4/15 Cabbage moth, Trump's logging, Columbia R salmon, NOAA scientists, lotus pinnatus, anxious salmon, 'bomb cyclone' relief, WA school gender inclusion, first 100 days

Cabbage moth

 

Cabbage moth Pieris rapae
Cabbage moth is the name given to the very common small white butterfly in North America. True cabbageworms and cabbage moth introduced from Europe (Mamestra brassicae) are small and brown, but both types do the same type of damage. The female lays tiny white eggs on the underside of cabbage leaves. Left unchecked these eggs hatch into medium-sized green caterpillars which eat large holes in the leaves.

Today's top story in Salish Current: Children’s Fund contract delay leaves providers seeking answers

Trump proposed cutting the Northwest’s national forests. So what happens next?
President Donald Trump’s executive order last month laid the groundwork for wholesale changes in national forest management. But just when and where more cutting could happen is up in the air. Here at home, that means timber managers are under a directive to help contribute to a 25% increase in logging volume over the next several years. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Columbia River spill to help salmon faces murky political waters
Every year, water is barreled along the river’s lower dams to balance electricity needs while aiding young fish. But the program’s future is uncertain. Henry Brannan reports. (The Columbian)

NOAA scientists are cleaning bathrooms in Seattle
Federal scientists responsible for monitoring the health of West Coast fisheries are cleaning office bathrooms and reconsidering critical experiments after the Department of Commerce failed to renew their lab’s contracts for hazardous waste disposal, janitorial services, IT and building maintenance. Ecologists, chemists and biologists at Montlake Laboratory, the center’s headquarters in Seattle, are taking turns hauling garbage to the dumpster and discussing whether they should create a sign-up sheet to scrub toilets. Lisa Song reports. (Propublica)

Vehicles damaging park home to endangered flower: Nanaimo
There are just five known sites for the lotus pinnatus in Canada — three within the park in Nanaimo’s Harewood Plains area, one on Gabriola Island and one near Ladysmith. Jeff Bell reports. (Times Colonist)

Anxiety drugs found in rivers make salmon take more risks
In many streams and rivers, fish are swimming in a veritable soup of drugs. Components of that soup may be disrupting their behavior, according to a new study. Atlantic salmon exposed to anti-anxiety medication during their migration were more successful in reaching their destination than drug-free fish, researchers reported Thursday in Science. That success may stem from increased boldness, the researchers found, a trait that could ultimately harm the fish in the long-run. Jonathan Lambert reports. (NPR)

Trump's FEMA denies Washington disaster relief for 'bomb cyclone' windstorm
The Federal Emergency Management Agency denied a request from Washington state last week to help pay for damage caused during a storm last year. In January, as then-Gov. Jay Inslee was preparing to leave office, the state applied for aid from the federal government to pay for an estimated $34 million in damages from the storm. On Monday, Gov. Ferguson said the state had met all the criteria to qualify for emergency relief funds, but those funds were nevertheless denied. A letter from a senior FEMA official doesn’t give a reason for the denial. Scott Greenstone and John Ryan report. (KUOW) https://www.kuow.org/stories/president-donald-trump-fema-denies-washington-disaster-relief-bomb-cyclone

Feds to investigate WA schools agency over gender inclusivity conflict
The Trump administration on Monday launched an investigation into the Washington office tasked with overseeing public schools, citing allegations that the state directed a school district to implement a gender inclusion policy that conflicts with federal law. The investigation puts the 1,800-student La Center School District at the middle of the escalating battle between the U.S. Department of Education and the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction over approaches to inclusivity in schools. Jake Goldstein-Street reports.  (Washington State Standard)

The First 100 Days

• Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard over campus activism  (Associated Press)
  
• El Salvador's president won't return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the US (Associated Press)
  
• Despite a court order, White House bars AP from Oval Office event (Associated Press)
  
• They Followed the Rules. Now Thousands of Migrants Are Told, ‘Leave.’ (NY Times)
  
• Trump Administration Memo Proposes Cutting State Department Funding by Nearly Half (NY Times)
  

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  230 AM PDT Tue Apr 15 2025    
TODAY  W wind 5 to 10 kt, becoming NW 10 to 15 kt this  afternoon. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: W 6 ft at 12 seconds.  
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 15 kt, becoming NW 5 to 10 kt after  midnight. Seas 5 to 7 ft. Wave Detail: W 7 ft at 11 seconds.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email msato(at)salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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