Become a Crane Island Nature Preserve Member
If you are an owner 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 you would like to support the Nature Preserve, then you may become a voting member by making a one-time donation of $100 (purchase of CINP t-shirts does not count as a donation). Checks may be made payable and sent to Crane Island Nature Preserve, PO Box 8, Deer Harbor, 98243.
Native Wildflowers Suited for the San Juan Islands
For those with green thumbs or aspiring green thumbs, the following list of deer-resistant plants may be of interest. The list was provided by Erin Halcomb, Stewardship Coordinator for the San Juan County Conservation Land Bank. Let us know if you have success. We’d love to see the results!
For average, well-drained soil: Yarrow, Idaho blue-eyed grass, Roemer’s fescue, western buttercup, field chickweed, wooly sunflower, prairie woodrush, wild strawberry, blue wild-rye.
Nature Preserve’s 50th Anniversary Events Recap
Earth Day. In April, we held our first event of 2025 — the Earth Day trail maintenance work party. Many islanders participated by clearing logs and salal from the trails in the Nature Preserve. If you missed it this year, please come to next year’s Earth Day event in late April 2026.
European Green Crab Search. Our second event involved hands-on science on the beach. About 25 Crane Islanders and their guests gathered on Wednesday afternoon, August 6, to learn about the European Green Crab, an invasive species that threatens to destroy local crab and shellfish. We were delighted to host three instructors from Friends of the San Juans: Jess Newley, Community Science and Education Director, Eva Schulte, Executive Director, and Isabel Alexander, Executive Administrator. This was a terrific event! Thank you Ochs family for the use of your beach!
Beach Clean-up. Our third event, held on September 13, was a beach clean-up attended by six islanders and one guest. Happily, we didn’t find very much in the way of trash, but it was a lovely event in the sun with a picnic.
Nature Preserve Trail Maintenance – April 19, 2025
Come celebrate Earth Day with us on Saturday, April 19!
Please meet at 10 am in the Community Center. Bring clippers, loppers (if you have them), and gloves to trim back branches and salal along the Preserve’s trails.
Crane by Season – Winter
As winter is coming to a close, take a moment to enjoy some images from Crane captured during winter’s time of dormancy and rest. And remember that while we’re stewards of the Preserve, nature doesn’t recognize boundaries — it’s all around us. (Photography by Kaija Jones)
Nature Preserve Trail Maintenance – April 20, 2024
Come celebrate Earth Day with us on Saturday, April 20!
We’ll meet at the Community Center at 10am. Please bring clippers, loppers (if you have them), gloves, and a water bottle. We’ll provide a snack. We’ll be moving branches and clipping salal and other shrubs out of the Preserve’s trails to leave an adequate single file path. No wood will be removed from the Preserve.
2024 – A Wild Winter on Crane
We had snow and wind and lots of cold weather this winter on Crane. The Nature Preserve lost an enormous tree (5 joined trunks!) that blew down across Circle Road (at Rocky Road). Big thanks to Dan Nielson and Mike Clawson for opening the road and getting it cleaned up!
In other winter news, we’ve placed two small wildflower nurseries in the Preserve. Nothing was introduced or planted. We just excluded the deer from two small patches of ground. We hope to see wild strawberries and other flowers soon.
The CINP Spit
Did you know that the northern half of the spit on the Crane side of Pole Pass is owned by the Nature Preserve? This side, Lot 1A, faces the Crane docks. (The other half of the spit – the southern half – is part of the Ochs family’s private property.) The spit’s scenic and habitat values led the San Juan County Land Bank to fund its purchase from Al and Jewel Thompson in 2005. These values are spelled out in the Conservation Easement that secures the Land Bank’s investment:
- “Open Space and Scenic Conservation Values: [the spit is] a well-known and prominent landmark of the San Juan Islands, visible from the water by the Washington State Ferry and by boaters traversing to Deer Harbor and points beyond & a historic Indian fishing site;
- Habitat Conservation Values: this undeveloped shoreline habitat, together with adjacent undeveloped uplands, is home to distinctive specimen trees of Juniper and Pacific Arbutus [madrone].”
What does the Conservation Easement mean for us today? First, we are required to protect the spit in its natural condition. We are allowed passive recreational use, but we are not allowed signs, camping, campfires, or structures (except the memorial bench). In addition, written permission from the Land Bank is required for tree cutting or vegetation removal.
Every so often, the Land Bank comes to Crane Island to monitor the condition of the spit. According to Land Bank representative, Erin Halcomb, our juniper trees are very old (maybe a century?). And, having so many junipers in a cluster is quite rare.
2023 – A Year of Events
In 2023, CINP hosted several nature themed events for members, in addition to the annual trail maintenance work party. We studied seaweed with an herbalist on the Dietrich beach; we learned about whales and other marine mammals from our resident biologist Bethany Shimasaki; and, we enjoyed an interpretive walk through the Preserve with a local naturalist.
