Category: Latest News
-
Green Crab Community Science Opportunity
Calling all community scientists, volunteers, shoreline landowners, and beachgoers! The invasive European green crab threatens eelgrass, shellfish, juvenile salmon, and our marine ecosystem. We need you — help monitor beaches by joining our 20-minute green-crab molt surveys. Friends of the San Juans is coordinating this effort across San Juan County.
-
Inspiration & Friendship
Reflections on Irmgard Conley, by Janet Alderton I met my dear friend, Irmgard Conley, when I joined the Friends of the San Juans board of directors in 2006. Irmgard’s commitment to “Keep the San Juans Green!” inspired me to use my background in scientific research to help inform our County’s decision-makers during updates to our…
-
Crashing into CARA: How I met Irmgard Conley
Reflections on Irmgard Conley, by Krystyna U. Wolniakowski Our boats met each other first. Crashing into ‘CARA’, a 35-foot teak 1964 Cheoy Lee Lion sloop, on a stormy day in April 1980, was a crisis that turned into an opportunity for a lifelong friendship with Irmgard Conley. When I was a young marine biology graduate…
-
Introducing Eva Schulte, Executive Director!
The Board of Directors of Friends of the San Juans is delighted to announce the appointment ofEva Schulte as Executive Director. Eva brings her passion for the Salish Sea and extensiveexecutive leadership experience across the social sector to Friends. She begins the first week ofApril. Ken Carrasco, President of the Board of Friends of the…
-
Welcoming three new board members!
Erin Licata, Fidalgo Island — Erin is a tribal community member of the Samish Indian Nation and serves as the Madrona Institute’s Co-Director of the Coast Salish Youth Stewardship Corps. Erin also brings a background in science research to the board. Jan Knudson, Blaine — Jan decided she wanted to join the Friends board after touring…
-
Friends’ litigation to protect the Salish Sea
Friends’ litigation to protect the Salish Sea has been in the news. Read more via the following articles: The Northern Light: Corps’ BP Cherry Point limit no limit at all, environmental groups say The Journal of the San Juan Islands: US Army Corps undermines Magnuson’s Legacy of protecting the Salish Sea from oil The Orcasonian: Army Corps of…
-
King Tides or Plastic Tides?
The creatures that call these islands home need your help! If you enjoyed a stroll on the beach after the last set of king tides, you might have noticed an influx of debris and trash. During extreme high tide events, plastic waste and styrofoam float to the surface and are carried up further onto the…
-
West Sound Beach Restoration (Orcas)
150 waterfront feet of pocket beach habitat restored by removing a large rock and creosote bulkhead (2015). When we were looking at our options for redeveloping our property, one of the things we took into account was sea level rise. We wanted to get rid of the big seawall and make sure both the house…
-
Turn Point Marsh and Beach Restoration (San Juan)
200 waterfront feet of beach and salt marsh habitat restored by removing an unnecessary rock bulkhead (2009). In San Juan County, there are hundreds of unnecessary bulkheads on beaches, placed in areas with low natural erosion rates. Bulkheads not only have direct habitat impacts but also interrupt or alter the actual processes that are essential…
-
Thatcher Bay Nearshore Restoration (Blakely)
200 waterfront feet of subtidal and intertidal habitat restored at a known forage fish spawning beach by removing an outdated log handling facility and rebuilding an existing barge landing into a smaller footprint (2013). The project site is the sole access point for stewardship-focused forest practices on roughly 2,000 acres of forestlands. The project maximized habitat…
