latest news

Thursday July 25, 4:00-5:30 p.m., San Juan Island Brewing Co., 410 A St., Friday Harbor., WA Join Friends of the San Juans in thanking 20 soldiers from the US Army’s 569th Engineering Dive Detachment who have been removing derelict fishing nets off of the west side of San Juan Island since July 7, 2019. Thousands ... read more

Curious about the role that vacation rentals play in our local community? What about the growth of vacation rentals around the world? A small, diverse group of Orcas community members have been gathering and researching this issue for the past couple of months and they’d like to invite you into the conversation! This community conversation will ... read more

Friends of the San Juans has launched a habitat restoration pilot project for public and private landowners on Lopez Island to prevent the spread of Italian Arum – we need your help. Italian Arum is a noxious weed and toxic to people and animals. Noxious weeds can degrade important wildlife habitat and natural areas and ... read more

Andrew Hursh studies at Vermont Law School, focusing on environmental law, public lands, and international climate change agreements. His motivation for a public interest legal career developed out of his science background and graduate research modeling climate change effects on soils. Andrew is a backcountry enthusiast and reveres special, wild places, which need dedicated public stewards. ... read more

Photographer, filmmaker, former NASA researcher, bird expert, and Lopezian Peter Cavanagh will present a photographic journey of a voyage along the Scotia Arc to Antarctica. Come learn more about the vast polar desert, its amazing wildlife, and how changes in climate there impact us locally and globally. A Photographic Journey: Climate and Antarctica Thursday, May ... read more

GiveBIG to protect what you love in the San Juans! Each dollar you donate to Friends of the San Juans on May 8 will be matched up to $25,000 by a generous donor! Your investment and support will help us: PROTECT AND RESTORE BEACHES for forage fish and salmon to enhance the food web for ... read more

Help make the San Juan Islands “Plastic Free by the Sea”! This year’s Great Islands Clean-up is on Saturday, April 20, 2019. Join the county-wide greening event and collect litter from public beaches and roadways. There will be litter clean-up events happening on Orcas, San Juan, Lopez and Shaw Islands this year. Litter picker-uppers will ... read more

In late January we traveled to Olympia with six high school students from Friday Harbor High and Spring Street International Schools to participate in the 2019 Environmental Priorities Coalition’s lobby day. We joined 500 other Washington State citizens and environmental groups to promote a transition to 100% clean electricity, orca emergency response, oil spill prevention, ... read more

Friends of the San Juans is pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer Barcelos as incoming staff attorney and Director of Law and Policy. Following a nationwide search for a transformative leader, Jennifer Barcelos has joined our team as Director of Law and Policy. In her new role, Jennifer will be responsible for protecting the ... read more

In the 2019 legislative session, we have the best chance in over a decade to make real change to protect and sustain Washington’s environment! Join Friends of the San Juans at Environmental Lobby Day on January 29 in Olympia. Come help push key environmental legislation to recover the health of Southern Resident orcas, reduce plastic pollution with a statewide Reusable ... read more