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. …

Bluff at Kelly’s Point | Photo by Molly Doran

“We are thrilled to be working with the community to protect Kelly’s Point,” says Molly Doran, executive director of Skagit Land Trust. “We want to keep it just the way it is. It is such a beautiful place and has ecological qualities that are increasingly rare in Puget Sound.”Skagit Land Trust has an agreement with the owners that gives the community until January 28 (2018) to raise $1.38 million, plus associated costs needed to purchase and manage the property. If they cannot raise the funds by the deadline, the property will go back on the market. Current zoning would allow most of the forest to be logged, and homes and access roads to be built. Development could also include reinforcement of the naturally eroding cliffs of Yellow Bluff. The Washington Department of Ecology classifies them as “feeder bluff exceptional,” as they contribute large quantities of sand and gravel to island beaches. The sediment anchors marine eelgrass meadows and sustains other forms of wildlife habitat, such as at the nearby Peach Preserve wildlife area owned by the San Juan Preservation Trust.