It is with heavy hearts that SJPT staff and board honor the life and enduring legacy of Bob Myhr, who passed away in December 2024. Bob served as Executive Director with the San Juan Preservation Trust from 1985 to 2002.
During his tenure, Bob transformed the Preservation Trust from an emerging organization into a successful land conservation nonprofit. Through his grassroots partnerships with landowners and supporters, thousands of acres of island landscapes were protected across the archipelago. He also expanded SJPT’s communications and educational programs, offering public lectures, our first newsletters, wildflower walks, and field trips that helped the community connect with the land in meaningful ways.
Recognizing the need for long-term care of conserved lands, Bob hired SJPT’s first land steward in 1986. Together, the team of two instituted key stewardship practices which still guide our work, including baseline studies, annual monitoring, and proactive invasive species control.
In the late 1980s, he played a key role in the formation of the San Juan County Conservation Land Bank, SJPT’s long-time partner in some of the islands’ largest conservation projects.
Bob Myhr’s contributions to SJPT and its mission cannot be overestimated. His legacy lives on in the nearly 19,000 acres of land protected by the Preservation Trust and its partnering landowners. We acknowledge his passing with sadness and gratitude. Read more about Bob’s history with SJPT here.
SJPT staff and board fondly remember their time with Bob during his seventeen years with the organization. Their words are collected here.
Nancy Greene, SJPT board member: “Bob always had a great sense of humor and a knack for glueing people together in the best of ways. He knew how to connect with people authentically and it allowed the Preservation Trust to develop a solid foundation from which we’ve grown upon ever since.”
Above: Bob Myhr at Sportsman’s Lake, 1988
Above: Bob Myhr and Judy Moody working together
Above: Three SJPT Executive Directors (Angela Anderson, Bob Myhr, and Wendy Mickle)
Dean Dougherty, Director of Stewardship: “Bob really set the tone for the Preservation Trust early on. He was ambitious, achieved a lot, and brought tremendous enthusiasm to the workplace. I’ll always be grateful that he hired me over twenty years ago, and for the time we spent together on numerous projects.”
Angela Anderson, Executive Director: “The Preservation Trust simply wouldn’t be where it is today without Bob’s foresight and leadership over the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Our success now, and in the years ahead, is thanks to the strong framework that he set during our organization’s formative years. We are all grateful for his remarkable efforts to better the Preservation Trust and the San Juan Islands.”