Cascadia Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is Cascadia?
CASCADIA IS A(N);
bioregion defined by the watersheds of the Columbia and Fraser river valleys that stretches from Northern California to south east Alaska and as far east as the Yellowstone Caldera and continental divide. It encompasses most of the states and province of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and parts of southeast Alaska, Northern California and Western Montana.
inclusive social movement to empower every individual and community to be active around issues they care, and find solidarity and support.
regional identity, rooted in a love of place and stemming from shared experiences, environment, and need, as well as principles and values.
positive vision for a bioregion that is resilient, vibrant and autonomous, that protects the things we find special
The term Cascadia was first used in 1981 by Seattle University professor David McCloskey, as a way to better describe our growing regional identity, and adopted hundreds of early organizers, academics, indigenous activists, policy planners, and environmentalists who came together for what become termed Cascadian Bioregional Congresses. McCloskey describes Cascadia as "a land of falling waters." He notes the blending of the natural integrity and the sociocultural unity that gives Cascadia its character. Culture stems from place, and we will have more in common with each other, than those in a distant seat of power with little vested interest in our region or people. The Cascadia movement works to create more democratic, decentralized, sustainable, local and ethical models for the world, and is built on the idea that every person can be active around the issues they care about.
Read more on our Cascadia Primer Page
Cascadia Illahee: The Name
Cascadia is the name given to the land by the people who live here. Illahee translates to “Land, country, earth, soil - in both physical and political sense”, and Cascadia Illahee means the Cascadia region, or the land of the Cascadia people (watersheds of the Columbia, Fraser and Snake) in traditional Chinook Jargon. While indigenous groups had many different names for specific areas, there was no unified name for the broader bioregion at large. Many people assume that Cascadia is named after the Cascade Mountains.
Rather, the mountains take their name from the same source as Cascadia: the cascading waters. The first written reference to the name stems from Scottish botanist David Douglas (for whom the Douglas Fir is named), who first explored the Columbia River Gorge in 1825 and wrote of the area’s “cascading waterfalls”. In a more recent context , the name Cascadia was applied to the whole geologic region by Bates McKee in his 1972 geology textbook Cascadia. Later, the name was adopted by David McCloskey to identify the bioregion. McCloskey describes Cascadia as “a land of falling waters.”
This name was chosen at early Cascadian Bioregional Congresses by hundreds of academics, activists, educators and indigenous organizers. The Cascadia bioregion is defined by the cascading journey that a single rain drop takes, as it falls on the north western edge of the continental divide as it flows to its final terminus of the Pacific ocean.
Why Cascadia?
Now more than ever, we need Cascadia and bioregionalism. Bioregionalism represents one of the best, yet least understood philosophies which can have a real impact on our world today, by every organizer and supporter, regardless of background or political belief. We will never be able to achieve any type of real decolonization, equity, sustainability while we work within the framework of the United States or Canada. Instead we must break down borders and boundaries which are arbitrary or negative, often lines drawn on maps by individuals who had never even visited the areas - and instead work in a holistic way which better accounts for the place, the geography, and the people.
We can do better. If others cannot achieve the vision we need, then we will do it ourselves.
Cascadia is a place and movement for the people who live here. It is the idea that we live in a very special place, with some of the last untouched and largest stretches of old growth rainforest, salmon, whales and hundreds of mountains, islands, oceans, lakes, deserts and so much more. Socially, we have some of the strongest democratic institutions in the country, and a very robust economy and quality of life, with some of the best education and healthcare possibilities in the modern world. But many of these things that make Cascadia so great are shrinking, and despite having one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, the region faces very real threats of homelessness, and an ever increasing disconnect with a political capitol thousands of miles away with little or no vested interest in being able to represent our region effectively.
Just as any name, Cascadia is a construct that help shapes an identity and place. While names are not necessarily that important - it doesn’t change the borders of the bioregion for example, which has been here before, people, and will exist well after - this region has had many in the near past: New Spain, Chinook Illahee, New Caledonia, New Archangel, New Georgia, the Columbia Department, the Oregon Territory, the Northwest, the Pacific Slope, Ecotopia, the New Pacific, Ecolopolis, each a construct working to serve a purpose or create an image imposed by a different power to be and often thousands of miles away.
“Where are you from?” she asks. “From the Northwest,” he replies automatically, without thinking. Then she shoots back, “Northwest of what?”
Rather than a term that defines its space from a capitol nearly 3000 miles away, Cascadia is the name of the land, given by the people who live here, and just as it's a new name, it gives us a new opportunity to forge something new, something positive together, from a culture rooted in place and the shared values that arise from sharing a landbase. Just as the people who have lived here for thousands of years, Cascadia is an opportunity to forge a new shared vision for what is possible, created from the land and people living here. Together, Cascadia has the worlds 13th largest economy, a population larger than many countries, and is roughly the size of Mongolia. Rather than accidents of geo-political history, and arbitrary lines on maps which do not accurately reflect the place or the people - Cascadia seeks to find systems which can better reflect the social, cultural, ecological, economic and political realities of the place we live.
