Brown pelican [Blake Matheson]
Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
The Brown Pelican is a comically elegant bird with an oversized bill,
sinuous neck, and big, dark body. Squadrons glide above the surf along
southern and western coasts, rising and falling in a graceful echo of
the waves.
Today's top story in Salish Current: Hearing set for Point Roberts burial disturbances
Another tank spilled months ago at site of Longview disaster, records show
The Longview paper mill where 11 workers died last month in a chemical tank failure was the site of another spill that Nippon Dynawave Packaging described as a “near miss” earlier this spring, according to newly released public records. Joseph O’Sullivan and Lulu Ramadan report. (Seattle Times)
Lawmakers fight to stop the Trump administration’s dismantling of a $386M ocean observatory project
A group of Democratic senators and one Republican, as well as two Democratic House committees, sent letters Monday to the National Science Foundation asking it to reverse course on its plan to dismantle a sprawling ocean monitoring network, with House lawmakers going further and accusing the agency of acting illegally. Annika Hammerschlag reports. (Associated Press)
At last, WA’s iconic North Cascades Highway reopens
The North Cascades Highway reopened on Sunday, restoring an economic lifeline for small communities east of the Cascades. Aspen Ford reports. (Washington State Standard)
B.C. eyes two new hydropower dams, including Site E near Alberta border, Dix says
The British Columbia government is looking at building two new hydroelectric dams, including a fourth dam for the Peace River where the Site C project generated opposition and cost overruns. Wolfgang Depner reports. (Canadian Press)
Senate Republicans propose rescinding ‘roadless rule’ — by tacking it onto federal wildfire bill
A brief moment of bipartisanship in the U.S. Senate turned political on Wednesday, when Republican lawmakers introduced a new provision to a wildfire bill. That bill, called the Wildfire Prevention Act, would mandate increasing prescribed fires and forest thinning in federal forests. That common ground evaporated after Senate Republicans attached a repeal of what’s known as the “the roadless rule” to the bill. April Ehrlich reports. (OPB)
Could B.C.’s LNG boom squeeze the province’s natural gas supply?
As heat waves increase electricity demand, Energy Minister Adrian Dix says Vancouver Island’s gas supply is being squeezed by an LNG plant under construction. Shannon Waters reports. (The Narwhal)
Ocean Career: NWSF Executive Director
This is a unique opportunity to lead a well-known and nationally recognized marine conservation organization. (Eco Magazine)
New spider species discovered in Columbia Gorge gets a name
Greta Binford, a professor of biology at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, made a unique discovery near Wahkeena Falls on the Oregon side of the Gorge. The spider, Trogloraptor tulishpun, is only the second known species in the family Trogloraptoridae, which itself is a recent discovery. Nathan Gilles reports. (Columbia Insight)
Democracy Watch
The Longview paper mill where 11 workers died last month in a chemical tank failure was the site of another spill that Nippon Dynawave Packaging described as a “near miss” earlier this spring, according to newly released public records. Joseph O’Sullivan and Lulu Ramadan report. (Seattle Times)
Lawmakers fight to stop the Trump administration’s dismantling of a $386M ocean observatory project
A group of Democratic senators and one Republican, as well as two Democratic House committees, sent letters Monday to the National Science Foundation asking it to reverse course on its plan to dismantle a sprawling ocean monitoring network, with House lawmakers going further and accusing the agency of acting illegally. Annika Hammerschlag reports. (Associated Press)
At last, WA’s iconic North Cascades Highway reopens
The North Cascades Highway reopened on Sunday, restoring an economic lifeline for small communities east of the Cascades. Aspen Ford reports. (Washington State Standard)
B.C. eyes two new hydropower dams, including Site E near Alberta border, Dix says
The British Columbia government is looking at building two new hydroelectric dams, including a fourth dam for the Peace River where the Site C project generated opposition and cost overruns. Wolfgang Depner reports. (Canadian Press)
Senate Republicans propose rescinding ‘roadless rule’ — by tacking it onto federal wildfire bill
A brief moment of bipartisanship in the U.S. Senate turned political on Wednesday, when Republican lawmakers introduced a new provision to a wildfire bill. That bill, called the Wildfire Prevention Act, would mandate increasing prescribed fires and forest thinning in federal forests. That common ground evaporated after Senate Republicans attached a repeal of what’s known as the “the roadless rule” to the bill. April Ehrlich reports. (OPB)
Could B.C.’s LNG boom squeeze the province’s natural gas supply?
As heat waves increase electricity demand, Energy Minister Adrian Dix says Vancouver Island’s gas supply is being squeezed by an LNG plant under construction. Shannon Waters reports. (The Narwhal)
Ocean Career: NWSF Executive Director
This is a unique opportunity to lead a well-known and nationally recognized marine conservation organization. (Eco Magazine)
New spider species discovered in Columbia Gorge gets a name
Greta Binford, a professor of biology at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, made a unique discovery near Wahkeena Falls on the Oregon side of the Gorge. The spider, Trogloraptor tulishpun, is only the second known species in the family Trogloraptoridae, which itself is a recent discovery. Nathan Gilles reports. (Columbia Insight)
Democracy Watch
- Frustrated by Courts, Trump Weighed Suspending a Constitutional Right (NY Times)
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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-
216 PM PDT Mon Jun 15 2026
TUE W wind 15 to 20 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 5 ft at 8 seconds.
TUE NIGHT W wind 15 to 20 kt, easing to 5 to 10 kt after midnight. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: W 6 ft at 9 seconds.
TUE W wind 15 to 20 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 5 ft at 8 seconds.
TUE NIGHT W wind 15 to 20 kt, easing to 5 to 10 kt after midnight. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: W 6 ft at 9 seconds.
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"Salish Sea News
& Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To
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