4/19 Tacoma LNG, Tesoro, Site C dam, Mt Polley mine, Break Free trial, Qwuloolt trail, owls, rising seas, Trump's fish

House sparrow [Audubon Field Guide]

House Sparrow – An Introduction
Thanks to a well-meaning – but misguided – soul, the House Sparrow was first introduced into the U.S. from England in the 1850s. And it’s now one of the most common birds in North America. The name “House Sparrow” fits it well, because – from Bangor, Maine to San Diego, British Columbia to the Panama Canal – and even in Hawaii – it’s found nearly everywhere people live. A stocky little street-fighter of a bird, it’s fussy and vocal year ‘round…. Emily Dickinson described the sparrow’s nest as “Sweet of twigs and twine.” There’s a lot of both in a nest, because when sparrows find a cavity they like, they’ll fill up every bit of space before laying their eggs. Ellen Blackstone writes. (BirdNote)

Puyallup Tribe Says It Opposes LNG Facility At Port Of Tacoma
The Puyallup Tribe says it will not go along with plans to put a liquid natural gas facility on a site at the Port of Tacoma. The site is located on land that lies sandwiched between parcels on its reservation. The tribe says its biggest concern is that its reservation lies in an urban area. And the heart of that is the Port of Tacoma. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Community clashes over environment, employment at hearing for refinery project
While some speakers at a public hearing Monday for a proposed project at the Tesoro Anacortes Refinery railed against the project's potential environmental impacts, others hailed the economic benefits it could bring to the area. Some who spoke said the project doesn't have to pit jobs against environment. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Site C dam project has become 'uneconomic' and should be suspended: UBC report
A new report is calling for the suspension of B.C.'s Site C dam project, saying it's no longer going to benefit the provincial economy as once expected and that power from the hydroelectric station will likely be exported at losses of up to $1 billion. The report on water governance released Tuesday looks at which option would be best for B.C. from a business standpoint: cancelling, suspending or finishing the $8.5-billion project. Ultimately, it recommended the project be put on hold and reviewed by the BC Utilities Commission. A statement from the university said several key changes that have happened since the project's initial approval mean it isn't the most cost-efficient option for producing power anymore. (CBC)

Approval of Mount Polley mine waste dumping irks critics
Mount Polley Mining Corporation has been granted permission to drain treated mining waste water into Quesnel Lake, a massive glacial lake that provides drinking water to residents of Likely B.C., northeast of Williams Lake. Approval of the long-term waste water management plan came  April 7, despite a disaster that put the water at risk in 2014 and a provincial investigation into the spill that is not yet complete…. Quesnel Lake, famed for trophy-sized rainbow trout, is feared at risk by locals who describe it as the deepest fjord lake on earth, and who protest any dump of mining waste, treated or otherwise, which can carry toxic elements and heavy metals such as arsenic and lead or zinc. Yvette Brend reports. (CBC)

Mistrial for fifth group of Break Free PNW protestors
A mistrial was declared last week after a jury failed to reach a verdict for a group of fossil fuel protestors. Skagit County prosecutor Melanie Stum said the group will face another trial. The six defendants were the fifth group to go to trial among those charged with trespassing on BNSF Railway tracks during the May 2016 Break Free PNW protest. Each of the previous four groups of protestors were convicted of second-degree criminal trespass. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Whale Expert Speaks About "New Giants of the Salish Sea"
Biologist John Calambokidis of the Cascadia Research Collective speaks on the return of humpback and gray whales to the Salish Sea on Thursday, April 20, at 7:00 PM at the Dakota Place Park Building, 4304 SW Dakota St., Seattle. The presentation is part of The Whale Trail’s Orca Talks Series and tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets

Marysville’s Qwuloolt trail opens this weekend
At 10 a.m. Saturday, Marysville’s waterfront will grow from 900 feet to nearly two miles. That’s when the city of Marysville plans to officially open the new Qwuloolt Waterfront Trail…. The new trail runs from just east of Ebey Waterfront Park — the city’s only real waterfront to date — down the riverside to the Qwuloolt Estuary, where Allen Creek empties into Ebey Slough. A second leg of the trail picks up on the other side of the creek’s mouth, and terminates at Harborview Park off 60th Avenue NE. Chris Winters reports. (Everett Hreald)

Biologists Say It's Too Soon To Know How Killing Barred Owls Affects Spotted Owls
Federal wildlife researchers killed 737 invasive barred owls in 2015-16 in an ongoing experiment to determine if removing them will aid the recovery of Northern spotted owls, the bird whose threatened status was at the center of the Pacific Northwest timber wars. Spotted owl populations have continued to decline rapidly despite environmental lawsuits, protection under the Endangered Species Act and logging restrictions in the old growth timber habitat they favor. Barred owls, which are larger, more aggressive and feed on a wider variety of prey, have taken over spotted owl territory throughout their range in Oregon, Washington and Northern California. Eric Mortenson reports. (Capital Press/OPB)

When Rising Seas Transform Risk Into Certainty
Along parts of the East Coast, the entire system of insuring coastal property is beginning to break down. Brooke Jarvis reports. (NY Times)

What Trump doesn't get about salmon recovery
Across Washington, citizens and government officials have worked hard to craft and implement salmon recovery that makes sense for local communities. This collaborative process has been so successful at smart, creative decision-making that Gov. Jay Inslee spotlights it in the 2016 State of the Salmon Report, released in February, declaring that nearly two decades of “sustained statewide efforts by thousands of Washington residents to restore salmon to our landscape has made our communities more resilient in the face of warming temperatures, drought, forest fires, and sea level rise.” In March, however, President Donald Trump recommended zeroing out the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, which made those successful efforts possible. Barbara Cairns writes. (Crosscut)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-  247 AM PDT WED APR 19 2017  

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON  
TODAY  E WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 6 FT  AT 15 SECONDS BUILDING TO SW 9 FT AT 9 SECONDS IN THE AFTERNOON.  RAIN.
TONIGHT  SE WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. SW SWELL  9 FT AT 11 SECONDS SUBSIDING TO 7 FT AT 11 SECONDS AFTER  MIDNIGHT. RAIN IN THE EVENING THEN SHOWERS LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told