Read more on our Theory of Change Page.
What are the Borders of Cascadia?
Cascadia is a bioregion. What are the borders of Cascadia’s bioregion?
Stretching for more than 2500 miles along the Pacific Coast, the Cascadia bioregion is comprised of 75 distinct ecoregions that spread across an incredible diversity and range of habitats, wilderness and landscapes. These watersheds stretch from South East Alaska to Northern California, and from the crest of the continental divide to the Pacific coast westward. Colloquially, Cascadia is more simply known as ‘Salmon Nation’, and its borders extend as far as salmon swim.
Specifically, the Cascadia bioregion stretches from Mt. St. Alias South East Alaska down the Pacific Coast to Cape Mendecino in the South, and all the way to the Yellowstone caldera in the east, incorporating large portions or all of British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Northern California, Wyoming, Nevada and South East Alaska.
It is defined by the Fraser, Columbia and Snake rivers, and uses watersheds as it’s basis for boundaries, rather than lines drawn by old white men who had never been to the area. This includes the watersheds of the:
Clearwater, Eel, Rogue, Deschutes, Bulkley, and Bella Coola.
Columbia, Fraser, Skeena, Snake, Stikine,
Flathead, Salmon, Nechako, Klinaklini,
Klamath, Skagit, Lillooet-Harrison, Clearwater,
Shohomish, Homathko, Iskut, Cowlitz, Taku,
Squamish, Quesnel, Santiam, Umpqua, Spokane,
Willamette, Alsek, Kootenay, Nass, Thompson, and Pend Oreille.
From these, larger ‘ecoregions’ are defined; 75 total within Cascadia, which together make up the entire bioregion.
Learn more on our Ecoregions and Watersheds Page
What is Bioregionalism?
Bioregionalism at its most simple is a philosophy that connects people and ideas into place, which work watershed by watershed, in ways that are sustainable, democratic and just.
A bioregion is a shorthand designation for ‘bio-cultural region’ and is rooted in the idea that culture stems from placed and that human cultures develop in relation to the natural ecosystems they inhabit. It is a region defined by characteristics of the natural environment rather than by man-made divisions, and the sum of the ecoregions and watersheds of a particular place that gives a unified sense of geographic, topographic and living flora and fauna that all work together to create a ‘bio-region’. Cascadia is a land of flowing waters, and for the Cascadia bioregion, it is the topographic region that is defined from which a drop of rain hits the western side of the continental divide - and flows into the Pacific - from the headwaters of the Fraser and Columbia, to the headwaters of the Snake, which stems from the Yellowstone caldera.
Bioregionalists work to find solutions to the world's most challenging issues by using bioregions to break large issues down to a local level, creating or magnifying solutions already being practiced in a community, and create accessible pathways for every person living in a region to be able to get active about issues they care about. Each watershed and community will be different, and each region and community will know their needs the best, and be the best to represent those needs.
Why the Cascadia Department of Bioregion?
The Department of Bioregion is a fun, satirical hub based loosely on the United States and Canadian state departments that promotes Bioregional Movements, Bioregionalism as a Philosophy and that promotes Cascadia and Cascadian interests. We chose the State Department as our base for what we want to do, because, well, the state department does exactly everything that we want to do. Their goal is to advance the interests of America (in our case Cascadia). They train and run diplomats, who promote this goal. They develop policies that help reflect these issues. They issue passports. And ultimately - institutions have their own power, traditions and language - and by subverting them, and infusing it with bioregionalism and our own principles - we begin our own shift towards those ends.
Rather than a State - we promote the Cascadia Bioregion and it’s inhabitants. By shifting the framework in this direction, and using a healthy dose of humor to ensure we don’t take ourselves too seriously, we are able to have conversations, and occupy spaces in ways that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to. In addition, for ourselves - it changes how we think, how we act and how we respond.
Using the principles of Bioregionalism - what would a Cascadia Department of Bioregion look like? How would we respond to different issues? How do we work with indigenous organizers to create a movement or government? What are the volcanoes of Cascadia, what are the statistics? What is the population or GDP? What are the rivers, watersheds, forests, etc? We're compiling these now - and it's incredible that they simply don't exist in any one document because of the US/Canadian border. As we grow these numbers - they can be used, and grows the reality of Cascadia, and we become the primary source of that information.
