Cascadia Daily, May 3, 2018

by Andrew Engelson

Get Outside! Campbell Valley Regional Park

In this week’s edition of the Get Outside! hiking column at Cascadia Magazine, trails expert Craig Romano offers a getaway not far from Vancouver and Bellingham: Campbell Valley Regional Park in Langley, British Columbia.

This 1,400-acre park sports 18 miles (29 km) of easy trails great for kids, hikers, and runners. You’ll find second-growth forest, wildlife-rich wetlands (bring binoculars for bird-watching) and six historic farmsteads, with some of the oldest buildings in Langley Township.

To plan your getaway this weekend, head over to Cascadia Magazine and find all the trip details here.

New book: BC’s Site C dam wasteful, unneccessary

The Tyee has an interview with Sarah Cox, journalist and author of Breaching the Peace, the story of British Columbia’s Site C dam and how it gobbled up farm land, and could end up an economic boondoggle. “Alberta just bought new wind power for $37 per megawatt hour. Site C, at its current price tag, is going to cost $120 per megawatt hour.” You can also read an excerpt from her book at The Tyee.

Hate-filled Seattle meeting exposes divide on housing

If you think of Seattle as a progressive, open-minded place, reading Eric C. Barnett’s recent account of a meeting about a proposed tax to create affordable housing may change your mind. It was an ugly scene, filled with shouting and rage: ““We’re entitled to have a house!” one man screamed from the audience. “Free from drugs!”” Seattle’s proposed employee “head tax” would provide $75 million for affordable housing in a city where it’s extremely scarce. Mike Rosenberg at the Seattle Times has an extremely good article breaking down how Seattle’s strict zoning creates unaffordability.
Read more about how cities in Cascadia are dealing with rising housing costs in a detailed feature at Cascadia Magazine.

Oregon pot business finding banking nearly impossible

Eugene Weekly reports on how legal marijuana businesses in Eugene struggle to find ways to bank because of federal regulations, limiting their ability to pay bills or order supplies from out of state. ““It’s nerve-wracking, driving around with rent money,” one owner says. To read more about the challenges facing minority-owned pot businesses, read Matt Stangle’s recent piece at Cascadia Magazine.

North Cascades: the national park that almost wasn’t

KUOW has a great interview with author Lauren Danner, who has a new book out about the political battle to create Washington’s North Cascades National Park, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It was a fight that pitted conservationists against mining and logging interests.

Douglas Coupland brings his art to the aquarium

Over at the Georgia Straight, read about a new exhibit at the Vancouver Aquarium by artist, novelist, and goofy provacateur Douglas Coupland. The subject of the installation is the proliferation of plastic garbage choking the oceans. “Finding that plastic bottle on the beach was like being on the receiving end of an ancient curse warning me, ‘Be careful what you find seductive.'”

“Ode to the Abused Body” by Fallon Sullivan

I haven’t read such a raw, searing poem as “Ode to the Abused Body” in a long time. It’s by Fallon Sullivan and you can find it online at Crab Creek Review:
“Tell me about my body. Colonized. Clandestine. I wish I could be one of those people whose minds cannot remember. I remember.”
Take a moment and read the full poem here.

Wishing you a great day from the world headquarters of Cascadia Daily here in Seattle’s once-affordable-but-no-longer-affordable Madison Valley.  –Andrew Engelson

Photo credit: pot products courtesy of Hollingsworth Cannabis