technical assistance

retaining the rural character of the region

The development boom in the San Juan Islands raises questions about how best to retain the rural character of the region, safeguard property investments, and wisely plan for growth. Property owners, land use professionals, and government representatives need access to current, high quality information to make sound decisions that benefit people and nature.

property owners

Friends shares information with property owners about land management options. Understanding the options and how to implement them makes environmentally minded choices easier. Through site-specific technical assistance, Friends helps interested property owners achieve property protection, and maintain important ecological services such as water quality and wildlife habitat.

land use professionals

Friends develops educational workshops and trainings about conservation and stewardship practices for land use professionals. These professionals, who range from realtors to construction contractors, find that having this knowledge allows them to give clients important conservation and stewardship information.

local, state, Federal, and Tribal agencies

Friends collaborates with agencies, including San Juan County, to provide information on shoreline species and their documented habitat, protection and restoration opportunities, and best management practices.

our work

Friends:

participates in major planning processes to ensure that the best available information on priority habitats and species is applied to decision making.
reviews permit applications for land use and shoreline development in San Juan County
comments and testifies against proposed permits that have the potential to harm San Juan County’s agricultural lands, water resources, or shorelines, when necessary.
monitors land use violations and pursues effective enforcement of local, state and federal regulations.

retaining the rural character of the region

property owners

land use professionals

local, state, Federal, and Tribal agencies

our work

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retaining the rural character of the region

property owners

land use professionals

local, state, Federal, and Tribal agencies

our work

related news

Help us see the future during this year’s king tides!

Citizen Scientists Needed for Forage Fish Surveys in the San Juans!

We’re looking for summer legal interns…

Help us see the future during this year’s king tides!

Friends has done so much to identify those critical beaches where the forage fish are spawning and that is work that I value greatly. Once we know the spawning locations, we can permanently protect those very important beaches.

Debby Clausen and Kim Sundberg

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