NORT H W E S T
REGIONAL SECTION // SEAMAGAZINE EDITED BY STEPHANIE SHIBATAand nearly 90 percent (4,800 acres) of it
is managed by the Department of Natural
Resources. It has 3,800 acres designated
as a Natural Resource Conservation Area
(NRCA) and a Natural Area Preserve,
which gives a high priority to conservation
of natural systems, wildlife and dispersed
recreational values. Nearly 200 species of
mammals and birds use the island.
The island was the historical home to
the Coast Salish people and later European
settlers. The Salish economy was based
on the seasonal harvesting of resources by
hunting, fishing and gathering plants. Use
likely centered on seasonal camps rather
than permanent settlements.QUICK ESCAPE
WILDLIFE ADVENTURES
AT EAGLE HARBOR
FIND AN UNTOUCHED ISLAND THAT
IS A HIKER’S PARADISE.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY DEANE HISLOP
THE SUN ROSE OVER MT. Baker as the aroma of brewing coffee filled the cabin. Easy
Goin’ was moored on a buoy in Eagle Harbor on the east side of Cypress Island.
Due to the lack of development, Cypress
Island, on the eastern side of Rosario
Strait, is one of our favorite gunkholes in
the San Juans. Plus it’s only eight and a
half miles from our moorage in Anacortes.
While most of the San Juan Islands have
been privatized and developed, their
shorelines made forever off limits by
private owners, Cypress Island has actually
gone the other way.THE ISLAND
The 5,500-acre island is undeveloped,
SEAMAGAZINE.COM MAY 2017 PNW-1