6/12 Honeysuckle, culverts, pipeline spill plans, fish farm kills, oil spill fabric, invasives, summer weekend

Honeysuckle [WNPS/Ben Legler]

Western Trumpet (Orange) Honeysuckle Lonicera ciliosa
Lonicera ciliosa is a climbing vine that can reach as high as 60 feet with clusters of tubular bright orange flowers. The stems were used for weaving, binding, and lashing by interior B.C. peoples. Bark was boiled as tea for sore throats. The leaves soaked in hot water were used to stimulate milk flow in Swinomish women; leaves were also chewed and swallowed for colds. Leaves dipped in water were drunk as a contraceptive by the Chehalis, and girls would bathe in the water to get long beautiful hair.... Fruit is eaten by grouse, pheasants, flickers, robins, thrushes, bluebirds, waxwings, grosbeaks, finches, and juncos. Hummingbirds visit the flowers. Twining habit creates nest spots for small birds. Lonicera is named after Adam Lonitzer, a German naturalist. (Washington Native Plant Society)

Tied U.S. Supreme Court decision means Washington must remove barriers to salmon migration
The U.S. Supreme Court is leaving in place a lower court order that forces Washington state to restore salmon habitat by removing barriers that block fish migration. The justices split 4-4 Monday in the long-running dispute that pitted the state against Indian tribes and the federal government. The tie means that a lower-court ruling in favor of the tribes will stand. Justice Anthony Kennedy stepped aside from the case because he participated in an earlier stage of it when he served on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.... At issue is whether Washington state must fix or replace hundreds of culverts. Those are large pipes that allow streams to pass beneath roads but can block migrating salmon if they become clogged or if they’re too steep to navigate. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times) See also: Will the state learn from another loss on tribal fishing rights?  Daniel Jack Chasan reports. (Crosscut)

Canada’s pipeline spill plans criticized by Washington State after disaster clean-up
The last time Washington State officials put Kinder Morgan through a cross-border training exercise for a pipeline spill, the company earned high marks for its response. The biggest concern that emerged was the lack of preparation by officials on the Canadian side of the Puget Sound pipeline. The 111-kilometre-long pipeline – a spur from the Trans Mountain system that Canada intends to buy from Kinder Morgan – delivers Alberta crude oil to Puget Sound refineries. The company is regularly required by Washington State’s Department of Ecology to conduct different types of spill-response drills on the American portion of the line. In May, 2017, Kinder Morgan conducted a mandatory “worst case scenario“ exercise in Whatcom County, Wash., to demonstrate its ability to respond to an oil spill in a complex arena involving agencies on both sides of the border. The participants simulated an early-morning spill of 3,024 barrels of heavy synthetic crude oil in the Sumas River, which crosses the border at Abbotsford in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley. That drill left Washington State officials concerned that Canada is not prepared for heavy oil to sink in a marine environment.  Justine Hunter reports. (Globe and Mail)

Algae bloom decimates two B.C. fish farms
Algae blooms killed around 250,000 fish at two B.C. fish farms last week, according to one of the largest aquaculture companies in the province. About half of the fish at Grieg Seafood’s farms in Jervis Inlet died from the harmful blooms of Heterosigma algae, according to a release by the company. Because the algae was in “extraordinarily high concentration” and spread throughout the water, protective measures could not prevent the extensive kill, it said. Rocky Boschman, the managing director of Grieg Seafood, explained that spines and spinules on the microscopic algae can damage the gills of salmon. Matt Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Fabric geeks help protect shipyard workers, Puget Sound
If a spill occurs during the course of ship maintenance at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, there's a good chance shipyard workers could use a tarp or a containment berm manufactured by a Poulsbo company to clean up the mess. Poulsbo-based Tarp Innovators has scored about a dozen government contracts to manufacture goods for the defense industry since the company opened three years ago. Kitsap County-based companies, including Tarp Innovators, were awarded $35 million in federal defense-related contracts in May. Overall in May, more than $135 million flowed into Kitsap as a result of the contracts awarded for projects that will be completed in the county. Julianne Stanford reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Heat Wave Headed To Puget Sound: Forecast
If you like heat, you'll only have to wait until next weekend to get a taste of temperatures in the 80s. The upcoming week will be pretty similar to recent days - cloudy, maybe rainy, burst of sunshine, and temperatures in the mid to upper 60s. But next Sunday, temperatures are forecast to jump more than 10 degrees and stay that way for days. So hang in there, summer is on the way. Neal McNamara reports. (Patch) And: Vancouver weather: Cloudy skies today and tomorrow, but sunny weekend ahead  Scott Brown reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Mandatory Boat Inspection Turns Up Invasive Species At Washington-Idaho Border
As boat inspections in the Northwest ramp up for summer, an inspection at the Washington-Idaho border near Spokane last week turned up highly invasive zebra mussels. An Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) crew with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife discovered zebra mussels on a pontoon boat from Michigan. It was on its way to Alaska. It had been out of the water since last fall, so the mussels were dead. But it had already made it through several other states before it was stopped for inspection on Interstate 90. Since January, invasive species have been found on eight boats in Oregon. Inspections are required for all watercraft in Oregon and Washington. That includes everything from motorized speed boats to kayaks to inflatable paddle boards. Emily Schwing reports. (KNKX, 6/7/18)


Now, your tug weather--

West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  245 AM PDT Tue Jun 12 2018   

TODAY  E wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 4 ft  at 11 seconds. 

TONIGHT  SE wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell  4 ft at 11 seconds. A chance of rain in the evening then rain  after midnight.

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