latest news

It’s time for the Great Islands Clean-up on Earth Day – Sunday, April 22 from 10 am – 2 pm. Join us for this county-wide greening event where volunteers will collect litter from public beaches and roadways and help make the San Juan Islands “Litter Free by the Sea”! Drop in cleanup is scheduled for South ... read more

After ten years of public service as Friends of the San Juans’ staff attorney, Kyle Loring will be leaving the organization in June to pursue other endeavors. Starting this month, Friends will conduct a search for a talented environmental attorney to serve the people and wildlife of the San Juans. Since Friends hired Kyle in ... read more

We’re excited to announce that Lovel Pratt has joined our team as the Director of Friends’ Marine Protection Program! Lovel comes to Friends from Mulno Cove Consulting, where her work focused on safe shipping advocacy, reducing vessel traffic impacts, and oil spill prevention. She is a founding member of San Juan Islanders for Safe Shipping. While ... read more

Friends of the San Juans Appeals the San Juan County Shoreline Master Program for Failure to Protect Orca, Salmon, Forage Fish and Beaches On December 22, the Friends of the San Juans (Friends) appealed San Juan County’s recently updated Shoreline Master Program (“SMP”) to the Washington Growth Management Hearings Board. The SMP is the primary ... read more

A $50,000 matching gift has been provided by generous members for all donations received before December 31, 2017. Please double your impact with a gift today! Dear Supporter, Orcas are the icon of the Salish Sea and they are critically endangered. I remember when there were 98 Southern Resident orca whales in 1995. Now the ... read more

Do you have a digital camera or camera phone? If so, help local and regional researchers capture this year’s King Tides! Join Friends and king tide volunteers from your community and across the globe to document the year’s highest tides by taking photos of your favorite local shorelines. See below for this season’s King Tides (December 4 – January 7). ... read more

In May 2017, many of you wrote comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Tesoro (now re-named Andeavor) Anacortes Refinery’s proposal to manufacture and export xylene to Asia. Xylene (pronounced ZIE-leen) is a highly volatile, hazardous and toxic petrochemical which has never before been manufactured in our region and transported through our waters. ... read more

We had a great time on Stuart Island with local youth in July – check out the video: We’re always looking for young people to get involved with us! In fact, this video was created by our summer social media intern who is a 12th grader at Spring Street. Get in touch if you’d like ... read more

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We’ve got a few spots left on next week’s boat adventure – “Salish Sea: Smuggling Past and Salmon Futures.” Join us for this special trip! Here are the details: Tuesday, August 8, 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Depart from Friday Harbor. Admission: $135.00 The intricate waterways of the islands made the perfect place to catch ... read more