Cascadia today: Seattle bills would limit ICE + Fixing culverts helps salmon + Coast Salish art on display in Vancouver

Seattle & WA introduce bills to limit ICE

Last week, Seattle city council member Alexis Mercedes Rinck introduced legislation that would prohibit new detention facilities (including DHS and ICE) from being built within city limits. In addition, council member Maritza Rivera introduced a bill that would strike language from city code that city employees must "cooperate with, not hinder" federal immigration authorities, the Stranger reports. Meanwhile, the Washington state senate passed a bill that extends state protections forbidding cooperating with federal immigration enforcement to day care centers, hospitals, and nursing homes.

Will BC axe fire prevention funds?

The Tyee reports that in an effort to balance British Columbia's provincial budget, legislators are looking at cutting the FireSmart wildfire prevention program, which distributes $40 million to cities and First Nations to clear fire risks around homes. In related news, the ruling NDP promised to ban the herbicide glyphosate in forestry use – but true to its greenwashing form, it hasn't delivered and the toxic chemical is still being sprayed all over BC, the Narwhal reports. This, and other NDP failures to push environmental policies, drove the BC Greens to leave the governing coalition last week.

Fixing culverts allows salmon to return

Twenty-five years after Washington tribes sued the the state of Washington to fix hundreds of road culverts that block salmon passage, the state's multi-billion fixes are beginning to improve stream habitats, Magic Canoe reports.

“As a keystone species, salmon are at the heart of not only the Pacific Northwest’s environmental health, but our economy as well,” – Ed Johnstone, chairman, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

Coast Salish art on display in Vancouver

The Georgia Straight reports on a new exhibit of contemporary coast Salish art by 13 different artists at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art in Vancouver. The show focuses on the art and culture of First Nations along the Salish Sea – often very different from the north coast and outer coast First Nations, which have become emblematic of Cascadia Indigenous art. The exhibit, Every River Has a Mouth runs until Feb 17, 2027.