Here’s a thought…
“The competition between Nature and the economy is deep and broad.
In the short term, the economy usually wins. In the long term …?”
BILL APPEL
The Exchange Update | February 2026
||| FROM ORCAS RECYCLING (THE EXCHANGE) Change to Lightbulb Recycling Program Because of recent changes to a state-funded program, as of March 1, 2026 we will begin charging the public to recycle light bulbs. Tubes
Now Available for Comment | First draft of Critical Areas Ordinance regulations update
The County's goal is to adopt an updated CAO by May of 2026 ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County is updating its critical areas protections, also referred to as the Critical
Trump administration set to revoke basis of US climate regulation
||| FROM REUTERS ||| The administration of President Donald Trump on Thursday plans to announce the repeal of a scientific finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, removing the legal basis for federal climate
Letter to Editor | Did OPALCO think we wouldn’t read the report?
||| FROM DAWNI CUNNINGTON ||| OPALCO is currently attempting to overturn recorded deed restrictions that were already in place when it purchased the Decatur Island property. OPALCO used our money to purchase a 20-acre parcel
Letter to Editor | New issue before Council: Post-purchase revision of recorded protective covenants
||| FROM DAWNI CUNNINGTON ||| There is an old saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. In 2018, OPALCO secured approval for its Decatur solar installation under a Provisional
Orcas Christian School students give back during Community Service Day
||| FROM LILIANNA STANFORD for ORCAS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ||| On Jan. 23, 2026, Orcas Christian School students participated in a campuswide “Service Day,”dedicating their time to community improvement projects across Eastsound. Kindergarten through second-grade students
HB 2395 Update | Full steam ahead into the season
||| FROM DARREN AUSTIN for ONBUOY ||| I wanted to share a brief update on HB 2395 and what it means going forward. As some of you may have heard, the bill did not make
News Brief | Orcas are drowning in noise
Turn down the volume to turn up orca survival ||| FROM GEORGIA STRAIGHT ALLIANCE ||| The frequency of sound emitted depends on a vessel’s engine type, propeller design, speed and distance from wildlife. The temperature
Letter to Editor | Questions for OPALCO Board
||| FROM RIKKI SWIN ||| Krista, Thank you for taking these questions for the Feb 10 online board meeting: Solar Panels for Bailer Hill What was the total cost of the solar panels purchased for the Bailer
No Place Like Loam | Defiance as stewardship and self-reliance: Growing perennial vegetables
||| NO PLACE LIKE LOAM by ALEX TAMAYO WOLF ||| My grandparents’ three acre garden was a closed system. Nothing essential came in from the outside. Seed stayed. Tubers stayed. Crowns stayed. Fertility cycled through
The AI boom is so huge it’s causing shortages everywhere else
||| FROM THE WASHINGTON POST ||| Five leading public AI companies are collectively on track to spend about $700 billion this year on big-ticket projects, as they splurge on building and outfitting data centers stuffed
News Brief | Are killer whales trying to share food with people?
||| FROM GOOD GOOD GOOD ||| Among their own whale circles, they have long shared their prey with one another, but a new study has recorded wild orcas were spotted trying to share their food
Guest Opinion | We currently enjoy 90% renewable, 100% carbon free energy – what is OPALCO doing?
OPALCO leadership, years of financial mismanagement, and entrenched tenure ||| FROM RIKKI SWIN ||| I am writing as a concerned OPALCO member to directly question the Board President, the entire Board of Directors, and the
Letter to Editor | Put a stop to this trash
||| FROM KIM SECUNDA ||| Below is a photo of Ruralite magazine trash clogging up the post office. Literally all three cans overflowing. Stop it. Have opt in only or electronic magazine. This has to stop.
Ditch the screen and connect to birds, to nature, and with each other
Take part in The Great Backyard Bird Count of 2026 ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| The San Juan County Conservation Land Bank, in conjunction with the Joyce L. Sobel Family Resource Center (JLSRFC),
