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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
Islanders Launch Campaign to Renew Land Bank’s Funding
Jul 9, 2024
By Renew our Landbank
A team of 50 islanders is hard at work ensuring voters say ‘Yes’ in November to renew funding to keep the San Juan County Conservation Land Bank protecting and maintaining conservation areas in the county. If the measure passes at the polls, a separate source of funding for local affordable housing would also be preserved.
Led by former Land Bank Commissioners Christa Campbell from Lopez and Sandi Friel from Orcas, the Renew Our Land Bank committee includes volunteers from a variety of backgrounds. “We have farmers, builders, teachers, affordable housing advocates, business owners, artists, realtors and others working together towards this important cause,” says Campbell, who served as a Land Bank Commissioner from 2013 to 2023.
First approved by voters in 1990 and reauthorized in 1999 and 2011, the 1% Conservation Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) that funds the Land Bank is paid at closing by purchasers of property in San Juan County. With the Conservation REET set to sunset in 2026, and the Home Fund for affordable housing dependent on its continued existence, the County Council has approved placing a 12-year extension of Conservation REET on the November 5th general election ballot.
Friel says the Council’s approval at its July 9th meeting was the catalyst for the committee to kick off its citizen education campaign, starting with an informative website www.RenewOurLandBank.com .
“Many people think the Land Bank’s only function is to preserve trails and pretty views,” says Friel, who was a Land Bank Commissioner from 2018 to 2023. “The website brings to life the stories of how the Land Bank is protecting our drinking water, forests, shorelines, working farms and wildlife habitat, and the efforts underway to prevent big wildfires. It shows how the Land Bank enhances our quality of life and future resilience.”
Campbell says the website also explains the Land Bank’s critical link to local affordable housing. “There’s a rumor going around that the Land Bank is driving up the cost of island housing, and that’s not true. In fact, the Land
Bank supports housing affordability in several ways.”
State law allows counties with a 1% Conservation REET to adopt a 0.5% Housing REET for Affordable Housing. San Juan County voters approved the Housing REET in 2018 and since that time it’s helped raise funds to provide and preserve 132 affordable homes for islanders.
“If the Conservation REET ends in 2026, then the Housing REET ends, too, and with it a big source of funding to keep our housing affordable,” says Campbell.
All local affordable housing organizations are supporting the ballot measure to renew the Land Bank’s funding, as are the family resource centers, Council candidates, many businesses and other non-profits.
Learn more at www.RenewOurLandBank.com
First approved by voters in 1990 and reauthorized in 1999 and 2011, the 1% Conservation Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) that funds the Land Bank is paid at closing by purchasers of property in San Juan County. With the Conservation REET set to sunset in 2026, and the Home Fund for affordable housing dependent on its continued existence, the County Council has approved placing a 12-year extension of Conservation REET on the November 5th general election ballot.
Friel says the Council’s approval at its July 9th meeting was the catalyst for the committee to kick off its citizen education campaign, starting with an informative website www.RenewOurLandBank.com .
“Many people think the Land Bank’s only function is to preserve trails and pretty views,” says Friel, who was a Land Bank Commissioner from 2018 to 2023. “The website brings to life the stories of how the Land Bank is protecting our drinking water, forests, shorelines, working farms and wildlife habitat, and the efforts underway to prevent big wildfires. It shows how the Land Bank enhances our quality of life and future resilience.”
Campbell says the website also explains the Land Bank’s critical link to local affordable housing. “There’s a rumor going around that the Land Bank is driving up the cost of island housing, and that’s not true. In fact, the Land
Bank supports housing affordability in several ways.”
State law allows counties with a 1% Conservation REET to adopt a 0.5% Housing REET for Affordable Housing. San Juan County voters approved the Housing REET in 2018 and since that time it’s helped raise funds to provide and preserve 132 affordable homes for islanders.
“If the Conservation REET ends in 2026, then the Housing REET ends, too, and with it a big source of funding to keep our housing affordable,” says Campbell.
All local affordable housing organizations are supporting the ballot measure to renew the Land Bank’s funding, as are the family resource centers, Council candidates, many businesses and other non-profits.
Learn more at www.RenewOurLandBank.com
Former Land Bank Commissioners Christa Campbell and Sandi Friel
Turtleback - credit Suzana Roach