News Flash

SAN JUAN COUNTY, WA. March 4, 2025 – San Juan County is proud to share the WSU Extension Office’s 2024 Year-In-Review, highlighting key programs and the breadth of services provided to islanders. As an extension of Washington State University, the office is dedicated to strengthening San Juan County by providing education, applied research, and a connection to university-based information and resources. The public is encouraged to access the document by visiting the WSU website: https://extension.wsu.edu/sanjuan/ 

“WSU Extension is a resource for islanders looking for science-based information on home horticulture, agriculture, forestry and is the home of the 4-H Youth Development program. We are grateful for our incredible volunteers and community partners who are the foundation of the work we do in the county” said Caitlin Blethen, the Interim Director for San Juan County WSU Extension.

About WSU Extension 

WSU Extension has had an active presence in San Juan County since 1919. Today, the programs are funded through partnerships at the county, state, and federal levels as well as by local foundations, grants, program revenue, and donations. Impact is leveraged by training volunteers to deliver university-based programs.

Program Highlights

County-based programs provide community education in agriculture, pest identification and management, home horticulture, forest resource management, environmental stewardship, food safety and preservation, and 4-H youth development.

• 4-H Program – 4-H is the nation’s largest youth development organization. Its goal is to help youth build life skills by ‘learning by doing’.  
  1. 112 4-H club members participated in 12 clubs focused on raising large and small livestock, cats & dogs, learning to bake, about robotics, photography and more.
  2. 67 4-H members submitted 700+ entries to the San Juan County Fair highlighting their year-long projects.
  3. 55 islanders volunteered their time to support 4-H programs and youth clubs and projects. 
• Agriculture – The Agriculture Program provides education and outreach, conducts applied research, and facilitates food system development. We serve as an on-call resource to answer producer and community member questions.
  1. The 2024 Ag Summit, “It’s All About the Carbon,” received 228 registrations. The event hosted 8 workshops, 12 sessions, and 50+ speakers. 100% of beginning farmers & ranchers surveyed reported they developed skills to start or enhance their farm business through attending Summit events.
  2. The Ag Tent at the 2024 SJC Fair featured 9 local agriculture organizations and hosted 10 agricultural presentations and demonstrations. 
  3. The program shares resources and opportunities to 259 San Juan County Food and Farm listserv subscribers
  4. The program is partnering on a $304,637 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Grant to provide support, training and technical advice and assistance for new farmers in the county. 
• Master Gardener Program – WSU Master Gardeners are the go-to resource for communities seeking research-based, innovative solutions for their ever-changing horticultural and environmental stewardship needs.
  1. 80 active volunteers contributed 4,814 hours of work in 2024 providing home horticulture information, diagnosing plant problems, maintaining demo gardens, organizing plant sales, teaching classes to adults and children and facilitating workshops.
  2. Volunteers served 1,000 islanders through Ask a Master Gardener events, workshops, plant sales and more.
  3. The program trained 23 new Master Gardeners. Each participant completed 60 hours of training as well as 100 hours of online coursework and a 40-hour internship to become certified.
  4. Master Gardeners distributed 2,500 native plants and 1,300 veggie & perennial plants, as well as donated 1,520 pounds of garden-grown food to the SJI Food Bank.  
• Forestry – the WSU Forestry program provides objective, research-based education and resources for owners of forested property as well as the general public through classes, workshop, field days, publications and more.
  1. Program staff partnered with the San Juan Islands Conservation District to provide an in-person Forest Stewardship Coached Planning course in Friday Harbor and two online Forest Stewardship Coached Planning courses. 
  2. The program also hosted a twilight forest tour on thinning and fuels reduction and a forest health training for San Juan County Master Gardeners. 
• Food Preservation – The Food Preservation Programs goal is to improve food access and reduce food waste through accessible education and community engagement.
  1. In 2024, the program engaged 39 households in the annual free food preservation series. Participants gained unlimited access to a comprehensive library of resources via Google Classroom.
  2. Once again, San Juan County's food preservation specialist attended the County Fair and participated as a judge of food preservation entries – the most we’ve seen in at least five years!

Looking Ahead

WSU Extension has set several goals for 2025, including an updated more accessible website, new community outreach efforts, offering the new Washington Green School program, and a Teen Ambassadors group for the 4-H Program. 

“Our staff and volunteers are an outstanding resource for the community” Blethen said.

The community is encouraged to view the full Year-In-Review document by visiting: https://extension.wsu.edu/sanjuan/ 

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