San Juan County is in the process of updating its Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO), a set of regulations designed to protect sensitive environmental areas such as wetlands, aquifer recharge zones, geologic hazard areas, and fish and wildlife habitats. The update aims to incorporate the latest science and meet state Growth Management Act requirements, with opportunities…
On a crisp February morning, a group of students from the San Juan Islands stepped into the halls of the Washington State Capitol with a clear purpose: speak up for the environment they call home. On February 24, fifteen students from the Friday Harbor High School Eco Club and one student from Orcas Island High
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council is updating its five‑year Fish & Wildlife Program, which guides how hydropower operations on the Columbia and Snake rivers affect salmon and steelhead. With the Trump administration’s abrupt cancellation of a major salmon recovery agreement, public comments are needed by March 2 to ensure the final plan adopts strong, science‑based…
A coalition of six environmental organizations has taken the next step to ensure those voices are heard. The coalition filed a formal legal appeal of Whatcom County’s decision to permit 33 major terminal expansion projects, 31 of which were completed several years ago without permits and without a thorough environmental review.
Washington’s recycling system isn’t keeping up with waste, and billions of bottles and cans end up polluting shorelines, waterways, and the Salish Sea each year. The state legislature is considering Washington’s Bottle Bill (HB 1607/SB 5502), a refundable container deposit program designed to boost recycling, cut litter and climate pollution, and shift recycling costs from taxpayers to…
At the Youth Earth Summit, Friends of the San Juans helped twelve Friday Harbor High School Eco Club students showcase leadership, share environmental solutions, and guide a student-led session on getting involved in local policy—highlighting how youth voices are shaping the future of conservation.
San Juan County is considering designating all utility‑scale renewable energy projects — like large solar arrays, battery storage, or experimental tidal systems — as Essential Public Facilitys. While clean energy is important, this blanket classification could undermine environmental review, reduce public participation, and put sensitive lands and habitats at risk.
Housing in San Juan County is deeply tied to the health of both people and the environment. When homes are unaffordable, residents are forced into survival mode, limiting community participation and fueling cycles of inequality and environmental degradation. With nearly half of all homes sitting vacant or used seasonally, sprawl increasing, and affordability shrinking, Friends…
Known as the “Comp Plan,” the County’s Comprehensive Plan includes goals and policies to guide how our community will look in the future. This includes policies to protect our remaining forests, agricultural lands, and healthy shorelines; a blueprint for our community’s transportation needs; goals for developing housing to serve everyone in our community; and much…
Every November, Native American Heritage Month invites us to honor the histories, modern day cultures, and ongoing leadership of Indigenous peoples across the United States. Here in the San Juan Islands and the greater Salish Sea, this month carries a particularly deep meaning. The islands are the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary homelands of multiple Coast
