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
OPAL purchases Crosswind Apartments
Another eight rentals affordable for households of moderate and middle incomes ||| FROM QASIM ALI DINO for OPAL COMMUNITY LAND TRUST ||| Eight more apartments on Orcas Island will become permanently affordable rentals with OPAL
Keeping what holds us | An Island Stewards reflection from the week of Solstice
||| FROM ISLAND STEWARDS ||| The week of the solstice arrives without settling. Weather moves back and forth. Forecast models disagree. Neighborhoods and infrastructure on the mainland are already damaged by flooding, while the possibility
Announcement of 2026 Orcas Island Garden Club grant opportunity
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| The Orcas Island Garden Club annually funds projects within the community that represent the core values of the club including inspiring beauty in nature, educating our community and
New impact report on Salish Sea & the San Juan Islands
||| FROM AYN GAILEY for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS ||| “It’s so important to celebrate natural beauty and to rise to the occasion to protect it,” says National Geographic photographer and Friends member Robert Dash. His
Gusts up to 55mph until 11pm tonight
||| FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Seattle WA 351 PM PST Thu Dec 18 2025 San Juan County-Lowlands of Western Whatcom County-Lowlands of Western Skagit and Northwestern Snohomish
Checking in with J Pod and J45
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Full Encounter Report ObservBegin: 10:44 AM ObservEnd: 02:16 PM Vessel: Mike 1 Staff: Mark Malleson Other Observers: George Hamilton Pods: J IDsEncountered: J16, J19, J22, J26, J27, J31,
County Float at MacKaye Harbor on Lopez Island closed due to storm damage
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| Due to recent storm damage, the float at MacKaye Harbor Marine Facility on Lopez Island is closed until further notice. The County’s Public Works Department has been monitoring
Could Mount Baker be tapped for geothermal energy? Salish Current reports
State officials and clean energy developers investigate the potential of tapping into the nearby volcano. ||| FROM THE SALISH CURRENT ||| Seen from afar, Mount Baker appears to be a sleeping giant, a glacier-armored peak
Larsen celebrates wins for Washington State in Coast Guard Authorization Act
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U .S. REP. RICK LARSEN ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement after the Senate passed the Coast Guard Authorization Act (CGAA) as part
Whale Museum’s Marine Naturalist Training Program opens registration for 2026
||| FROM CONOR AGNEW for THE WHALE MUSEUM ||| The Whale Museum has opened registration for the 2026 spring and summer sessions of the Marine Naturalist Training Program! This course includes an in-depth treatment of
This time it’s the wind
||| FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Seattle WA 109 PM PST Wed Dec 17 2025 San Juan County-Foothills and Valleys of Pierce and Southern King Counties-Foothills and Valleys
News Brief | America by Mid-Century and what climate change will do
||| FROM THE ATLANTIC ||| Many places may become uninhabitable. Many people may be on their own. We would do well today to study the ways that climate change has already reshaped the American landscape.
No Place Like Loam | You don’t prune heritage trees. You keep them company
||| NO PLACE LIKE LOAM by ALEX TAMAYO-WOLF ||| Sarah Lefton called from Once in a Blue Moon Farm about pruning their heritage orchard. I drove out on a clear day on Orcas Island—cool, bright,
Increased rains increase threat of landslides
||| FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Seattle WA 116 PM PST Tue Dec 16 2025 San Juan County-Cascades of Whatcom and Skagit Counties- Cascades of Snohomish and Northern King
News Brief | Food and fossil fuel production causes $5bn of environmental damage every hour
||| FROM THE GUARDIAN ||| The Global Environment Outlook (GEO) report, which is produced by 200 researchers for the UN Environment Programme, said the climate crisis, destruction of nature and pollution could no longer be
