6/7 Great Horned Owl, BC pipe, Haley Zacks, orca suit, Seattle trees, Concrete sewer, burning down the White House

Great Horned Owl [Dave Lundy/BirdNote]

If you like to listen: Voices and Vocabularies - Great Horned Owls
Great Horned Owls have a lot to say! When a pair of Great Horned Owls calls in a duet, the female usually hoots first, and the male replies at a lower pitch. Great Horned Owls may also pierce the darkness with an eerie shriek, which may signal a hungry owlet begging for food or a female defending its nest. They can also hiss, pop, meow, coo, and snap their bills. So have a listen after dark. There may be a Great Horned Owl in your neighborhood! (BirdNote)

Despite what Gov. Inslee says, Canada is committed to Trans-Mountain Pipeline safety 
Brandon Lee, consul general and head of mission of the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle, opines: "I would like to set the record straight about the Trans Mountain Project (TMX) and the government of Canada’s world-leading actions to protect our shared environment, marine life and coastal waters. Canada supports a responsible and innovative resource sector that creates jobs for middle-class families and contributes to our health, education and social programs. We are deeply committed to fighting climate change and protecting our coastal ecosystems and communities. Canadians have never accepted the false choice between jobs or the environment: vibrant, progressive societies need both. I know Washingtonians think the same. TMX is in Canada’s national interest. The majority of Canadians support the project. Most understand that we are transitioning to a clean-growth economy, but we will not get there overnight. The expansion of this pipeline alone will create thousands of well-paying jobs...." (Seattle Times Op-Ed)

Environmentalism runs deep in family of Kinder Morgan protester Hayley Zacks
One of the loudest critics of the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion is also the protesters’ best-kept secret. Hayley Zacks is the 21-year-old who garnered headlines when she impersonated a reporter to gain access to a Justin Trudeau news conference and who — as project coordinator for Protect the Inlet — is a leader of the ongoing protests on Burnaby Mountain. Another round of civil disobedience is planned for Monday. Zacks is also the niece of Tzeporah Berman, a fixture of B.C.’s environmental movement since the early 1990s.... Zacks was born in Toronto, the daughter of Jeffrey Zacks, the chief financial officer for an auto-parts company, and Corinne Berman, a development director with Environmental Defence. Larry Pynn reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Group threatens lawsuit over habitat protection for orcas
A conservation group wants the federal government to move forward with protecting offshore areas along the U.S. West Coast to help endangered killer whales. The Center for Biological Diversity told the National Marine Fisheries Service on Wednesday that it plans to take legal action if the agency keeps delaying a designation for offshore habitat where the Puget Sound orcas would be protected. The fish-eating whales typically spend summers in inland waters of Washington state and winters foraging along the coast. They have struggled with food shortages, pollution, and noise and disturbances from boats. There are now just 76 of the animals, a 30-year low. Most inland waters of Washington state, including Puget Sound and the waters around the San Juan Islands, received protection as critical whale habitat in 2006. Coastal and offshore areas in the Pacific Ocean weren't included at that time. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press)

Can Seattle's trees survive its boom?
If you want to chop down a tree in this city, not much is going to stop you — and the city of Seattle says that’s becoming a problem for many reasons. Homeowners are limited to cutting down three trees per year and cannot remove larger, high-quality trees called exceptional trees unless they are diseased or deemed a hazard to a home or to a person’s safety. But enforcement relies on people seeing and submitting violations and it’s easy enough to get a tree classified as hazardous, whether true or not. Regulations are even looser for developers. Josh Cohen reports. (Crosscut)

Concrete to appeal wastewater fine
he town of Concrete plans to appeal a $12,800 fine the state Department of Ecology issued last week for violations at the town’s wastewater treatment plant.... Concrete’s wastewater treatment facility treats sewage from about 400 homes and businesses. The facility releases treated wastewater into the Baker River, which meets the Skagit River about a third of a mile downstream. The problem, according to Ecology, is that untreated wastewater was routed into the plant’s holding pond, called a lagoon, when more wastewater was coming into the facility than the facility could handle. According to Ecology, the facility was overwhelmed due to improper maintenance and operation, and the town failed to report dozens of incidents in which untreated wastewater was routed to the lagoon between 2014 and 2017. Town officials, however, said Ecology has been aware of the issues since the town discovered them through a sewer and wastewater treatment system evaluation in 2014. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Trump asks if Canada burnt down White House in call with PM 
Canadians have reacted with dismay to reports US President Donald Trump questioned whether Canada burned down the White House during a call with the country's leader, Justin Trudeau. British forces did set fire to the presidential residence during the War of 1812 with the US. But Canada did not exist at the time - it was made up of British colonies. "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?" Mr Trump reportedly asked in a call with Mr Trudeau over new tariffs. It is not clear if the comment was intended as a joke, but CNN report that it followed an exchange in which Mr Trudeau asked how the US could justify the tariffs as a "national security" issue. (BBC)

Now, your tug weather--

West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  242 AM PDT Thu Jun 7 2018   

TODAY  Light wind becoming N to 10 kt in the afternoon. Wind  waves 1 ft or less. W swell 6 ft at 10 seconds. A slight chance  of rain in the morning then a chance of rain in the afternoon. 

TONIGHT  SW wind 5 to 15 kt becoming E after midnight. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. W swell 5 ft at 10 seconds. A chance of rain  in the evening then rain likely after midnight.

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