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 | July 2025
||| FROM THE EXCHANGE ||| Art Scholarship Winner: Sintia Cruz Hernandez Congratulations to Sintia Cruz Hernandez - the winner of this year’s Exchange
An important update to OIGC Member’s Book Club
Please note: article released on Tuesday, July 15 about the OIGC Member's Book Club should have included reference to partnership with the Orcas Island Public Library for the Light Eaters event. ||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND
San Juan County officially rejoins NWCAA
||| FROM NORTHWEST CLEAN AIR AGENCY ||| San Juan County is again part of the Northwest Clean Air Agency after action taken July 10 by the agency’s Board of Directors. Island, San Juan, Skagit, and
Could giving this pod of dolphins the same legal rights as humans help keep them safe?
With a bottlenose population threatened by fishing gear, boats and pollution, campaigners on South Korea’s Jeju island are lobbying to extend legal status to the vulnerable cetaceans ||| FROM THE GUARDIAN ||| It is a
Scientists use cutting-edge satellite technology to reveal dangers whales face on daily basis | ‘A growing concern’
||| FROM MSN.COM ||| A comprehensive, high-tech satellite map exposed the daily dangers whales face — and they're caused by humans. What's happening? With satellites, photo identification, and indigenous knowledge, over 50 research institutions around
As state heats up, Weather Service warns wildfire smoke headed to Whatcom County
||| FROM BELLINGHAM HERALD ||| Bellingham and Whatcom County residents could be seeing the first wildfire smoke of summer Monday night as most of Washington bakes in an extended heat wave. A heat advisory in
Columbia Basin’s salmon are in hot water, literally, says report from Save Our Wild Salmon
Fish face a ‘triple threat’ in the Columbia River: Rising temperatures, stagnant water and toxic algae ||| FROM THE COLUMBIAN ||| Environmental group Save Our Wild Salmon released its first Columbia River Hot Water Report
Washington State Ferries launches largest hybrid-electric ferry in North America
||| FROM MY NORTHWEST.COM ||| Washington State Ferries took delivery of its first hybrid-electric ferry. The Wenatchee, already one of the largest boats in the fleet, is now the most technologically advanced ferry in the
Nantucket’s workers are living on the margins
Teachers, police officers, firefighters and other workers live in overcrowded and substandard housing, or even in their cars on the beach. ||| FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES ||| The median home price in Nantucket is
Scotland’s Tidal Bet | Net zero, net loss
||| FROM WHAT'S. UP WITH THAT? ||| Let me invite you to consider the Scottish coast, where the tides are large and the headlines are gushing—much like the capital outflow—over the MeyGen tidal project, a
Free Community Beach Walks | Learn about our unique shorelines
||| FROM KATHERINE DIETZMAN for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS ||| Get outside and explore the incredible shorelines of San Juan County! Join Friends of the San Juans, coastal geologists, and local experts for a
Penalties undetermined for disturbed cultural site at Rosario
Owners installed glamping tent platforms without permits ||| FROM SALISH CURRENT ||| The soil beneath Rosario Resort in Eastsound is like a historical tome, each layer a chapter in the story of human life here.
West Sound wildland fire on July 8, 2025
||| FROM BEN LUNA for ORCAS ISLAND FIRE & RESCUE ||| The wildland fire which started midday on July 8 th in West Sound remains active and will be so for the next 48-72 hours.
High costs may force WA ferry electrification program off course
With the state’s first converted hybrid-electric ferry “days away” from entering service, lawmakers are questioning whether it’s realistic to transition the fleet to 22 plug-in vessels by 2040 ||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE STANDARD ||| Washington
Wildland fire still burning, but contained, on Orcas Island
||| FROM BRENDAN COWAN for SJC DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ||| Orcas Island Fire and Rescue has been responding the afternoon/evening of Tuesday July 8th to an active wildland fire in the vicinity of Melba
