9/24 Tribal fires, coal scoping, gas pipe pollution, net pens, chinook dam, Land Conservancy, spot shrimp, habitat change, zombie bees, data pollution, toilet flush

Lummi Nation (Alan Berner/Seattle Times)

What's The Future Of Puget Sound? After more than 20 years, an important advocacy organization fighting for the health of Puget Sound closed its doors in mid–September. On top of that, few candidates have been mentioning the Sound in this year's elections. Is Puget Sound falling out of political favor? KUOW's Steve Sher talks with Crosscut's Dan Chasen in the 9 AM hour of today's Weekday

Hundreds of tribal members from the Lummi Nation gathered Friday to announce the tribe's opposition to development of a facility at Cherry Point in Whatcom County to ship coal brought by train from the Powder River Basin. They ceremonially burned a check on the beach to make a statement that no amount of money could buy their support for a project that would destroy their village and burial sites on the property. The Lummi people have used the land and waters at Cherry Point for 175 generations, tribal leaders said, and even though they no longer own it, the tribe considers it sacred ground. "No deals, thank you," said Fran James, 88, a revered tribal elder called as a witness to the ceremony. "All of our elders have always told us: 'Take care of this place.'." Katie Greene photograph. Burning opposition to coal trains   See also: The son and grandsons of legendary Chief Dan George gathered around a fire in North Vancouver Friday in a sacred ceremony to honour Burrard Inlet and protect it from further pollution. Sacred Tsleil-Waututh fire ritual aims to protect Burrard Inlet   And also: First nation members revive ancient ritual to celebrate the changing of the seasons at North Vancouver’s Cates Park Photos: Sacred fire ritual signals summer’s end

The first major public comment period on the Gateway Pacific Terminal project application will open on Monday, September 24. During the public comment period, the co-lead agencies -- the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Ecology and Whatcom County -- will accept written comments regarding the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Agencies will accept public comment for 120 days, from September 24, 2012 to January 21, 2013. Public hearings will be held in Bellingham (10/27), Friday Harbor (11/3), Mount Vernon (11/5), Seattle (11/13), Ferndale (11/29), Spokane (12/4), and Vancouver (12/12).  The Federal Register scoping notice is found here.   Scoping begins Sept. 24 for proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal EIS

A report released Friday on potential greenhouse gas emissions from northern energy projects shows that one liquefied natural gas pipeline and terminal alone would add over three million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year into the atmosphere. Five LNG terminals are under consideration, three at Kitimat and two at Prince Rupert. The entire province of B.C. emits 62 million tonnes according to provincial government figures. The report, Jobs and Tonnes, prepared by the Pembina Institute for the environmental group ForestEthics Advocacy, compares greenhouse gas emissions from northern energy projects with the number of jobs they are expected to create and concludes that they will have a greenhouse gas footprint that is 400 times higher per job than the existing northwest salmon industry. Single gas pipeline and terminal proposed for North would add 3M tonnes of CO2 to atmosphere: report  

Jefferson County commissioners will consider approval today of a letter to the state Department of Ecology that reluctantly agrees to permitting net pen aquaculture under conditional use permits. The three commissioners will discuss, and possibly approve, the letter proposed by county staff during today’s 1:30 p.m. county manager briefing session in commissioners’ chambers at the Jefferson County Courthouse. Fish farming is the last sticking point in state approval of the county’s update of its shoreline master program.  Commissioners may reluctantly approve fish farming

A plastic pipe fence the length of a football field stretches across the Nisqually River near Joint Base Lewis-McChord property, signaling a new era in fisheries management for the Nisqually Tribe. The portable dam, which includes traps and augers to lift the fish into holding tanks, is designed to capture every fall chinook salmon that has made it through a gauntlet of fisheries that stretches from Alaska to the river. Once their migratory journey is halted, tribal crews sort the fish into two distinct groups: fish that were reared in one of the tribe’s two downstream hatcheries and fish that were born to naturally spawning parents upstream. “There’s nothing else like this on a Puget Sound river,” noted David Troutt, natural resources director for the tribe. “It’s a pretty big tool to help us meet harvest goals and recovery goals for Puget Sound fall chinook.”  John Dodge reports. Nisqually Tribe has new tool for separating wild, raised salmon

The website is black and the phone line constantly busy, but The Land Conservancy is still alive and is appealing for patience. TLC is also asking for donations and membership fees to be sent - temporarily - by snail mail. The financially troubled conservation organization moved this month from spacious offices on Esquimalt Road to its former digs in Gonzales Observatory and the phones and website are not yet in operation. The number of staff has shrunk to about a dozen from more than 50.  Further reductions are planned because it remains a challenge to meet payroll, board chairman Alastair Craighead said. The Land Conservancy in survival mode shrinks office, staff

The state Fish and Wildlife Commission is studying four options for managing the spot shrimp fishery in Puget Sound. The commission selected the options for further review after receiving input from commercial and recreational shrimp advisory groups at its Sept. 5-6 meeting. The options offer varied allocations of the state’s annual quota, splitting the catch between recreational and commercial fishermen. The commission has currently set the allocation at 50 percent for sportsmen and 50 percent for commercial fishermen. State reviews four alternatives to manage Puget Sound shrimp  

The top ocean predators in the North Pacific could lose as much as 35 percent of their habitat by the end of the century as a result of climate change, according to a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change. The analysis, conducted by a team of 11 American and Canadian researchers, took data compiled from tracking 4,300 open-ocean animals over a decade and looked at how predicted temperature changes would alter the areas they depend on for food and shelter. Climate change to alter marine habitat, study says  

The first confirmed case of "zombie bees" in Washington state has been found by a Kent beekeeper. Discovered in California in 2008, the bees are infected by a parasitic fly that causes the bees to lurch around erratically before dropping dead. Sandi Doughton reports. State's first case of 'zombie bees' reported in Kent  

Most data centers, by design, consume vast amounts of energy in an incongruously wasteful manner, interviews and documents show. Online companies typically run their facilities at maximum capacity around the clock, whatever the demand. As a result, data centers can waste 90 percent or more of the electricity they pull off the grid, The Times found. To guard against a power failure, they further rely on banks of generators that emit diesel exhaust. The pollution from data centers has increasingly been cited by the authorities for violating clean air regulations, documents show.  Power, Pollution and the Internet

And to the eternal question: "If everyone flushed at the same time, would Puget Sound overflow?" comes: "City authorities in Zimbabwe's second largest city said Saturday they were appealing to home owners to flush their toilets at a specified time as a way to unblock sewers after days of severe water rationing." Zimbabwe city residents synchronize toilet flush

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT MON SEP 24 2012
TODAY
W WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 9 FT AT 14 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING SW TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 13 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.

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