About

The Crane Island Nature Preserve is a charitable non-profit organization established in 1975 for the exclusive purposes of securing, protecting and preserving natural areas on Crane Island in order to provide a wilderness area of biological diversity for the protection and preservation of wildlife and for the scientific study of natural populations and their ecology.

The Crane Island Nature Preserve owns 7 lots on Crane Island encompassing approximately 29 acres.

When you are in the Preserve, please remember to respect the usual rules for a natural area:   The Preserve is walk-in only. Stay on the paths and leave the vegetation untouched. Camping, campfires, and smoking are not allowed.

HISTORY

The Preserve was created in 1975 when several Crane Islanders had the idea to protect the 50-acre interior portion of the island as a natural area. The goal: 

“… to secure, protect, and preserve natural areas on Crane Island in order to provide a wilderness area of biological diversity for the protection and preservation of wildlife and for the scientific study of natural populations and their ecology.” 

Additional benefits were thought to be: saving trees; saving water; providing a more tranquil environment for the island; and, building community by having a shared place to enjoy and care for. This all came true! 

In 1975, the first five acres were purchased from the island’s developers with $9,000 in donations from Crane families. By 1977, the Preserve’s board of trustees had raised enough money to purchase 15 acres more. In the mid-1980’s, the last thirty acres in the interior of the island were purchased: the Crane Island Association holds the deed to twenty acres and the Crane Island Nature Preserve, a non-profit organization, holds the deed to the last ten acres. 

Today, the interior of the island – surrounded by Circle Road, Old Road, and the airstrip – is a peaceful, quiet place for all inhabitants of Crane Island: people, birds, and other wildlife. In addition, the Preserve hosts scientific studies and inventories of island plants and animals. Crane’s environment and community would be very different now if those interior 50 acres were fully built out as the developers had originally planned. 

More recently, in 2005, the shoreline and uplands on the point at Pole Pass (Crane side) were protected through a conservation easement with the San Juan County Land Bank. The north side of the point (“Lot 1A”) is owned by the Preserve. It is open to Crane residents for walking. (Camping, campfires, and collecting shellfish, seaweed, and driftwood are not allowed.) 

MEMBERSHIP

The cost of owning and maintaining the Preserve is covered by memberships and other donations. Membership in CINP is slightly different from Crane Island Association membership. According to CINP’s Articles of Organization, voting members are individuals (not households) who (a) are owners of Crane property (i.e. your name is on a deed or you are part of a deed-holding entity such as a family trust), and (b) have at any point donated a total of $100 to CINP (purchase of CINP t-shirts does not count as a donation). Anyone who would like to join would be most welcome. Checks can be sent to Crane Island Nature Preserve, PO Box 8, Deer Harbor, 98243.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Elyse Woodruff (President)

Kristin Brown (Vice President)

Leslie Dietrich (Secretary)