Spieden Island

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Spieden Island is a privately owned island (James Jannard - founder and major shareholder of Oakley, Inc[1].) in the San Juan Archipelago in the state of Washington. It has a land area of 2.0898 km² (516.4 acres), and no permanent resident population as of the 2000 census.

[edit] Geography

Approximately two miles long and a half-mile across at its widest point, it is located directly north of San Juan Island across the Spieden Channel. The unusual climate of the area causes the island to be virtually barren on its south-facing side, while the north side is heavily forested.

[edit] History

Spieden Island was named by Charles Wilkes during the Wilkes Expedition of 1838-1842, to honor William Spieden, the purser of the expedition's Peacock.[2]

In the past the island was used for big game hunting; game animals were imported and a hotel, airport, and small hangar built to accommodate visitors. This no longer occurs due to the risk of shots carrying across to highly populated San Juan Island.

The resident animal population still includes exotic animals such as Mouflon sheep from Corsica and Sika deer from Asia.[3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/1997/02/17/tidbits.html
  2. ^ Phillips, James W. (1971). Washington State Place Names. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-95158-3. 
  3. ^ KING5 Seattle News - True rumors about Spieden Island. KING5.com. Accessed August 9th, 2006.
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