San Juan Islands Conservation District

06/04/2026

🌿 Join a team making a lasting impact in the San Juan Islands!

The San Juan Islands Conservation District is seeking a Programs Director to help lead and grow conservation initiatives that support healthy forests, farms, watersheds, wildlife habitat, and resilient island communities. This leadership role offers the opportunity to guide programs, develop partnerships, support staff, and help shape the future of conservation across the islands.

If you're a collaborative leader with experience in program management, natural resource conservation, nonprofit leadership, or community engagement, this could be your next great opportunity.

Learn more and apply: www.sanjuanislandscd.org/employment

05/28/2026

🌿 Wetlands and streams do more for our islands than most people realize. They support wildlife, improve water quality, reduce flooding, and help keep our ecosystems healthy and resilient.

Join us for a community conversation about local stream and wetland habitat restoration. Meet neighbors, connect with experts, ask questions, and learn what’s happening right here in our communities.

June 14 - SJICD Office (915 Spring Street)

June 15 - West Sound Community Club (525 Deer Harbor Road)

5:30–6:30 PM

Light refreshments provided. All are welcome. No need to RSVP.

Learn more: sanjuanislandscd.org/streamsandwetlands

05/21/2026

EDIT: We just surpassed our goal!!! Huge thanks to everyone who supported this campaign.

The GiveOrcas campaign ends tonight at midnight, and we’re just $2,000 away from our $10,000 goal to fully equip our Youth Conservation Corps crew for their summer program.

If you have contributed to this campaign, thank you. We are so grateful for the support.

Every dollar donated helps get local teenagers away from screens and out on the land — building trails, removing invasive weeds, and developing a lifelong stewardship ethic. Your support is helping grow the next generation of island stewards.

Donate to YCC at oicf.us or direct link in the comment

05/19/2026

Did you get your ticket yet for this film screening series? We can't wait!

Join the San Juan Islands Agricultural Guild for a series of film screenings of "Women’s Work: The Untold Story of America’s Female Farmers" produced by Audra Mulkern, founder of the Female Farmer Project, and a panel conversation with local women farmers.

Hear the stories and experiences of those who feed us, taste the food they grow, and celebrate 2026 being declared the International Year of the Woman Farmer by the United Nations.

🫐 San Juan, Friday, May 22nd 7-9pm at Brickworks with Amanda Zee (Sweet Earth Farm), Angie Freeman-Shepherd (Honeycomb Farm) and Louisa Brouwer (Ferryboat Seeds).

🐐 Orcas, Sunday, May 24th 1-3pm at Sea View Theatre, panelists Amy Lum (Lum Farm) and Laura Torma (Tekla Farms).

🥬 Lopez, Friday, May 29th 7-9pm at the Lopez Grange with panelists Kathryn Thomas (Horsedrawn Farm), Christine Langley (Lopez Harvest), and Lena Jones (Still Light Farm).

Get your tickets here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/15246840985

05/18/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported the Youth Conservation Corps during the first week of the Give Orcas 2026 Spring Campaign through the Orcas Island Community Foundation 💚

Thanks to your generosity, we’ve already raised over $4,000! We have until this Thursday (5/21) to get to our goal of $10,000. Every penny will go towards stipends, camping gear, and work supplies for the 2026 summer season.

This weekend, if you found yourself hiking a trail, listening to birdsong in the forest, or paddling the waters of the Salish Sea, know that YCC crew members work hard to restore and care for those very places. Your support helps connect young people to hands-on conservation work that protects the San Juan Islands for generations to come.

Don't miss the bonus giving opportunity tomorrow 5/19! It's Ben Franklin Day, where the nonprofits with the most $100+ donors can win an extra $1,000!

Every gift helps grow the impact. Help us reach our goal and invest in healthy ecosystems and empowered youth.

👉 Donate to YCC at oicf.us or direct link in the comment

05/15/2026

Earlier this week, we shared what our Eelgrass Restoration team has been up to this spring — but eelgrass work doesn’t stop with the seasons! Our team stayed busy throughout the fall and winter as well.

During the colder months, their focus shifted to separating eelgrass seeds from the outer vegetative flowering heads. Using a process similar to winnowing, the seeds are carefully separated through four stages of sieving. Altogether, the 2025 harvest yielded more than 100,000 seeds!

In addition to direct seeding efforts, 96 eelgrass seedlings were planted thanks to the incredible students at Spring Street International School!!

Every seed and seedling represents hope for healthier marine ecosystems and a more resilient future for our coastal waters. Huge thanks to everyone helping restore and protect these vital underwater meadows!

Photo 1: Mitch McCloskey (Project Manager) and Sage Enright (Outreach and Operations Coordinator) winnowing eelgrass seeds at FHL. Photo captured by Vishva Nalamalapu and featured in Seeding Hope in Declining Eelgrass Meadows UW FHL Newsletter Tide Bites
Photo 2: Winnowing eelgrass seeds second stage at FHL. Photo captured by Sage Enright.
Photo 3: Winnowing eelgrass seeds third stage at FHL. Photo captured by Sage Enright.
Photo 4: Winnowing eelgrass seeds final stage at FHL. Photo captured by Sage Enright.
Photo 5: Spring Street International School 7th grade class planting eelgrass seedlings into burlap sacks. Photo captured by Sage Enright.

05/14/2026

Wildfire preparedness doesn’t have to happen all at once! Small steps add up, and the best place to start is close to home, quite literally.

