What the land bank is doing to curb COVID-19

Submitted by San Juan County Land Bank

Your conservation land bank is taking steps to do its part in slowing the spread of the COVID-19 illness.

San Juan County Health and Community Services is monitoring the spread of COVID-19 in the islands. The health and safety of the San Juan County Land Bank staff, volunteers, supporters and partners is paramount, as is the public health of our community, particularly those most vulnerable to this illness. Following the guidance of our county public health staff, and Governor Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” proclamation on March 23 we have taken the following steps:

• Required staff to work from home, restricting access to offices to those performing essential on-site activities. To contact us, you can call the office at 360-378-4402 and leave a message, or if you know who you’d like to contact, you can find our individual email addresses on our staff page.

• Postponed or instituted teleconferencing options for all meetings.

• Canceled all events scheduled for March and April. We will post updates to public events on our events calendar.

• Suspended monthly Salish Seeds Project Work Parties.

• Suspended opening the gate for driving access to Mount Grant Preserve summit.

• Instituted guidelines for stewardship fieldwork to practice social distancing and taken additional measures to protect employee health and safety.

Our offices are closed, but the Land Bank staff is continuing operations remotely. We will observe the Governors’ proclamation, and any other rules issued, and we will follow the guidance of our public health officials as this situation unfolds. Any new updates will be posted on our website, https://sjclandbank.org/.

Please stay healthy and remember to continue practicing Social Distancing while recreating outdoors.

• Stay home if you feel sick!

• Maintain a safe distance between yourself and other groups.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

• Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.