2/3 Stormwater, wetlands, sea lions, barrel tax, oil spill, deer cull, Glacier site, copper, park plans

Cliff Mass on GroundFrog versus GroundHog.   And, Groundhog wars: Rodents diverge on winter forecast

North Sound Baykeeper blogs on Fountain Bistro - Stormwater Hero!  

Welcome ‘home,’ constellationist

Guess what? A new paper, published in the January issue of PLoS Biology, examined data from more than 600 restored or man-made wetlands and found that in key ways, they don’t measure up to the real thing. Restored wetlands no match for real thing

New blog: On The Wrong Side of Wetlands

The governor has revised her request of $28.9 million in stormwater grants for local governments to $7.6 million, which would result in no funding for stormwater control projects in the Lake Whatcom watershed and the Padden Creek Estuary, according to the state Department of Ecology. Gregoire's budget cuts would eliminate grants for Bellingham stormwater projects  

Ah, Nature: Spotted salamanders exposed to contaminated roadside ponds are adapting to their toxic environments, according to a Yale paper in Scientific Reports. This study provides the first documented evidence that a vertebrate has adapted to the negative effects of roads apparently by evolving rapidly.  Road Runoff Spurring Spotted Salamander Evolution

Ugh. Dead sea lion found to have two bullets in its head

Bill Sheets of The Herald writes about how some regard sea lions as a nuisance and say they damage salmon populations, while others say salmon face greater challenges from human actions. As sea lion populations grow, conflicts increase

Oil guys win—again. The governor’s proposal to raise billions for state and local transportation by imposing a $1.50 charge on every barrel of oil refined in the state lacks support in the legislature, according to State Transportation Committee chair Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island. Plan for oil-barrel 'tax' dies; Olympia mulls other road fees

Somebody spilled oil yesterday that left a sheen stretching at least five or six miles on the water beneath the Deception Pass bridges. Department of Ecology responding to Deception Pass oil spill

Metchosin Mayor John Ranns warns that culling deer destroying crops on Saanich Peninsula is not a warm, fuzzy topic. "Everyone has to understand that culling is what we are talking about, not any other little happy thing like taking them to the vet and having them neutered." Killing deer is not pretty, Metchosin mayor warns  

King County will hold a public meeting next week to discuss its application for $400,000 in federal funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help address pollution at the former Glacier site on Maury Island. If funds are granted, the county will do soil assessment and remediation at the former gravel mine, which was in the pathway of the arsenic-laced plume from the ASARCO copper smelter. County to hold meeting to discuss possible Maury grant

Bans on copper brake pads, which produce metal dust that environmental advocates say reaches waterways and harms aquatic life, were enacted in California and Washington and have inspired similar bills in Rhode Island, New York and Oregon. Movement to Banish Copper From Brake Pads Gains Momentum  

The new national planning rule governing individual national forest plans include changes in how wildlife would be protected. Some scientists and environmental advocates say the plan’s change, scheduled to go into effect in early March, would be bad for wildlife. New forest-management plan weakens wildlife protection

Now, your weekend tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 243 AM PST FRI FEB 3 2012
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST TODAY
TODAY
E WIND 25 TO 35 KT...EASING TO 15 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. COMBINED SEAS 6 TO 9 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF
 14 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W SWELL 8 FT AT 13 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 10 FT AT 13 SECONDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. E WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3
 FT.
SAT
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 11 FT AT 13 SECONDS.
SAT NIGHT
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 9 FT.
SUN
E WIND 10 TO 20 K

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.  

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told