Gund Tiptop Hill Conservation Easement

Stuart Island

The San Juan Preservation Trust announced in 2010 that a key 83-acre parcel has been added to a network of conserved lands on Stuart Island’s iconic Tiptop Hill.  With a donation of a conservation easement on their property, the Gund family has added their names to a list of generous and visionary neighbors that are permanently conserving the dramatic topography of this remote island near the U.S.– Canadian border.  The Preservation Trust has been working with the Stuart Island community over a number of  years to permanently protect Tiptop Hill and adjacent Reid Harbor.  The Gund property, which spans the entire eastern flank of Tiptop, is blanketed with old growth forest and rare Garry oak savannah habitat.  Visible from vantage points throughout the San Juan Islands and Canadian Gulf Islands, Tiptop is also adjacent to Stuart Island State Park in Reid Harbor, a popular recreational destination for boaters.

“It has been our intention to conserve this property from the moment we purchased it,” said George Gund.  “We are thrilled to know that it will remain in its natural state forever.”

The Preservation Trust has assembled this network of conserved lands over many years through donations of land, conservation easements and money from the Stuart Island community.  This conservation easement on the Gund property permanently prohibits any future development, protects important wildlife habitat, and represents a key milestone in this ongoing neighborhood effort.