San Juan Islands Conservation District

San Juan Islands Conservation District is a U.S. local government entity based in Friday Harbor, Washington, that has been registered in SAM.gov since May 2016 to receive federal awards. The organization specializes in environmental conservation and restoration efforts, particularly focusing on marine ecosystem health, endangered species habitat recovery, and pollinator conservation within the San Juan archipelago and surrounding regions. Through its federal grant awards, the Conservation District delivers critical environmental stewardship services that address some of the most pressing ecological challenges facing the region, including the restoration of foundational marine species and the recovery of critically endangered pollinator populations.

The Conservation District has received substantial funding through multiple cooperative agreements from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1, primarily through the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program (CFDA 15.631), to support two primary initiative areas. First, it has conducted extensive eelgrass (Zostera marina) restoration work across the San Juan Islands, developing and scaling seed-based restoration techniques at priority sites including False Bay, Fourth of July Beach, Shaw County Park, Bell Point, and Westcott Bay. These efforts have demonstrated significant progress, increasing annual seed harvest volumes from approximately 5,000 to 35,000 seeds, with objectives to expand capacity to 500,000 seeds, while collaborating with partners such as the University of Washington Friday Harbor Labs and the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Second, the Conservation District has implemented comprehensive island marble butterfly (Euchloe ausonides insulanus) habitat restoration and recovery programs on San Juan and Lopez Islands, addressing the species' critically low population numbers (estimated at 200-500 individuals in a single location) through habitat establishment, maintenance, monitoring, and landowner engagement. These butterfly habitat projects include fencing, site preparation, native prairie and coastal meadow establishment on private properties, and serve as "stepping stone" habitat to expand the species' range. Additionally, the Conservation District has received sub-awards from the Washington Resource Conservation & Development Council for wildfire protection planning, from Montana State University for native forb species research to enhance forage diversity for livestock and pollinators, and from the Washington State Department of Employment Security for workforce development programs, including the San Juan Islands Youth Corps, which provides employment training and conservation work experiences for youth and adults in partnership with local workforce development initiatives.