For a movement and philosophy of several decades - there are a lot of holes that we want to fill, and we want to do it while trying to flush out what a unified vision for a realistic and attainable goal of Cascadia would look like. Cascadia already exhibits every checkbox for what a nation (not a nation state) exhibits. In the summer of 2018, we sent a 31 person team to London through the Cascadia Association Football Federation, this past year that competed in the CONIFA world cup - the largest non-FIFA league specifically for regions and cultural areas not represented by the UN. We played against and with teams like Northern Cyprus, Tamil, Tibet, Tuvalu, Panjab, Isle of Mann and many others - and it was a crash course in geography and sovereignty. I was curious how we would fit in - but people loved it. It was also very neat because we were the only bioregion in representation - and people were very curious about bioregionalism as opposed to many of their goals for nationhood in a traditional sense. Carne Ross - with the independent diplomat works with many of these same organizations in their work to gain international legal recognition and help countries apply for UN recognition.
Satire is a powerful tool, the same way that the Daily Show or Colbert Show were a comedy show that had more news than any actual news show. People treat websites, and icons and symbols incredibly powerfully. I always love the Yes Men as well, or the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, which is used as a teaching example on digital literacy because so many people take the website at face value. Ultimately, one reason that Cascadia is such a powerful tool, and the reason is that the Cascadia Department of Bioregion will be successful, is that it is the most efficient scale and framework for our region - and currently, our local leaders have figured this out, but because they are forced to work within the confines of the US / Canadian systems they are, and always will be hampered. As we continue to work in the framework of Cascadia - we will build our own tools and resources, and build in our own value as we grow them.
Over the next several years, we are excited to grow our followers, host classes, events, develop resources we bring to the table, presentations, share pictures and inspire and build the Cascadia movement. Most importantly, we are excited to train dozens of Cascadian diplomats who have gone through our programs and are seeding whatever other groups, projects or ideas they might have, all around the same common vocabulary and operating principles. Down the road - this includes building other bioregional movements. We want every person to be a Diplomat or Ambassador that can represent Cascadia and the movement in a real way. It's a new and unique angle - and the Dept of Bioregion isn't meant to be the be all end all - rather, it's about the movement building - hopefully together it will help create an ecosystem of actors & groups all working towards the same goal. We look forward to supporting and building that.
What are the 75 Eco Regions of Cascadia?
The 75 eco regions are the: Olympic Chehalis/Willapa Cowlitz/Lewis Columbia Gorge Yakama Okanagan Kettle Highlands Salish Sea Mountain Valleys West Coast Icefields/Fjordland/Sunshine Coast Lillooet Kamloops/Nicola Plateau Fraser Plateau Chilcotin/Nazka Plateau Kwakiutl Anahim/Tweedsmuir Bella Coola/Coastal Gap Nechako Plateau Fraser Basin Bulkley Takla-Stuart/Babine Lakes Lower Skeena Nass Skeena-Nass Tlingit Archipelago Stikine Iskut Stikine Plateau Taku Glacier Bay/Fairweather Alsek Tatshenshini Kluane/St. Elias/Yakutat St. Regis/Bitterroot Palouse Coeur d'Alene/ Spokane Blackfoot/Clark Fork Flathead Kutenai/Kalispell Pend Oreille/Selkirks Kootenay Lakes/Kokanee Columbia Plateau Shuswap/Monashee Highlands Columbia Icefields Thompson/Clearwater Highlands Cariboo/Quesnel Highlands Fraser Headwaters Cape Mendocino/Mattole Upper Eel Trinity Redwood/Humboldt Siskiyou/Klamath Shasta Klamath Lakes /Modoc Rogue/Umpqua Coos/Coquille Siuslaw/Dunes and Lakes Alsea/Siletez Willamette Deschutes/High Level Desert Chinook/Tillamook Snow Cap Plateau Yellowstone Tetons Lost Rivers Bannock Owyhee/Shoshone Sun Valley/Wood River Snake River Plain Boise/Payette Sawtooths Lemhi/Challis Malheur Ochoco/John Day Nez Perce-Wallowa/Grand Ronde Salmon Nez Perce-Clearwater/Selway Walla Walla/Umatilla
What is the Cascadia Diplomatic Corps?
The Cascadia Department of Bioregion is the lead institution for the conduct of Cascadian Diplomacy, and operates from the heart of Occupied Cascadia. The Department functions as the diplomatic wing of Cascadia, handling matters of affairs domestically and inter-bioregionally. The Bioregion Department's primary job is to promote Cascadian bioregional policy throughout the world. It is up to bioregionalists, each in their own way, to create and promote these changes, and lead the way forward, rather than wait for someone else to do it for us.
We work to:
To promote the interests of Cascadia for a peaceful, prosperous, democratic world that benefits the Cascadia bioregion, it’s inhabitants and our planet.
The Dept of Bioregion is dedicated to placing the idea of Cascadia into mainstream thought as a viable solution to contemporary problems. This mission is shared with people and governments around the planet, ensuring we have a common path forward in partnership as we invest in the shared security and prosperity that will ultimately better prepare us for the challenges of tomorrow.
