PORT TOWNSEND — How does Protection Island differ today from when Europeans first explored it? Wildlife biologist Sollmann Lorenz will talk about that at the Jefferson County Historical Society First Friday Lecture tonight.
The program will begin at 7 p.m. in historic council chambers at 540 Water St.
Admission is by donation. Proceeds support historical society programs.
“What did the eyes see back in 1792? What can be seen today?” Lorenz said of the island, which was established as the Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge in 1982.
“Come on a journey and discover the past, present and future vision for Protection Island,” he said.
“We’ll look at the island as a whole considering the wildlife and the habitat that makes this island such a wonderful jewel in the Salish Sea.”
Lorenz is the deputy project leader at the Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which includes six refuges.
Among his duties is overseeing the prairie restoration at Dungeness and Protection Island.
Lorenz has worked for almost 25 years in natural resource positions in several states.
In the late 1980s, he worked for Olympic National Park researching the effects of the non-native mountain goat population on endemic alpine plants in the park.
In the aftermath of the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park, he aided in restoration of sensitive areas.
He also worked as a biotech at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge working on short-grass prairie restoration.
Lorenz moved from Denver in 2008 to work at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.
He earned his bachelor’s in wildlife biology with an emphasis on habitat management from Michigan State University in 1987.