More recently, on September 30, CINP members participated in the Great Island Beach Clean-up of the San Juan Islands. This is a bi-annual, all-county volunteer effort to pick up litter on island beaches sponsored by the Plastic Free Salish Sea organization, county waste districts, and local businesses. County-wide, almost 1,900 pounds of litter were removed from 50 miles of beaches. Here on Crane Island, we walked most of the beaches of the island’s southern half and removed enough styrofoam, glass and plastic to fill two 5-gallon buckets, as well as two old tires. Thanks to everyone who participated!
2023 CINP Map
Big thanks to our very own, Jan Smith for updating the map to show all the trails as they currently exist. It’s another reason to get out and explore the CINP!
You will find more resources in our Nature Library at the community center and in the “Forest Gnome’s Favorite Places” booklets found at each of the four entrances to the Preserve. These little booklets contain the trail map and other information for you to enjoy a self-guided tour. They are fun for young and old!
CINP Trails Report – 2023 Earth Day Trail Maintenance
In April, we held our first event of 2023 — the Earth Day trail maintenance work party. Many island families participated by clearing logs and salal from the trails and by protecting one muddy trail with wooden stepping stones. You’ll find the stepping stones on the Forest Green trail shown on our new, updated map in the kiosks at each of the Nature Preserve’s four entrances. If you missed this event this year, please come to the Earth Day 2024 event on Saturday, April 20.
CINP Trails Report – 2022 Stewardship Day in the Preserve
On Earth Day, 4/22, CINP members met in the Preserve and worked for several hours cutting back salal along the trails. In the afternoon, we gathered at the bog to brainstorm some solutions for the two wettest areas. Both are on the western side of the island on the Green Forest trail (the southern trail that crosses the CINP), not far from where it intersects the Blue Sky trail (which connects wells 2 and 3). We could see that where the trail turns into a bog or mud hole, people start walking around it, widening the trail in that spot.
How could we solve the problem with the least possible disturbance to local flora and fauna?
One alternative we discussed was to reroute the trail around the bog, but we concluded that there’s value in leaving the existing natural spaces to the animals in the CINP and not creating additional trails at this time.
In the second wet section of the trail, the mud is less deep. We are experimenting with covering this shorter stretch with a layer of cedar branches. Ce-Ann and Kyle worked as a team on Saturday to sweep fallen twigs and branches from under a nearby grove of cedars and spread them out over the trail to allow hikers to stay on the trail without wet feet. If this works, we may try it in the bog.
It was a very productive and enjoyable Earth Day event!
CINP Trails Report – April 23-24, 2021
A huge thank you to the folks that helped with our annual trail maintenance this year! We had a nice turnout. The trails await your exploration. Some large doug firs and lodgepole pines that came down over the trails in last winter‘s high winds were cleared, although some stretches of trail remain quite wet. We’ve decided that those wet segments would benefit from cedar stepping rounds.
Our Earth Day weekend trail stewards included:
Michelle and Django on early branch removal. Tom Bridge at the chainsaw, with Kyle assisting with brawn and humor. Early birds David, Dani, and their cheery houseguest, Molly. Kate Kauffman, friend of every mossy log on Pink Sunset Trail, and husband Stuart, proud inspector of her work. Margaret, Elyse, Molly and Blair, our diligent salal snippers. Recent islanders, Spencer and Leslie, who jumped in and wrapped up the day. Many thanks to any other elves I didn’t see last weekend or during the year. Great job and also very fun!
Ce-Ann Parker, CINP president
Nature Preserve Trail Maintenance 4/23-4/24, 2021.
Trail maps, task messages, and sign-in sheet with contact numbers will be posted at the Community Center at 10:00 a.m. both mornings. A CINP board member will be there to give you direction at that time, though you’re welcome to work on the trails whenever it’s convenient for you. Check out the Nature Preserve Library inside while you’re there!
Please bring gloves, clippers, and loppers. We’ll also need several chainsaws.
Also, bring your water bottle and MASK and wear it if you’re around others, keeping 6’ distance.
Cut only the portion of trees and branches that have fallen across the trail into lengths that can be put to the side of the trail. No wood will be removed from the Preserve.
Branches, sticks, and rocks in the path may be tossed aside. Please leave soft material on the trails, as it’s been found to cushion birds that have fallen from the nest. No over grooming of trails, please!
Salal and other shrubs growing into the trail can be clipped with pruners to leave an adequate single file path.
Rock cairns indicate trail direction, so please don’t remove those.
Please call CINP President, Ce-Ann Parker with any observations or questions. Happy trails!
New Routing for Blue Sky Trail Completed
At the August 2017 Annual Meeting, the membership approved a new routing onto higher and drier ground for the portion of the Blue Sky Trail that runs from its junction with the Green Forest Trail to Well No. 3. The new trail has been completed and already has gotten a lot of use.
Crane Island Nature Preserve 