Submitted by Friends of the San Juans

In a groundbreaking step towards protecting the future of the San Juan Islands, the Samish Indian Nation and Friends of the San Juans are excited to announce that they have been awarded $499,000 as part of a transformative $73.6 million federal grant from NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge.

The two entities will be a part of the Washington State Coastal Climate Resilience Partnership—a collaborative that includes state agencies, tribes, non-governmental organizations, and local government partners—focused on readying the state’s marine shorelines for the future. This innovative partnership was recently selected as one of just 19 climate resiliency projects from across the U.S. to receive grant funding.

“Friends of the San Juans is appreciative of this important work with the Samish Indian Nation,” said Eva Schulte, Friends of the San Juans Executive Director. “The islands support an intricate ecological connection between land and sea and restoring our ecosystems takes science, learning, policy, and law. We thank Governor Inslee for the vital and proactive work of the Climate Commitment Act, which enabled and provides ongoing support for this significant federal award.”

In 2025, partners will spearhead the resiliency planning effort for the marine shorelines of the San Juans, applying new research and mapping data on shoreline armoring, sea level rise, eelgrass, kelp, forage fish spawning beaches, as well as cultural resources and values, to provide a protection blueprint for the future of the San Juan Islands and its communities.

“The Samish Indian Nation have been stewards of the Salish Sea and surrounding land since time immemorial,” said Todd Woodard, Infrastructure & Resources Executive Director of the Samish Indian Nation. “We know the importance of not only protecting this territory, but facing head-on the challenges created by climate change. The partnership with the Friends of the San Juans and the grant from NOAA will greatly help our ongoing efforts to protect our invaluable ecosystems.”

Coastal areas in the San Juan Islands and across our state are increasingly vulnerable to flood and erosion hazards. Changing climate conditions are already posing risks to communities, traditional uses, and local economies, as well as to shoreline and marine ecosystems. This transformational federal award to Washington State, made possible by Washington State Climate Commitment Act coordination and resources, will improve resilience and enhance the capacity of local coastal communities across our state to face climate-related threats.

This San Juan Islands Resiliency Planning Project not only benefits the San Juan Islands but serves as a model for coastal resilience efforts across the nation, demonstrating the power of collaborative action in the face of global climate challenges. The project will develop an action plan to improve resiliency and the long-term protection of ecological and cultural resources in the San Juan Islands by conducting a flood and erosion hazard assessment that integrates protection and enhancement of cultural resources, values, and priorities into shoreline restoration and climate planning.

The Samish Indian Nation’s Natural Resources Department and Friends of the San Juans have a history of collaboration on shoreline research and protection projects. “The San Juan Islands and the Salish Sea are like nowhere else on earth, and we must be vigilant protectors of this special place with reverence for the interconnectedness of people and nature, and with respect for the stewardship of sovereign Tribal Nations,” said Schulte.

About the Samish Indian Nation

The Samish have always been an island people. Prior to contact by the European nations, the Tribe inhabited the San Juan Islands. The Samish in pre-contact times moved from island to island depending on the season and the available harvest, with permanent winter village longhouses. The first recorded instance of European contact in the Northwest occurred in 1792 between Samish inhabitants of Guemes Island and the Spanish. The Samish Tribe is a Coast Salish tribe of Indians. Our aboriginal territory stretches over a seven-county region of northwest Washington, ranging from the Cascades to the western shores of the San Juan Islands — bounded by the southeast tip of San Juan Island, Deception Pass, Padilla Bay, Samish Bay, Chuckanut Bay and the northern end of Lopez Island.

About Friends of the San Juans

Friends of the San Juans works to bring people and nature together to protect the San Juan Islands and the Salish Sea through education, science, policy and law. Formed in 1979 by a group of forward-thinking islanders, we work locally and throughout the region to protect the Salish Sea, shoreline ecosystems, our island communities and resources, and the future!

Additional Information:

• Biden-Harris Administration, NOAA propose $575 million to increase coastal climate resilience, NOAA, July 26, 2024: https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-ira-crrc- awards-2024

• Big investments boost Washington’s coastal resiliency, WA State Department of Ecology, Aug 2, 2024: https://ecology.wa.gov/blog/august-2024/big-investments- boost-washington-s-coastal-resiliency

• Samish Indian Nation (samishtribe.nsn.us)

• Friends of the San Juans (sanjuans.org)