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
County Begins Planning for Zylstra Lake Trail and Answers FAQs
Feb 16, 2023
By San Juan County
The proposed trail to connect Friday Harbor to Zylstra Lake is in the early stages of development and will soon include opportunities for public input.
SAN JUAN COUNTY, WA. February 15, 2023 - San Juan County is eager to begin developing a plan for a multi-use trail connecting the Town of Friday Harbor to the Zylstra Lake Preserve. Recently awarded $5.28 million in federal transportation funds, the County is beginning the project by answering frequently asked questions, moving forward with preliminary project scoping, and accepting public input on the project webpage.
“This project is in the very early, conceptual stages of development,†said Grant Carlton, the project’s manager and the County’s Management Analyst. “We really see this as an opportunity for the public to come together and shape what this trail could be.â€
Representative Rick Larsen (District 2) earmarked the funding from the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Spending Package and visited the preserve on January 20, 2023 to discuss future hopes of safe, multi-modal transportation in the islands.
“There’s already a lot of people who bike out here anyway - it's just that they’re biking on a County road with no median, no separation from cars - not all that safe,†said Larsen.
The idea for a trail to Zylstra Lake was born out of multiple planning documents, meetings, and community surveys that identified the need for “a well-planned transportation system of multi-modal trails†that “connect people to places.â€
Zylstra Lake Preserve lies at the center of multiple corridors that have been identified as important opportunities to “promote nonmotorized transportation, provide safer conditions for biking and walking, and improve connectivity between popular sites,†according to multiple iterations of the County’s Parks Trails and Natural Areas Plan, which is now called the Recreation, Open Space, and Stewardship Plan.
Among the Plan’s goals is to provide “a diversity of trail opportunities including hard- and soft-surfaced trails, point-to-point trails, loop trails, and trails with a variety of access points and lengths.†The proposed trail from the Town of Friday Harbor to the Zylstra Lake Preserve aims to achieve these long-established goals put forth by local land managers and members of the public.
The County has answered a list of frequently asked questions, including “Why did the County select this project?â€, “How is this project funded?â€, “How will neighboring landowners be impacted?†and more. These answers are accessible on the project's 'Engage San Juan County' page, accessible here: https://engage.sanjuancountywa.gov/town-to-zylstra-lake-trail/news_feed/faqs.
See the timeline below to understand how the project has developed over time:
2005: The County’s Parks and Recreation Plan identifies trails and bikeways as a critical issue. A survey of 5,000 random households and discovered that 82% of county residents “agreed†or “strongly agreed†that “trails and bikeways should be an integral part of transportation planning for the county.â€
2010: Citizen-driven trail groups identify priority corridors for future trail development. The County’s Parks, Trails, and Natural Areas (PTNA) Plan defined and identified the goal of many of these corridors is to promote non-motorized transportation, provide safer conditions for biking and walking, and improve connectivity between popular sites.
2016: Multi-modal trails along island corridors (including corridors leading to Zylstra Lake) are identified once again as priorities in the PTNA Plan.
2021: Congressman Rick Larsen’s office calls for Member Designated Project (MDP) submissions. Jurisdictions with specific highway and transit projects located in District Two were encouraged to apply. MDP funding seeks to further projects that benefit the communities they serve, are generally supported by local elected officials, are enumerated in adopted plans, and encompass a feasible and achievable timeline.
2021: San Juan County identifies multi-modal trail to Zylstra Lake as worthy and applicable project for a MDP submission. The Zylstra Lake Shared Use Trail project has been enumerated in multiple iterations of adopted local planning documents, has an identified starting point and destination, and carries a theoretically achievable timeline.
April 2021: The Town of Friday Harbor passes a resolution in general support of the project.
April 2021: San Juan County approves a resolution in general support of the project. The Public Works Department presented a conceptual cost analysis of the project to Council. This estimate was used to understand the potential scope of the proposed project and was/is subject to change. The preliminary budget was created only for conceptual planning and grant writing purposes. The Council then signed a resolution in support of a Town to Zylstra Lake multi-modal trail.
April 2021: San Juan County submits the Town to Zylstra Lake project proposal to Representative Rick Larsen’s Office.
November 2022: San Juan County adopts the Recreation, Open Space and Stewardship (ROSS) Plan which continues to highlight the public’s interest in multi-modal trails. “One of the most pressing issues emerging over several years of community outreach is the need for non-motorized transportation connecting people to places,†the plan states.
December 2022: Larsen Secures $31,529,221 for Fifteen Local Projects in Omnibus Spending Package. With the goal of supporting a cleaner, safer, and more accessible transportation network, Rick Larsen secured $5.28 million for a multi-modal trail from the Town of Friday Harbor to Zylstra Lake.
January 2023: San Juan County begins project planning. Congressman Larsen visited Zylstra Lake and County employees start preparing to solicit public input on project design.
