Kiket Island is a small islet in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, co-managed by the

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission The Washington State Park System is a set of state parks owned by the state government of Washington, USA. They are managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. There are over 140 parks throughout the state, including 19 mari ...

and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. Located at Snee Oosh, less than northwest of the town of LaConner in

Skagit County, Washington Skagit County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,523. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The county was formed in 1883 from Whatcom County and is named for the Skagit Ind ...

, Kiket is connected to

Fidalgo Island Fidalgo Island is an island in Skagit County, Washington, located about north of Seattle. To the east, it is separated from the mainland by the Swinomish Channel, and from Whidbey Island to the south by Deception Pass. The island is named af ...

by a

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island become ...

, over which runs an access road. Hope Island lies to the south of Kiket; Skagit Island only a few hundred feet to the southwest. These islands can be said to divide

Skagit Bay Skagit Bay is a bay and strait located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Whidbey Island Basin of Puget Sound. The Skagit River empties into Skagit Bay. To the south, Skagit Bay connects with the rest of Puget Sound via Saratoga ...

from

Similk Bay Skagit Bay is a bay and strait located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is part of the Whidbey Island Basin of Puget Sound. The Skagit River empties into Skagit Bay. To the south, Skagit Bay connects with the rest of Puget ...

. The shoreline of Kiket Island and vicinity has been called one of the best-studied areas of coastal Washington. Ecological studies were made in the last decades of the twentieth century, when the site was considered for a nuclear power plant. In 1969,

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light is the public utility providing electricity to Seattle, Washington, in the United States, and parts of its metropolitan area, including all of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park and parts of unincorporated King County, Burien, No ...

and

Snohomish County PUD The Snohomish County Public Utility District is a public utility agency providing power to over 367,000 customers in Snohomish County and on Camano Island, Washington. It provides water service to about 23,000 customers in the northeast section ...

considered building a $250 million 1,100 MW nuclear power plant on the island. By 1972, the plan for the nuclear plant was dropped due to environmental concerns. Seattle City Light and Snohomish County PUD sold the property in 1980. On June 23, 2010, a joint ownership agreement was signed by the state Parks and Recreation Commission and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. Both Kiket and tiny Flagstaff Island (connected to Kiket by another tombolo) are included in the agreement, and are part of

Deception Pass State Park Deception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island, in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A pair of bridges k ...

. The partners and

The Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

gathered grants and donations from a range of sources to purchase the $14 million property. As part of the acquisition process, wildlife surveys were conducted in the winter of 2008–2009. The park is open to the public with restrooms at the parking lot accessed via Snee-Oosh Road and on the west end of the island.

References

External links

* {{authority control Islands of Washington (state) Islands of Puget Sound Islands of Skagit County, Washington Tombolos State parks of Washington (state)