Education and Outreach
Our mission is to help preserve our unique, critical ecosystem and quality island lifestyle for future generations.
We can succeed only if the public understands, values and shares our love of the Swan Lake Watershed’s priceless habitat and biodiversity. One way we do this is by involving volunteers in our projects so they may experience the richness of the habitat, learn as they work, and share in our successes.
This website also is an important part of our outreach.
In 2010 we installed a Swan Lake interpretive panel at the roadside pullout at West Beach Vista, just south of the lake. This site, which is on higher ground, provides an excellent view of both the lake and the adjacent marine waters. Our panel explains Habitats of Local Importance and provides information on how Swan Lake helps recharge our aquifer and sustains many species of fish, birds and mammals.
In recent years, much attention has come to this dynamic part of Puget Sound, so important to salmonids and other species. The State Department of Natural Resources in 2010 declared a new Smith and Minor Islands Aquatic Reserve, extending from these two, small islands, which are visible just off West Beach, to the adjacent Whidbey shoreline. The offshore islands are part of the San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge and are teeming with seabirds and marine mammals. Waters in the area support Puget Sound’s most extensive beds of Bull Kelp, providing additional important habitat for birds, fish and mammals.
In 2011, Island County Marine Resources Committee will install a companion sign near ours, describing the importance of the marine waters to which Swan Lake has been connected in the past and hopefully will be connected in the future, for the benefit and enjoyment of generations to come. Back to Projects page
Local Girl Scouts are learning about Swan Lake and the ecosystem, for which they earned the "Clover Badge" in the spring of 2012.