Cover Story

  September 2023

Meet Whatcom County’s Climate Action Manager

by Stevan Harrell Whatcom County’s Climate Action Manager Lauren Clemens has been on the job for five months, and she has been busy. What with wildfire smoke, flooding, extreme heat, and the beginnings of sea level rise, coordinating climate action … Continue reading

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  September 2023

How Can We Protect Urban Trees and Climate Resiliency?

by Michael Feerer   Protecting urban trees and forests to enhance our climate resiliency —- how can that be compatible with new development, such as much-needed infill housing? Learn how one relatively new local nonprofit — Whatcom Million Trees Project … Continue reading

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  August 2023

Conserving Galbraith Mountain

by Whatcom Land Trust Staff On Galbraith Mountain, conservation, recreation and working timberland coexist in harmony. Just a short walk from downtown Bellingham, Galbraith is a world-class destination for all types of recreation — including mountain biking, hiking and trail … Continue reading

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  July 2023

Lake Whatcom Watershed Advisory Board Replaced by New Board

Timeline for Property Purchases Around Lake Whatcom by Bill McCallum 1998 In the spring, three local residents — Marian Beddill, Tim Paxton and Larry Williams calling themselves The Initiative Group — begin meeting to explore ways to protect the city’s … Continue reading

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  July 2023

Climate Change Threatens North Cascades Snowpack

by Sally Vaux Climate change is shaping how residents of the Pacific Northwest interact with our environment as heatwave, flood, drought, and wildfire occurrences become increasingly frequent. May 2023 was marked by extreme climatic events in the Pacific Northwest, including … Continue reading

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  June 2023

Quarry Plan Unsettles Neighbors

by Luisa Loi Four years after he moved with his wife and one-year-old daughter into a house nestled in rural Whatcom County, Andrew Clarke fears his pleasant lifestyle is being threatened by a proposal for a 70-acre open pit mine … Continue reading

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  June 2023

Bellingham’s New Mini Forest

by Emma Bjornsrud Western Washington University’s Learning, Environment, Action, Discovery (LEAD) program planted a mini forest at the Sehome Arboretum on Earth Day with the help of volunteers from the City of Bellingham, Washington Trails Association and Whatcom Million Trees … Continue reading

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  May 2023

Updating Lake Whatcom Water Quality

by April Markiewicz Editor’s Note: This is the 20th article April Markiewicz has written about the Lake Whatcom Monitoring Project for Whatcom Watch. The Lake Whatcom Monitoring Project was initiated in the 1980s to measure and track long-term lake data … Continue reading

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  May 2023

Charging Ahead

How to facilitate and avoid the pitfalls of the clean car transition by Stevan Harrell and Ray Kamada Climate change is here. The world must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and fast. In the United States, where people get around … Continue reading

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  April 2023

Untangling Nooksack Water Rights

by Luisa Loi Despite flowing for thousands of years through this ever gray and rainy corner of Washington, the Nooksack River is a resource that tribes, farmers, cities, irrigation districts and public utilities have learned not to take for granted.  … Continue reading

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