Additional project information will be gathered on San Juan County’s new interactive web platform, Engage San Juan County. https://engage.sanjuancountywa.gov/town-to-zylstra-lake-trail. The platform is free and accessible to the public. To participate (sign-up for project updates, ask questions, etc.) make sure you're registered in the 'Engage San Juan County' platform: https://engage.sanjuancountywa.gov/
Contact: Grant Carlton, Management Analyst, [email protected]
###
“This project is in the very early, conceptual stages of development,†said Grant Carlton, the project’s manager and the County’s Management Analyst. “We really see this as an opportunity for the public to come together and shape what this trail could be.â€
Representative Rick Larsen (District 2) earmarked the funding from the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Spending Package and visited the preserve on January 20, 2023 to discuss future hopes of safe, multi-modal transportation in the islands.
“There’s already a lot of people who bike out here anyway - it's just that they’re biking on a County road with no median, no separation from cars - not all that safe,†said Larsen.
The idea for a trail to Zylstra Lake was born out of multiple planning documents, meetings, and community surveys that identified the need for “a well-planned transportation system of multi-modal trails†that “connect people to places.â€
Zylstra Lake Preserve lies at the center of multiple corridors that have been identified as important opportunities to “promote nonmotorized transportation, provide safer conditions for biking and walking, and improve connectivity between popular sites,†according to multiple iterations of the County’s Parks Trails and Natural Areas Plan, which is now called the Recreation, Open Space, and Stewardship Plan.
Among the Plan’s goals is to provide “a diversity of trail opportunities including hard- and soft-surfaced trails, point-to-point trails, loop trails, and trails with a variety of access points and lengths.†The proposed trail from the Town of Friday Harbor to the Zylstra Lake Preserve aims to achieve these long-established goals put forth by local land managers and members of the public.
The County has answered a list of frequently asked questions, including “Why did the County select this project?â€, “How is this project funded?â€, “How will neighboring landowners be impacted?†and more. These answers are accessible on the project's 'Engage San Juan County' page, accessible here: https://engage.sanjuancountywa.gov/town-to-zylstra-lake-trail/news_feed/faqs.
See the timeline below to understand how the project has developed over time:
2005: The County’s Parks and Recreation Plan identifies trails and bikeways as a critical issue. A survey of 5,000 random households and discovered that 82% of county residents “agreed†or “strongly agreed†that “trails and bikeways should be an integral part of transportation planning for the county.â€
2010: Citizen-driven trail groups identify priority corridors for future trail development. The County’s Parks, Trails, and Natural Areas (PTNA) Plan defined and identified the goal of many of these corridors is to promote non-motorized transportation, provide safer conditions for biking and walking, and improve connectivity between popular sites.
2016: Multi-modal trails along island corridors (including corridors leading to Zylstra Lake) are identified once again as priorities in the PTNA Plan.
2021: Congressman Rick Larsen’s office calls for Member Designated Project (MDP) submissions. Jurisdictions with specific highway and transit projects located in District Two were encouraged to apply. MDP funding seeks to further projects that benefit the communities they serve, are generally supported by local elected officials, are enumerated in adopted plans, and encompass a feasible and achievable timeline.
2021: San Juan County identifies multi-modal trail to Zylstra Lake as worthy and applicable project for a MDP submission. The Zylstra Lake Shared Use Trail project has been enumerated in multiple iterations of adopted local planning documents, has an identified starting point and destination, and carries a theoretically achievable timeline.
April 2021: The Town of Friday Harbor passes a resolution in general support of the project.
April 2021: San Juan County approves a resolution in general support of the project. The Public Works Department presented a conceptual cost analysis of the project to Council. This estimate was used to understand the potential scope of the proposed project and was/is subject to change. The preliminary budget was created only for conceptual planning and grant writing purposes. The Council then signed a resolution in support of a Town to Zylstra Lake multi-modal trail.
April 2021: San Juan County submits the Town to Zylstra Lake project proposal to Representative Rick Larsen’s Office.
November 2022: San Juan County adopts the Recreation, Open Space and Stewardship (ROSS) Plan which continues to highlight the public’s interest in multi-modal trails. “One of the most pressing issues emerging over several years of community outreach is the need for non-motorized transportation connecting people to places,†the plan states.
December 2022: Larsen Secures $31,529,221 for Fifteen Local Projects in Omnibus Spending Package. With the goal of supporting a cleaner, safer, and more accessible transportation network, Rick Larsen secured $5.28 million for a multi-modal trail from the Town of Friday Harbor to Zylstra Lake.
January 2023: San Juan County begins project planning. Congressman Larsen visited Zylstra Lake and County employees start preparing to solicit public input on project design.
Additional project information will be gathered on San Juan County’s new interactive web platform, Engage San Juan County. https://engage.sanjuancountywa.gov/town-to-zylstra-lake-trail. The platform is free and accessible to the public. To participate (sign-up for project updates, ask questions, etc.) make sure you're registered in the 'Engage San Juan County' platform: https://engage.sanjuancountywa.gov/
Contact: Grant Carlton, Management Analyst, [email protected]
###