- Cypress Island Natural Resources Conservation Area (dnr.wa.gov)
Cypress Island Natural Resources Conservation Area (NRCA) is the largest relatively undeveloped island in the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound. In these islands close to the greater metropolitan areas around Seattle, extensive undeveloped shorelines and uplands are becoming rare. Cypress Island contains unusual geological characteristics, outstanding examples of native biological communities, critical habitat for federally protected species, and significant marine and cultural resources. Cypress Island protects 5,230 acres of high quality forest, wetland and grassland communities and surrounding state-owned tidelands, and includes the only protected low-elevation serpentine forest in Washington. Cypress Island includes land in both NRCA and NAP (Natural Area Preserve) designations. The NAP areas on the island, 1072 acres of total conserved acres, and protect rare examples of grasslands underlain by basalt bedrock, and other plant communities and wetlands underlain by serpentine bedrock.