May 17th, 2012, by Margie Doyle
Sunday, May 27, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Liberty Garden ( across the street from the Eastsound Saturday Market)
From Learner Limbach, FoodMasters
Come spend an inspiring and informative day of hands-on learning about home mushroom cultivation.
This year you will get to create a bulk substrate of Pearl Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) & Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) mycila.
Each participant will walk away with their own substrate to grow at home (your choice of either Shitake or Oyster) and all the knowledge to do so!
As this class is likely to fill up, I am asking that people pre-register. Please contact me if you would like to register for the class.
If time permits, we will have a short demonstration of how to use Myco remediation to deal with potential contaminants on your land.
Cost is $35. Limited scholarships and/or trade opportunities are available by inquiry at foodmasters.orcas@gmail.com
May 17th, 2012 |
May 15th, 2012, by Margie Doyle
Updated May 15 at 9 p.m.
Friday, May 18 at 8:45 a.m. in Friday Harbor-videoconferencing at the Orcas Island Public Library, from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.
From Ingrid Gabriel, San Juan County Council Clerk
The San Juan County Council will conduct an Early Start Special Meeting on Friday, May 18, 2012 in the Legislative Hearing Room, 55 Second Street, Friday Harbor beginning at 8:45 AM. Agenda items include:
- San Juan County Council and Planning Commission joint public hearing on an ordinance amending the Critical Area provisions of the San Juan County Code. The ordinance addresses Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas.
- Approval of San Juan County Council’s May 8, 2012 minutes
- Discussion of county administrator transition.
The agenda and related materials may be obtained 3 days prior at the County website at www.sanjuanco.com/council/default.aspx or at the Council offices during each business day between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. For more information please contact the Clerk of the County Council at (360) 370-7470.
Interested parties are encouraged to attend and submit written or oral comments. Written comments submitted prior to 8 a.m. May 17 will be copied for the Planning Commission and Council members.
If written comments are submitted after 8 a.m. May 17, or at the hearing, please provide 20 paper copies. In addition, videoconferencing for the purpose of public comment will be available at the Orcas Island Public Library only, from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. The meeting will be live streamed at http://sanjuanco.com/council/video.aspx.
The proposed ordinance:
- revises the list of maps used to identify FWHCAs;
- modifies definitions of terms;
- adds a section on applicability;
- identifies types of FWHCAs;
- adopts provisions associated with the use of maps; revises the classification system to meet current state requirements; establishes protection standards including standards for aquatic FWHCAs including streams, lakes over 20 acres in size and marine shorelines, as well as upland habitats and specific species;
- revises the process for nominating species of local concern.
State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Review
An Environmental Checklist for the proposed amendments was reviewed, and it was determined that adoption of the proposed regulations will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment, and an environmental impact statement is not required under RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c). Under WAC 197-11-340(2) a Determination of Non-Significance was issued on May 1, 2012.
Comments on this determination must be submitted by May 16, 2012. Following a final decision this determination may be appealed with the underlying action to Superior Court or State Boards as provided in RCW 36.70A, RCW 90.58, and RCW 36.70C. For appeals to Superior Court, the appeal period is 21 days and for appeals to the Growth Management Hearings Board, the appeal period is 60 days.
May 15th, 2012 |
May 14th, 2012, by Margie Doyle
From the San Juan Islands Conservation District
Soil Challenge: Two Categories!
1) Spring 2012 – Follow-up Testing
This category of testing is limited to those who submitted samples to be tested in the Fall of 2011 and showed deficient fertility. Limit one test per landowner. Only 20 tests in total for this category for the Spring testing will be sent to the lab.
Cost is $5 per test for shipping and handling. The San Juan Islands Conservation District (SJICD) will provide cost share for the additional $34. We have limited funds for this category so first in, first served! The Test Request Form may be downloaded from our website – www.sanjuanislandscd.org.