What is the goal OF BIOREGIONALISM?
A world comprised of watershed movements, each working to make our world more sustainable, democratic and just.
We envision a network of interconnected bioregional movements that work together, connect people into place based bioregional cultures, assist each other in the hard times, learn lessons from around the world, and share their own models for what has worked, and what hasn’t. It is up to bioregionalists, each in their own way, to create and promote these changes, and lead the way forward, rather than wait for someone else to do it for us.
What is a bioregional movement?
Bioregional movements break down global issues and translate the principles of bioregionalism into direct, local and actionable solutions within a bioregion, and are place based hub that empowers individuals and groups to work together around shared principles and values.
Within these movements, bioregionalists build connections, develop solutions, magnify solutions already being practiced, and create accessible pathways for the millions of inhabitants to connect in with these solutions and shift their habits in a beneficial manner.
Are there other bioregions?
Yes! The world is made up of bioregions. Hundreds and hundreds in fact, and dozens in North America alone.
Are there other bioregional movements?
Yes! Though none as holistically developed as the Cascadia movement currently. Laurentia is a great example, and there are bioregional movements growing around the world. For many years, bioregional movements would gather in Bioregional Congresses, meeting in local regions every off year, and as part of continental congresses on the others. These meetings led to a wide dispersal of bioregional thought and organization. The best way to find out if there is a local group is to google your specific area.
Can I become a Cascadian Diplomat?
Yes! Diplomats are Cascadians working to advance Cascadian and bioregional interests at home and abroad on behalf of the Department of Bioregion, that have a solid grounding of both things and are able to represent the idea and movement to a diverse range of individuals and groups.
Can I become a Cascadia Citizen?
Yes! All current, former, imaginary, future residents, and ambassadors staffing embassies abroad may apply for a Cascadian passport and become a citizen. To further help break down the nation state paradigm, we also welcome all inhabitants, denizens and residents of Cascadia.
What is a Bioregion?
The word bioregion simply means "life-place." Peter Berg and Raymond Dasmann use the term bioregion to refer to a "geographical terrain and a terrain of consciousness—to a place and the ideas that have developed about how to live in that place." Kirkpatrick Sale distinguishes bioregions on the basis of "particular attributes of flora, fauna, water, climate, soils, and landforms, and by the human settlements and cultures those attributes have given rise to."
A bioregion is a shorthand designation for ‘bio-cultural region’ and is rooted in the idea that culture stems from placed and that human cultures develop in relation to the natural ecosystems they inhabit. It is a region defined by characteristics of the natural environment rather than by man-made divisions, and the sum of the ecoregions and watersheds of a particular place that gives a unified sense of geographic, topographic and living flora and fauna that all work together to create a ‘bio-region’. Cascadia is a land of flowing waters, and for the Cascadia bioregion, it is the topograhic region that is defined from which a drop of rain hits the western side of the continental divide - and flows into the Pacific - from the head waters of the Fraser and Columbia, to the headwaters of the Snake, which stems from the Yellowstone caldera.
What is the difference between an Ecoregion and a Watershed?
A Watershed is simply the area created from where a rain drop falls, to the body of water it connects to. Ecoregions are comprised of these watersheds, and are used to make up the areas of a bioregion. Ecoregions are similarly defined, but are expanded to include, physical, biological, and human realities that may stem from these areas. In terms of size, an ecoregion is larger than a watershed and smaller than a bioregion; or in political terms, larger than a county and smaller than a state or province. In the more than 750,000 square miles of Cascadia, ecoregions average about 10,000 square miles each, though ranging from 2,000 to over 30,000 square miles; again, size depends upon the unique character and context of the place itself. An ecoregion in Cascadia often covers several degrees of latitude and perhaps longitude.
What is the best way for me to get involved?
SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Wish all your fellow friends, family and Cascadians a happy Cascadia Day! Read an article recently you liked? Have a cool project you did? Did you recently read an article on bioregionalism that you enjoyed? Do you have a photo of you reppin' Cascadia gear? Sharing content online that relates to Cascadia movement can be a powerful way to celebrate! Any online platform from Facebook to Twitter or Pinterest to Email is a great way to share information or ideas to educate, spread awareness, and help expand positive bioregional action. Use #cascadia.
LET YOUR CASCADIA FLAG FLY
Break out the Cascadia Doug Flag we all know and love so much.
REP YOUR CASCADIA GEAR
Whether you are covered from head to toe in blue, white, and green or simply representing the movement with a simple supporter pin, Cascadia gear is a great way to show support and to get people noticing the movement.
CREATE ART
We have seen some pretty impressive ways that many people have started think outside the box when it comes to showing their Cascadian pride. Whether it’s painting your nails to represent the Doug Flag, baking up some Cascadia shaped cookies, or having a craft day with the kiddos to create some Cascadian inspired art, all are great ways to express your supporter culture for the movement.
