Cover Story

  July 2023

Climate Change Threatens North Cascades Snowpack

Whatcom Watch

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

Whatcom Watch

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

Whatcom Watch

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

Whatcom Watch

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

Whatcom Watch

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

Whatcom Watch

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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  April 2023

New Plans for an Old Jail

Whatcom Watch

by Emma Bjornsrud The Whatcom County jail, located in downtown Bellingham, was completed in 1984 and is operational to this day. Designed to hold up to 148 people, and constructed based on outdated standards for the time, it lacks space … Continue reading →

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  April 2023

Jail Is Unsafe, Inefficient 

Whatcom Watch

by Emma Bjornsrud The current Whatcom County jail is insufficient, overcrowded and in disrepair. “The current facility, by almost any metric, is decrepit and challenging to work in — not a great space for human beings to be in,” said … Continue reading →

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  April 2023

Whatcom County Jail Timeline

Whatcom Watch

Compiled by Bill McCallum     1984 Nov. 5 Prisoners are transferred into the current jail in downtown Bellingham. 1993 The state of Washington Legislature requires every county to form a Whatcom County Law and Justice Council. Jail management is … Continue reading →

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  March 2023

Some Single-Use Plastics Granted Extension

Whatcom Watch

by Luisa Loi  Businesses in Bellingham will have more time to find compostable alternatives to products such as produce bags, catering trays and clear food wrap. Originally, the ordinance banning single-use plastics from eateries, in effect since July 31, granted … Continue reading →

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