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
OPALCO receives conditional use permit for Decatur Island solar expansion project
||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for OPALCO ||| On Tuesday, May 12, OPALCO was notified that they were granted the Conditional Use Permit for the Decatur Island Solar Expansion Project. The Decatur Island Solar Expansion project
Encounter #30 • Bigg’s T23s in Haro Strait
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Full Encounter Report ObservBegin: 11:37 AM ObservEnd: 01:48 PM Vessel: KCB III Staff: Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss Pods: Bigg's killer whales IDsEncountered: T23, T23D, T23D3, T23D4, T23D5, and
News Brief | Photographing whales when something you can only see once in a lifetime happens
||| FROM WONDERBOT ANIMALS |||
News Brief | A water doom loop is coming
||| FROM NEW YORK TIMES ||| Ecologists warn that in just 25 years, more than 70 percent of the Southwestern needle leaf evergreen forests, which include ponderosa pines, may be replaced by grass in what
OIFR urges community action on wildfire prevention
||| FROM FIRE CHIEF CHAD KIMPLE ||| In recognition of Wildfire Awareness Month, Orcas Island Fire & Rescue (OIFR) is encouraging residents to take proactive steps now to reduce wildfire risk and protect homes, neighborhoods,
No Place Like Loam | The six-tree culinary apple orchard: eating, cider, baking, storage
||| NO PLACE LIKE LOAM from ALEX TAMAYO WOLF ||| I spent the last week pruning an orchard near President's Channel on Orcas Island —thinning cuts only, thank you—which leaves a lot of time to
Derevensky and Stern win seats in OPALCO 2026 board election
||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPEERATIVE ||| On Thursday, May 7, OPALCO held their virtual Annual Business Meeting, where the meeting minutes from the 2025 Annual Meeting were approved and the
Garden Club garden tour tickets now on sale
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| Looking for a last minute Mother's Day gift? Garden tour tickets are officially on sale! Hello Fellow Garden Enthusiasts! Mark your calendars! This year's theme, "Gardens With Purpose"
Happy Mother’s Day to all the matriarchs of the sea
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Today we’re celebrating all mothers everywhere, especially the matriarchs of the Pacific Northwest. For 50 years, the Center for Whale Research has studied the endangered Southern Resident killer
Indian Island stewardship season needs you
||| FROM RUSSEL BARSH for KWIAHT ||| Community stewardship of Indian Island is 18 years old and still growing! This one-acre preserve a few hundred feet from Main Street is a unique part of the
Coming Soon | Master Gardeners spring plant sales on San Juan, Orcas
Healthy herbs, tomato and pepper starts, and locally grown perennial landscaping plants need new homes! ||| FROM CAITIE BLETHEN for SJC MASTER GARDENERS ||| One of the most anticipated signs of spring, the San Juan
Have a garden question? Ask an Orcas Master Gardener
Saturday May 9th at the Market Garden Nursery ||| FROM ORCAS MASTER GARDENERS ||| Do you have a question about your soil, have a problem with your fruit tree, or are thinking about starting a
SJC’s Agricultural Resources Committee to host farmer listening session on meat processing
The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and will be held virtually on Zoom ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County’s Agricultural Resources Committee (ARC)
Join Garden Club for permaculture presentation
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| LEARN FROM PERMACULTURIST, STEWARD, AND PASSIONATE GARDENER, TAJA WICKS Wednesday, May 20th, 10 am (at the Orcas Center or by Zoom) JOIN US AT 9:30 AM (just
News Brief | The world is about to get a preview of life in 2035
||| FROM NEW YORK TIMES ||| A climate monster is growing right now in the Pacific Ocean, perhaps the most fearsome El Niño since before scientists even began modeling them. The El Niño building right
