Action Hour
Welcome to “Action Hour” with the Whidbey Environmental Action Network. On this podcast, we discuss environmental issues affecting Whidbey and Camano Islands in Washington State, dive into ecology and policy impact, and educate you, the public, on what you can do about it. Share with your friends, share with your neighbors - the time is now, and change starts with us. Hosted by WEAN Engagement Director Amanda Bullis. Learn more about WEAN at our website: www.whidbeyenvironment.org.
Episodes
On this episode of Action Hour, we are sharing a special recording of a keynote conversation between civil rights activist Grethe Cammermeyer and WEAN Environmental Data Analyst Violet Bluemer, moderated by WEAN Executive Director Marnie Jackson at the 2026 WEAN Summer Benefit at Dancing Fish Vineyards. Special thanks to Robbie Cribbs of Sound Trap Studios for lending his audio skills to make this recording happen.
Please note: our...
On this episode of Action Hour, WEAN Engagement Director Amanda Bullis chats with Friends of the San Juans' Legal Director and Staff Attorney Magali Cota. A Californian who grew up in the brownfields of Compton, Magali learned that the way she lived as a kid wasn't environmentally safe, a revelation that instilled a strong sense of the importance of local communities using their voices to protect one another.
Listen to her conversa...
On this episode of Action Hour, passionate birder and environmentalist Carlos Andersen shares his love for Deer Lagoon Preserve, an Audubon-designated Important Bird Area (IBA) on Whidbey Island, and dives into the principles of his management plan to protect, preserve, and restore the area for generations to come. With the Comprehensive Planning process underway, Carlos is hopeful that Island County will use his plan to help prote...
On this episode of Action Hour, WEAN Executive Director Marnie Jackson and Engagement Director Amanda Bullis chat about the Comprehensive Planning process, WEAN's history with Island County's Comprehensive Plan, their experience during this current planning cycle, and what they hope the outcome will be for their island communities.
CORRECTION: The Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM)—not the Department of Com...
Learn all about wetlands! Wetland ecologist Allison Warner teaches us how to identify a wetland, how wetlands can bolster our communities' climate resilience, and how Island County could improve its wetland buffers. Plus, she makes a pitch for beavers and gets nerdy about soil composition.
When Trillium Corporation purchased almost 3,000 acres of land on Whidbey Island from Georgia Pacific in the 1980s, the community had no idea who they were — until they started clearcutting a property on Coles Road. The logging company went on to clear-cut a parcel right outside the front door of WEAN founders Marianne Edain and Steve Erickson. The duo sprang into action, organizing the community to blockade the logging, and ...
On this episode of Action Hour, Oak Harbor Garry Oak Society (OHGOS) board member Kyle Renninger teaches us about Garry oaks, their historical significance in Oak Harbor, and the current protections for these trees in the Oak Harbor city code. Listen to learn about this keystone species and potential upcoming Oak Harbor code changes that could impact Garry oaks and the urban tree canopy in general.
On this episode of Action Hour, Engagement Director Amanda Bullis and Executive Director Marnie Jackson discuss WEAN's programmatic priorities, including their work advocating for Whidbey and Camano Islands at the county and state levels, as well as current pending litigation against the City of Oak Harbor.
Sea level is projected to rise by one foot in the Puget Sound region by 2050, and Island County is at particularly high risk of hazards such as coastal flooding.
Water activist John Lovie returns to this episode of Action Hour to discuss the complexities of land use in the face of sea level rise, emphasizing the need for a coordinated, sound-wide adaptation strategy to plan for the inevitable.
On this episode of Action Hour, Amanda discusses drinking water sources and water systems in Island County with water, environmental, community activist, and writer John Lovie.
John's insights and musings about water, mostly, can be found on his blog, Mostly Water, at https://johnlovie.substack.com/
On this episode of Action Hour, Amanda and Marianne unpack Marianne’s process for taking action against unpermitted development in our neighborhoods, following up with jurisdictions regarding permitted activity, and navigating the enforcement challenges. As always, persistence is key to success.
Find our "See Something, Say Something" guide here.
Report environmental violations to WEAN here.
Marianne and Amanda demystify the step-by-step process foundational to Marianne’s years of successful environmental activism. Societal problems are complex, government agencies are complex, and local communities that engage with this complexity repeatedly are imperative for making lasting change in the world.
Learn how to tackle an issue, share the workload, and keep showing up for each other and our planet.
Framework guide h...
What exactly is a conservation easement? How do they work? Why would a landowner decide to put one on their property? Whidbey Camano Land Trust's Executive Director, Ryan Elting, joins us on an episode of the Action Hour podcast to discuss the many benefits of conservation easements, bringing conservation values to affordable housing, and WCLT's vision for protected contiguous habitat on Whidbey and Camano Islands.
Amanda and Steve discuss the conservation efforts for the western toad on Whidbey Island, including the challenges faced by the species due to rapid development and habitat destruction. They also explore the potential of using remote sensing approaches, such as bioacoustic monitoring and environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling techniques, to detect and understand the behavior of the species.
WDFW Western Toad Calls: https://wdfw.wa.gov/s...
On this episode of Action Hour, WEAN founders Steve Erickson and Marianne Edain explain the Public Benefit Rating System (PBRS) tax program on the state level and discuss how Island County could reform its PBRS program to include ecological classifications for forestry and beyond.
See Island County's basis for assessment for PBRS here.
Read the county code for PBRS, Chapter 3.40, here.
Read the state statute, RCW 84.34.055, here.
WEAN founders Marianne Edain and Steve Erickson continue to chronicle their decades-long battle to protect critical areas in Island County and delve into the concepts of “takings” and “no net loss” of ecological function.
If you haven’t listened to the previous episode, start there.
Unfamiliar with the laws and terminology? Listen to our episodes on the Growth Management Act, critical areas...
Before 1984, Island County did not have a permanent code for development. Between 1982 and 1984, Marianne and Steve helped the county develop its first permanent zoning ordinance, which may have included the first critical area protections in the state. Then, the Growth Management Act passed in 1990, and Island County refused to comply, so Marianne and Steve took the county to court in a battle that would last decades.
This ...
Since at least the early 2000s, the US Navy had been using Washington State Parks for clandestine Navy Seals training without the knowledge of the public but with the permission of Washington State Parks. In 2022, WEAN litigated against the WA Parks Commission for allowing this activity to happen in our public parks and won.
Read our blog post here: https://www.whidbeyenvironment.org/looking-back-on-not-in-our-parks
For decades, WEAN founder Marianne Edain has been reviewing Forest Practices Applications (FPAs), the sole citizen in Island County providing oversight of the process. Over time, she discovered a disturbing pattern in Island County allowing applicants to circumvent environmental assessment.
In this episode, Marianne explains the different types of Forest Practices permits issued by the Department of Natural Resources and the looph...
In this episode of Action Hour, WEAN founders Marianne Edain and Steve Erickson give a brief overview of the history of logging in Washington and the negative impact correlating forest practices have had on the forests of the state.
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