To the editor:

Help shape the nature of our Island!

The Bainbridge Island Land Trust is updating our Strategic Conservation Plan, which guides our protection priorities. Input from our community is important to us as we look to the future and determine how we will help maintain the special character of our Island. Please take our Community Conservation Survey today by going to our website at www.bi-landtrust.org and clicking on Conservation Plan Update.

For 29 years the Bainbridge Island Land Trust has helped protect over 1,330 acres of natural areas on Bainbridge Island — more than 1,000 acres of which are open to the public. Our community has a long and dedicated tradition of protecting open and natural spaces, recognizing the importance of these areas to the quality of life on the Island. Through our Community Conservation Survey, we’d like to hear from as many of you as possible. Your input will guide our future conservation efforts.

The land trust’s work with community partners and private landowners has helped shape the character of the Island we all love. That character is reflected in many of our iconic Island places. From Hilltop and the Grand Forest to the Gazzam Lake area, these protected areas have been conserved through decades of persistence and community support. As an example, the Gazzam Lake Preserve area, now more than 500 acres in size, has been created and expanded by seven distinct community supported land preservation efforts. Those efforts began in 1995 and continue today.

The land trust helps preserve these large connected tracts of land to provide not only passive recreational opportunities for all of us and key places of refuge for wildlife, but also aquifer recharge and water quality protection. Our preservation partnerships with private landowners include both individual property owners as well as conservation-minded developers. We know that the community values our green natural areas and open spaces, whether experienced from our cars, bikes, boats or trails.

If you have questions about the land trust or the Conservation Plan please contact us. Once again, we’d love to hear from you so please join in and take our Community Conservation Survey by going to www.bi-landtrust.org. Thank you!

JANE STONE, Executive Director

BRENDA PADGHAM, Conservation Director

Bainbridge Island Land Trust