There has been much discussion about tourism, overpopulation, exhaustion or abuse of natural resources in the San Juan Islands ranging from anguish at environmental degradation and changes imposed by crowding, noise, and destruction of community on the one hand, and anger expressed toward perceived causes such as new people, always excepting ourselves, on the other.

How we see ourselves blinds us to what is really going on. We arrive, accepting what we find, relieved at escaping the social and environmental disorder we leave behind. But we are blind to what we bring with us: our personal contribution to social and environmental disorder. Who sees what we are blind to? The people who got here before you, of course. They have the same “last man in the lifeboat syndrome,” the desire to keep things rural and lushly green that you succumbed to when you arrived, however long ago. Continue Reading

Merri Ann Simonson sends along this month-end real estate market snapshot for San Juan Island. No, that’s not a typo — there are zero for-sale homes on the island priced $600,000 or less.

The total number of active listings on San Juan Island — which includes both homes and land — is just 38. Another 25 properties are listed as pending. According to historical data provided by Merri Ann, ten years ago this month, in March 2012, San Juan Island had a similar number of pending sales (30) but more than 11 times as many active listings (426).

The San Juan County Department of Emergency Management reports 20 confirmed or probable new COVID cases on San Juan Island since Feb. 25 — roughly the same as last week. The County reports just one new case each on Orcas Island and Lopez Island. This week’s 22 new cases bring the total case count to 1,224.

In their media release, the County shared some thoughts on its mask mandate, which they expect to lift on Saturday, March 12, in line with the removal of state-level masking orders:

The Governor has moved up the timeline for the lifting of his masking orders to March 12th. San Juan County Health Officer Dr. Frank James is in support of this move, and assuming current trends hold, will lift all current San Juan County orders on masking at the same time as the Governor’s order.

This will eliminate indoor masking requirements, including in schools — but please note that some settings, including healthcare facilities and long-term care facilities will still have masking requirements in place. There are also federal requirements in place for transportation systems, including ferries and air travel, that may continue to require masking.

There will still be families, individuals, and businesses that choose to keep masks on. That’s a perfectly reasonable approach and should be met with understanding.

Please be patient as businesses, individuals, and organizations work to adjust to the lifting of masking requirements. The first couple of days of any transition are always a little clunky and it will take time for signs to come down and everyone to recalibrate.

The San Juan Islands Agricultural Guild shares a detailed look at grants they are making available to farmers for the 2022 season through their FARM Fund Committee.

The San Juan Islands Agricultural Guild and FARM Fund partners are excited to announce $50,000 in grants available to farmers for the 2022 season. 2022 FARM Fund grants will support projects that strengthen and develop regenerative agriculture in San Juan County while increasing the supply and availability of local food. The FARM Fund is committed to pursuing innovative ways to create a more resilient local food system while promoting the economic growth and viability of San Juan County farmers. Continue Reading

Heather Christensen sends along an update about the progress being made at the new Friday Harbor Family Clinic, scheduled to open in late April at 235 Blair Ave.

Things are progressing well with both the physical setting up of the office and the electronic administrative nuts and bolts needed to operate the clinic as a business. We continue to be delighted with the community response and support. We do not have a set start date yet as we are still waiting on various moving parts to all fit into place. We are estimating the start date after the middle of April. Please be patient and know that we will make announcements when we are able to start scheduling. Continue Reading

The Friday Harbor Film Festival’s Best of the Fest series presents one feature-length documentary alongside shorter documentary films each week. The films are streamed on demand. For the week of March 4, FHFF is showing The Ants and the Grasshopper and Farm to Restaurant to Table: The Story of Stand Up for Lopez, a Pandemic Food Security Program.

FHFF shared with the Update a preview of each film.

Continue Reading

The Center for Whale Research shares some positive news from the Southern Resident orca J pod.

On March 1, we welcomed the meteorological first day of spring and a new calf in J pod.

We received word that J pod was nearby (off Landbank, San Juan Island), and there was possibly a new addition to the Southern Resident orca family. 

​The Center for Whale Research’s photo-ID expert, Dave Ellifrit, found the whales near Kelp Reef and confirmed the new addition to J pod. The calf was next to J37, with J47 and J40 nearby. CWR field staff last saw J37 during Encounter #12 on February 11, 2022, and she did not have a calf at that time. We estimate this baby was born within the past few days, given its “lumpy” physical nature.

​Dave captured images of J37 with her new baby traveling in a tight group with other family members. CWR designates this newborn J59. J59’s sex is unknown at this time. Its size and shape are typical of a calf in good physical condition. J59 is the first calf born into J pod since September 2020, when J41 gave birth to J58 (female). 

​The new mother, J37 (born 2001), is part of the J14 matriline and has two siblings, J40 (female, born 2004) and J45 (male, born 2009). She was a young mother, only 11 years old when she gave birth to her first calf in 2012: J49 (male). 

Photo credit: Center for Whale Research

San Juan County Public Works is hiring for multiple positions on San Juan Island, Orcas Island, and Lopez Island. Learn more in the Island Jobs section of the San Juan Update.

After three weeks away for a mid-winter vacation, the crew at Tina’s Place reopened their doors last week, rested and ready to head into the first full busy season in their new location.

The break was especially hard earned this year.

Eight months ago, in the middle of the most demanding and competitive time of the year for Island restaurants, owner Tina Keane learned that the building from which she had run Tina’s Tacos since 2017 was for sale.

“Within seven or eight days the building sold,” Tina explains. “So we were homeless. We were going out of business. I had 30 days [to find something else].” Continue Reading

The members of the San Juan County Housing Advisory Committee send along the following update on the status of the County’s Home Fund.

A local program, the San Juan County Home Fund, is playing a significant role in addressing the County’s severe shortage of affordable housing. In 2018, voters approved a 0.5% real estate excise tax (REET) specifically to help fund affordable housing. This one-time fee, which is mostly paid by the buyer at the time of a real estate sale, does not increase property tax.

San Juan County continues to have the highest median house price ($887,500) and lowest Housing Affordability Index of any county in Washington. This directly or indirectly affects everyone who lives or works in San Juan County as well as island businesses that cannot hire or keep employees because there is no place they can afford to live. Voters recognized this problem and took the extraordinary step of creating a local Home Fund, which has now been in effect for three years. Continue Reading

Happy Fat Tuesday! March 1 is the last day of carnival, the day before lent, and a time for feasting. One traditional dish, easy to make, economical, and good for you, is Louisiana red beans and rice.

After the Haitian Revolution of 1804 thousands of refugees of both European and African heritage fled Haiti to New Orleans. They doubled the city’s population and made an indelible mark on the city’s cuisine including the Haitian specialty, red beans and rice. Continue Reading