3/26 National monuments, anti-tanker ad, greenhouse gas, coal letter, BC fish farms, Asarco cleanup, Port Gamble, Renton sewer, pipeline ads, derelict vessels, Olympic logging, black riverkeeper

Iceberg Point, SJI National Monument (Wikimedia)

New blog: “I got treated on my birthday to the best piece of cheesecake I’ve ever had— a piece of haupia cheesecake baked by the one-named cheesecake baker Otto who does business on the edge of Honolulu’s Chinatown as Otto Cake. Not light. It was like eating light...” Otto Cake Light and Dark

Upcoming: March 26— Joe Gaydos of Sea Doc Society talks about Bears to Barnacles: Incredible Animals of the Salish Sea, 7 pm, at Seattle’s Town Hall, $5.  March 28-- The Whale Trail presents a talk on harbor porpoises by Cascadia Research director John Calambokidis, 6:30 pm, at C&P Coffee in West Seattle. Tickets, $5 suggested donation, brownpapertickets.com  And on March28-- Ocean Acidification Seminar featuring local experts from the WA State Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification. 6 pm, Bellingham Cruise Terminal Dome Room, free.

President Obama on Monday established five new national monuments, including one in Washington’s San Juan Islands and one in northern New Mexico. Bettina Boxall reports.  President Obama creates five new national monuments  

If you like to watch: Video: Anti-tanker ad sets Exxon Valdez spill to Simon & Garfunkel classic

A measure championed by Gov. Jay Inslee to study the best practices for reducing greenhouse gas emissions has passed the state House and heads next to the governor's desk. Under the measure passed Monday, an outside consultant would review both Washington state's ongoing efforts to cut carbon emissions and similar endeavors elsewhere. It would then report back to the governor and legislative leaders. Jonathan Kaminsky reports. Inslee's climate change bill passes Legislature

Gov. Jay Inslee has joined with Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber to ask the Obama administration to review the climate-change consequences of leasing and exporting Western coal. “Increasing levels of greenhouse gases and other pollutants resulting from the burning of coal ... are imposing direct costs on people, businesses and communities in the U.S. and around the world,” said the letter sent Monday to Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality. The letter also called for the Obama administration to undertake a review of coal lease rates on federal lands to determine if they are too low and helping to subsidize coal exports. Hal Bernton reports. 2 governors wade into coal-export controversy

Critics of British Columbia's salmon-farming industry fear they could be "shouted down" and that their concerns will disappear into a "black hole" when a new committee meets to advise federal fisheries officials on aquaculture issues. The advisory committee, which is being set up by Fisheries and Oceans Canada as part of its Integrated Management of Aquaculture Plan, is expected to hold its first meeting on Wednesday in Richmond, B.C.  Kevin Drews reports. B.C. fish-farm foes criticize aquaculture committee, fear being "shouted down"

The state Department of Ecology has released plans for a $62 million cleanup of some 1,200 residential yards polluted by the old Asarco smelter in Ruston. The voluntary program will cover homes not only within the one-square-mile Asarco Superfund site but also some 3,900 homes outside the Superfund boundaries in West Tacoma. It also includes an estimated 700 properties on southern Vashon and Maury islands. Rob Carson reports. State plans to clean up land polluted by Asarco smelter

Port Gamble's historic forest is ripe for development. Can water quality wins shift the tides of conservation so long dominated by logging interests? Dan Chasan reports. Rolling the dice on the Kitsap Peninsula's sweetest forests

The decades-old fight by the Duwamish to be recognized as a tribe gained new life in a legal victory last week. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour on Friday vacated the 2001 denial of the tribe’s recognition by the U.S. Department of the Interior and told the agency to take another look. Lynda Mapes reports. Duwamish get another shot at recognition as a tribe

King County’s clean-water utility has budgeted $195.7 million in capital projects to expand the wastewater system, modernize existing facilities, and ensure continued compliance with environmental laws. King County is budgeting $6 million to upgrade pumping equipment and system controls at the South Treatment Plant in Renton. King County plans $6 million upgrades for treatment plant in Renton

One of the key concerns for the federal government in a multimillion-dollar Natural Resources advertising campaign was the negative publicity around the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, according to internal government documents. In particular, the statement of work provided to the ad company a year ago noted that media coverage had been critical of legislative changes that gave the federal cabinet power to override the National Energy Board recommendations on project approval. There was also criticism of changes that limited public participation in joint review panel hearings that are currently taking place in B.C., said the April 2012 document obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. Federal ad campaign driven by Northern Gateway criticism

Bills to fund the clean up and prevention of derelict vessels have now been passed in the Washington house and senate. Final legislation is expected in the coming weeks, but no permanent sources of funding for large vessel removal have been identified.  Ashley Ahearn reports. Washington Set To Pass Legislation On Derelict Vessels But Funding Problems Remain

U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer said he’s meeting with timber industry officials and other interest groups in hopes of coming up with a plan to boost production in Olympic National Forest. It’s been a decades-long complaint that the U.S. Forest Service has never met the logging goals set forth in the Northwest Forest Plan, despite an increased demand for timber. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said she will reintroduce legislation this year that would expand wilderness designations and put areas just outside Olympic National Park off limits to logging. Kilmer, who succeeded Dicks in Congress, has not yet signed on to the plan. Steven Friederich reports. Kilmer hopes to boost Olympic National Forest timber production  

Around the time that Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman, now 54, was certified as a riverkeeper, the African American Environmentalist Association issued a report card for 26 environmental groups based on their diversity for 2003-2004. Eighteen declined to respond to the request for the makeup of their staffs, and most of the others received poor scores. Of at least 200 riverkeepers in the world, Tutman today is the only African American. Darryl Fears reports.  Within mainstream environmentalist groups, diversity is lacking  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 229 AM PDT TUE MAR 26 2013
TODAY
E WIND 5 TO 15 KT THIS MORNING...BECOMING LIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 17 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
LIGHT WIND. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 16 SECONDS.
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