board and staff with your passion, your volunteer efforts, and your dollars. Thanks to your vision, trust, and support, we've done more for our beloved islands than we could have dreamed possible.

Please consider renewing your support during our annual membership appeal.

We had a "rally" good time

The Preservation Trust sent five staff members to the Land Trust Alliance Rally, held last month in Denver. Rally is an annual conference that brings together nearly 2,000 land trust staff members, board members, interested governmental agencies, service providers, and other land-conservation supporters.

A rotating group of SJPT staff  attends the conference each year, but this year's Rally was special. ...

in search of forest fungi

Last month’s “Forest Fungi Foray” outing to Waldron Island attracted an enthusiastic group of Preservation Trust members. All was in place for a fine day of mushroom hunting.

The only thing missing was … well, mushrooms—or, at least, the hoped-for bounty of chanterelles, pig’s ears, lobsters, oysters, and shaggy manes that normally appear in the forest along Cowlitz Bay. Why were they no-shows? Our naturalist/guide, renowned mycologist Fred Rhoades, had a theory.

license plate design chosen

The votes were tallied in September, and San Juan Island artist Nancy Spaulding’s painting “Evening Passage” won the design contest for a proposed special license plate that would help support conservation projects in the San Juan Islands. Competition was stiff—47 eye-catching designs vied for votes during a series of roving exhibitions over the summer. ...
 

saving kelly's point

Our conservation partners at Skagit Land Trust have launched a campaign to acquire and permanently protect Kelly’s Point and Yellow Bluff on the southwestern corner of Guemes Island. The 27-acre property includes iconic coastal cliffs, undeveloped upland forest, and more than 3,000 feet of marine shoreline along a popular sandy beach—just a stone’s throw from SJPT’s Peach Preserve. …

As we launch our annual membership campaign and enter into the year-end giving season, we want to remind our members about two things:

1. We receive several gifts from donors of appreciated securities at this time of year. These donors understand that they can realize both a charitable gift deduction AND avoid long-term capital gains taxes on those appreciated securities. The unprecedented performance of the stock market, recently setting all-time highs, presents a valuable opportunity for those seeking to make charitable gifts with these assets. ...