South Whidbey State Park is a public recreation area consisting of of old-growth forest and

tidelands Tidelands are the territory between the tide line of sea coasts, and lands lying under the sea beyond the low-water limit of the tide, considered within the territorial waters of a nation. The United States Constitution does not specify whether ...

with of shoreline on

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 ...

along the west shore of

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington State. (The other large island is Camano Island, ...

in Island County,

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 ...

. The state park contains many mature specimens of

western red cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae ...

, Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, and

western hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...

, some of the largest on Whidbey island, including a giant cedar over 500 years old.

History

When the park was created in 1974 it consisted of approximately 87 acres of shoreline along

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

. In 1977 local citizens filed a lawsuit against 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 ...

, which managed the park, when they learned that the state agency planned to grant logging contracts on an adjacent 267 acre parcel of land known as "Classic U," which contained one of the few remaining stands of old-growth conifers on the island. Activists pursued legal solutions to prevent logging of the parcel, forming a nonprofit foundation called Save the Trees and seeking a temporary injunction on logging from the state government. Many also practiced civil disobedience—laying down in front of bulldozers to prevent the destruction of ancient trees. After many years of negotiation and litigation, 255 acres of the Classic U parcel were officially added to the state park system by action of the legislature. In 1992, the parcel was officially purchased from the DNR and added to South Whidbey State Park. In 2006 an additional 7.3 acre parcel was added to South Whidbey State Park, bringing the total acreage to 347. This land, known as the "Ryan addition" in honor of local conservationists Al and Maureen Ryan, who were instrumental in the battle to preserve the Classic U groves from logging, was purchased with funds contributed by the state Parks and Recreation Commission, the Island County Commission, and private donors in an effort organized by the non-profit Whidbey Camano Land Trust. In 2015 the campground and overnight use of the park closed indefinitely due to dangerous conditions from “advanced levels of heart rot in the stems of large old-growth trees.”

Amenities

Park activities include picnicking, hiking on of trails, camping, crabbing, clamming, fishing, swimming, beachcombing, birdwatching, and wildlife viewing.

References

External links

South Whidbey State Park
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission {{authority control State parks of Washington (state) Parks in Island County, Washington Protected areas established in 1963 Old-growth forests