Danna Kinsey and Bruce Gregory, San Juan Islands Conservation District Managers announced recently that the San Juan Islands Conservation District will host a Washington State Conservation Commission meeting on Sept. 17 and 18 in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.
The Orcas Island Community Foundation will hold its annual Report to the Community and A Celebration of Giving Luncheon on Thursday, Sept. 11 from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Rosario Resort Discovery House. The entire Orcas community is invited to help to celebrate the generosity of the people who live here and to honor two of the island’s most extraordinary philanthropists, Rachel Adams and Marilyn Anderson. The suggested donation to help defray the cost of the luncheon is $25.
Robert Low, San Juan County Fire Marshal, announced on Aug. 27 that the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will lower the fire level to “low” on Sept. 2 and lift all burn bans.
In the inaugural issue of a newsletter created by the Office of Farmland Preservation (OFP), it states, “Farmers are among the top land stewards and conservationists in this state. These individuals know more than any other group or agency what their land needs and what it can achieve. OFP seeks to be a support system for them and provide technical assistance in achieving their goals.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently developing of a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for Protection Island and San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) that will guide Refuge management decisions for the next 15 years and beyond.
Aug. 8: Authorities seized several surveillance cameras after residents of Of Less Traveled Road discovered them hidden in the woods on their Lopez Island property. The case remains under investigation.
The summer Farm Education and Sustainability for Teens (FEAST) program is drawing to a close and to celebrate the class will be hosting a community meal at the Madrona Room at the Orcas Center on Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. All are invited to attend the local meal and fundraiser that will feature a slideshow and a chance to meet the students and community members who participated in the program. The evening’s meal will be prepared by students and local chefs with ingredients harvested by the class from local farms. Tickets may be purchased at Darvill’s Bookstore or The Kitchen for $20 per person or $65 for a family of four.
In the past month FEAST students visited Orcas farms and traveled to neighboring islands. Students went to Lopez Island by bike for an overnight campout at the S&S Homestead. They made camp meals on their rocket stove, met up with Biodynamic Farmer, Henning Sehmsdorf who taught them about, the philosophy of biodynamic farming made popular by Rudolf Steiner. They learned that biodynamic farming harnesses and transmits more energy into the food through various “bio-dynamic preps.” Students prepared a biodynamic prep by stirring water and fermented manure (stored in a cow horn and buried for a winter) into a vortex.
Eight trucks in Orcas Power & Light Cooperative’s (OPALCO’s) fleet will be retrofitted with Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOC) catalytic mufflers to reduce particulates from diesel exhaust thanks to a grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology.
At the last Orcas Island School District (OISD) board meeting before the new school year begins on Sept. 3, the Board acknowledged the significant contribution of individuals in the community, which gave $190,000 through the Orcas Island Education Foundation (OIEF) and the Orcas Island Community Foundation (OICF) to support school programs.
Over the last two weeks, the news has come hard and fast – first the 74-acre Rosario Resort, including mansion, restaurants, spa, store, giftshop, guest rooms, game areas, swimming pools, employee housing and marina – will be auctioned on Sept. 30. Then last week, Olympus Partners, Rosario’s current owners, announced that its employees will be laid off in 60 days.
At the Orcas Island Fire District (OIFD) Work Session meeting on Aug. 26 the fire commissioners unanimously approved a modified proposal for an architectural Request For Qualifications (RFQ) on the new Deer Harbor Fire Station, and heard background and progress updates on the new station, the purchase of mini pumpers and the Division Chief Proposal.