2) Spring 2012 – New Testing
Testing for those who DID NOT TEST in the of Fall 2011. Limit one test per landowner. Cost is $39 per test. The normal cost is $59 for this test and agronomist recommendations. Our original Fall testing deal was not offered by the lab this time and this is the best deal we could get! The Test Request Form may be downloaded from our website – www.sanjuanislandscd.org.
The Challenge
- Have you ever tested your soil?
- Have you made changes since last fall?
- How fertile is your soil now?
- How does it compare with previous tests?
- Other landowners?
The only way to know if you are managing your soil well is to begin with a soil test. Results are emailed to you and the best improved results will be posted at the San Juan County Fair!
How to Participate:
- Soil samples must be taken between May 15th – June 21st.
- Re-tests should be from the same area testing in Fall 2011.
- New tests should be from an area of interest that is in production or will be this year-for example, a pasture, a market garden, or an orchard.
- Drop-off samples, test request form & check at the San Juan Islands Conservation District, 540 Guard Street, Friday Harbor, WA or WSU Extension Office, 221 Weber Way, #LL, Friday Harbor.
Make checks made payable to San Juan Islands Conservation District. All samples will be sent to AgSource Cooperative Services Laboratory. The same lab will be used for all tests. Results will be emailed and presented at the 2012 San Juan County Fair in August.
Deadline for Spring Soil Sample Submissions – June 21.
Sponsored by AgSource Cooperative Services Laboratory, Umatilla, Ore., The San Juan Islands Conservation District, Friday Harbor, Washington State University, San Juan County Extension.
For more information, call 360-378-6621 or visit the office at 540 Guard Street, #150 in Friday Harbor, check our web site at www.sanjuanislandscd.org or email us at info@sanjuanislandscd.org
May 14th, 2012 |
May 13th, 2012, by Margie Doyle
As a concerned citizen and property owner in San Juan County, this CAO has been driving me nuts. As I think about it and observe the document coming to completion, I am left with a few thoughts.
Let me state out right that I oppose this ordinance for a number of reasons, mostly because the Best Available Science is so subjective and no one has been able to definitively show that there really is a problem! The Growth Management Act states the CAO should be updated if there is a need or problem. This document is full of too many “could be”, “maybe”, “most likely”, “probably”, and assumptions that if this, this, and this is present most likely this will happen (I might add that there is no “base” science data for wetlands for example, to compare to when specifically talking about the San Juan Islands.
It blows my mind that the wetlands from maps in 1993 have increased when we compare the maps of 2010. Do they multiply?) That is like saying everyone should where a protective helmet all the time because you “may” get hit with a baseball. Or everyone should have hard rubber tires because you “probably” will run over a nail at some time and get a flat. Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it. The real question should be why did we opt into this in the first place when there was no problem? I wasn’t around when this was passed but I can guess that the County Council who voted for this were environmental “greenies” who would rather save a tree or frog and stifle growth, then to think about the socioeconomic and property rights of human beings. Last time I read the Constitution I don’t remember life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for plants and animals. There is a solution to this but it is not the current intrusive CAO. Read more…
May 13th, 2012 |
May 12th, 2012, by Margie Doyle
Dr. James Murray, Professor of Oceanography at the University of Washington will address the collision of rising demand for oil with the inelastic supply including increases in production of non-convention oil sources in his presentation “Peak Oil”, Monday May 21, 7 pm at the library meeting room in Friday Harbor. Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the San Juans. Contact Ann Jarrell 378-4939.
The public is invited to a screening of the Brian Malone documentary “Patriocracy”, Tuesday May 22 at 7 pm, at the Commons on the Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL) campus. A non-partisan presentation of the current hyperpolarization and dysfunction in government and possible solutions are discussed by well-known personalities such as Senator Alan Simpson (ret.) and Bob Schieffer (CBS) among others. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the San Juans. Contact Ann Jarrell 378-4939.
May 12th, 2012 |
May 10th, 2012, by Sue Lewis
Saturday and Sunday June 23-24
Orcas Farm will be featured on the Homestead Tour on June 23-24
By Sue Lewis
The Orcas Island Garden Club presents “The Homestead Tour” of five farms and gardens on the east side of Orcas Island, with emphasis on beauty, history and the sustainable horticulture of fruits, vegetables, herbs and livestock, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, June 23-24.
