Cascadia does not stop at the 49th parallel. The bioregion runs along the Pacific coast from Southeast Alaska to Northern California, and a large part of it lies in British Columbia, from the Fraser River and the Salish Sea to the headwaters of the Columbia. The organizations that serve it have not always matched that map. Cascadia North Services Society is a new step toward closing the gap.
Who they are
Cascadia North Services Society, or CNSS, is a non-profit society in British Columbia. It is newly formed and not yet a registered charity. CNSS supports the Canadian side of Regenerate Cascadia, which operates as one program across the border. Its purpose is to support a whole systems approach to bioregional regeneration through the work happening on the Canadian side of Cascadia.
How it relates to the Department of Bioregion
CNSS is independent of the Department of Bioregion, the Washington State 501(c)(3) nonprofit that stewards Regenerate Cascadia as one of its programs. The two organizations collaborate as peers, each with its own board and its own legal responsibilities, in service of one bioregion.
What it means today
If you live in British Columbia, nothing about how you take part in Regenerate Cascadia changes today. CNSS does not yet accept donations or issue tax receipts. As it grows, updates will come from CNSS itself.
A watershed does not need a passport, and neither does a good idea. We are glad to see the Canadian side of Cascadia gain a home of its own, and we look forward to learning alongside everyone working in the northern part of the bioregion.
Photo by Graham from Rickmansworth, England, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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