On September 4th, Whatcom Museum, Salish Current, and League of Women Voters of Bellingham – Whatcom County hosted a day of art, voices, and community around a familiar question: how do we work together to solve the water crisis?

Nearly thirty leaders from across Whatcom County, fishers, farmers, civic officials, and tribal voices, gathered on the Lummi Peninsula on August 6th to sit with a hard question: what struggle is worth our combined effort, together? Eleven days later, many of the same voices carried that spirit into a state roundtable on the Nooksack's future, and Ecology's own leaders said this community arrived more ready to work together than almost anywhere else in the state.

Common Waters: Delta is a day-long gathering on Lummi Nation lands. A chance to move through storied places, hear from the people who carry this river's history in their bodies, and imagine together what the future might hold.

On February 26th, a small circle of farmers, tribal members, ecologists, and neighbors gathered upstairs at Bantam for an informal dinner—no agenda beyond listening. We asked what conversations people were hungry for. And then we mostly got out of the way.

On the morning of February 10th, Aaron Straight, Tammy Woodrich, Rich Appel, and Chris Elder opened the 2026 Eat Local First Trade Meeting — NW Washington's largest food and farm business conference — with a question most conferences don't start with: What becomes possible when stories and relationships come first?

On October 5th, tribal members, farmers, and community leaders walked Todd Creek together, exploring salmon habitat restoration partnerships and riparian zone coordination. The afternoon concluded with a watershed feast and storytelling at The Commons in Bellingham, including the premiere of several short films and paintings capturing connections made when diverse neighbors gather with open hearts along the Nooksack.

Lummi fishers, Nooksack storytellers, Punjabi farmers, and local leaders gathered for a day of shared stories, river walks, and farm feasts along the Nooksack—captured by a film crew who blended seamlessly into the magic. From berry fields to river sandbars, participants left titles behind to listen deeply to each other and the land, forging connection and understanding. By sunset, a sense of stewardship and hope filled the circle, as heartfelt apologies and blessings were exchanged over a meal sourced from the watershed itself.

Tribal fishers brought salmon. Farmers brought potatoes and berries. Rich Appel invited Free Borsey to fish his land. Jay Julius shared his lineage back to the 1855 treaty. Something shifted.

Brad Rader and Free Borsey stood up together at a food systems conference. No script. Just neighbors finding common ground in front of their peers.