Cascadia today: Cascadia has 21 million people + ICE skirting data restrictions + it's time to rename Powell River BC
Good afternoon to everyone but ICE and their goons!
If you haven't read my essay this week on two tactics Cascadia needs to consider now – soft secession and a general strike – give it a read! And if you appreciate this feisty journal about the Pacific Northwest's pushback against fascism, please chip in a few dollars. I'm in the middle of my fall subscription drive, hoping to get thirty new paid subscribers by the end of the month. For just $5 or $10 per month (or $50 or $100 per year) you can help keep this newsletter going. And to my current paid subscribers, thanks! You rock! --Andy
Andrew Engelson
And tonight at, 7 pm Oct 14, join me, Christopher Armitage, and Nadine Maestas at Folio Seattle for a panel discussion on soft secession, Indigenous sovereignty, and Cascadia autonomy:
The Cascadia bioregion is home to 21 million people
Sightline Institute recently published a very cool study calculating the population of the Cascadia bioregion. They found that the greater bioregion stretching from southeast Alaska down to northern California and including much of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia is home 21 million residents, and that population is growing rapidly. Arriving at that figure was no small task – the large bioregion, which also includes parts of western Montana and even slivers of Yukon and Wyoming – consists of an area that includes two nations, nine US states, a Canadian province, a Canadian territory, and more than 1,500 Indigenous lands and reserves.
There's lots of other cool data in the report, including the fact that Cascadia's population grew by more than 35% between 2000 and 2025. The report also breaks down population by each state and provincial jurisdiction. If you're a Cascadia data nerd you'll definitely want to check it out!
Sightline does fantastic work researching solutions to vexing issues in Cascadia, including housing affordability, creating a sustainable economy, and building a more just and robust democracy in our bioregion. Sign up for their newsletters here.
ICE is skirting WA data-sharing laws
Through the Static reports on a new study from the University of Washington Center for Human Rights that finds that ICE is skirting restrictions in Washington prohibiting sharing of information in immigration seizures. Though WA has a sanctuary law passed in 2019 that forbids law enforcement agencies from assisting in immigration enforcement, ICE has succeed in getting around guardrails at the WA department of licensing, making use of the DOL's Nlets license plate database in 356 arrests. Governor Ferguson needs to direct WA DOL to halt this data sharing immediately.
BC provincial election debate tonight
CBC reports that the only televised debate for British Columbia's provincial election is tonight at 6 pm, Oct 14. The debate features BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson, BC NDP leader David Eby and BC Green Party leader Emily Lowan. Meanwhile CBC looks at the NDP's environmental record. Even though they've reduced greenhouse gas emissions, methane is rising because of LNG terminals, and the province is only halfway toward its promise to protect 30% of BC lands by 2030. Oh, and they never got around to banning the harmful herbicide glyphosate. Vote BC Greens.
Time to change Powell River's name
The Tla’amin First Nation proposed changing the name of the BC city Powell River in 2021, because the town's namesake, Israel Wood Powell, was an architect of the province's cruel residential school system as well as implementing a ban on potlach ceremonies and engineering illegal sales of Indigenous land. Now, seven of Powell's descendants have also called for a name change. No replacement has yet been offered.
It's time to return Indigenous names throughout our region, including the five volcanic peaks in Washington state.
Andrew Engelson
The Needling gets it. Though, it's Tahoma, but anyway we get the joke:
The Needling, Seattle's Only Real Fake News
Thanks for reading! Keep loving and keep fighting! --Andy
Do you appreciate Cascadia Journal's exclusive reporting on the ways the Pacific Northwest is pushing back against US fascism? If you have the means, please consider a paid subscription of just $5 per month. Each subscription helps me produce original reporting and opinionated notes on Cascadia's fight to build a more resilient and autonomous bioregion. And to those who already subscribe, thank you! --Andrew
