Cover Story

  September 2018

Clues Emerging in Salmon Deaths

by Christopher Dunagan Editor’s Note: This series was originally published in the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound. An intensive research program in the U.S. and Canada is studying why so few salmon in the Salish Sea are returning home to spawn. … Continue reading

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  September 2018

Governors Point: Working Together

by Rand Jack The Whatcom Land Trust conserves special lands in Whatcom County by working with willing owners. For decades Whatcom Land Trust has sought a willing owner of Governors Point, an iconic 125-acre wooded peninsula separating Bellingham and Samish … Continue reading

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  August 2018

Protecting Blanchard Forest

The chair of the Mount Baker Group of the Sierra Club, Randy Walcott, took up the cause of protecting Blanchard State Forest and Blanchard Mountain from ongoing logging. In December 1998, he formally petitioned the Washington State Department of Natural … Continue reading

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  August 2018

What Is Happening to the Sea Stars?

by Nichole Schmitt As a child in the 1980s, I loved clam digging and oyster picking with Dad and Grandpa. Because Grandpa had a hard time walking the tide flats, we launched a small boat from Blaine Harbor and rowed … Continue reading

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  August 2018

Protecting Blanchard Mountain

by Mitch Friedman “Dad, is it true that Blanchard Mountain might be logged?” It hurt to hear those words from my daughter almost two years ago, reflecting the buzz among her high school friends and so many in Northwest Washington … Continue reading

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  July 2018

A Pipeline Controversy Explained

by Clark Williams-Derry Is Washington Now in the Tar Sands Crosshairs? Editor’s Note: Shortly before the July issue was scheduled to be sent to the printer, I learned the following article from Sightline.org was reprinted in the Cascadia Weekly. That … Continue reading

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  July 2018

Bellingham’s Mental Health Court Reduces Crime and Victimization

by Amy Nelson “Acting strangely” in public can result in being arrested and possibly charged with a crime, for the many people with mental illness who find themselves living on the street. But a Bellingham Municipal Court program to divert … Continue reading

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  June 2018

Kinder Morgan’s Oil Spill Problem

by Clark Williams-Derry This article originally appeared on the Sightline Institute website sightline.org and is reprinted with permission. Firm Faces Steep Costs and “Unlimited Liability” for a Trans Mountain Spill For Kinder Morgan, the decision made by Canada’s National Energy … Continue reading

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  June 2018

About Lake Whatcom

by April Markiewicz It is the primary drinking water source for about 100,000 residents in Bellingham and Whatcom County. The lake is comprised of three sub-basins from which samples are collected in October through December, in February and April through … Continue reading

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  June 2018

Climate Challenges: Lake Whatcom Update

by April Markiewicz Lake Whatcom, our community’s primary drinking water source, is already showing the effects of climate change as evidenced by increasingly common summer temperature extremes. The most recent occurrence was in 2015, followed by warmer than usual, but … Continue reading

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