6/1 Climate accord, saving estuaries, BC pipe, tidal energy, orca month, salmon ed, False Cr

[PHOTO: Laurie MacBride]

Quality Time with Uncle
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "It’s always a special day when our resident Momma deer brings her new fawn(s) to our backyard to meet us for the first time. Today, May 31, was that day – the earliest one in our records, which go back about 10 years. The tiny little guy (gal?) appears healthy and is, of course, super cute. “Mr. Man” and I oohed and awed like proud grandparents, delighting in its every move. Mother Scarlet wandered away, paying no attention to either our compliments or her fawn. She was more interested in the daisies in the lawn…"

Trump to announce decision on climate change Thursday 
Trump promoted his announcement Wednesday night on Twitter, after a day in which U.S. allies around the world sounded alarms about the likely consequences of a U.S. withdrawal. Jill Colvin and Julie Pace report. (Associated Press)

Saving the last estuaries
When rivers spill into Puget Sound, they provide some of the most productive habitat in the ecosystem. The ebb and flow of the tides creates a perfect mix of fresh and salt water critical for young salmon. But over the past 100 years, the region’s tidal wetlands have declined by more than 75%. Now a coalition of state and federal agencies has a plan to bring them back. Eric Wagner reports. (Salish Sea Currents)

B.C. has no exclusive claim on its coast, Alberta premier warns pipeline foes
British Columbia cannot lay solitary claim to western tidewaters and must allow landlocked Alberta to have access to the coast for export markets, says Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. "At the end of the day, we can't be a country that says one of its two functional coastlines is only going to do what the people who live right beside it want to do," Notley said in an interview Wednesday with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM. "We have to be able to engage in international trade, and that's what we're doing." Wallis Snowdon reports. (CBC)

Washington residents support tidal energy, UW study says
New research from the University of Washington says Washington residents support the use of tidal energy, even more so in the Puget Sound area, in one of the first-of-its-kind studies. The Puget Sound tides are some of the best from which to capture energy, a UW news release said.  The research, published earlier this month, surveyed Washington residents' perceptions and support of tidal energy. The findings indicate people who think climate change is a problem see the benefits of using tidal energy and are more likely to support it. Bryce Newberry reports. (KING)

Opinion: B.C. joins Washington and Oregon for Orca Awareness Month
June is Orca Awareness Month in the Pacific Northwest. Officially declared in Washington State several years, Oregon and B.C. joined unofficially last year, and it’s a good thing they did. Orcas are in serious and life-altering danger, with seven adult southern resident killer whales lost last year, including the 105-year-old matriarch known as Granny. Christianne Wilhelmson, executive director of Georgia Strait Alliance, writes. (Vancouver Sun) See also: Orca Fest connects community with wildlife, sea  (Port Townsend Leader)

'It's deeply troubling': critics decry federal cuts to salmon education programs in B.C.
Critics are denouncing the federal government's recent cuts to a popular fisheries program that allowed school children across B.C. to raise salmon in their classrooms as part of a hands-on learning project. Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced late last week that it has conducted a major review of its budget and will be cutting programs it says don't align with its core mandate. Among the cut initiatives will be the Stream to Sea program, which has been running for nearly four decades, along with other education and outreach programs from fish hatcheries. Clare Hennig reports. (CBC) See also: Students release buckets of baby Coho into Edmonds streams / (My Edmonds News) And: Students experience science in Fidago Bay  (Skagit Valley Herald)

Swimming in False Creek? Council motion to clean up water by 2018
Swimming in Vancouver’s notoriously murky False Creek waters has long been a pipe dream for locals. But a recent city council motion aims to realize that dream as early as 2018. On Tuesday, councillor Andrea Reimer introduced a motion that seeks to make the water in False Cree and East Vancouver’s Trout Lake swimmable by next summer. Harrison Mooney reports. (CBC) See also: 'It's a fantasy': Vancouver's goal to make False Creek 'swimmable' by 2018 unrealistic, say critics  Jon Hernandez reports. (CBC)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  300 AM PDT Thu Jun 1 2017  
Today  SW wind to 10 kt becoming NW in the afternoon. Wind waves 1  ft or less. W swell 5 ft at 10 seconds. A chance of showers.
Tonight  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming E to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 5 ft at 10 seconds. A slight chance  of showers in the evening then showers after midnight.

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