4/18 Clearwater Commons, oil spill, BC reviews, Eleanor Stopps, Everett mill, tsunami debris, derelict gear, trumpeter swans

Feeding time for junior (Laurie MacBride)

Laurie MacBride blogs in Eye on Environment: “The pace of bird life around our place is picking up rapidly these days. Territories are being carved out and defended and songs are getting louder (not to mention, being broadcast at earlier hours each day).” Busy Times in Birdland

New blog: What Am I Doing Here? That’s the title of a collection of Bruce Chatwin travel essays. It’s a good questions to ask — and answer— while travelling.  Travel Notes: What Am I Doing Here?

Celebrating Earth Day: Take a tour April 21 and 22 of Clearwater Commons, the most comprehensive low impact development project in Puget Sound. Situated on seven acres in a suburban environment alongside North Creek in Snohomish County, the site includes raingardens in the right of way, pervious pavements, wetland mitigation and homes on pin-pile foundations.

Coast Guard and state officials responded Tuesday to an oil spill at the Bell Harbor Marina on Elliott Bay in Seattle. Ecology spokesman Larry Altose says there's enough oil to coat the marina area, but it's difficult to tell how much has spilled. It appears to be tens of gallons. Officials respond to oil spill on Elliott Bay in Seattle

B.C. Environment Minister Terry Lake enthusiastically embraced the federal government's plan announce Tuesday to let provinces run environmental reviews of natural resource projects, but said Victoria may ask for federal money to handle that new responsibility.  B.C. environment minister likes federal plan to let provinces run reviews

Eleanor Stopps, whose efforts turned Protection Island into a national wildlife refuge, has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and is living out her remaining days in a Gig Harbor care facility. Stopps was a housewife and mother who testified before both the state Legislature and Congress, and persuaded Congress through tireless letter-writing and lobbying over a decade to grant Protection Island national wildlife refuge status in 1982.  Wildlife advocate terminal, moved to care facility

Employees at the city's last large waterfront mill worked their final shifts Sunday, and the city is already well under way with plans for the land. Kimberly-Clark says it has heard from potential buyers, and the Everett City Council is working on land-use plans.  Talk begins on future of Everett mill site

Debris from last year’s Japanese tsunami is still heading for Northwest beaches, and the Washington State Department of Ecology has begun putting up posters to help you decide what to do if you spot any.  While it isn't known exactly when the bulk of the debris will hit beaches here, some debris has crossed the ocean. Posters tell you how to deal with Japanese tsunami debris

The Olympian editorializes: “Fishing gear lost by commercial and recreational anglers in Puget Sound takes a deadly toll on marine life, from marine mammals to sea urchins. The derelict gear, which includes old fishing nets, crab pots, fishing line, hooks and lures, is lethal litter that can keep on catching years after it is lost. It’s incumbent upon commercial and sport fishers alike to maintain their gear in good shape and take all of the appropriate actions to keep from losing it.”  Education is key to help conserve our marine life  

The swans have returned to the Copper Basin. One can set the calendar by them, because for as long as I can remember, they show up at the outlet of Paxson Lake on April 6.  Usually a pair arrives first. This spring it was a pair and a single. More have followed this past week and soon they will be scattered on bits of open water at the outlets of area lakes, patiently waiting for the thaw. These are trumpeter swans, the largest waterfowl in North America. John Schandelmeier reports: Trumpeters are first to arrive in Alaska and last to leave

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT WED APR 18 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM PDT EARLY THIS MORNING
TODAY
E WIND 15 TO 25 KT EARLY...BECOMING SW WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 11 SECONDS. SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...THEN SCATTERED SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 15 KT...BECOMING S 5 TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 11 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE EVENING.

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