HIGHWATER MARKS
news & updates
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Our Annual Meeting, with special guest Lynda Mapes |
The Friends Annual Meeting, featuring the incomparable author and journalist Lynda Mapes, will be held on October 9th, from 1:30-3:00 p.m. Lynda is an award-winning Seattle Times environmental writer and author who recently published her fifth book, Orca: Shared Waters, Shared Home.
Our enthusiasm is running high! Friends’ Director of Philanthropy, Michel Vekved, is eager to bring our Friends community together around shared values, inspiration, and protecting what you love. We will be livestreaming the broadcast from the Odd Fellows Hall on Orcas Island, and we invite you to join us via Zoom.
At this unique event, we will share thoughtful testimonials from members that will stir your passion for stewardship and island connections. A conversation will follow between our Executive Director, Brent Lyles, and our special guest, Lynda Mapes, that will weave together Lynda’s unparalleled success at exploring, questioning, and communicating artfully as a journalist with Friends’ mission-driven work. Finally, you’ll hear more from Brent Lyles about Friends’ programmatic successes, plans for the future, and opportunities to support these efforts.
The livestream will launch at 1:00, and the program will begin at 1:30. We look forward to celebrating with you!
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Action Alert: Tree protections? Planning for growth? Your help is needed by Sept 14! by R. Brent Lyles, Executive Director
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It's time to spring into action! On the morning of Tuesday, September 14th, the County Council will hold a hearing on the 2021 docket. This year's docket includes proposals for new tree-protection standards, stormwater-management standards, and doing an important "build-out analysis" for our County. These all deserve our community’s attention and support. The purpose of the Council's hearing is to get public input -- the County Council is asking to hear from you! You can write a letter or show up (virtually) to speak at the meeting, or both. |
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Salmon Habitat Restoration at Salmon Point, Lopez Island
It was an exciting week for local forage fish and out-migrating juvenile salmon as Friends of the San Juans and the Salmon Point Community have successfully restored priority shoreline habitat along their local beach.
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Words from the Next Generation: Gift and Responsibility by Kaia Olson
As humans, we have the gift of being able to manipulate our environment. Despite abusing this power in the past, our gift of influence over our environment can be reframed as our responsibility for stewardship moving forward.
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Motivation, Values, and Attention by Michel Vekved, Director of Philanthropy
What life can and will look like in the San Juan Islands is up to all of us. How will you help protect the island environment?
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Friends of Friends: David and Geri Turnoy |
David and Geri Turnoy have been members for nearly 20 years! We admire their dedication and awareness for the environment surrounding us in the islands.
From the first time we visited the islands, we were awe-struck by the natural beauty of this majestic setting: towering conifers, green meadows, beautiful lakes, forested mountains, all surrounded by the sound! Like any beautiful location, this magical environment could be "loved to death", which is why it is so important that Friends of the San Juans is there to help us protect what we all love. – David and Geri Turnoy
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Great Islands Clean-up, Sat., Sept. 25 – In honor of National Public Lands Day, join your fellow islanders for the Fall Great Islands Clean-up. This one-day household or individual effort is an opportunity to get outside, connect with your community, and participate in an activity that helps the health of our natural habitats.
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Open Letter Calls on Insurers to Cut Ties with Trans Mountain, as Key Pipeline Insurance Policy Expires |
Friends, along with many other Indigenous, environmental, and climate groups recently sent an open letter to twenty insurance companies that have failed to rule out insuring the Trans Mountain pipeline network, following the August 31 expiration date of one of Trans Mountain’s key insurance policies. Fifteen insurers have now ruled out Trans Mountain already, and this coalition pledges to continue pressuring the remaining companies. “It is morally and scientifically indefensible for insurance companies to enable the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project,” said R. Brent Lyles, Friends Executive Director.
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Origin Stories: June 1984 Newsletter |
The “What Are We Doing and Why?” story in this newsletter is especially interesting if you want to know what Friends was up to back then. It’s also the first newsletter that Nancy DeVaux edited! As many of you know, she became our first Executive Director shortly after that. |
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Are you curious what the Visitor’s Bureau is saying to people who travel to San Juan County? We are thankful for the guidelines they are promoting – which will help visitors and locals alike protect what we all love about the islands.
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Friends of the San Juans respectfully honors the fact that this beautiful place we strive to protect and restore with our mission-centered work is comprised of the ancestral lands, waters, and natural resources of the Coast Salish peoples. These Tribes have cared for and stewarded the San Juan Islands and the Salish Sea since time immemorial — and continue to do so — and we honor their inherent, aboriginal, and treaty rights that have been passed down from generation to generation. |
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Or text to donate at 360-317-2610. |
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Friends of the San Juans | www.sanjuans.org |
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