Submitted by San Juan County

Local, state, and federal agencies that manage lands or recreation facilities in the San Juan Islands sponsored a study in 2017 to collect better information about use, impacts, visitors, and preferences for management. The study addresses several questions related to San Juan Islands tourism, public lands, and recreation areas.

The study included:

• A survey of ferry passengers (visitors and residents). See an example of survey given here.

• Surveys of visitors to attraction sites (e.g. Lime Kiln State Park, Moran State Park, Shark Reef Sanctuary). See an example of the survey given here.

• Counts and observations of use at attraction sites

• An inventory of accommodations on the three main islands (San Juan, Orcas, and Lopez)

• Analyses of visitation from WSF, other passenger ferries, airlines, and marinas

You can learn more about this study from this presentation and see Draft Highlight findings from the study.

Information will be used to inform decisions about development, recreation uses, and ways to manage or better distribute use to enhance the quality or sustainability of visitor experiences.

The study, funded through county lodging tax grant and National Park Service investment, was conducted by Confluence Research and Consulting.

As soon as the results are available, we will publish them to this county webpage.