Why are marmots declining in the North Cascades?
Marmots, those cute, furry denizens of high alpine meadows across Cascadia, are in serious decline. Award-winning journalist Paul Lask, writing for Cascadia Magazine, ventures into a remote part of the North Cascades with a group of researchers who are attempting to figure out why.
They suspect changes in predator behavior and climate change are to blame.
You’ll find the full, detailed feature online at Cascadia Magazine.
31 Days, 31 Writers at Cascadia Magazine: John Sibley Williams
Portland-based poet John Sibley Williams is the author of the recent collection As One Fire Consumes Another (2019). He has a subtle but powerful style that explores pain, loneliness, and violence in an understated way.
Cascadia Magazine published two of his poems, “Appaloosa,” and “A Jar to Keep the Earth In.”
“Like my brother so utterly broken by
our unbroken world, carving escape
tunnels into his veins, breaking into
our house to steal what he already owns.”
If you appreciate great writing like this, please help us continue by becoming a supporting reader during Cascadia Magazine’s Fall Fund Drive. We can’t do this without your help, and recurring monthly donations are especially appreciated. Thank you.
BC hydro kills hundred of spawning salmon near Squamish
CBC reports that more than 300 spawning salmon were killed when BC Hydro stopped flows on the Cheakamus River in late September. In related news, The Seattle Times’ Lynda Mapes look at how salmon runs have almost completely disappeared on California’s Sacramento River because of rampant development. This in turn puts stress on the southern resident orcas of the Salish Sea that migrate south in search of chinook–and find none.
PacificCorp to shift from coal to renewables–slowly
Northwest Public Broadcasting notes that Portland-based energy company PacificCorp is planning to shift away from coal-fired electric plants to wind farms and other renewable energy, but not as fast as environmentalist would like. Oregon and Washington have passed laws banning purchase of coal-fired energy by 2030 and 2025, respectively. Meanwhile, Sightline Institute looks at how several cities in Cascadia are considering bans on new installation of natural gas lines in homes in order to shift to cleaner energy sources.
Oregon governor temporarily bans flavored vaping products
As concern grows about the safety of vaping, Oregon governor Kate Brown issued a 6-month ban on flavored vaping products to better develop warning labels and weigh research on health effects. Some worry that flavored vapes are more attractive to teen users. In related news, a candidate for a federal riding on Vancouver Island, David Merner of the Green Party, is calling for a legal, clean drug supply to combat in BC’s surging opioid overdose crisis.
Orcas taking in fewer poisonous hydrocarbons after regulations
After regulations were passed increasing the distance boats must keep from orcas, the levels of petroleum-based hydrocarbons in their systems have dropped, Hakai Magazine reports. The study took place in the US San Juan Islands and confirmed that the poisons dropped since 2011.
Washington’s new Burke Museum looks amazing
At Crosscut, Knute Berger takes a look inside the newly renovated Burke Museum of Natural History at the University of Washington, which is taking a novel approach to the research work it does by making it all visible to users behind glass (in addition to thousands of artifacts and specimens). The new museum opens to the public this weekend, Oct. 12-14.
Poetry by Cali Kopczick
Seattle poet and editor Cali Kopczick has two poems online at Empty Mirror, “Switchback,” and “I Learn from My Subscriptions.”
“I forgot the gutter
until I needed to forget the leaves.
I could forget an entire body
in Lake Washington
given the proper tidal pulls.
Read the full poems here.
That’s today’s Sunday edition of Cascadia Daily–we’re publishing every day this month to highlight our Fall Fund Drive and to remind you of 31 great writers we’ve published over the 31 days of October. Please help us continue to publish by becoming a supporting reader at our donate page. Thanks! –Andrew Engelson
Photo credits: orca by Minette Layne CC BY-SA 2.0.