Cypress Island is the westernmost part of
Skagit County, Washington and is about halfway between the mainland and offshore
San Juan County. It is separated from
Blakely Island to the west by
Rosario Strait and from
Guemes Island to the east by Bellingham Channel. The island has a land area of , and a population of 40 persons as of the
2000 United States Census
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...
.
The
Washington Department of Natural Resources manages about of the island and leaves the island in a natural state. Cypress is heavily forested and has a system of trails linking various parts of the island. In roughly the middle of the island is a lake of about . On the southeastern corner of the island is a sheltered bay featuring a salmon fish farm. Cypress is not served by
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
and there are no public utilities on the island.
The island is a popular destination for
kayak
A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' ().
The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...
trips due its relatively close proximity to the mainland and to the camping available at two sites on the east side.
Sheltered anchorages for boaters can be found in Eagle Harbor with public state park facilities.
Natural features
Most of the island is underlain by
ultramafic rock such as
serpentinite, which provides a poor balance of nutrients to soils that develop on it. The island's common soil series is Guemes very stony loam. Limited areas of fertile non-ultramafic soils occur around the island's northern end and in small pockets elsewhere. Most of these are mapped as Catla gravelly ashy sandy loam.
Forests on the island are dominated by
Douglas-fir. The magnesium-rich bedrock supports a considerable population of
Seaside Juniper. Other common trees include
shore pine,
Pacific madrone and
Douglas maple. Some
western hemlock,
western red cedar,
grand fir,
red alder and
bigleaf maple also occur.
History
Native presence
Prior to homesteading in the early twentieth century, the island was used by the
Samish tribe, which had a winter village established on nearby
Guemes Island.
[The Samish Tribe of Indians vs. United States](_blank)
, Indian Claims Commission, 1958 Samish fishing villages were present on Cypress until 1900.
Early exploration
The first sighting of Cypress Island by Europeans was by the Spanish during the 1791 voyage of
José María Narváez, who named it San Vincente.
The island was named again by Captain
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...
in early June 1792, when he mistook juniper trees for cypress trees. Vancouver reports that the
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
, one of the vessels in his party, lost an anchor in Strawberry Bay, on the west side of the island.
Vancouver wrote:
The island of Cypress is principally composed of high rocky mountains and steep perpendicular cliffs which in the center of Strawberry bay fall a little back and the space between the foot of the mountains and the sea side is occupied by low marshy land through which are several small runs of most excellent water that find their way into the bay by oozing through the beach.
Preservation
In 1975, the
Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) designated as a Natural Area Preserve, and added 56 more acres in 1978. At that time, however, most of the island remained in private hands.
Several attempts were made to develop the island. Spokane industrialist
Raymond A. Hanson acquired on Cypress Island in 1978
[Lonnie Rosenwald, "Spokane developer's project hits widespread opposition"](_blank)
The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, August 16, 1987 and, in the 1980s proposed first a large-scale public utility development and then a five-star resort and golf-course. Small land-owners on the island, organized in a group called "Friends of Cypress Island" fought both proposals. Hanson finally sold his land to the Department of Natural Resources in 1989.
[Bill Deitrich, "Cypress - An Island Set Apart -- The State Finds The Best Way To Preserve Pristine Property - Buy It!"](_blank)
Seattle Times, July 22, 1990
This purchase along with subsequent, smaller purchases, have allowed the Natural Area Preserve to be expanded to , out of the that comprise the Cypress Island Natural Resources Conservation Area.
The waters surrounding the island became a DNR Aquatic Reserve in 2007.
[Cypress Island Comprehensive Management Plan](_blank)
, Washington Department of Natural Resources, 2007[Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Cypress Island Aquatic Reserve](_blank)
See also
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References
External links
Cypress Island: Blocks 1025 and 1026, Census Tract 9501, Skagit County, WashingtonUnited States Census Bureau
Cypress Island Natural Resources Conservation Area Management Plan
{{authority control
Islands of Skagit County, Washington
Islands of Washington (state)
Washington Natural Areas Program
Protected areas of Skagit County, Washington
Pacific islands of Washington (state)