3/7 Goldfinch, glass sponge reefs, carbon fee, BC seal hunt, gray wolves, polluted streams, big solar on Columbia

American goldfinch [Audubon]

Washington State Bird
The Washington Legislature struggled to adopt an official state bird for the state for at least twenty-three years beginning in 1928.... By 1951, after two state-wide contests, the Washington Legislature still had not approved a bird to officially represent the state. They called for run-off between the western meadowlark and the willow goldfinch. The willow goldfinch (American goldfinch) was adopted as the official state bird of the State of Washington in 1951. (NetState.Com) See also: What's Your State Bird?  (BirdNote)

New marine refuges create no-fishing zones near fragile glass sponge reefs in Howe Sound
he federal government is taking steps to protect fragile reefs found only in the Pacific Northwest.  All bottom-contact fishing activities are being banned from within 150 metres of nine newly discovered glass sponge reefs in the Salish Sea in the Howe Sound area northwest of Vancouver.... The new rules mean prawn and crab trapping, as well as salmon trolling, will be banned in the marine refuge areas. The total protected area is 3.5 square kilometres. Micki Cowan reports. (CBC)

Carbon fee returns in Olympia as lawmakers consider $15 billion transportation package
A key state Senate committee gave early approval Wednesday to the state’s latest major transportation-spending package: a $15 billion plan to maintain and widen highways, fix culverts that impede fish passage, electrify ferries and partially fund a replacement of the Interstate 5 bridge between Vancouver and Portland. The vote advances the latest fight in Olympia about infrastructure, taxes and how the state will address climate change, although debate could last years. The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, relies on a carbon fee that business interests oppose and environmental groups say doesn’t go far enough. The spending plan includes culverts, addressing an environmental priority for salmon recovery, but it’s also heavy on roads. The package also would charge developers fees and extend a measure that would discourage Washington from adopting a low carbon fuel standard. In other words: lobbyists on all sides are finding things to like and dislike in the plan. Heidi Groover reports. (Seattle Times)

Scientists warn of ecosystem consequences for proposed B.C. seal hunt
A British Columbia group wants to revive the seal and sea lion hunt on the west coast, provoking a debate about the controversial practice and prompting scientists to warn of consequences for the ecosystem. Thomas Sewid of the Pacific Balance Pinniped Society says seal and sea lion populations have risen in recent decades and the animals have become dangerous pests to commercial fishermen while also contributing to the decline of salmon stocks. Sewid, who lives in Campbell River and belongs to the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation, said Indigenous rights to harvest pinnipeds for food, social and ceremonial reasons are not enough to control their numbers. Amy Smart reports. (Canadian Press)

US plans to lift protections for gray wolves
U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that’s run into conflicts with farmers and ranchers after rebounding in some regions, an official told The Associated Press. Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the proposal during a Wednesday speech at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Denver, a weeklong conservation forum for researchers, government officials and others, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Spokesman Gavin Shire said in an interview with the AP. Matthew Brown and John Flesher report. (Associated Press)

Health advisory lifted for historically polluted Bremerton stream
Water trickles from the mouth of a concrete culvert beneath a street in West Bremerton, dances through clusters of rock on the beach below and finally merges with the muddy expanse of Phinney Bay.  Only a few feet wide in places, Phinney Creek is not Kitsap's most majestic body of water but it once held the distinction of being the county's most bacteria-ridden stream. That status changed in recent years as public health officials worked with landowners to find and fix sources of persistent contamination, including leaking septic systems, along the stream's course. Phinney Creek met both parts of the state's water-quality standard for the first time in 2018, meaning bacteria levels were generally low. A health advisory warning residents to avoid touching water in Phinney Creek was lifted for 2019. Tad Sooter reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Solar project, with more than a half-million panels, proposed for private and state lands near Columbia River
One of the Northwest’s most ambitious solar projects has been proposed for 1,700 acres of private and public land in Klickitat County near the Columbia River. Portland-based Avangrid Renewables seeks to build a project that would require more than 500,000 photovoltaic panels to be spread on acreage now used for grazing cattle or put in a federal conservation reserve, according to a document the company filed with its project application in Klickitat County and an Avangrid spokesman. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)



Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  249 AM PST Thu Mar 7 2019   
TODAY  SW wind 5 to 15 kt becoming W in the afternoon. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 14 seconds. A chance of  showers. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  4 ft at 13 seconds. A chance of showers.



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