Approaching the Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge in the Strait of Juan de Fuca is otherworldly: seals swimming within a shallow bay, a cacophony of squawking seagulls on the shore, and tufted puffins nesting in the bluff above.
Not a single human to be seen, except for the island’s lone resident who lives up and over on the other side of the hill.
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is making sure it stays that way by gathering data about the island’s wildlife residents and improving their habitat.
The tribe took over management of the Protection Island and Dungeness National Wildlife Refuges from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 2024 with the goals of conserving and restoring habitat at both sites, said Fawn Wagner, the tribe’s wildlife refuge manager and ecologist.
For Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge, which has been owned by USFWS since 1982 and is not open to the public, Wagner is overseeing baseline data collection of the island’s vegetation and wildlife, including using game cameras and drone surveys. Work also includes removing invasive vegetation and planting native plants good for nesting habitat. The island has a mix of environments, such as prairies, forests, bluffs and beaches.
The goal is to support protected species, such pinnipeds and seabirds, including tufted puffins, glaucous-winged gulls and rhinoceros auklets. A deer management plan also is being put into place, using 22 game cameras on the island to help count the population as well as track other animals they can’t get eyes on otherwise, Wagner said.
The initial work by the tribe after taking over management included improving the access road and assessing existing structures, such as an old caretaker’s residency, storage facilities, generators and tool sheds, as well as developing a relationship with the island’s one resident. In the 1960s, the island was slated for development of summer homes until it was discovered there wasn’t enough fresh water to support residents.
Existing landowners had the choice of living on the island for a specific number of years (i.e. 5, 10, 15) or taking a lifetime residency. One person took the lifetime residency, and ownership of the lot will return to the federal government after his passing.
At the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, which is highly popular for hiking, wildlife viewing and research, the tribe is adding hazard and warning signs around the eroding bluffs, and updating interpretive signs that explain the importance of the refuges to the S’Klallam people.
“We want to make sure visitors under-stand this is still a treaty-protected area and the S’Klallam people are still here,” Wagner said.
Dylan Bergman, Point No Point Treaty Council wildlife biologist, left, helps Kari Williamson, habitat technician for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, set up a game camera on Protection Island to study the island’s deer population. Story and photos: Tiffany Royal
