Spieden Island is a privately owned island in the San Juan Archipelago in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

of Washington. It has a land area of and no permanent resident population as of the 2000 census, although several structures are present on various parts of the island. The island was purchased by James Jannard, founder and major shareholder of Oakley, Inc. in 1997 through a shell company and is still owned by him as of 2019.

Geography

Approximately two miles long and 1/2 mile across at its widest point, it is less than a mile north of San Juan Island, across the Spieden Channel. The highest point of the island is approximately 374 feet above sea level. The north side is heavily forested but the south side is largely barren. The south side features many

glacial erratics A glacial erratic is a glacially deposited rock (geology), rock differing from the type of country rock (geology), rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by gla ...

, large boulders deposited by glacial activity in the past.

History

Spieden Island was named by

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and List of explorers, explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865 ...

during the

Wilkes Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

of 1838–1842, to honor William Spieden, the

purser A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...

of the expedition's ''

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

''. In the 1970s and 1980s the island was used for

big game hunting Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for Trophy hunting, trophies, taxidermy, meat, and commercially valuable animal product, animal by-products (such as horn (anatomy), horns, antlers, tusks, bones, fur, body fat, or special o ...

; non-native game animals such as Mouflon sheep from

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

fallow deer Fallow deer is the common name for species of deer in the genus ''Dama'' of subfamily Cervinae. There are two living species, the European fallow deer (''Dama dama''), native to Europe and Anatolia, and the Persian fallow deer (''Dama mesopotamic ...

from Europe, and

Sika deer The sika deer (''Cervus nippon''), also known as the northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south t ...

from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

– along with approximately 2,000 exotic birds such as African guinea fowl – were brought to the island. A hunting lodge, airstrip, and small hangar were built to accommodate visitors. The venture was short-lived, however, partially due to environmental concerns and also due to the risk of errant shots reaching nearby San Juan Island, which is relatively populated. The imported species continue to survive on the island. The Island Institute, an environmental education camp run by Jane Howard, was once located on the island. It is no longer in operation.

Notes

Spieden Island: Blocks 4001 and 4002, Census Tract 9603, San Juan County, Washington
United States Census Bureau San Juan Islands Uninhabited islands of Washington (state) Private islands of Washington (state) {{SanJuanCountyWA-geo-stub