1/10 Winter, lege session, 'voluntary stewardship,' B.C. Fish farms, Big Beef Cr., tsunami debris, oil sands pipeline, ferry reservations, East Bay Plaza, Skagit Hill Recycling, motorboats ban, hatchery fish

Rena  (Reuters)

“One of my favorite kayaking day trips in my home waters of Whatcom County starts at Sandy Point and ends in Drayton Harbor,” blogs Lee at RE Sources. Read “Cherry Point Paddle Trip”

Liz commented on the article posted yesterday about the dangers posed by supertankers associated with the Northern Gateway pipelines project. She pointed out: “While it is not a tanker, the mammoth cargo ship over in New Zealand provides a sobering example of how difficult it can be to contain a wrecked, sinking large vessel.” That’s the Rena, grounded since October off the east coast of New Zealand. Debris from wrecked cargo ship washes onto NZ beaches

Enjoy the dry, mild “winter” while you can. Climate scientist Cliff Mass says that the latest batch of forecasts from both the U.S. National Weather Service and the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting suggest the possibility for a change to much cooler temperatures.  Winter Over? Don't Bet on It!  

The state legislature convenes in its “short,” 60-day session to close a $1.23 billion budget shortfall with cuts and a proposed increase in the sales tax for education funding. Also on the agenda: transportation funding, same-sex marriage, private insurance coverage for abortions, legalizing adult marijuana use...and more.  First day of tough political session  

Isn’t this the “voluntary approach” used by Skagit County to clean up agricultural and septic waste in the Samish River watershed? Whatcom County Council tonight holds a public hearing on whether they should enroll the county in a state program that tries to balance the interests of farming and environmental protection, the “Voluntary Stewardship Program.”  Whatcom council debating whether to join watershed-planning program

Canada’s Fisheries Minister gave out nearly a million dollars for aquaculture projects in B.C., the lion’s share going to the $7 million  K'udas closed containment pilot project on 'Namgis First Nation reserve land near Port McNeill.  Fish farm proposal gets $800,000 boost from federal government  

Thank you: The Great Peninsula Conservancy has acquired a 10-acre parcel of forestland along Big Beef Creek in Central Kitsap, helping to protect one of the most productive salmon streams in the region. Following this latest purchase, nearly all of Big Beef Creek from Lake Symington to Hood Canal is now managed in some kind of protective status Conservancy acquires another piece of Big Beef Creek  

Debris from the tsunami that ravaged northern Japan last March will arrive on North Olympic Peninsula beaches in 2013, Clallam County emergency managers told commissioners Monday.  Bulk of tsunami debris from Japan expected in 2013; multiple fields of wreckage reported in Pacific Ocean  

Canada’s Harper government is escalating its attack on critics of the Northern Gateway oil sands pipeline, labelling environmental groups opposed to the project as “radical” and claiming their U.S. financial supporters are working to “undermine Canada’s national economic interest.” The attack is based on blogs by Vivian Krause writing on how U.S. money is helping finance Canadian environmental activism. Blogger fuels PM’s claim U.S. is backing Canadian environmentalists

Look for a new, improved Washington State Ferries reservation system this summer on the Coupeville (Keystone)-Port Townsend and Anacortes-Sidney, B.C. Routes, and expansion of the system to San Juan routes in 2014 and to Central Puget Sound routes in 2016— if the system works.  Ferry system to upgrade, expand reservation system starting this summer  

Environmental cleanup costs associated with the East Bay Plaza project, a 0.74-acre site between LOTT’s WET Science Center and the Hands On Children’s Museum on Olympia Avenue, has totaled nearly $340,000. The total cost of the project is closing in on $5 million, with the sewer utility contributing about $4 million and the City of Olympia more than $885,000.  Cleanup cost $340,000 at dirty East Bay

The owners of Skagit Hill Recycling could face civil penalties incurred since 2006  of more than $300,000 due to solid waste they have left at their business north of Sedro-Woolley.  Skagit Hill Recycling faces in excess of $300,000 in penalties  

Two nearly completed bridge projects would open new areas to motorboats, but Kitsap County plans to keep them out from the Curley Creek and Carpenter Creek estuaries due to hazards to mariners and to the environment. The two estuaries would be the county's first saltwater restrictions. Carpenter, Curley Creek estuaries to be restricted to motorless boats

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows the impact of hatcheries on salmonids is so profound that in just one generation traits are selected that allow fish to survive and prosper in the hatchery environment, at the cost of their ability to thrive and reproduce in a wild environment. Hatcheries Change Salmon Genetics After a Single Generation

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 230 AM PST TUE JAN 10 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT
TODAY
W SWELL 10 FT AT 13 SECONDS. NW WIND 20 KT BECOMING NE 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 3 FT SUBSIDING TO 1 OR 2 FT.
TONIGHT
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS.

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