HOST A CASCADIA CELEBRATION
A great way to participateis to create or attend one of the many different community events that are being hosted throughout our bioregion. If there isn't already an event in your region or you are interested in starting your own, we encourage you to start up any event that you think represents Cascadia. A few potential ideas include block parties, potlucks, movie nights, neighborhood cleanups, barbecues, tree plantings, wine tastings, or pub nights! No matter how big or how small, getting together with your neighbors and sparking up conversations about Cascadia and enacting some form of positive change in your community is what this day is all about.
In addition, don’t forget to grab a passport - host a project, share an idea. Cascadia is your movement, you make it happen!
Where does the name Cascadia come from?
The term "Cascades" was first used for the Cascades Rapids, as early as the Astor Expedition. The first written reference originally stems from Scottish botanist David Douglas (for whome the Douglas Fir is also named) who explored the Columbia River Gorge in 1825. He wrote of the area’s ‘cascading waterfalls’, and it is through these that we hear the first mention of ‘the Cascades’ – from which the mountain range is now called.
The name 'Cascadia' itself wasn’t heard until much later, until it was first used by the town Cascadia, Oregon that was settled in 1890 in what is now Linn County. "Cascadia" was first applied to the whole geologic region by Bates McKee in his 1972 geology textbook Cascadia; the geologic evolution of the Pacific Northwest. Later the name was adopted by David McCloskey, a Seattle University sociology professor, to describe it as a bioregion. McCloskey describes Cascadia as "a land of falling waters."
According to McCloskey, this "initial" Cascadia included parts of seven jurisdictions (Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Western Montana, British Columbia, and Southeast Alaska), running from the northernmost reaches of Southeast Alaska in the north to Cape Mendocino, California in the south–and covering all the land and "falling waters" from the continental divide at the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. McCloskey, founder of the Cascadia Institute and co‐chair of Seattle University's New Ecological Studies Program, saw Cascadian identity as something which transcends political or geographic definitions; it is more a cultural, ideological identity.[
He notes the blending of the natural integrity and the sociocultural unity that gives Cascadia its definition.This new notion of Cascadia,
Is Cascadia different from Ecotopia or PAcifica?
Yes! Ecotopia as a term is derived from the novel Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach, and only conveys the US portions of Washington, Oregon, and Northern California.
Cascadia as a bioregion includes all of the watersheds of the Columbia, Fraser, and Snake rivers, meaning South East Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Northern California, Idaho, and bits of western Montana and Nevada.
Pacifica would be a nation created through the combination of the current states of California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
How long has the idea of Cascadia been around?
Cascadia as it exists today was heavily influenced by the bioregionalism movement of the 1970’s, inspired by Peter Berg and the Drum Foundation., seminal works like Joel Garraeu’s Nine Nations of North America, and Ernest Callenbachs novel Ecotopia, which portrayed an independent eco-state of the Northwest, and contained many then radical notions such as recycling and mass transportation. The Cascadia movement developed its roots in the 1980’s through a series of bioregional congresses.
What is the Doug Flag?
The Cascadia Doug Flag was designed by Portland native Alexander Baretich in 1995, and is nothing more than a direct representation of the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. The green are for the forest, the white for the mountains and glaciers, and the blue for the skies, rivers and bodies of water and the Douglas fir because it stands as a symbol of resilience, whose growth range closely follows that of the bioregional borders of Cascadia. It the most common symbol for the Cascadia movement, but every person is encouraged to adapt and change to a way that is special for them.
Oh, Cascadia, that’s that political stuff, right?
Bioregionalism advocates for a necessary cultural and political shift, based around common principles, and shared values, and provides a framework for making these changes. We argue for policies that increase the autonomy and independence of the Cascadia bioregion, and bring our impact into a responsible, ethical and sustainable future. However, the Cascadia movement is much broader than any one person, or organization. Each person and community will necessarily have different issues they care about, and rather than define these for people, we are simply here to provide space.
For some, this means social or racial justice, environmental protection, indigenous sovereignty, a local, bioregional economic footprint, while others may feel be privacy, civil liberties, open governance, direct action or a more political presence is a more relevant cause. Only together, collectively, do these help define the true breadth and strength of the Cascadia movement.
Eastern and Western Cascadia are too different. Why do you think they would ever work?
Cascadia is a place based movement. We argue that culture stems from place, and that by sharing the same areas, we will have more in common than those who currently claim to represent our interests thousands of miles away. Current political differences, are rooted in a disfunctional federal political system in which wedge issues are highlighted, while the fact that we actually agree about 90% of issues, and all want a better future for our children, and those currently living on the planet is downplayed.
Just as bioregionalism breaks down arbitrary political borders, it also breaks down arbitrary politics into one of better representing the place, the people and what is important to them.
