Staff members and volunteers of the San Juan County Conservation Land Bank have been as busy as, well, beavers over the past year as they’ve worked towards opening the first phases of an extensive planned trail system on Beaverton Marsh Preserve. They’ve divided this ambitious concept for public access into four phases. Here’s the status of each phase as of late July ...

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We published an earlier version of this story two years ago, in the summer of 2021, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed removing golden paintbrush from the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

We’re “brushing up” the story now because the proposed delisting has just become a reality. One thing that has not changed since 2021 is the species’ precarious status in the San Juan Islands. Here’s our story with updates:

The 2023 bluebird season–the seventeenth year of the San Juan Preservation Trust’s Western Bluebird Project–has been an especially active one. We’ve seen five nesting pairs return to San Juan Island, resulting in 30 offspring that have fledged the nest so far, with more likely on the way soon!

This summer also saw the project’s first transfer, or translocation, of a bluebird family to San Juan Island in five years. In the translocation process, which took place in June, a new family of bluebirds was captured from an existing, well-established population in the South Sound and transported to the islands.

Tours of the Tharald Homestead provide an opportunity to learn more about the cultural legacy we have inherited and ponder the one we will leave behind. No registration necessary.

For this fall event, come enjoy a bit of outer-island tranquility and help us with Henry Island Preserve maintenance and small-scale reforesting.

Join us as we put plants in the ground that we hope will provide food and habitat for next year's batch of Island Marble Butterflies! (First of 2)

Join us as we put plants in the ground that we hope will provide food and habitat for next year's batch of Island Marble Butterflies! (Second of 2)

Rachel Merz, one of our stalwart nest-box hosting volunteers with SJPT's Western Bluebird Project, actually took this photo in May, when she spotted an adult bluebird bringing a snack to six young ones. We chose this as our July photo of the month to celebrate the conclusion of the bluebird project's seventeenth nesting season. (See story above.)