4/3 BLM, Everett waterfront, Sheldon resigns, Bella Bella protest, bag ban, SSA permits, ghost ship, small fish, Pierce flood district, "Satellite" Sandy, Scotch broom, Bainbridge SMP, coal dollars, John Murray, Pacific radiation

Speaking out in Bella Bella (Anthony Bonello, Globe and Mail)

Speak Up: The San Juan County Council today will be deciding if they support a dual approach to conserve Bureau of Land Management lands in the San Juans as a National Conservation Area and/or a National Monument. Support the dual approach by speaking during the County Council "Citizen Access Time" at 10 AM in person in Friday Harbor or via teleconference at the Lopez or Orcas Island Library. Each person has up to 3 minutes to give their view. The discussion by the council on whether to support a presidential proclamation of a National Monument will be at 11:15 AM.

Show Up: The city of Everett is planning an open house from 4 to 6:30 p.m. today for what it is calling "the Central Waterfront Planning area," which includes the soon-to-be vacant Kimberly-Clark mill and some surrounding properties.  The meeting is at the Weyerhaeuser Room at the Everett Station, 3201 Smith St. Open house for Everett’s waterfront plans  

Sign Up: Dr. Tom Mumford and Dr. Bob Waaland lead an intensive workshop on kelp April 8-15 at the UW Friday Harbor Labs. Professionals: $800, plus all meals and lodging; students: $550, plus all meals and lodging. Contact Tom Mumford, 360.789.9584.

After nearly 18 months as the Port of Bellingham's executive director, Charlie Sheldon's tenure is coming to an end. Sheldon is expected to submit a letter of resignation at today’s Port Commissioners' meeting. Sheldon to resign from top Port of Bellingham post  

The federal review of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline is set to resume Tuesday after the hearings were abruptly cancelled on the heels of a protest organized by the community school. Panel members arrived in the remote coastal community on Sunday to find the main street lined with protesters. That evening, officials sent notice to community leaders that the hearings, which were set to run for four days in Bella Bella, would not take place.  Pipeline review set to resume in Bella Bella after first nations protest  

The Issaquah city council voted to put on hold any decision to outlaw plastic bags Monday after a contentious discussion and appeals from environmentalists concerned about Puget Sound pollution and plastics manufacturers anxious about lost livelihoods.  The council opted in a 6-1 decision to postpone further discussions on the plastic bag ban to a still-unscheduled meeting. City Council delays decision on Issaquah plastic bag ban

Whatcom County planners say SSA Marine has now filed a complete application for its proposal to build a terminal at Cherry Point to export coal and other bulk cargos. Coal-Free Bellingham is gathering signatures with the hope of placing an anti-coal-train initiative on the Bellingham ballot this fall. Protect Whatcom last Friday sent a letter to county officials urging them to require an economic impact assessment as part of the environmental review for the project. County officials have yet to decide what will be studied through the environmental impact statement process, which also will be reviewed by state and federal agencies and by Indian tribes. Application for Gateway Pacific cargo terminal now complete

On Saturday ocean currents moved a Japanese squid fishing boat into American waters, after it was floating aimlessly off British Columbia’s coast for the past two weeks. The ship, adrift for a year after last year’s brutal tsunami, is now about 130 nautical miles (241 km) west of the very southern tip of Alaska’s coast, according to a tracking device dropped by a U.S. Coast Guard plane on Saturday. Japanese tsunami ghost ship now in Alaskan waters  

An international research panel recommends cutting in half the global harvest of small, schooling fish like sardines, anchovy and herring. The group included researchers from the Northwest. The panel estimates little fish are roughly twice as valuable in the sea as in the net because so many larger sea creatures prey on them.  Panel recommends harvest cutbacks on small schooling fish

A hearings examiner Monday denied an appeal by Gig Harbor and Milton, clearing the way for the Pierce County Council to vote today to create a countywide taxing district to pay for flood control. The two cities filed an appeal in November challenging a step that Pierce County took toward forming a flood-control zone district. A senior county planner had determined creating a countywide flood district would have no significant environmental impacts. Cities denied appeal for countywide flood district tax

Robin Lindsey of Seal Sitters reports that West Seattle’s rehabbed seal pup “Satellite” Sandy was found dead on Sunday, entangled in fishing line near the Edmonds fishing pier. Satellite-tracked seal pup Sandy found dead, tangled in line

In a case of invader versus invader, a European insect spreading south in Oregon has given botanists and others hope of turning the tide against Scotch broom, a European shrub that turned into one of the most aggravating weeds in Oregon. Two clusters of gall mites, native to Western Europe, have been found near Eagle Point and in Ashland's Siskiyou Mountain Park. The microscopic bugs attack Scotch broom buds, reducing their ability to reproduce and even killing large swaths of the bushy plants during especially large infestations. Mite might give Oregon hope against Scotch broom

The Bainbridge Island Planning Commission will hold a special meeting on April 12 to consider public comments and amendments to the Shoreline Master Program. Planning commissioners are also expected to consider the recommendation they will make to the city council on the update to the Shoreline Master Program. Bainbridge Island Planning Commission plans to make recommendation on shoreline program update

Proposed coal traffic increases could mean 100 million more tons of coal traveling through the area. Cassandra Profita at EarthFix EarthFix talks with Darren Epps, editor of Platts’ market analysis newsletter on U.S. Coal. The Economic Pull of Coal Exports in the Northwest   

Nearly 140 years after Canadian-born scientist John Murray began gathering the first comprehensive data on sea water temperatures around the world, a team of U.S. and British researchers has revisited the pioneering discoveries from the famous 1872-76 voyage of the HMS Challenger to create the clearest picture yet of the steady warming trend now threatening the planet's marine environment. Canadian scientist's 140-year-old data sheds light on global warming

An international research team is reporting the results of a research cruise they organized to study the amount, spread, and impacts of radiation released into the ocean from the tsunami-crippled reactors in Fukushima, Japan. The group of 17 researchers and technicians from eight institutions spent 15 days at sea in June 2011 studying ocean currents, and sampling water and marine organisms up to the edge of the exclusion zone around the reactors. Sampling the Pacific for Signs of Fukushima  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 745 AM PDT TUE APR 3 2012
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
TODAY
SW WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 17 FT AT 15 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN SHOWERS LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
W SWELL 13 FT AT 12 SECONDS. S WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. SHOWERS LIKELY.

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