Ultimately, if it stops raining, it affects all of us. If there is an earthquake it affects all of us. We cannot talk about dam removal or pollution along the Columbia river without every member of the watershed being a part of that discussion. The regions two largest cities Seattle and Vancouver BC are only 180 miles a part and share the same watershed - but are divided by an international border. It is becoming apparent to more people in Cascadia each day that society here is, in some ways, irreconcilably different from the rest of the United States and Canada. Understanding the Pacific Northwest as one coherent region is bringing clarity to a lot of people who are growing more frustrated with the statuses quo imposed upon us from more powerful regions within the United States and Canada. The identity of Cascadia is becoming a more true representation of who we are as a people.
Is Cascadia a Secessionist/Independence Movement?
How does Cascadia support First Nations peoples?
Is Cascadia a White Supremacist Organization?
Is Cascadia only for liberals?
Is Cascadia only for conservatives?
If I belong to a specific political party, can I still be Cascadian?
Does Cascadia have an economy large enough to be independent?
Isn’t Cascadia sedition and treason?
HOW ARE YOU FUNDED?
The Cascadia Department of Bioregion is a grassroots organization. All funding comes from donation, tuition, speaking and presenting, workshops, membership and sales. We currently have no paid staff. We receive no grants or aid from any government - foreign or domestic . We must just do what we do because it’s fun, we love the idea, and we hope you join us.
If you would like to support our work - you can become a member here or join the Cascadia Underground here.
I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION.
Great! Fill out this contact form or email cascadia@deptofbioregion.org
Q: Are there online resources for parents and students on Cascadia?
Our website has information for middle school aged and older students to learn more about Cascadia, policy, diplomacy, and the work of the Cascadia Department of Bioregion.
Q: Can I have dual citizenship without losing my U.S. or Canadian citizenship?
The concept of dual bioregionality means that a person is a citizen of two bioregions at the same time. While nations and countries have their own citizenship laws based on its own policy, luckily, bioregions do not follow the same laws or borders as man made states, and welcomes all people who live within their watersheds. Simply step foot in a different bioregion from your own, and poof - you are now a resident - temporary or permanent of a new bioregion. Please be respectful of your new bioregion during your stay, and please live responsibly within the limits of each during your time there.
A U.S. or Canadian citizen may acquire Cascadian citizenship by marriage, birth, naturalization, or voluntary association. Cascadian law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one citizenship or another. Also, a person who is automatically granted another citizenship does not risk losing Cascadian citizenship. If one becomes angered at the Cascadian bioregion and determines to denounce it, Cascadians can renounce Cascadian citizenship in the proper form at Cascadian embassies and consulates abroad or at home. In lieu of burning a flag, the Department of Bioregion has prepared this guide to composting a flag, or turning it into a nest for an endangered bird.
Q: Can I travel to Cascadia without a visa?
The Cascadia Bioregion is currently occupied by the joint military forces of the United States (U.S.) and Canadian governments. While under foreign occupation, visa policy permits of citizens of only certain countries are able to travel to the Cascadia bioregion without a visa, when they meet certain requirements under U.S. or Canadian territorial laws.
For more information, please visit the following websites:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/travel-without-a-visa.html
Q: Do I have permission to copy information from Dob's website?
Information on the Department of Bioregion website is in a Creative Commons license and may be copied and distributed without permission for educational and non-commercial purposes, unless a copyright is indicated. No material may be copied or used for hate speech, or by any organization promoting hate speech, as determined by the Dept of Bioregion. If a copyright is indicated, for example on a photo, graphic or other material, permission to copy these materials must be obtained from the original source. For photos without captions or with only partial captions, hold your cursor over the photo to view the "alt tag" for any copyright information. The Department of Bioregion has full rights to revoke any use of content or material from our website or work.
Q: What is the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus?
The Pacific Northwest tree octopus (Octopus paxarbolis) can be found in the temperate rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula on the west coast of North America. Their habitat lies on the Eastern side of the Olympic mountain range, adjacent to Hood Canal. These solitary cephalopods reach an average size (measured from arm-tip to mantle-tip,) of 30-33 cm. Unlike most other cephalopods, tree octopuses are amphibious, spending only their early life and the period of their mating season in their ancestral aquatic environment. Because of the moistness of the rainforests and specialized skin adaptations, they are able to keep from becoming desiccated for prolonged periods of time, but given the chance they would prefer resting in pooled water.
To learn more or support this endangered species please go here: https://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
Q: How do I join the Cascadian Sasquatch Militia?
Are you an able-bodied Sasquatch aged 10 to 150 who loves his or her country? If so, Cascadia needs YOU to enlist in the Sasquatch Militia and defend our homeland against our many enemies, including such nefarious evildoers as:
Canadians
Southern Californians
Geoduck & Tree Octopus Poachers
Paraterrestrials
Americans
International Organized Crime Syndicates
Nosey Cryptozoologists
Besides serving your country, you will also be improving yourself. Sasquatch Militia will teach you many valuable skills that today's employers are looking for in Sasquatch. You will gain a sense of determination and confidence that will help you succeed. And you will also experience compatriotship with your fellow Sasquatch as you work together to secure the freedom of the Republic of Cascadia.
