The Bainbridge Island Land Trust has secured three properties for preservation through its Stand for the Land campaign in the past year, the nonprofit recently announced.

The most recent property to be protected is the 13.27-acre Miller-Kirkman Preserve. Land trust officials said the land includes a 1-acre estuary, ¼ mile of fish stream, 910 linear feet of natural shoreline, and intact riparian vegetation. The property is also home to a range of important species including salmon, kingfishers, eagles, heron and salamanders.

The preserve and its unique shoreline habitat is one of the priorities identified in the land trust’s Strategic Conservation Plan. The purchase of land, which was finalized in July, brings the total number of acres protected by the land trust and its partners to nearly 1,400 acres.

The property was purchased from a long-time Island couple and is named after the landowner’s grandparents who owned the property from 1942 until this year.

Land trust officials said the Miller-Kirkman Preserve represents a “one-of-a-kind” opportunity in the ongoing campaign to save some of the last best places on Bainbridge before it’s too late. Officials noted a small group of generous Islanders are offering a $500,000 challenge grant to help make it happen, and they are committed to matching every dollar the nonprofit raises for Stand for the Land campaign over the next five months.

The campaign must now raise $500,000 by March 31, 2019 to get the matching funds. If the nonprofit is successful, officials said Stand for the Land will get a $1 million boost toward finalizing the initial acquisitions of the Jablonko, Cougar Creek and Miller-Kirkman preserves, and protecting additional ecologically-important habitat.

Learn more about Stand for the Land and sign up to tour select properties by visiting www.bi-landtrust.org/stand or calling 206-842-1216.