Friends of the San Juans

Join us next week as we speak up for the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW). The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are holding a scoping meeting on Tuesday, November 12th from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Brickworks in Friday Harbor (150 Nichols St.). Click here to see the full ... read more

Please join us in asking the San Juan County Council to impose an immediate moratorium on the issuance of new Vacation Rental Permits. The moratorium should remain in place until the county implements regulations that meet the public need. It will not effect currently permitted vacation rentals. There are currently no county-wide limitations on the number of Vacation ... read more

Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has issued a Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance for Cooke Aquaculture’s proposal (SEPA No. 19056) to farm biologically-engineered steelhead (aka Triploid Rainbow Trout) in the net pens Cooke Aquaculture used to farm Atlantic salmon. Open water net pens are “Confined Animal Feeding Operations” that generate disease and pollution. There could also be ... read more

Friends of the San Juans is seeking citizen scientists to help conduct beach surveys for spawning forage fish over the next two years. There will be a survey training session on October 26 from 9 am – 1 pm with researchers from Friends and Salish Sea Biological at the Old Town of Friday Harbor Fire ... read more

Approximately 150 people attended the second Community Conversation on Vacation Rentals, held at the Orcas High School Cafeteria on Wednesday evening September 25, 2019. Introductions and a review of the agenda and process were presented by Diane Berreth. Yonatan Aldort, the appointed leader of the Vacation Rentals Working Group, delivered an opening comment. Five presentations ... read more

We enjoyed working with San Juan County students last spring during our marine plastic education and reduction program featured in this video produced by Carl Davis and the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee. Thank you so much to our project funder Keta Legacy Foundation and local artist Brook Meinhardt for helping us bring this important ... read more

Celebrate the power of people coming together to make change and protect what you love. Enjoy seasonally inspired food and beverages while connecting with Friends! Tickets are $50 per person and space is limited. Click here to register today: sanjuans.org/40th. Celebration details: Orcas, Sep. 22 Odd Fellows Hall, 112 Haven Rd., 4 – 6 pm, ... read more

The 2019 Fall Great Island’s Clean-Up (GICU) is coming this Saturday, September 28. This twice a year county wide cleaning event is when residents and visitor’s, individuals, businesses, clubs, school groups, parks and land trusts come together to pick-up litter and marine debris. Friends of the San Juans helps organize the beach clean-ups for San ... read more

You’ll see a timeline of our major accomplishments over the past 40 years, get updates on Friends’ current programs, and discover how you can get involved to protect what you love about the San Juan Islands and Salish Sea. Enjoy! Click here to download our 2019 newsletter. 

The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) is updating WA State’s Oil Spill Contingency Plan (see also Chapter 173-182 WAC) that requires large commercial vessels, oil handling facilities, and pipelines to have detailed oil spill contingency plans for appropriate equipment and trained personnel to respond to spills that may occur. A draft of the updated rule ... read more