Cascadia needs you now, more than ever, in these trying times. Do your part for your nation and don't let another Sasquatch take your place in the ranks of the Sasquatch Militia. Enlistment stations can be found throughout Cascadia's forests, just look for the poster of Uncle Sas.
Q: How can I apply for a Cascadian passport?
If you’re a first time citizen or you’re applying for your child under age 18, you must apply from our website here. If you’ve already had a Cascadian passport, you may be eligible to renew your passport by mail using our website here. Visit the Passport Services website for more information on how to apply or renew at: https://deptofbioregion.org/cascadia-passport
Q: How can I submit my business to Cascadian Business Affairs (CBA)?
The Cascadia Department of Bioregion maintains a list of that it releases to supporters of businesses that are sustainable, ethical and local - that uphold the qualities and values we associate with being Cascadian. If you feel your workplace, or a workplace you know of, falls under these qualities please submit it to our directory here.
Q: How are indigenous people represented by Cascadia?
Cascadia and bioregionalism is fundamentally a decolonial notion and idea. From native place names, to languages and cultural identity, the Cascadia bioregion works with all the nations within it to build new systems of shared stewardship from the ground up, in which communities on the front lines and most impacted by issues, have the most say about them.
Q: Help! I’m a small, latin american government and the U.S. is overthrowing my democratically elected government, what should I do?
Run. And don’t stop running. As a democratically elected government currently watching our own government currently overtaken by totalitarianism, nepotism and powerful global corporate interests, we unfortunately are not in a position to provide strong foreign aid and assistance currently. Hopefully, we will be in a better position as an independent bioregion soon.
Q: Are you a real country?
Of course we are! To quote esteemed political scientist Frank Zappa:
You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
- Frank Zappa
From Boeing, to Cascadian Dark Ales and our Cascadia Bioregional Football Team, we clearly qualify under the internationally recognized Frank Zappa standard for country with flying colors. Not only that, but as a territory, bioregions are the natural countries of the planet with clearly defined physical borders, rather than arbitrary and colonial borders often created by those who have never set foot in a place, or not reflective of any cultural or ecological reality.
If you are a foreign government or country coming to offer us official recognition, please feel free to just do so. In the meantime, if you’re a resident hoping for soon to be refugee status from the collapse of the former United States so-called Republic (USsR), then please feel free and grab a passport from our store page. While the US might be a xenophobic wasteland, we welcome citizens of all stripes in Cascadia.
Not only that, but we as Cascadians even have all the hallmarks of a nation. Not in the sense that we have a military, or rigidly defined borders that would be defended to the death. No, Cascadia is a nation in the sense it is a gathering of individuals and communities who reflect similar desires and needs, a unique cultural identity and most importantly, a common future. In the blink of history, the phenomenon of nationalism is transforming rapidly, as we continually redefine our relationships with the individual, community and our society. And we are transforming with it. We are excited to be the first nation and country in the world to realize what ecological and bioregional civilization can actually mean.
While at the moment we are governed by the same governments as the United States and Canada, we possess distinct cultural elements – language, literature, affiliations, aspirations – and an awareness of ourselves as members of a community which extends throughout our region, rendering many traditional boundaries obsolete and irrelevant. The primary aspects of this which apply to us within the Pacific Northwest are ones which have existed, and continue to exist in increasingly visible ways, across the border between the U.S. and Canadian states.
These nations, even as large as the United States and Canada, are nothing more than imagined communities. These two countries represent almost a half a billion people, and the point at which we can easily identify with the common needs and cultures of cities more than 3000 miles away are quickly fraying as new technological, political and economic realities turn our attentions and focus towards something more identifiable – the Cascadia bioregion. This idea of common bonds and regional character – are transmitted through media, newsprint, education, sports, and at it’s base root – our individual communications on an interpersonal level. Even at its largest scale, the nation is imagined because the members of even the smallest country will never know most of their fellow members, meet them, or even hear of them – yet in the minds of each lives the image of the community – defined not by their physical interactions but instead by these perceived connections, and the style in which they are imagined.
The Pacific Northwest is unique – in North America, and in the world abroad. We are connected in ways that challenge traditional modes of governance, aspiring to better ways of conceiving of community, locality, geography, and ecology. Cascadia already is an imagined community. One of the primary goals of the Dept of Bioregion is to spread this idea – that is, to raise awareness of the power through the self-conscious formation and claiming of the elements which we already know make this region distinct, and through the reinforcement of our communal imagination of a Cascadian society.
