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 | April 2025
||| FROM ORCAS RECYCLING/THE EXCHANGE ||| Spring Legislative Update The Recycle Reform Act, SB5284, has passed in both the House and Senate. Learn more about this - and other zero waste-related bills that are moving
Gratitude for Springtime on Orcas
||| FROM LAURA WALKER for ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| Well spring has officially sprung. Calm yourselves by reading Suzette’s “Oops” article this month and know that you’re not alone in feeling like you are behind
Island Ways | Third Nantucket undersea electric cable needed much sooner than expected
||| FROM THE NANTUCKET INQUIRER & MIRROR ||| Orcas and Nantucket Islands are each roughly the same size and the same distance off their respective coasts. We share the same concerns about the high cost
Humans will soon understand dolphins, claim experts
||| FROM THE TELEGRAPH ||| The launch of a new artificial intelligence model has brought humans closer to understanding dolphins, experts claim. Google DeepMind’s DolphinGemma is programmed with the world’s largest collection of vocalisations from
Loyalty to the Earth | Earth Day was born in the Age of Machines
We do not live in the world. We live in a picture of the world. — Joseph Campbell ||| LOYALTY TO THE EARTH by ELISABETH ROBSON ||| What does it mean to be alive in
Land Bank will meet on Friday
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY CONSERVATION LAND BANK COMMISSION ||| The San Juan County Conservation Land Bank Commission will hold a regular monthly meeting on April 18, 2025 from 8:30am – 11:10am via Zoom. The meeting will also
Time to report: How did your Garden Club daffodil bulbs bloom?
||| FROM NANCY REAS for ORCAS GARDEN CLUB ||| Hello to all of you who received daffodil bulbs from the Garden Club last October as part of Project Blossom. Hopefully, they have all bloomed and
Bring your plant questions to Master Gardeners on Wednesday
||| FROM KATE YTURRI for SJC MASTER GARDENERS ||| As we welcome spring with days spent in our gardens, we have high hopes of success. However, sometimes the weather, insects, disease, or our garden practices
Rep. Larsen, Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell and Rep. Randall reintroduce legislation to permanently reauthorize Northwest Straits Commission
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF US REP. RICK LARSEN ||| Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (D, WA-02), along with Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Maria
Seasonal water releases for young salmon start at Bonneville Dam amid national political turbulence
The $139 million in yearly water releases partly mimic how the river ran prior to dams, helping young salmon making it to the ocean ||| BY HENRY BRANNAN, COLUMBIAN MURROW NEWS FELLOW ||| At 12
Town prepares for Arbor Day community celebration
||| FROM JENNIFER KREMBS for TOWN OF FRIDAY HARBOR ||| The Town of Friday Harbor and supporting organizations are excited to host a community Arbor Day Celebration at Brickworks on April 25 th with event
New baby spotted in J Pod of endangered Southern Resident orca whales
||| FROM KOMO NEWS ||| There’s new hope in the J Pod of endangered Southern Resident orca whales. A new calf has arrived! On Apr. 6, Center for Whale Research biologist Mark Malleson spotted the
Statement from Washington Wildlife First on Governor Ferguson’s appointments to Fish and Wildlife Commission
||| FROM HEATHER NICHOLSON for WASHINGTON WILDLIFE FIRST ||| Until this week, Washington had been a beacon of light in a world growing progressively darker for fish and wildlife. Under the leadership of former Governor
Get ready for the Spring 2025 Great Islands Cleanup
||| FROM THE EXCHANGE ||| It’s hard to believe that this is the 11 th year of the Great Islands Cleanup. The GICU started right here on Orcas, in 2014. Since then, community volunteers have
San Juan County Comp Plan: Get involved!
||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPERATIVE ||| San Juan County is updating the County Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) this year. The Comp Plan is an important guiding document for managing land
