2/19 Towhee, snowpack, sockeye run, Puget Sound poop, wood stove rules, Interior public records

Spotted Towhee [Wikipedia]

Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
A widespread towhee of the West, sometimes abundant in chaparral and on brushy mountain slopes.... Forages mostly on the ground, frequently scratching in the leaf-litter. Also sometimes forages up in shrubs and low trees.... Male defends nesting territory by singing, often from a high perch. In courtship, male may chase female. Nest site is on the ground under a shrub, or in low bushes, usually less than 5' above the ground. Nest (built by female) is an open cup of grass, twigs, weeds, rootlets, strips of bark, lined with finer materials, sometimes including animal hair. (Audubon Field Guide)

Farmers, skiers, salmon rejoice! The snowpack is back
Usually, Washington’s calendar for snowpack looks like this: Heavy snow in the Cascades starts in December and peaks in January, dwindling through the following months. By April, most scientists watching the weather expect snowpack to reach its annual peak. For Seattle, this typically translates into a day or two with an inch or so of wet slop that disappears within 48 hours. But with slushy roads and ice still lingering in Seattle after more than a week of heavy snowfall, it’s obvious this year is an exception. An unprecedented total of 14.1 inches of snow shattered February records for Seattle proper, and SeaTac’s 20.2-inch snowfall makes February the fourth snowiest month ever on record. SeaTac is also on track to record the coldest February in history. All of this has profound implications for the snowpack that feeds forests, rivers and farms throughout the rest of the year. Cliff Mass, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Washington, writes that most predictions suggest “a very cold pattern remaining in place” for the rest of the month. Colder temperatures will lock that snowpack in for water use the rest of the year. Manola Secaira reports. (Crosscut)

Conservationist blames fishing practices for low salmon run numbers; DFO disagrees
The number of sockeye salmon that made it up the Fraser River last fall was lower than originally predicted, prompting a conservation group to blame the federal fisheries regulator for allowing the area to be overfished.... The Fraser River Panel, a joint Canada-U.S. panel, determines the number of salmon fishermen can catch during salmon spawning season based on estimates provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Last year, DFO's estimate that six million salmon would return to the Fraser River overestimated the late-summer run by 30 per cent, said a press release from the Watershed Watch Salmon Society. But because fishing decisions are based on these estimates,... fisheries officials allowed too many salmon to be harvested. Ryan Patrick Jones reports. (CBC)

Legal battles continue over dumping human waste in Puget Sound
Tug boat companies are suing the EPA to stop a Washington state ruling that bans the dumping of raw sewage in Puget Sound area waterways. Now, several environmental activism groups are getting involved in the legal fight. Last year, the Washington Department of Ecology created the Northwest's first no discharge zone (NDZ), which would span 2,300 square miles from the Canadian border to the Discovery Island Lighthouse and waters east of the New Dungeness Lighthouse. It also would include Lake Washington, Lake Union, and connecting waters to Puget Sound.... Puget Soundkeeper is now one of several groups fighting back against a lawsuit that tugboat companies have filed against the EPA, which ruled that Puget Sound has enough pump-out stations to accommodate Ecology's decision. They have joined the EPA as intervenors, along with the Washington Environmental Council and Friends of the Earth. Alison Morrow reports. (KING)

Northwest Air Quality Agencies Oppose Possible Delay To Federal Wood Stove Compliance Rules
The Environmental Protection Agency set new clean-air standards four years ago for wood stove and hydronic heater manufacturers. These manufacturers were told that by 2020 they would have to sell off older models of stoves and heaters that did not meet the new standards that limit fine particulate matter. Now, under the Trump administration, the EPA is proposing a two-year delay to that sell-by deadline. “Recently, some manufacturers have indicated that they need more time to develop, test, and certify wood heating devices that meet the [new] standard,” wrote the EPA in an announcement of its proposal in the Federal Register. The agency says manufacturers have said “the costs of… compliance are beyond what the industry can bear.” Emily Schwing reports. (KNKX)

Interior Department's Push To Limit Public Records Requests Draws Criticism 
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke left the Trump administration amid unresolved ethics investigations. His department has been inundated by Freedom of Information requests and is now proposing a new rule which critics charge could limit transparency. Nate Hegly reports. (KUER/NPR)



Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  241 AM PST Tue Feb 19 2019   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH  LATE TONIGHT   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt rising to 10 to 20 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 1 ft or less building to 1 to 3 ft in the afternoon. W  swell 6 ft at 13 seconds. A chance of rain in the morning then  rain in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  NW wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell  6 ft at 13 seconds building to 9 ft at 10 seconds after midnight.  Rain in the evening then a chance of rain after midnight.



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