Other News
Apr 25, 2025: New Daily Service Schedule, Growing Ridership & Other Insights on County’s Pilot Transport Services
Apr 24, 2025: Building and Land Use Permits, Long-Range Planning Projects, & Staff Recruitments: DCD Leadership Provides Spring Update
Apr 4, 2025: 2025 Comp Plan Update: Transportation Element, Plan Intro, & Administration Piece Ready for Review
Mar 19, 2025: San Juan County Establishes Interim Inter-Island Transportation Services as RFP Process Continues
Mar 7, 2025: 2025 Comp Plan Update: Climate Element and Draft Official Map Amendments Available for Review
Mar 6, 2025: Governor Ferguson announces plan to restore Washington State Ferries to full service by this summer
Mar 4, 2025: Public Meeting: Land Bank Using Prescribed Fires to Manage Wildfire Risks & Restore Ecosystems
Feb 19, 2025: San Juan County Seeks Proposals from Transportation Service Providers for Pilot Project
Feb 12, 2025: Call for Candidates: Three-Day Special Filing Period for Lopez Metropolitan Park District Commissioners
Jan 19, 2025: Four districts, six unions, three PTAs, and county leadership all agree: legislators must take action to fully fund education no
Dec 19, 2024: San Juan County Parks and Fair Announces New Camping Software; Delaying Reservation Availability
Dec 10, 2024: County Council Considers Extending Agreement with Lopez Solid Waste to Allow for More Collaboration
Dec 5, 2024: San Juan County to Consider Updated Interlocal Agreement with Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District
Dec 2, 2024: San Juan County Council Sets Public Hearing for Cultural Access Sales Tax at Dec. 10 Meeting
Nov 25, 2024: San Juan County Celebrates Completion of Lopez Skate Park and Calls for Inaugural Skaters
Nov 7, 2024: How Has Extreme Weather Impacted You? Participate in the County’s Climate Resilience Planning Effort
Nov 1, 2024: UPDATE: Sea Wall Repairs Temporarily Close MacKaye Harbor Dock and Boat Ramp on Lopez Island
Oct 22, 2024: DRAFT North Shore Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Oct 21, 2024: Reminder: You’re Invited to Attend Open Houses for the 2025 Comp Plan Update This Fall
Oct 1, 2024: LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE SAN JUANS SPONSORS OCTOBER COUNTY COUNCIL VOTER FORUMS ON SJI, ORCAS, AND LOPEZ
Sep 24, 2024: County Hosts Community Meeting on Lopez Island to Discuss Public Safety during Hunting Season
Sep 24, 2024: SJC Reviews Shoreline Habitat & Infrastructure Adaptation Strategies in the face of Sea Level Rise
Sep 23, 2024: DRAFT Watmough Bay Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Aug 29, 2024: San Juan County’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging Survey Sets Baseline for Ongoing Change
Aug 27, 2024: 2024 San Juan County WSU Master Gardeners Gardening Workshop Series, October 15-24, 2024
Aug 27, 2024: County Representatives Discuss Solutions to Ferry Service Disruptions with Governor Inslee
Aug 21, 2024: County Council’s Request to Governor for Relief from Ferry Service Disruptions Not Fulfilled
Aug 20, 2024: San Juan County Certifies Primary Election Results & Celebrates Highest Primary Turnout in Years
Aug 13, 2024: WSF Commits Additional Crews to Interisland Route to Ensure Service During County Fair Week
Aug 13, 2024: Ferry Data from Staff and Local Partners Shapes Council Request for ‘Executive Relief’ From WA State
Aug 5, 2024: The Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival returns to Lopez for its 27th Summer Concert Season
May 2, 2024: WA State Governor and Assistant Secretary of WSF Talk Ferry Service & Solar Power with SJC Officials
Apr 11, 2024: Community Meeting: Sea Level Rise Adaptation for Outer Bay and Agate Beach Areas on Lopez Island
Mar 11, 2024: Queers in Unexpected Places: Searching for (and Finding) Gender and Sexual Non-Conformity in the Rural and Early PNW
Mar 7, 2024: DRAFT Richardson Marsh Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Dec 5, 2023: County Council Member Jane Fuller and Senator Liz Lovelett to Host Public Meeting on Lopez
Nov 3, 2023: County and Town Send Open Letter to State Officials Regarding Impacts of Poor Ferry Service
Sep 29, 2023: Conservation Land Bank Announces Special Meeting to Discuss Watmough Bay Preserve Addition
Sep 14, 2023: The mobile dental van is coming to Lopez! // ¡La camioneta dental móvil ya llega a López!
