3/20 Coal scoping, Swinomish shores, Fisheries Act, cruise ships, sea rise, ginkos, sonar, fishing quiz

MUTTS by Patrick McDonnell

Ah, Spring...

A public meeting regarding the environmental review of the Gateway Pacific Terminal will be held tonight at 6 p.m. at the Bellingham High School theater at 2020 Cornwall Ave. Whatcom County staffers, the Washington Department of Ecology and a representative from the Army Corps of Engineers will outline key points and approximate dates for the project’s upcoming environmental review, and answer questions from the public. Coal terminal meeting Tuesday night

Non-tribal residents on the Swinomish reservation are protesting the tribe’s efforts to buckle down on restricted activities on tribal tidelands. While the tribe says it wants to protect sensitive habitat on land trusted to them by the federal government, homeowners say the tribe has no right to govern land that was deeded to them by the state, highlighting a legal quandary that hasn’t been resolved between the state and Swinomish tribe. Swinomish tribe reasserts authority over tidelands

Scientists are calling on the Harper government to scrap plans to weaken the federal Fisheries Act, saying it will "severely impair" Canada's ability to protect biodiversity and species at risk. They also want Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield to come clean about what scientists inside his own department think of the proposed changes. Scientists speak out against proposed Fisheries Act changes

Last season, about 200 calls brought nearly 900,000 passengers and their wallets though the city. Projections for this season are about the same. Each call equates to about $1.9 million in local spending. But that economic benefit comes with ecological risk. Now the state’s Department of Ecology is backing a proposed ban on cruise ship discharges while the vessels are in Washington waters.  Bellamy Pailthorp at KPLU reports: Ban on cruise ship discharges proposed for Washington waters

Even if humankind manages to limit global warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends, future generations will have to deal with sea levels 12 to 22 meters (40 to 70 feet) higher than at present, according to research published in the journal Geology.  Global Sea Level Likely to Rise as Much as 70 Feet for Future Generations   

Seventeen and a half thousand Oregon and Washington homes could be inundated by rising seas caused by global warming over the next century, according to a study by the research non-profit Climate Central and the University of Arizona. 17,500 Northwest Homes In Harm’s Way From Rising Seas

Sarah Waller at KUOW tells a story about male and female ginko trees. Oo-lala. Birds And The Bees

Ashley Ahearn at EarthFix reports on the wrap up of the Navy's series of public meetings before seeking permits to expand the areas off the Northwest coast where it uses sonar, despite objections from environmentalists that this is harmful to whales and other marine mammals. Navy Looks To Renew Permits For Sonar Testing In Northwest

Mark Yuasa in the Seattle Times has this week's Reel Time Trivia:  “This bay in Puget Sound used to house rows and rows of boathouses back in the 1930s-40s of salmon fishing's hey days. All one had to do was row or if you could afford it motor out in front of the boathouses between two major waterways that flowed from hillsides of the Cascade mountains, and catch a big king salmon. There is one of the oldest derbies that still holds it contest in this bay that lies in front of a major city, but chinook runs have now dwindled to the point where there is no fishing during the peak summer months. On odd years this bay is now flooded with millions of pink salmon that have found a new home in the river above it. Coho net pens still fuel some fishing during the summer in the outer portions of the bay.” Where am I fishing? It's Reel Time Trivia so put on your fishing thinking cap  

And thanks to Josh for sharing an incredible photo by Doug Perrine taken along the sandy shores on Vaadhoo Island in the Maldives at night. Check out Sea of Stars

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 230 AM PDT TUE MAR 20 2012
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
SW WIND 25 TO 35 KT. COMBINED SEAS 9 TO 11 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF 10 SECONDS...BUILDING TO 13 TO 15 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF 12 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON. SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
SW WIND 20 TO 30 KT...EASING TO 15 TO 25 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 22 FT AT 14 SECONDS.  SHOWERS.

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