|||FROM ISLAND STEWARDS |||
As we close out 2025, I keep returning to the rhythm of the islands and how they reveal it to anyone patient enough to listen. This has been a year of the islands showing their strain, but also a year of honest conversations and quieter forms of resilience. Thank you for showing up with your questions, your lived experience, and your steady sense of care for this place.
December 28th will be our second Ground Truth Table Talk. A central theme emerged in our first meeting: the question facing the islands is not simply whether we have too many people or too few, but whether we have the right kind of caring capita. The challenge is that those less invested in the islands’ well-being, can strain systems faster than the community can respond. The full meeting and summary notes are available on our communications page:
https://www.islandstewards.
The December 28 conversation will build on this theme. We will look at what surfaced across this year’s discussions and identify the questions we want to carry forward. If 2025 was the year of listening, 2026 will be the year of the Island Stewards—where the insights you’ve shared begin shaping real decisions, partnerships, and policy pathways. This is a chance to ground ourselves before that work begins in earnest, and to decide together what “enough” looks like for these islands. It will be a quieter, end-of-year meeting—more reflection than agenda—but it sets the foundation for the planning and grant cycles ahead.
|
||
|
|
| Here is a brief update on the two major grants many of you have asked about:
The federal shutdown delayed both the REDLG and RHT processes. On top of that, OPALCO recently let us know they are unable to take on the administrative oversight required to act as the intermediary for REDLG. That leaves us searching for a stable home for the funds so the community’s transportation and resilience work can move forward. A few people have asked—and in some cases assumed—that we have a transportation plan we are not sharing. The truth is simpler: the entire purpose of these grants is to do the work needed to understand what people actually need, what is feasible, and how reliable transportation could function here without forcing top-down solutions that do not fit our geography or our way of life. This has to be built from the ground up, with tact and respect for lived experience, not imposed from outside. That is the work ahead, and why these funding pathways matter— we will ensure all voices can afford to join the planning process. While reviewing the list of possible backup intermediaries, we found Yakama Power, a utility operated within the Yakama Nation. |
|
|||
| It made us wistful for a moment, but the work continues. We are still exploring other intermediary options and will share updates as state and federal offices resume normal schedules.
Many islanders have also asked what happens after the Comprehensive Plan is adopted. Adoption sets the vision, but nothing changes immediately. In 2026, staff will begin drafting the actual regulations—zoning, transportation standards, water policies, rural character protections—that make the Comp Plan real. Those drafts will go through public hearings with the Planning Commission and County Council. Budget changes and implementation phases follow after that. Island Stewards will continue offering plain-language explanations and opportunities for community input throughout this process. A quick note of community gratitude: many of you have already supported local organizations through this year’s Orcas Gives campaign, and those contributions make a real difference! Thank you for helping keep so many essential programs running. As the campaign enters its final day, the Orcas Island Grange is still working to reach the finish line for their new heater. The Grange remains one of the island’s dependable gathering places—meetings, music, food, civic life—and a working heater is what keeps it usable through the winter. If you have the capacity and would like to help them close the gap, tomorrow is the last day to do so: Thank you for walking through another complicated year with clarity, honesty, and a shared commitment to these islands. The work ahead remains steady and ongoing, and your participation makes it possible. We wish you a warm December. |
**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**
Leave A Comment