Simple. The sailors who founded the Northwest Schooner Society in 1994 have been sailing past the historic landmark for decades, some of them before the lighthouse was automated in 1972. They wanted to keep it from falling apart so it would remain a good place to visit and a nice sight to observe from the sea. The light station buildings on the rocky western tip of Burrows Island have stood resolutely through more than a hundred years of storms and droughts, calling to the present-day sailor from a heroic past, evoking the strength and resilience of the lightkeeper families, who saved countless ships by keeping the light burning and the foghorn sounding.

The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 created a partnership between the U.S. Coast Guard, the General Services Administration, and the National Park Service to transfer historic lighthouses to other government or nonprofit entities that would restore and maintain them as community-access properties.

The NWSS applied for custodianship of the Burrows Island Light Station in 2006, as our members were eager to save the hundred-year-old light station and return it to public service as a living history site. Four years later, the NWSS received the long-anticipated letter from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar conferring title to the light station on the Society.

Secretary Salizar wrote, in part,

I applaud the commitment of the Northwest Schooner Society to the preservation of our Nation's maritime heritage in accepting stewardship of the Burrows Island Light Station.

Restoration began in 2011 and for the first few years consisted of stabilizing fragile walls, repairing broken windows, and replacing stolen and vandalized doors. Repairs progressed with the reroofing of all four single story roofs. The collapsing "pony walls" in the boathouse were replaced and new siding installed over gaping holes.

Independent visitors to the light station are cautioned that accessing the island is currently difficult. A ladder, partially submerged except at very low tides, connects to a staircase leading up the cliffs to the boathouse. The bank itself is mostly steep or brush-covered cliffs, which are impossible to climb without damaging the fragile vegetation. At present, the buildings are closed to the public, but the NWSS hopes to hold some open houses in summer 2024.