Aquatic reserve set up around Cypress Island

One of the least-developed of the San Juan Islands — a rocky oasis of crystal lakes, forested hills and rolling meadows visited by eagles, hawks and the occasional woodpecker — won't be littered with docks, seawalls or marinas any time soon.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on Wednesday formally dedicated the waters around 5,500-acre Cypress Island, just offshore from Anacortes, as the state's second aquatic reserve.

The aquatic-reserve program, proposed in 2000 by then-Commissioner of Public Lands Jennifer Belcher, is designed to protect state-owned marine or freshwater areas for environmental, scientific or educational purposes. Current Commissioner Doug Sutherland designated waters around Maury Island as the first such reserve in 2004.

All but a few hundred acres of the land on Cypress, which has no roads and is sprinkled with fewer than 100 cabins and small vacation homes, was already off-limits to further development.

But Wednesday, Sutherland announced the state had spent $4.6 million to buy 135 acres of waterfront on Secret Harbor — land that officials at Mitsubishi once considered buying to build a destination resort. And he designated waters to about a half-mile offshore around most of the island as a reserve. The area is rich with eelgrass and kelp used by rock fish and sand lance.

The action means the state will grant no new leases for commercial shellfish beds or to build new structures along the water for at least 99 years.

"This particular reserve will be used to promote conservation of marine resources and restore ecological functions," said Kyle Murphy, director of DNR's aquatic-reserve program. "Since Cypress Island represents one of the few remaining undisturbed islands in the archipelago, it also gives us a bit of a baseline by which we can judge impacts on how changes are affecting the rest of the San Juans."

Stan Kurowski, who has managed Cypress Island for DNR for years, said the island is thick with trails, offers stunning views of Mount Baker, is covered with a type of dry pine trees not typically found in damp Western Washington and is not accessible by ferry or public transportation.

"It's an absolutely stunningly beautiful place," he said.

The public can recommend other state-owned waters for inclusion in the aquatic-reserve program by contacting Murphy at 360-902-1073 or kyle.murphy@dnr.wa.gov.

Craig Welch: 206-464-2093 or cwelch@seattletimes.com