1/28 Idle No More, tankers, Port Gamble, tidal power, Anne Murphy, San Juan Safaris, BC blockades, shooting owls, coal comments, Kitsap Gun club, B'Bay toxins, Pender mining, Sandra Steingraber, Oly NP

Port Gamble development plan

As part of a global day of action, Vancouver Idle No More protesters are planning to rally outside a downtown federal Aboriginal Affairs office Monday starting at noon. The rally is planned for the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Department office near the intersection of Melville and Thurlow streets. Idle No More rally to hit Vancouver amid global day of action  

Oil-tanker traffic in Washington waters is set to increase under a proposal floated by Canadian energy giant Kinder Morgan. The company earlier this month announced that so much interest was expressed by potential customers in long-term purchase contracts for Canadian tar-sands oil that it is bumping up the proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain Pipeline announced last year. The company said this month it wants to increase its pipeline capacity from 750,000 barrels per day announced last April to 890,000 barrels per day. That translates to a big jump from its current capacity of 300,000 barrels per day, and an increase in tankers transiting the Salish Sea from five a month to up to 34 a month, if the expansion is approved. Lynda Mapes reports. State waters might see more oil-tanker traffic  

Olympic Property Group has taken the first official step toward reviving the historic town of Port Gamble. Plans have been submitted to the county for a 325-acre development, including up to 140 new houses; a waterfront "lodge" and restaurant; stores and offices; and tourism facilities. South of town, plans call for a dairy farm, plant nursery and winery, along with a recreation area. A dock for tourism boats is planned. Chris Dunagan reports. Plans submitted for Port Gamble's revival

A Vancouver company has applied to investigate putting underwater energy-generating turbines in three areas around southern Vancouver Island, all within the critical habitat of endangered southern resident killer whales. Western Tidal Holdings Ltd. — whose president, Tony Irwin, could not be reached for comment last week — is looking at tidal power projects in Active Pass, between Galiano and Mayne islands; Navy Channel, between Mayne and North Pender islands; and at Race Rocks, about 1.5 kilometres off the southern tip of Vancouver Island. Judith Lavoie reports. Tidal energy-generating turbines pitched for Island waters   Meanwhile: Two giant turbines generating power from tides at the bottom of Admiralty Inlet would not harm the surrounding environment, according to a federal study. The study could ease the way for the Snohomish County PUD to go ahead with its pilot project to create electricity from tidal currents. Bill Sheets reports. Study a big step for tidal power in Admiralty Inlet   And: Oregon Picks Four Spots For Wave And Offshore Wind Energy  

A sea change is brewing at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, now that its longtime executive director has announced her retirement. “I have informed my board and my staff that it is now time for me to retire,” said Anne Murphy, 61, on Friday. Charlie Bermant reports. Port Townsend Marine Science Center chief to retire   Read Anne’s letter to her supporters: Anne Murphy to Retire from Port Townsend Marine Science Center

San Juan Safaris has a new husband and wife team at the helm. Bill Wright and Colleen Johansen announced the recent sale of San Juan Safaris Whale Watch & Wildlife Tours to Brian and Rachel Goodremont of Friday Harbor. Founded in 1995, with only three touring kayaks at the time, San Jan Safaris initially operated out of Roche Harbor, but by 2007 had expanded its operations to Friday Harbor as well. The locally based company boasts 30 employees. Ownership of San Juan Safaris changes hands

There has been a long history of native bands blockading logging roads in British Columbia, but the big, dramatic confrontations of the past may be fading, thanks to a quiet shift in government policy. In a series of headline-grabbing events starting in 1984, the Tla-o-qui-aht blocked crews from cutting old-growth forest on Meares Island, at the entrance to Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Blockades will always be an option for bands that often feel desperate and ignored. But such protests may become unnecessary if the B.C. government succeeds with an innovative program it began recently, which is giving bands the power to decide if, when and how logging takes place around their communities. B.C.’s strategy to cut down blockades  

The B.C. government has approved the shooting of one species of owl in a last-ditch effort to save their endangered cousins, as the number of northern spotted owls continues to decline decades after they became the mascot of the "War in the Woods" over old-growth logging. Northern spotted owls are on the brink of extinction in Canada, with only 10 birds remaining in the wild in southwestern B.C., according to some estimates. The situation is so grave that over the past five years the provincial Forests and Lands Ministry has relocated 73 and authorized the shooting of 39 barred owls, the larger and more aggressive bird encroaching on the spotted owls' limited habitat. Shooting of owls OK'd to protect endangered species  

Federal, state and local agencies have yet to finish counting, much less actually reviewing, the thousands of public comments submitted on the question of what issues require study during the multi-year process of determining whether a coal export terminal will be built at Cherry Point. Larry Altose of the state Department of Ecology said the avalanche of last-minute comments would push the total above 50,000, with an exact count still days away. Significant numbers of those comments are near-identical because they were churned out by campaigns organized by both backers and opponents of SSA Marine's Gateway Pacific Terminal project, Altose said. John Stark reports. Review of comments on Cherry Point coal terminal will take months

Pete McMartin: In Port Metro Vancouver, it’s full steam ahead with coal 

A hazardous site assessment has been completed for Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club's shooting range on Seabeck Highway. The site has been ranked a "2" on a scale from 1 to 5, with "1" being the worst, according to an official notice to the club from the Kitsap Public Health District, which conducted the assessment for the Washington Department of Ecology. The assessment of the 70-acre shooting range — officially called a "site hazard assessment" — showed high levels of lead and vanadium in earthen berms behind targets on the rifle and pistol lines. The lead no doubt comes from bullet fragments, while the vanadium is typically used in high-strength steel, according to the report. Chris Dunagan reports. Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club ranked as hazardous site  

Soil, sediment and groundwater samples are being collected from a Fairhaven shipyard site as a first step toward designing an environmental cleanup project. The Port of Bellingham property at 201 Harris Ave. has been used for shipbuilding and maintenance since the early 1900s. Contractors working for the Port of Bellingham will collect samples from in and around the property Monday, Jan. 28, through Feb. 2, and again on Feb. 14.  John Stark reports. Bellingham shipyard soil sampling will help set cleanup plan

No stretch of imagination would make Gary Steeves’ small lot on North Pender Island fit into the provincial criteria for a commercial mining operation. But that has not stopped would-be miner William Simons from staking a claim on the 0.16 hectare property and has not prevented the Mineral Titles branch of the Energy and Mines Ministry from informing Steeves that Simons will be carrying out mining exploration activities between April 1 and July 1. Judith Lavoie reports. Mining battle rages over tiny plot on Pender Island

Fifty years ago, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring carried warnings of the dangers of pesticides. Yet toxic chemicals are still on the market today. In her book, Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis, acclaimed biologist and author Sandra Steingraber lays out a plan to get chemicals out of our lives and reform the industry once and for all. Martha Baskin reports. Raising Elijah Protecting Our Children In An Age of Environmental Crisis - Interview with Author and Biologist Sandra Steingraber

What matters most to you in the national park that spans the North Olympic Peninsula? The public is asked to answer questions about their desires for the Olympic National Park as officials begin to develop a wilderness stewardship plan for management of the 95 percent of the park devoted to wilderness areas. Comments can be made at one of several workshops on the Peninsula in February or can be delivered by mail or by hand to the park superintendent’s office in Port Angeles. The public comment period began Wednesday and will close March 23.  Olympic National Park solicits input for wilderness plan

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 847 AM PST MON JAN 28 2013
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING
TODAY
NW WIND 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING W 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 11 SECONDS. RAIN AT TIMES.
TONIGHT
W WIND 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN.
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