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For 38 years, WEAN has relied on the support of donors like you to advocate for, teach about, and protect nature on Whidbey and Camano Islands. Your gift supports us to continue and grow this work at a pivotal time. |  | |
From @350_PDX and @PNWFCAlliance:
Commissioner Franz: be a climate leader and preserve our forests
Watch this short film and join in demanding action.
From Mother Jones:
Trillions in oil and farm subsidies are causing "environmental havoc"
World Bank report cites "toxic" handouts of up to $23 million a minute.
From Post Carbon Institute:
Welcome to the Great Unraveling: Navigating the Polycrisis of Environmental and Social Breakdown
This report seeks to build a coherent narrative about the roots of the polycrisis, the signs of its arrival and evolution, and why we should be thinking differently about the future.
From Comment Magazine:
Care at Scale
Bodies, agency, and infrastructure.
From AP News:
Earth is ‘really quite sick now’
Planet is in danger zone in nearly all ecological ways, study says.
From The Seattle Times:
WA AG sues PFAS manufacturers, seeks money for cleanup of drinking water
Washington state on Tuesday added itself to the list of thousands of plaintiffs that have filed lawsuits against PFAS manufacturers.
| Featured Plant: Rubus spectabilis
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Photo by Walter Siegmund,
CC BY-SA 3.0
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"Rubus spectabilis, the salmonberry, is a species of bramble in the rose family Rosaceae, native to the west coast of North America from west-central Alaska to California, inland as far as Idaho. Like many other species in the genus Rubus, the salmonberry plant bears edible fruit, typically yellow-orange or red in color, resembling raspberries in appearance."
—from Wikipedia
You will likely see this prolific berry ripening in Whidbey's woods this month—look for these tart, shiny berries in shades of red, yellow, and orange.
Learn more about members of the Rubus family on Whidbey Island in this article by Marianne Edain.
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Let's Keep In Touch
Our newsletter format and content, Facebook and Instagram presence, and website look and feel are changing to reach more people as we expand our environmental policy advocacy, public engagement, and community education programming.
Please let us know what you'd like to see more of on our blog and social media.
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The Planning Process Needs You |  | |
"Comprehensive plans are long-range in nature and serve as policy guides for how a jurisdiction plans to manage growth and development with respect to the natural environment and available resources."
From About Comprehensive Plans, Island County
The adoption deadline for Island County's next Comprehensive Plan is just 24 months away, in June 2025. We're already working with County staff to ensure this once-in-a-decade update includes the best environmental science and provides guidance for smart, sustainable human activities in balance with nature. Here's the current plan, adopted in 2016.
County staff, the WEAN team, other advocacy organizations, and engaged members of the public are already beginning to review, consider, and make plans to improve elements of the plan.
WEAN will take an active role in supporting informed planning so that our 2025 Plan is the best it can be. With your help, we can ensure that Island County adopts a guiding document that commits to stewarding environmental health, strengthening healthy communities, sustaining our islands' ecological processes, and improving conditions for both human and other-than-human life on our islands.
Want to help
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Donate. Your financial support will allow us to expand our skilled team and commit more work hours to this ongoing project.
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Volunteer. Whether by attending Planning Commission meetings and reporting back or by reading the 2016 Comprehensive Plan and offering feedback to WEAN about areas where it can be improved from an environmental perspective, your time and energy are needed and appreciated.
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Share your thoughts. Email our Executive Director to share your vision for Island County, your hopes for the planning process, and your environmental concerns. The Comprehensive Planning process is driven by community values, and your feedback will help shape our messaging and priorities in the months ahead.
| Pictured, clockwise from upper left: Treasurer Bob Gunn, Chair Andréa Linton, Vice Chair Linda LaMar, Secretary Neil O'Sidhe, Board Member Katie Shapiro, Board Member Nathaniel Talbot. | Visit our team page online to learn more about our talented and committed Board of Directors. Together, they bring decades of experience in nonprofit leadership, ecological education and stewardship, and environmental activism and advocacy. We'll share more from each of them in the coming months, so stay tuned! |
Thank You, Bayview Garden | |
We appreciate our neighborhood nursery, Bayview Garden, and are grateful for their donation of a $100 gift card to support WEAN in settling in to our office space at Pacific Rim Institute. We chose five houseplants to make our office more warm and welcoming.
If you'd like to stop by and visit the Roost, please reach out for an appointment. We'd love to show you around the office and the prairie!
Learn more about Bayview Garden online or visit their beautiful space at 2780 Marshview Ave, Langley.
| Check out our blog for more updates, including an invitation from Sound Water Stewards and an update about forest protection protests. | |