Three of the homesteads—the Doe Bay Garden, Orcas Farm, and Cherry Hill Farm– date back to the 1880’s.
Garden Club hosts tours of sustainable ecology
The other two gardens—Seaview Farm and the McCoy Garden– are more recent homesteads but are also committed to a sustainable ecology. Included in the tour are lectures on Orcas Island History, composting, seed saving, and elimination of noxious plants. Eastside restaurants, Café Olga and The Doe Bay Café are preparing box lunches available by pre-order no later than June 8 with your online purchase of tour tickets or you may bring your own picnic lunch to enjoy at selected garden sites.
Tickets are $20 (tour only) or $30 (by online order through June 8 for tour plus box lunch). Order tickets online anytime at brownpapertickets.com, “The Homestead Tour,” or through the link at OrcasIslandGardenClub.org.
You may also purchase tickets in person at Driftwood Nursery and Darvill’s Bookstore, Eastsound Village, Orcas Island.
May 10th, 2012 |
May 9th, 2012, by Margie Doyle
Were you one of the approximately 250 volunteers, including numerous schoolchildren, who helped remove more than 2,000 lbs. of litter from San Juan Island’s streets, roads, and beaches on April 21 as part of the Great Island Clean-Up? Do you consider yourself an environmentalist?
If you answered “Yes” to either of these questions, the San Juan County Republican Party apparently believes you want American to fail. At least that’s the message of a video on its website entitled “Video ‘If I Wanted America to Fail’ Exposes Environmental Agenda on Earth Day,” an insulting, dishonest attack on me and the majority of residents of San Juan County who consider ourselves environmentalists.
While many of us in our county were celebrating Earth Day the weekend of April 21-22 through good deeds and caring thoughts about the earth we share, the local Republican Party was criticizing through this video those of us who love both our country and the environment that we are working to protect for future generations.
The position of the local Republican Party on environmental issues should not be that surprising given the apparent position on voting rights of its vice chair reflected in his letter to the editor in the February 22 edition of the Journal of the San Juans. In his letter, the vice chair discusses hypothetical changes to our voting system that would give additional votes in national elections, as well as in local elections involving property taxes, in proportion to the amount one pays in federal incomes taxes and in local property taxes, respectively. As an example, the Koch brothers and Warren Buffets of the world would each receive approximately an additional 5,000 votes in presidential elections. The author then asks at the end of his letter “What’s unfair about that?” Unbelieveable!
Whatever happened to the Republican Party’s typical defense of the constitution when one of its local officers suggests further skewing our campaign finance and voting systems in favor of the wealthy? Whatever happened to one person, one vote?
As the 2012 campaign season progresses and moderate Republicans and undecided voters begin to form their opinions on whom to vote for in local, state, and national elections in November, they may want to keep in mind the local Republican Party’s video and its vice chair’s letter.
And they may also want to avoid voting for any Romulans.
David Dehlendorf
Islanders for the Common Good
San Juan Island
May 9th, 2012 |
May 8th, 2012, by Margie Doyle
Recently, Vivien Burnett of Friday Harbor complained that San Juan County has had the same critical areas ordinance since 1998. Wow! If that’s the case, we’d better get crackin’ and replace it. Immediately, right? I mean, after all, it’s old! “Nothing is new.”
But nobody’s found a single instance of pollution or damage to our beautiful islands since we adopted that old ordinance. And our “old” CAO actually meets nearly every requirement of the interim state law changes. So, do we have to replace it just because it’s old?
Wait a minute! That can’t be right; I’ll bet both Burnett and I are a lot older than that old ordinance. Does this mean that because we’re “old” both of us should be replaced? Gosh, I hope not!
Or, perhaps she meant we should replace the “old” ordinance because the proposed CAO will give the county a lot more control over our private property?
