4/28 Sound salmon season, Vic sewer, runoff fine, dog poop, shore armor, Magnuson rule, Polley mine

(PHOTO: Jon Corcoran & Lindell Dillon/BirdNote)

The Color of Birds' Eyes
Peer into the world of birds, and eyes of many different colors peer back. While eye color isn’t tied to one group of birds or another, a common pattern is a change in eye color as immature birds grow to adulthood. Bald Eagles, Ring-billed Gulls, and ducks such as goldeneyes and scaup have brown eyes as youngsters, and yellow eyes as adults. Red-tailed Hawks reverse this pattern, with their eyes changing from yellow to brown. And the yellow eyes of a young Cooper’s Hawk, pictured here on the right, turn deep red as they reach maturity. (BirdNote)

Talks to allow salmon fishing in Puget Sound fail
A final attempt by the state and treaty tribes to reach an agreement on salmon fishing in Puget Sound failed Wednesday. Without a deal, salmon fishing will not be allowed in the Sound as of Sunday. The current federal permit that allows the fisheries expires Saturday…. The state and tribes said they now will pursue their own federal permits. Warren said the department will meet Thursday (April 28) with NOAA Fisheries and hopes to learn how long that process would take. Jeffery Mayor reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Clover Point sewage dismay well noted
The prospect of a sewage treatment plant at Clover Point Park drew hundreds of residents to a public meeting Monday, but instead of having an opportunity to vent, they were handed pens and pencils and told to put their views in writing on sticky notes. That didn’t stop the crowd of about 400 to 450 people, middle aged to seniors, from making their views clear. When resident Brian Lepine stood and asked the crowd to show with applause if they were opposed to a treatment plant at Clover Point the response was loud and sustained, with people clapping, pounding tables and cheering. Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist) See also: Esquimalt closes the door on McLoughlin-only plant  Bill Cleverley reports. (Times Colonist)

Port Orchard development fined for polluting stream, Sinclair Inlet
The developers of the Horstman Heights housing development were fined $53,000 for polluting a stream and Sinclair Inlet with muddy runoff. Horstman Heights is on an 11-acre site at Horstman Road and Orlando Street. As many as 54 single-family homes had been planned there. The state Department of Ecology inspectors determined that Gig Harbor-based Mike Paul Construction had violated six state stormwater management rules and an Ecology order from late last year to halt stormwater discharge. Tristan Baurick reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Regional Stormwater Monitoring Program: 2015 Annual Report
This is the first annual report from the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) on implementation of the Regional Stormwater Monitoring Program (RSMP).

Heavy doody: Dogs produce massive backlog of waste in B.C. parks
“Landmines” have been sighted in Kelowna’s parks — not the military kind, but the ones planted by canines. Parks Services Manager Ian Wilson has called on pet owners to clean up after their pets, noting that waste matter can be washed into Okanagan Lake…. Leftover dog poo is a big problem, he said. Each of the area’s 38,000 dogs deposits about 124 kilograms of waste per year, and approximately 40 per cent of that is left behind by owners. Kent Spencer reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Puget Sound Suffers As Homeowners Wall Off Natural Shoreline
In Seattle’s King County, property owners have walled off most of the shoreline with concrete bulkheads and other heavy infrastructure. Along Hood Canal and other rural parts of the sound, the owners of coveted waterfront homes keep building more walls to keep their properties from eroding. These walls are going up around Puget Sound, and the sound is paying for it. A new study from the University of Washington suggests the practice, known as shoreline armoring, is more harmful to Puget Sound than previously thought. Studies by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife show that single-family homeowners have done 68 percent of the armoring around Puget Sound since 2005. Half the shoreline losses have been concentrated in just three counties: Mason, Island and Kitsap. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

What is the Magnuson Amendment?
When, at the close of 2015, Congress killed the United States’ 40-year ban on exporting domestic crude oil, many wondered if the change would impact the Northwest, where the fossil fuel industry has been ramping up oil, fracked fuel, and coal shipment projects. In Washington, some observers asked about the so-called “Magnuson Amendment” to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a little-known federal law named after the late Washington Senator Warren G. Magnuson that may protect against new oil terminals in the state and the oil-by-rail schemes that would supply them. Also known as the “little amendment” or “Maggie’s amendment,” it limits oil tanker traffic in waters east of Port Angeles by prohibiting federal permits that could increase that traffic.  Samir Junejo and Eric de Place report. (Sightline)

Mount Polley mine resumes effluent discharge into Quesnel Lake
Effluent from the Mount Polley mine is again flowing into Quesnel Lake in South-Central British Columbia nearly two years after a catastrophic tailings pond breach caused one of the worst mining accidents in Canadian history. In a recent decision, the B.C. government authorized Mount Polley Mining Corp. to bypass a water-treatment plant and temporarily discharge waste water directly into the lake. Mark Hume reports. (Globe and Mail)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  250 AM PDT THU APR 28 2016  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON  THROUGH THIS EVENING  

TODAY  W WIND 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING NW 15 TO 25 KT IN THE  AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS...BUILDING TO 2 TO 4 FT IN THE  AFTERNOON. W SWELL 8 FT AT 14 SECONDS.

TONIGHT  W WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT AFTER  MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS AFTER  MIDNIGHT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 13 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AFTER  MIDNIGHT.
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