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Wildfire on Whidbey: Thinking about the Unthinkable | Conference

  • Whidbey Island Center for the Arts PO Box 52 | 565 Camano Avenue Langley, WA 98260 (map)

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts and Whidbey Climate Action (whidbeyclimate.org) present this all-day conference focused on WILDFIRE. Scientists and experts will help us identify Whidbey fire risks and how to prepare for this imminent danger.

Langley Soup Kitchens will provide free soup for Conference participants

Saturday, August 24th
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

All seats: $20

Did the horrific fire in Lahaina last summer or the destruction of Paradise, California, or any of the other big fires lately cause you to stop and wonder, “Could it happen here”? Well, you are not alone. Whidbey Climate Action has been looking into that question and asking: How is climate change increasing wildfires here in the West? How are practices on Whidbey, like clearcutting our forests and our treatment of storm-water, affecting moisture and temperatures on the island? What other conditions could cause a really big fire? What plans have been made about getting our population to safety in the event of a big fire? What happens when a fire “crowns” and why is that likely to happen here? Are the emergency alert systems adequate? What can we do to make our homes more fire resistant? How can we help our neighbors?  

There are things we can all do to understand and help reduce the danger.  The first step is to come to WICA, which has graciously agreed to co-produce this conference, and learn about all of this.  

Earlier Event: August 21
Bluegrass Jam!
Later Event: August 30
Woodpalooza - Day 1 (Reception)

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts would like to begin by acknowledging that we gather on the ancestral homelands, originally known as Tscha-kole-chy (SHA-KOL-CHI) in Lushootseed (LU-SHOOT-SEED), of the Coastal Salish Peoples, on the lands of the lower Skagit, Tulalip (tuh·lay·luhp), Swinomish (SWIN-ə-mish), Snohomish (snō-hō-mish), Stillaguamish (still-uh-GWAH-mish), and Suquamish (soo-kwah-mish), who have lived in the Salish Sea basin since time immemorial and have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands.

We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water.

Please join us in expressing our deepest respect and gratitude to the indigenous people of this territory and for their enduring care and protection of the land in which we currently occupy and share through the Treaty of Point Elliott signed by 82 tribes in Múckl-te-óh (Mukilteo) on January 22, 1855.