One Man Lives Alone on Washington's Protected Protection Island
Marty Bluewater is the sole resident of Protection Island, a 400-acre National Wildlife Refuge in Washington, after buying a parcel there in the 1970s.
In the early 1970s Marty Bluewater bought a tract on Protection Island, then touted as a future vacation-home community. Environmental advocates, including Zella Schultz and Eleanor Stopps, successfully opposed the development, leading to the island's designation as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1982. Bluewater secured a lifetime-use right, allowing him to remain on the island after most other owners left.
He built a modest wooden cabin that evolved into his permanent home, making regular boat trips to Port Townsend for water and food. The island, now off-limits to visitors, protects nesting seabirds, harbour seals and occasional orca sightings. Bluewater values both his solitary lifestyle and the guarantee that the land will stay protected after his death.
Why it matters
The story shows how individual property rights can coexist with long-term wildlife conservation.
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