By acting, then, to facilitate and support our local communities in a variety of ways – sustainability, resiliency, decentralization, empowerment, local autonomy, democracy, bio-regionalism and a fiercely independent spirit – and to help form the dialogues that happen within them and the images which spread through them, we help shape our communities and the realities in which we live. Within this, we affect our character and the the course of any governmental action and influence on the imaginary from which any change can emerge.
We can be limited only by the constraints of what we dare imagine.
This is Cascadia, and we are Cascadian.
Q: What does Sasquatch Look Like?
The creature is described as standing between 7 and 10 feet tall and weighing somewhere between 500 and 1,000 pounds.
Footprints measure from 12 to 22 inches, give or take a few inches.
Hair color is typically reddish brown and matted (like that of a bear with mange), but also gray, white, brown, and greenish-blue.
Sasquatch can run up to 30 mph and leap 8- to 10-foot river crossings in a single bound.
In 1965, Bigfoot was officially added to the endangered species list in Russia. Germany and France followed suit in 1967.
New artifacts were found in multiple caves near Boise, Idaho, portraying a giant “bear” consistently walking on its hind legs like a human.
The “human” remains found in Klamath, Oregon, in June, 2000, would be that of the tallest man in the world. Laid out, the individual stood 9 feet 6 inches. The femur bone measured 4 feet 1 inch.
Sasquatch are immune to pepper spray and are rumored to be “incapable of sneezing.”
Though Sasquatch is said to be "ape-like," it has been reported that they do not like bananas.
Washington State has the most recorded sightings according to The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization.
More information can be found from this authoritative source: https://www.outdoorproject.com/
Q: Where Are the best places to see Sasquatch?
Sasquatch is the unofficial mascot, bioregional symbol and president of the Cascadia movement. They are a hairy creature like human being reported to exist in the northwestern U.S. and western Canada and said to be a primate between 6 and 15 feet (1.8 and 4.6 meters) tall. The term Sasquatch comes from the Duwamish nation, and is used around the Cascadia bioregion as the dominant term for Bigfoot. Cascadia is a proud member of the Yeti / Sasquatch Pacific Asia Partnership and continues to bolster these ties.
Washington is the number one state for reported Sasquatch sightings. The North Cascades offer a few prime locations including Cyclone Lake, Minotaur Lake, and Anderson + Watson Lakes. Enchantment Lakes, Spade Lake, and Snoqualmie Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness are good options as well. The Olympic Rainforest and Mt. St. Helens areas are also excellent spots. The area around Mount St. Helens is covered in dense forest and lava tube caves, making it a perfect home for Bigfoot. The most famous encounter with Bigfoot in this area occurred in 1924. Known as "The Battle of Ape Canyon," this event tells of 5 gold miners who fought off several "hairy apes" throughout an entire evening. The miners reported that these giant creatures threw rocks at their cabin, pounded on the walls and one of them even reached inside and grabbed an ax!
As the state with the second most reported sightings to date, there are many areas in Northern California that Sasquatch calls home. To optimize your chances, get away from the crowds and visit the remote areas of California's beautiful landscape. Mount Shasta, Mount Diller in Lassen Volcanic National Park, Lake Aloha in the Desolation Wilderness, and Tenaya Canyon in Yosemite National Park are a few good places to start. In Oregon if you hike a few of the 480 miles of trails in the 359,991 acres of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, you just might see Bigfoot somewhere within the mountain peaks and alpine lakes. Glacier Lake and Ice Lake are majestic with or without a Sasquatch sighting.
Q: Who are the coolest musicians from Cascadia?
Jimi Hendrix.
Q: What is the combined GDP and size of Cascadia?
As of 2017, as measured by the combination of the states and provinces making up the Cascadia bioregion (not including California), Cascadia would be home to slightly more than 16 million people (16,029,520), and would have an economy generating more than 1.613147 trillion worth of goods and services annually, placing it as the worlds 9th largest economy and roughly equivalent to that of Canada or Italy.
By land area Cascadia would be the 20th largest country in the world, with a land area of 534,572 sq mi (1,384,588 km2), placing it behind Mongolia.
Its population would be similar in size to that of Ecuador, Guatemala, or Scandinavia.
Q: Can I bring Cascadian MARIJUANA into US or Canadian occupied areas?
While Cascadian marijuana has been approved and is legal under domestic laws, drug enforcement by occupying US and Canadian forces can be sporadic and unpredictable. Cascadians should aware that Marijuana is still prohibited in Parks and Wilderness areas under the jurisdiction of United States federal military forces. Cascadians should use absolute caution, especially when crossing arbitrary boundaries or borders.
Q: Where can I find information on requesting a speakers, open space conference or presentation?
Email cascadia@deptofbioregion.org with any questions.
Q: Where would I find information on Wheatpasting?
You can read our Cascadian Field Guide to Wheatpasting here.