Aug 22, 2023: San Juan County Adopts 32-Hour Work Week in the Name of Fiscal Health, Recruitment, and Islander Wellness
May 25, 2023: Recap of Lopez Neighborhood Meeting Regarding the Relocation of Public Works Facilities
May 23, 2023: District 3 Councilmember Jane Fuller Opens Office on Lopez and Hosts Community Conversation
Apr 17, 2023: Give Lopez Starts April 17th - A two week fundraiser benefiting 15 Lopez Island Non-Profits
Sep 22, 2022: Interim Watmough Preserve Addition Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Ticks widespread in the islands, study finds
Feb 22, 2022
By Kwiaht
An exploratory study by the nonprofit conservation laboratory Kwiaht has discovered that ticks are widespread in the San Juan Islands, but not yet a significant threat to human health or wildlife.
Funded in part by the San Juan Island Community Foundation, the 10-month study was based mainly on ticks found by islanders on themselves, or on their pets. All ticks collected from islanders were screened genetically for eight tick-borne bacterial pathogens including Borrelia,which causes Lyme Disease. Genetic screening was conducted by the Pennsylvania Tick Research Laboratory, which has extensive experience testing ticks for East Coast health departments. No comparable public program exists in Washington State.
Kwiaht scientists also received ticks from Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and checked wildlife in San Juan Island National Park for ticks during routine ecosystem surveys that often encounter reptiles and small mammals. “One of our most exciting finds was a young female Alligator Lizard with four ticks,†says project coordinator Russel Barsh. “Based on the amount of blood the ticks had consumed, we learned that the host lizard had picked them up over a period of four days.†Alligator Lizards are reportedly a reservoir of ticks in the Gulf Islands, but their role in tick ecology in the San Juan Islands remains unclear.
Other ticks processed thus far were found on people, dogs, cats, deer, and a fox, and were collected on Cypress, Lopez, Orcas, San Juan, Waldron islands. Most were encountered in semi-rural residential areas, including backyards and parks, mainly shrubby rather than grassy.
Significantly, two of the three species of ticks recovered from people, pets, and wildlife
in the San Juan Islands are non-native, originating east of the Rocky Mountains. “We presume they were introduced to the islands by unwitting hikers and dog-owners,†Barsh says. “Once attached, a tick can feed for several days before dropping from its host, and can remain lively for a week or longer in clothing or sleeping bags.†A person with a pet can drive across the country in that time.
“There’s more to learn, and we should continue monitoring for the first signs of Lyme or other tick-borne diseases in the islands because we attract so many visitors from states where tick-borne diseases are well established,†Barsh says. Hikers, picnickers, pet-owners, hunters and farmers are urged to check for ticks, and submit any they find to Kwiaht for testing.
Ticks can be kept in a dry plastic sandwich bag or envelope, and mailed to
Kwiaht
PO Box 415
Lopez Island, WA 98261.
Include information on when and where the tick was found, and on what host, and a phone or email address where you can receive the results of testing.
Kwiaht scientists also received ticks from Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and checked wildlife in San Juan Island National Park for ticks during routine ecosystem surveys that often encounter reptiles and small mammals. “One of our most exciting finds was a young female Alligator Lizard with four ticks,†says project coordinator Russel Barsh. “Based on the amount of blood the ticks had consumed, we learned that the host lizard had picked them up over a period of four days.†Alligator Lizards are reportedly a reservoir of ticks in the Gulf Islands, but their role in tick ecology in the San Juan Islands remains unclear.
Other ticks processed thus far were found on people, dogs, cats, deer, and a fox, and were collected on Cypress, Lopez, Orcas, San Juan, Waldron islands. Most were encountered in semi-rural residential areas, including backyards and parks, mainly shrubby rather than grassy.
Significantly, two of the three species of ticks recovered from people, pets, and wildlife
in the San Juan Islands are non-native, originating east of the Rocky Mountains. “We presume they were introduced to the islands by unwitting hikers and dog-owners,†Barsh says. “Once attached, a tick can feed for several days before dropping from its host, and can remain lively for a week or longer in clothing or sleeping bags.†A person with a pet can drive across the country in that time.
“There’s more to learn, and we should continue monitoring for the first signs of Lyme or other tick-borne diseases in the islands because we attract so many visitors from states where tick-borne diseases are well established,†Barsh says. Hikers, picnickers, pet-owners, hunters and farmers are urged to check for ticks, and submit any they find to Kwiaht for testing.
Ticks can be kept in a dry plastic sandwich bag or envelope, and mailed to
Kwiaht
PO Box 415
Lopez Island, WA 98261.
Include information on when and where the tick was found, and on what host, and a phone or email address where you can receive the results of testing.
Tick from an Orcas Island pet