Admiralty Inlet Natural Area Preserve in

Island County, Washington Island County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 86,857. Its county seat is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor. The county's name reflects the fact that it is compose ...

is part of the

Washington Natural Areas Program The Washington Natural Areas Program, part of the Washington Department of Natural Resources, manages dozens of natural areas owned by the U.S. state of Washington. These areas have received funding through the state's general fund since the Washi ...

. It lies along

Admiralty Inlet Admiralty Inlet is a strait in the U.S. state of Washington connecting the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Puget Sound. It lies between Whidbey Island and the northeastern part of the Olympic Peninsula. Boundaries It is general ...

within Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve on land owned by the Whidbey Camano Land Trust with a

conservation easement In the United States, a conservation easement (also called conservation covenant, conservation restriction or conservation servitude) is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation organization (often called a "land trust") or gover ...

owned by the

Washington Department of Natural Resources The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages over of forest, range, agricultural, and commercial lands in the U.S. state of Washington. The DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include shorelines, tidelands, lands un ...

. Admiralty Inlet NAP is home to one of only 11 remaining populations of

golden paintbrush ''Castilleja levisecta'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known by the common name golden paintbrush, or golden Indian paintbrush, listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1997. It is native to British Columbia a ...

, a flowering plant listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The preserve's includes old-growth forest, a rare remnant

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

, and shoreline. The Whidbey Camano Land Trust purchased the site from

Seattle Pacific University Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is a private Christian university in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1891 in conjunction with the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary. It became the Seat ...

for $3.3 million in June 2013.

References

{{Protected Areas of Washington Washington Natural Areas Program Protected areas of Island County, Washington