(Editor’s note: The family and friends of Ben White, Kelli Ashcraft and Troy Sullivan planted a cedar, maple and cherry tree. The plants were purchased in memory of these three young islanders who passed away this year. According to an islander who participated in the planting, the maple tree was Troy’s birthday tree, the cherry tree represented Kelli’s beauty and Ben’s sister bought many cedars for people to plant in his honor. )

Submitted by Lincoln Bormann

Director of the SJC Land Bank

San Juan Islanders have faced difficult times over the last several months with the tragic passing of three people in the prime of their lives. My heart goes out to all of their friends and family.

You may be wondering what this has to do with the Land Bank. In seeking a way to create a living memorial for their friends, a group of people purchased trees and planted them on the Land Bank’s Westside Preserve. Unfortunately, we weren’t consulted on this and had no idea how it came about. Given that our mission is to keep properties as natural as possible, and that we ask people to “leave no trace,” we removed the trees as they were ornamental and not native.

Naturally, the folks who planted the trees were upset, some even devastated, when they discovered the trees were gone. At this point, we were able to contact the group and let them know that we had carefully removed the trees and they were in good condition. We all agreed to meet to talk about solutions to the issue.

In the end, despite the fact that this goes against Land Bank policy, we decided to make an exception, allowing the trees to be replanted in the same location. The community has been through enough.

However, in doing this, we’d also like the community to understand that this should not be seen as a precedent. This property was set aside as a conservation area, and preserving native species is a big part of this. Should these trees fail, we will not allow similar species to be replanted in this location. Rather, going forward, we ask that anyone wanting to memorialize a friend or family member on Land Bank property come to us first. We are willing to talk about using native species, such as Garry oak or Madrona, and placing them in areas that are accessible, and also where we are working to restore the landscape. In this way, we can satisfy the mission of the Land Bank and commemorate loved ones as well.

Our hope is to promote a code of respect, for each other, and for the natural world. The Land Bank is only a part of the equation. It is up to all of us as a community to carefully steward the plants, animals, and ecological functions that make our island so special, caring for them so they persist long into the future. To us, that is the best memorial of all.