Jess Newley

Call or Email Your Legislators About Our Plastics Problem!

February 28, 2025

The Recycling Reform Act (SB 5284 / HB 1150), sponsored by Senator Liz Lovelett and Representative Liz Berry, would modernize our recycling system in Washington. It would create a producer responsibility program in which manufacturers and brands collaborate to reduce unnecessary packaging and paper, fund statewide recycling services, and ensure that materials are actually recycled. Specific incentives are built ... read more

Volunteer Spotlight: Dr. Manny Eusebio

October 3, 2024

Dr. Manny Eusebio models exceptional Green Boater practices and does so proudly and with the health of our larger community in mind! Manny and his wife, Chris, moved their family’s sailboat to Bellingham from Seattle, where he continues to support the health of children as a pediatrician with Peace Health. In Dr. Manny’s volunteer time, ... read more

Gathering of the Eagles

May 3, 2024

Friends is honored to be the fiscal sponsor for this extraordinary inter-island Tribal canoe journey, “Esqaplh etse Kwelengsen, Gathering of Eagles.” All are welcome at this grassroots journey organized by Sul ka dub Freddie Lane, following the ancestral highways of the Lhaq’temish, Lummi, people, beginning May 19th and running through May 23rd in the Lhaq’temish homelands ... read more

Friday Harbor Youth Support Recycling Reform in Olympia

January 30, 2024

The Friday Harbor Eco Club spent Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Olympia, advocating for legislation that would reform recycling and reduce packaging waste in WA State. The students were accompanied by Eco Club advisors, Jess Newley, Education and Community Science Director with Friends of the San Juans, and Katie Fleming, Solid Waste ... read more

Unit 5: Essential Eelgrass – Coming Soon!

January 24, 2024

In this unit: Go on an underwater eelgrass snorkel survey in search of wasting disease, and aboard a research vessel mapping eelgrass in San Juan County. Stay Tuned for more! (March 2024)

Unit 4: Sniffing out Orca Poop with WildOrca – Coming Soon!

January 24, 2024

In this unit: Journey along the water with Dr. Giles and Eba, the whale poop-sniffing dog, as they collect data on the Southern Resident killer whales. Stay Tuned for more! (March 2024)

Unit 3: The loss of the Sunflower Star

January 24, 2024

In this unit: What happens when a species is removed from the ecosystem? Join researchers in a lab where they are growing endangered Sunflower sea stars! The Sunflower sea star is special for many reasons- they can grow up to 24 arms (!!!) and they are one of the fastest and largest sea stars in the ... read more

Unit 1: Explore the Marine Food Web

November 1, 2023

In this unit: How do the shorelines of the Salish Sea support forage fish, salmon, and orca. Swim through kelp beds and up the river with spawning salmon! Our back yard (the Salish Sea) is home to some of the most wonderous creatures. From the Giant Pacific Octopus, some of the most colorful nudibranchs, the ... read more

Unit 2: Mighty Herring

October 27, 2023

In this unit: Pacific herring are small schooling fish that play a big role in marine food webs by supporting salmon, which in turn feed the Southern Resident orcas. These little but mighty fish have a long history of significance- culturally, economically, and intrinsically. As a food source, herring provide energy to lower trophic levels ... read more

Fall into Great Islands Clean Up

September 25, 2023

Keep our roads and beaches litter-free during this biannual event! Saturday, September 30thLocations and times to meet up: See the Full Details, Per Island → Join Zero Waste WA at the Fall Great Islands Cleanup Event at Jackson Beach, San Juan Island Friends of the San Juans and Plastic Free Salish Sea are thrilled to announce ... read more

The Friends of the San Juans do such a wonderful job of keeping on top of things like the transit of freighters through the Straits and their impact on whales as well as protecting our environment. Jim and I fell in love with the islands, the wildlife, and fishing. We hope to preserve it, not only for our family but for other families, well into the future.

Glen and Deb Bruels

members, San Juan Island

Friends’ mission is to bring people and nature together to protect the San Juans Islands and the Salish Sea through education, science, policy and law. Friends of the San Juans does not engage in political endorsements. As a nonpartisan organization, we cannot speak to individual candidates’ qualifications.
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PO Box 1344
Friday Harbor, WA 98250

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650 Mullis St # 201
Friday Harbor, WA 98250

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(360) 378-2319
EIN: 91-1087153

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