GUEMES ISLAND — Standing on the top of Guemes Mountain, Molly Doran said the breathtaking view wasn’t likely to change over the next 100 years.

Doran, executive director of the Skagit Land Trust, turned and pointed to Cypress Island, Lummi Island, Larrabee State Park, Blanchard Mountain and Samish Island — all of which have been protected as open space. In the distance, Mount Baker’s snow-packed slopes gleamed during a break in the clouds.

Although the farmland on the Skagit Flats could change appearance, farm preservation groups and goals listed under the Puget Sound Partnership make it unlikely. It all adds up to a panorama that could offer the same enjoyment for future generations as it does for today’s Guemes islanders.

“There’s not a lot of places left in Puget Sound that you can say that about,” Doran said.

That’s one of the reasons the Skagit Land Trust, the San Juan Preservation Trust and Guemes community members partnered to raise $2.2 million to buy the 70-acre parcel at the mountain’s nearly 700-foot-high summit.

The 70 acres is in the heart of 580 publicly and privately owned acres on the mountain that will eventually be protected from future development, Doran said.

The impact of the pending purchase has begun to make a change on an island where residents value their island ambiance.

“It does set a tone,” said Gary Davis, president of Friends of Guemes Island. “It’s not just for the people who are here. It’s for the people who will come, and their descendants who will stay here. That’s why my property will get in some sort of preservation trust. There’s a lot of people making that decision.”

The pending deal that the two land trusts have with Panoramic View Enterprises, owners of the mountaintop, will close Oct. 1, provided another $620,000 is raised. The Guemes community has already donated or pledged $1.6 million.

Residents Joost Businger and Marianne Kooiman, who have lived on the island since 1989, were among those who approached the land trust a few years ago to ask for help to purchase the mountain.

“Everybody likes to feel free to hike up there and see the view,” Businger said.

The beauty of the views from the top, as well as looking up at the forested mountain, were the reasons residents wanted to prevent it from being developed, they said.

“There’s been a high priority for the people in general to preserve this particular property,” Kooiman said.

Under current zoning, seven homes could be built on the 70 acres. However, it was more likely that a single owner would purchase the property for an estate and shut off public access, Doran said.

Additional development on the mountain top would have ruined the entire island, Kooiman said.

The 8.2-square-mile island, like many areas in unincorporated Skagit County, is zoned one home per 10 acres; however, some areas zoned prior to passage of the Growth Management Act allow for one home per 21⁄2 acres.

Many Guemes islanders aren’t content with those parameters as a guide for future development. On Guemes, where volunteers run the community’s private library and some residents use wind and solar power, islanders have a can-do spirit. They say they are concerned about creating a sustainable community and preserving the island’s rural character.

To have a hand in their future, Guemes residents participated in a three-day workshop in June 2006 held by the American Institute of Architects’ Center for Communities Design. The aim of the workshop was to bring community members together to find a common vision for the island’s future.

The institute architects asked residents to name their “places of the heart,” and these became priorities for preservation. Residents repeatedly told the architects that Guemes Mountain needed to be the top priority.

But before the islanders had finished their planning proposal, Panoramic View Enterprises put the mountaintop on the market, potentially opening it up for development.

Businger, Kooiman, Karen Everett and Mark Lenneman approached the Skagit Land Trust, asking for help to protect the mountain, Doran said. But the 70 acres doesn’t qualify for the typical land trust grants aimed at protecting endangered species. The site is next to state land set aside for bald eagles and peregrine falcons, but that wasn’t enough to qualify.

The summit views are among the best in Skagit County. On a clear day, you can see the Canadian Coastal Range, Mount Baker, Mount Rainier and the Olympic Mountains.

“It kind of takes you aback, the views are so stunning,” Doran said.

The Skagit trust teamed up with the San Juans Preservation Trust, known for leading the $18.5 million effort to buy Turtleback Mountain on Orcas Island in 2006, and a 20-person steering committee made up of Guemes residents, and approached the mountain’s owner.

Panoramic View Enterprises was willing to take the property off the market for six months while the trusts obtained an appraisal, a more complicated process than a home loan.

During that time, the real estate market took a “180-degree turn,” Doran said. As a result, the trust negotiated for a lower price, $600,000 less.

In January, Panoramic View Enterprises agreed to a $2 million purchase price. The trust will use the additional $200,000 to cover other costs, such as closing fees and environmental reviews.

Guemes Mountain currently remains private property. Once the Skagit trust takes ownership, it will work with community members to install a few hiking trails and then open the mountaintop to nonmotorized recreation. The San Juan trust will hold the conservation easement, a legal agreement that prevents development regardless of who owns the property.

Currently 490 acres are protected on the mountain by conservation easements or regulations protecting sensitive species, such as peregrine falcons. Another 20 acres are expected to be protected this year.

Preserving the mountaintop will shape community members’ attitudes about open space, said Walter Cudnohufsky, a landscape architect in Massachusetts who participated in the 2006 architectural institute workshop.

“It really is a singular and brave act,” Cudnohufsky said. “They are wise. They say if you have a tough problem, you don’t save it for last. You tackle it first. They really are tackling the right things first.”

“For people to say this is what we value and they are willing to put their time and effort and money behind it, it’s a wonderful example for the rest of the community,” said Jeroldine Hallberg, a senior planner with the county who is reviewing the residents’ planning proposal. “Citizen-based efforts are the best actions that can be. We need to augment their actions with public action.”

During the architectural workshop, community members said they wanted to preserve view corridors and maintain the island ambiance, as well as other desirable aspects of living on Guemes, said Gary Davis, president of Friends of Guemes Island.

“There are no better views than from the top of the mountain,” Davis said.

On the Fourth of July, some residents hike to the top and watch fireworks above Anacortes, Bellingham and Friday Harbor.

“Everybody I know is excited and really delirious that is happening,” Davis said. “It was a huge undertaking and we weren’t sure it was going to happen.”

n Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2149 or .

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