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The vanishing glaciers of the North Cascades
This weekend, I highly recommend reading Madeline Ostrander’s in-depth report “A Visit with the Glacier Squad” at Hakai Magazine. Last August, Ostrander traveled on the Easton glacier located on Washington’s Mount Baker with a group of scientists who’ve been documenting how glaciers are shrinking due to climate change. Glaciologist Mauri Pelto, his daughter Jill Pelto, and a team of researchers spend each summer taking measurements, dropping fluorescent dye into meltwater streams, and braving crevasses to get an accurate picture of how far the glaciers have retreated.
The hot summer of 2015 was particularly grim: “That season, Pelto became emotional with each glacier visit. “The glaciers just looked naked. Only two of the glaciers had any snow at all on them,” he remembers. “You just had a sense—these things are going to lose so much this year. They’re never going to get it back.”
In addition to photos, the feature is illustrated with watercolors by Jill Pelto, who’s also an accomplished artist. Read the full piece here.
Your weekend hike: Mount McCausland
Live in the Puget Sound region and want to get out for hike this weekend? Check out Craig Romano’s latest pick at Cascadia Magazine: Mount McCausland in Washington’s Henry M. Jackson Wilderness. It’s moderately difficult hike to the summit of a mountain with phenomenal views of surrounding peaks of the central Cascades. Check out the full writeup here.
BC government has a $1.5 billion surplus
The Vancouver Sun reports that the British Columbia provincial government posted a $1.5 billion surplus, and eliminated its operating debt for the first time in 40 years due to strong revenue increases. Meanwhile BC’s auditor general says the province is under-reporting that surplus by $5.7 billion. Plenty of folks have thoughts about what to do with the money. The proposed extension of SkyTrain to the Vancouver suburb of Surrey & Langley is short $1.6 billion, CBC reports. And Vancouver city councilor Christine Boyle is suggesting Vancouver ramp up creating modular housing across Vancouver. Meanwhile BC’s new speculation and vacant property tax has generated over $100 million for affordable housing.
Portland program for formerly jailed black women off to rocky start
Portland Mercury’s Blair Stevnick reports on the troubled launch of Diane Wade House, a program to help previously incarcerated black women transition to life outside prison. Discrimination lawsuits and charges of inadequate facilities have plagued the center, which aims to help the women stay out of addiction and avoid homelessness.
Where have the caribou gone?
Conservation groups filed a lawsuit last week to force the government to protect habitat for the critically endangered herd of Selkirk mountain caribou in Idaho and Washington, and Wilson Criscione points out at the Inlander that the herd in the lower 48 states has pretty much gone extinct, and the last known BC member of the herd taken into captivity.
Nk’Mip Cellars, an Indigenous-owned winery in southern BC
National Observer profiles Nk’ Mip Cellars, a winery owned and operated by the Osoyoos Indian Band in the Okanagan valley of British Columbia. Profits are shared with the Indigenous community, and the winery employs up to 35 people seasonally. “We have people on reserve that can talk your ear off about wine,” says Osoyoos Chief Clarence Louie. “We learned to adapt.”
An Oregon pianist’s concerts in the wild
Oregon Arts Watch profiles pianist Hunter Noack, whose innovative In a Landscape series finds him lugging a Steinway piano into remote outdoor locations across Oregon and providing his audience with headphones as they enjoy his performances in forests, on beaches, and in the desert. A full schedule for In a Landscape and tickets can be found here.
Poetry by Alex Gallo-Brown
Now online at Poetry Northwest, read Seattle-based poet Alex Gallo-Brown’s “He Was a Worker,” a tribute to the poet’s uncle, whose working-class life was lightened slightly by spreading the seeds of invasive blackberries in his boss’s yard:
“My uncle was a worker
who would have preferred not to work
at the university he had a boss
who lorded over his life’s time…” Read the full poem here.
That’s today’s curated collection of news, environmental reporting, and arts from across the Cascadia bioregion. Have a great weekend! –Andrew Engelson
Photo credit: Nk’ Mip vineyards by Mack Male via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0