‘Massive’ bacterial counts–as much as 260 times the allowable limit–threaten shellfish, endangered salmon despite Whatcom farmers’ efforts to protect water quality in Nooksack River, tributaries (LYNDEN, Wash.) In a new letter to Washington state, tribal and Canadian officials, farmers in Whatcom County are shedding light on a troubling trend of ...
Critical projects will protect families, fish and farms – but will require community-wide collaboration By Rich Appel, President, Whatcom Family Farmers Families across Whatcom County devastated by November’s flooding disaster in the Nooksack River Basin need our help with more than just putting their lives back together. It is urgent ...
News of a newly-completed salmon habitat restoration project in the midst of farmland near Lynden is underscoring farmers’ commitment to the long-term collaborative restoration work needed to help critically-endangered salmon populations in the Nooksack River Basin. Farmers in Whatcom County have been saying they want to bring together the local ...
Some farmers unable to irrigate, want to move any remaining water use off of streams to protect fish and help crops as increasingly dry summers choke stream flow; but antiquated rules stand in the way (LYNDEN, Wash.) - Terry Lenssen doesn’t want to use the Fishtrap Creek ...
Farmers urge all parties to come to the table and begin collaborative work to safeguard both endangered salmon and local farming, as drought underscores risks of inaction As drought conditions worsen and stream flows plummet in the wake of an historic heatwave, Whatcom County farmers are calling for all parties ...
In response to the state Department of Ecology's ongoing request to the state legislature for funding to begin the process of an adjudication in the Nooksack Basin, Whatcom Family Farmers has sent a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the budget committees in both state legislative chambers. An ...
Rich Appel farms just north of the Nooksack River in Ferndale. “Our family has been on that farm for about 55 years and my whole life,” Appel said. “I've been living on the river and been been around the river and over the last number of years we've ...
Christine Woodward is the chair for the Portage Bay Shellfish Protection District. “I think one of the first and foremost things about the partnership between farms and salmon is respect,” she said. Farmers play a very important role in Whatcom County, she added. They provide our food source, ...
“The availability of water is vital to the future of agriculture in Whatcom County,” Lynne Rainey Wheeler said. She is a dairy farmer in Whatcom County. Her family’s farm, Coldstream Farms, is in the South Fork Valley. They have been farming there since 1978. In that time they ...
Farmers have been accused of not doing their part when it comes to preserving the environment on and around their farm. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Farmers in Whatcom County have taken many measures in recent years to not only improve their sustainability but also work toward the ...
