Cover Story

  September 2022

Saving Bessie Timber

by Tyler Brown Less than a mile southeast of Lake Whatcom stands a 46-acre commercial timber parcel called Bessie Sorts. It contains a near old-growth forest resting on a large watershed with trees as wide as four feet, reaching up … Continue reading

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  August 2022

What’s With Our Train Horn Quiet Zones?

by Preston L. Schiller and Agnes Isabelle Sleep disrupted in the middle of the night by train horns? Annoying even in a Whatcom Community College dormitory a few miles away from the railroad tracks? Had to cover your ears at … Continue reading

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  August 2022

Bellingham Bans Single-Use Plastics

by Luisa Loi Next time you eat at a fast-food restaurant in Bellingham, your fork might be given another chance at life and end up in a dishwasher rather than in a landfill. Why? Because the City of Bellingham has … Continue reading

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  July 2022

Little Squalicum Beach Gets a Summer Makeover

by Tyler Brown Walking along the path near Little Squalicum Beach one Monday afternoon in late May, Cherish Flint and Jeremy Jones, 10-year residents of the Birchwood neighborhood, enjoy each other’s company as well as the natural setting. Flint and … Continue reading

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  July 2022

City Leaders and the Community Struggle With Sewage Waste

by Michael Lilliquist and Rick Eggerth The City of Bellingham is on the cusp of major decisions and an enormously expensive public works project that will have repercussions for decades to come. The sewage treatment plant at Post Point has … Continue reading

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  June 2022

Metered Parking in Fairhaven Frustrates Residents

by Tyler Brown Overheard in early May at the intersection of 11th and Mckenzie Avenue in Fairhaven: A white-haired couple steps out of their parked car to see a new sign posted on the street lamp reading, “Paid Parking Begins … Continue reading

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  May 2022

Fairhaven Needs an Updated Village Plan

by Barbara Clarke Seven years ago, my daughter and I moved to Bellingham and settled on the outskirts of Fairhaven. Some of the persuasive features were an affordable apartment, the beautifully maintained trails, Fairhaven Park nearby, the exciting daylighting of … Continue reading

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  May 2022

The Quality of Our Drinking Water Continues to Decline

Editor’s Note: The Lake Whatcom Monitoring Project was initiated in the 1980s to measure and track long-term lake data for temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, turbidity, and nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus. The work is performed by WWU’s Institute for … Continue reading

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  April 2022

Salish Sea Facing Relentless Pressure

Editor’s Note: The following is an executive summary of the State of the Salish Sea, which was produced by the Salish Sea Institute at Western Washington University. The full report, released at the end of May 2021, details the work … Continue reading

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  March 2022

Preserving a Sacred Trust

by Ken Brusic Gabe Epperson has two offices: a vast landscape that stretches eastward from the shores of the Salish Sea to the foothills of the Cascades, and a small room in a downtown Bellingham office along the banks of … Continue reading

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