news

The San Juan County Council has shifted into a full-throttle, get-this-thing-across-the-finish-line approach to the update process for San Juan County’s Comprehensive Plan, or Comp Plan. This has implications for the effectiveness of the Comp Plan and also for public engagement in the update process. The County’s fast track plan will add more pressure on all ... read more

40 Days into the State Legislative Session…Update on our Priorities Thank you to everyone who has responded to our action alerts and registered support for our legislative priorities! We are more than half-way through the legislative session. Bills (except for those related to the budget) must pass out of the opposite house by March 4th. ... read more

I recently read an article from a Canadian news organization titled “The Future of Exploration.” In it, author Kate Harris examines how traditional exploration’s complicated past makes it difficult to reconcile with modern values of justice and sustainability. From Marco Polo to Lewis and Clark, most famous expeditions have been glorified in western culture while ... read more

Recurring membership matters because we began as a grassroots organization and 43 years later, the roots that bind us are our members who continue to support our work.  We invite you to join as a monthly recurring member so we can all focus on the future. When you become a member of Friends, you play a vital ... read more

Protecting and caring for an island means sharing stories: We want to hear your stories, connections and experiences in the San Juan Islands and the Salish Sea. They underscore your passion and illustrate what inspires you…At Friends of the San Juans, those meaningful stories reinforce our shared values, and they inspire our team’s dedication and ... read more

Check out the January issue of our e-newsletter – Highwater Marks! You can read the results of our 10 year Armor Change Study, Catch up on Environmental Legislative Priorities, and much more!

In February 2021 I wrote about how we could learn from the pandemic to address the climate crisis. A year later, every day still brings us closer to the 2030 planetary tipping point for irreversible ecological change. As the new year begins in 2022, 2030 seems a long way away. But we have just 96 ... read more

The 2022 Washington State Legislative Session began on January 10th and runs for 60 days. This is the second year of the biennial session, which usually results in only small changes to the budget. However, the positive revenue forecast plus the passage of the federal bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides an unprecedented opportunity to increase ... read more

By Madeline Feaster and Tina Whitman As you know, Friends of the San Juans protects and restores natural shorelines to support forage fish, salmon, and the Southern Resident orca. In addition, Friends also conducts research on these shoreline habitats. We recently completed a Shoreline Armor Mapping, Change Analysis, and Regulatory Review project that provides an ... read more

Check out the December issue of our e-newsletter – Highwater Marks! We share our highlights from 2021, discuss Trust, Truth, and Gratitude, show photos from our Immersive Salish Sea Education with Lopez and Orcas students and our restoration planting at Salmon Point with the Island Conservation Corps, and much more! Read it here. Photo by ... read more