Creating a more wildfire-ready home is about reducing the places where embers can ignite and helping firefighters safely defend your property if a fire occurs. Many of the most effective actions are simple maintenance projects you can tackle over time.

Last week, we shared our #1 tip: clean your roof and gutters before the driest months of the year. This week, we’d like you to think about what materials you have within five feet of your home — what wildfire professionals call the “Immediate Zone.”

Do you have leftover firewood stacked against the house? Rosemary bushes under a window? Recycling bins or outdoor furniture stored next to siding? Anything combustible in this zone could ignite if an ember lands on it.

Keeping the Immediate Zone clear of flammable materials is one of the most effective ways to help protect your home from wildfire.

Want to learn more? The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety has a great overview of wildfire-ready actions homeowners can take- link in comments!

You can also sign up for a free personalized Wildfire Ready assessment for your property here - link is also in comments!

Be sure to follow along as we continue to share wildfire preparedness tips and resources for Wildfire Preparedness Month.

05/14/2026

TODAY IS UNIQUE DONOR DAY — and your gift has never mattered more. 🌊🌿

Our Youth Conservation Corps program is raising funds through the Orcas Island Community Foundation GiveOrcas spring campaign to support our summer 2026 program. Thanks to this incredible community, we've raised $2,235 so far, and with your help, we can reach out $10,000 goal by May 21!

Here's why TODAY is special: every unique donor who gives to YCC today counts toward a $1,000 bonus grant by OICF, awarded to the organization with the most individual donors by end of day.

It's not about the size of your gift — it's that YOU give. Even $10 makes a real difference today.

Every summer, while many of their peers are heading to camp or sleeping in, YCC members show up — 9 to 3, Monday through Thursday — logging thousands of hours of hands-on conservation work across the islands. They are, in every sense, a unique group of young people. Which is exactly why Unique Donor Day belongs to them.

Your support helps our crew members:

🌿 Eradicate invasive species like gorse that threaten native ecosystems

🐟 Restore critical habitat for Pacific salmon and Southern Resident Orcas

🏕️ Steward the trails, forests, wetlands, and parks we all love

🌱 Build the environmental literacy, job skills, and deep sense of place they'll carry for life

This isn't just a summer jobs program. It's how the next generation of Salish Sea stewards is made.

Unique Donor Day ends at midnight. Campaign runs through May 21.

👉 Donate now at oicf.us — link in comments.

05/12/2026

🌿 This is your chance to invest in the next generation of island stewards 🌿

Today marks the first day of the Spring 2026 GiveOrcas Campaign with Orcas Island Community Foundation, and we’re raising $10,000 in 10 days to support the Youth Conservation Corps summer season.

Your gift funds crew member stipends, camping equipment, work tools, and educational materials — making projects like trail restoration at Moran State Park, eelgrass seeding, and tree-ring analysis on Turtleback Mountain possible.

Last summer, nine teenagers boarded a Washington State Parks boat before sunrise and headed through rough waters to Patos Island. Cold, soaked, and seasick, they spent three days restoring trails, repainting the historic Patos Lighthouse, and experiencing a place few people ever see.

At the end of the trip, YCC crew member Naia Edington reflected:
✨ “What we are doing for the future is inspiring.” ✨

That’s the power of connecting young people to the land they call home.

While the average teenager spends nearly 60 hours a week on screens, YCC crew members spend more than 200 hours outdoors each summer — building skills, confidence, stewardship, and a lifelong sense of place.

Your generosity helps Orcas Island youth gain the tools and experiences they need to care for this community and the ecosystems we all share.

💚 The campaign runs through May 21. Every gift makes a difference.

To donate, visit the link in comments or visit oicf.us

05/11/2026

Did you know that spring isn't just for flowers on land, but for seeds in the sea too? 🌱🌊

Our Eelgrass Restoration team took advantage of some beautiful early spring weather to broadcast 26,000 (!!) seeds at the UW FHL Marine Biological Preserve in False Bay.

But that’s not all— the team is gearing up to try a new restoration method that will be the first of its kind to be implemented on the West Coast. They are teaming up with Rob Vasiluth of SAVE Environmental, who has been pioneering this innovative form of eelgrass restoration in the Long Island Sound. Our team will be piloting this method with help from the students of Friday Harbor Labs Novel Ecosystems course and will be in unison with Padilla Bay NERRS, Puget Sound Restoration Fund, and WWU Shannon Point Marine Center during their large-scale restoration at Wildcat Cove in Larrabee State Park.

How does it work? We are using heart cockles, a byproduct species of geoduck farms. This species of cockles is native to the Salish Sea and naturally grow in the same habitats that eelgrass does. By using a special biodegradable glue, we can attach eelgrass seeds to the cockles. As the cockles naturally bury themselves into the seafloor, the seeds detach and settle safely into the sediment to grow.

Questions? Email Sage our Operations, Outreach, and Volunteer Coordinator [email protected]

And don't miss these two articles the team was highlighted in: "A 'Secret Weapon' for Fighting Climate Change Comes Surging Back" and "UW FHL Tide Bites: Seeding Hope in Declining Eelgrass Meadows" - links in bio!

Photo 1: Sage broadcast seeding into False Bay. Photo captured by Eric Finn.
Photo 2: Patchy eelgrass meadow at False Bay where eelgrass seeds were broadcasted. Photo captured by Sage Enright.
Photo 3: Sage holding up their first eelgrass seeded cockle. Photo captured by Sylvia Yang.
Photo 4: Cockles glued with eelgrass seeds as part of testing the pilot work to be done soon. Photo captured by Sage Enright.