Burnett was right about one thing: the majority of the people of San Juan County oppose government spending and/or any regulations that infringe our “personal freedom” to do whatever we want on our own property.
On the other hand, Burnett’s wrong about nearly everything else. All the outstanding organizations she named seek to protect our rights—hers, mine, everyone’s. Those groups know that, while we have a right to do anything we want on our private property, we have a gigantic responsibility that goes along with our liberty.
We may not do anything that infringes anyone else’s property rights. For example, if our activity causes pollution on our private property, we may not allow that pollution to leave our property. Nor may we deliberately damage the overall environment on our or anyone else’s property.
Where do we find a statement of our private property rights? In the Declaration of Independence and both the United States and Washington Constitutions.
In other words, those outstanding groups Burnett criticized are protecting the same rights that are described and memorialized in our founding documents. We think much like James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and all the other American patriots 225 years ago did about personal liberties.
But, don’t feel bad, Ms Burnett, there are folks in history who think like you do, too. They also thought government should be able to either (a) dictate what may or may not be done on private property, or (b) control all land outright. Who were they? Well, let’s see; Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, …
J B McGuire
Olga
May 8th, 2012 |
May 6th, 2012, by Sue Lewis
Wednesday, May 16 at 10 a.m. at Orcas Center
By Sue Lewis
The Garden Club’s featured speaker on Wednesday, May 16 will be Maurice Horn, co-owner of Joy Creek Nursery, a specialty nursery in Scappoose, Ore., featuring a wide variety of ornamental plants including clematis and hydrangeas. He has lectured widely throughout the United States on a variety of garden related topics.
Clematis have experienced a resurgence in popularity worldwide during the last decade. It is important to look back at the legacy of plant explorers and hybridizers to appreciate how their popularity arose.
This backward glance also helps us to understand more fully the reasons behind the various pruning techniques, planting methods and care that are part of the lore of clematis. This is a loving, humorous and, hopefully, inspiring look at a plant whose time has come again.
The Garden Club invites you to this very interesting presentation on May 16 at 10 a.m. in the Madrona Room of Orcas Center. This will be our last regularly scheduled meeting until September. For further information go to orcasislandgardenclub.org.
May 6th, 2012 |
May 3rd, 2012, by Margie Doyle
Come by OPAL's open house on Sunday, May 6, from 1 to 3 to see how much the Oberon Meadow neighborhood has changed since this photo was taken on April 5. Photo by Mandy Troxel.
OPAL Community Land Trust is hosting an open house on Sunday, May 6, from 1 to 3 p.m. Orcas residents and prospective buyers may view three island homes that were moved last year to Oberon Meadow, OPAL’ s newest neighborhood in Eastsound.
The three houses – each about 70 years old – were given to OPAL by their owners so that more island families with low to moderate incomes can own a home of their own. The houses were moved from the North Shore, Deer Harbor and Olga to property in Eastsound that was owned by OPAL. Recent renovations to the houses include new foundations and various energy efficiency upgrades and improvements.
Ranging in size from approximately 828 to 1064 sq. ft., the houses each have two bedrooms, one bath, and kitchen, living and dining areas. Each is priced at $165,000 under the community land trust model to qualified buyers. Monthly mortgage payments will range from $750 to $1010, depending upon income and financing. Middle-income buyers are eligible to purchase these houses.
“We’re grateful to the Baker family, Bob and Phyllis Henigson, and Frank Greer and Stephanie Solien for generously giving OPAL the opportunity to move and renovate their much-loved houses for the benefit of the Orcas community,” said OPAL’s executive director, Lisa Byers. “It feels good to give these small, well-built island homes a new life.”
Read more…
May 3rd, 2012 |
Brian Ehrmantraut 
David Dehlendorf 
Peg Manning 
Nelson Rios 
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Sir: I could not agree with you more and I applaud you for your thoughtful comments. It did occur to me that every newly elected group in the San Juans feel it essential to contribute more restrictive plans – I guess it makes them feel that they have done something! Some things do not need more “doing” Thanks for thinking!