4/17 Tulips, EPA, Tesoro, KM road, BC LNG, cedar threat, coal dust, flood control, extinctions, Catface mine, rain garden

Skagit tulips [Steve Phelps/KOMO]

Warm April to bring early end to Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Those warm, summer-like days we had to finish off March and kick off the beginning of April were perfect weather for visiting the brilliant display of tulips in the Skagit Valley this year. Unfortunately, that same weather is also bringing an early end to their annual spring festival. Warm temperatures accelerate the tulips' growth and in turn, shorten their display season. Scott Sistek reports. (KOMO)

Local programs get the biggest hit in proposed EPA budget
A draft budget proposal obtained by The Washington Post details how the Trump administration seeks to cut more than 31 percent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget. The spending plan emphasizes a focus on the EPA’s “core legal requirements,” withdrawing from state and local projects and avoiding any efforts the administration considers to be extraneous within the EPA or other agencies. Among the cuts, the budget shutters 56 programs and trims staffing by nearly 4,000 jobs…. Puget Sound OPERATING COSTS $27.2M FULL-TIME JOB EQUIVALENTS 6 The EPA distributes funding and grants to local governments for various projects in Puget Sound, such as ecosystem restoration and improvement to land-use practices. In 2002, the agency signed an agreement with Canada to establish common goals. In 2016, nine federal agencies, including the EPA, created a task force so that they could work in tangent with one another and local governments for efforts in the region.  Denise Lu and Armand Emamdjomeh report. (Washington Post)

Public hearing for Tesoro refinery project draft EIS
Skagit County will hold an open house and public hearing from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday for the draft environmental impact statement, or EIS, on a Tesoro Anacortes Refinery project. The event will be at Anacortes High School, 1600 20th St. The open house will be in the gym, while the hearing will be in Brodniak Hall. A lottery system will be used to determine who is allowed to comment at the hearing. The lottery system is being used in case there is not enough time for everyone to comment, according to the county. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Coquitlam says Kinder Morgan should pay for higher cost of roadwork near pipeline
The City of Coquitlam wants Kinder Morgan to pay for extra costs to city infrastructure caused by the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The pipeline's proposed route takes it under several kilometres of city road on its way across the Fraser River from Surrey to Burnaby, mostly through industrial areas near United Boulevard and Highway1, along the Fraser. City staff say over 50 years, the pipeline will add $28.5 million to the costs of roadwork in that area. Liam Britten reports. (CBC)

B.C. election 2017: LNG dream not dead, says Clark on north coast
B.C.’s dreams of a prosperous liquefied natural gas industry might be delayed but they aren’t dead, Liberal Leader Christy Clark insisted as she took her re-election campaign to the province’s north coast Thursday. Clark toured Kitimat, Terrace and Prince Rupert, where she attempted to prop up her unfulfilled 2013 election campaign promises on LNG by showcasing a business that makes money from planning being done by LNG proponents. Rob Shaw and Gordon Hoekstra report. (Vancouver Sun)

B.C.'s provincial tree threatened by climate change, expert says
If you've ever walked down Richards Street in Downtown Vancouver, between Helmcken and Nelson, you've probably noticed the sidewalk split and curve to accommodate a large Western red cedar growing in the middle of the walkway.  David Tracey, executive director of the Tree City Canada Association, says climate change is now beginning to negatively affect the iconic B.C. red cedars, which can live up to a thousand years…. First adopted as the provincial tree in 1988, Tracey said the Western red cedar is one of the most important types of trees in Canadian history. Matt Humphrey reports. (CBC)

Northwest Coal Terminals’ Last Stand 
Many tons of coal dust would escape from the proposed Millennium Bulk Terminal on the Columbia River—far more than estimated in the draft environmental impact statement for the project. Even before amendments come in about its environmental impacts, the last of six coal terminals proposed for the Pacific Northwest is on the ropes, having been denied a crucial sublease by the Washington Department of Natural Resources. And the coal dust it would release into the surroundings may be the final nail in its coffin. Michael Riordan writes. (Sightline)

Floodplain projects open doors to fewer floods and more salmon
A new approach to flood control is taking hold across Puget Sound. Rivers, scientists say, can be contained by setting them free. Conservationists hope this is good news for salmon recovery. Chris Dunagan reports. (Salish Sea Currents)

Number of species in Canada facing extinction grows, report finds
The number of plants, animals and lichens facing extinction in Canada is growing, and B.C. is home to 40 per cent of those species. That's according to a new report from NatureServe Canada, which found 517 species in Canada "globally at risk," which means they're at risk of extinction because they have either a low population, restricted range, face other threats or a combination of these factors. On that list, there are 38 birds and 37 mammals including the swift fox, hoary bat and marbled murrelet. Approximately 230 species are in B.C. Liam Britten reports. (CBC)

Turning The Tide
Turning the Tide explains the many and complicated layers of how the U.S. keeps illegal, unmonitored, and unregulated seafood out of its markets – products tied to human trafficking, slavery, and other humanitarian issues. The story is reader-friendly, breaking down the layers of complex federal and international laws and treaties by following a meal from the table through the international world of seafood. (Investigate West)

Tofino activists decry 'high priority' open pit mine overlooking picturesque West Coast tourist town
Municipal leaders and environmental activists on Vancouver Island's west coast are calling on the B.C. government to update what they say are archaic mining laws that easily allow resource exploration without local consent. Nestled among a lush rainforest, Clayoquot Sound is one of UNESCO's 18 biosphere reserve regions. Its main city, Tofino, is on Travel + Leisure's 2017 list of 50 best places to visit in the world. But laws in B.C. don't prevent companies or individuals from staking mining claims there and exploring for natural resources. The prospect of an open-pit copper mine on Catface Mountain, which overlooks Tofino, is what prompted local resident Dan Lewis and his wife to sell their business and start up conservation group Clayoquot Action in 2013. Francis Plourde and Maryse Zeidler report. (CBC)

Building a rain garden is a creative way to keep pollution from flowing into Puget Sound
Rain gardens prevent polluted runoff from entering our waterways, and create habitat for birds and butterflies. The reduction in runoff decreases flooding and prevents erosion in creeks and streams. Cisco Morris writes. (Seattle Times)

100,000 Pounds Of Debris Hauled Out Of Papahanaumokuakea
Huge piles of fishing buoys and nets, old footballs and volleyballs, a postal service box with rubber slippers in it, cracked construction helmets, big black tires, broken laundry baskets and even a plastic pink flamingo were stacked up Thursday morning along a federal pier at Ford Island. In all, roughly 100,000 pounds of marine debris were collected on the reefs and shorelines of Midway and Kure atolls over the past six years before it was finally hauled more than 1,000 miles to Honolulu, where much of it will be incinerated and turned into energy. Nathan Eagle reports. (Civil Beat)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  249 AM PDT MON APR 17 2017  

TODAY  SE WIND TO 10 KT RISING TO 10 TO 20 KT IN THE AFTERNOON.  WIND WAVES 1 FT BUILDING TO 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 3 FT AT 12  SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING THEN RAIN IN THE  AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT  SE WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. SW SWELL 5  FT AT 9 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE EVENING THEN RAIN LIKELY AFTER  MIDNIGHT.

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