4/2 Red rock crab, L pod, shoreline regs, Keystone XL, WA wildfire budget, derailment response

Red rock crab [Mary Jo Adams]

Red rock crab Cancer productus
Cancer productus is one of the larger crabs seen in the Salish Sea area.  Males may attain a carapace width in excess of  7 inches (18 cm.) and females are somewhat smaller with a maximum width to 6 inches (15 cm.).... Cancer productus is a predator and scavenger.  This species preys on bivalves, polychaetes, amphipods, snails, barnacles, and smaller crabs.  They are found in a variety of habitats ranging from quiet estuaries to higher energy beaches and in substrates of mud, sand, gravel, cobble, and boulders.  In addition, they range from the intertidal to a depth of 260 feet (80 meters). Mary Jo Adams writes. (Sound Stewards)

Puget Sound's southern-resident orcas wow Monterey Bay, California, in rare sighting
Southern resident killer whales wowed California on Sunday, with more than 30 members of L pod seen in Monterey Bay, including the oldest member of all the southern residents and the newest baby. The southern residents are endangered. There are only 75 left — including the baby. Lynda Makes reports. (Seattle Times)

In push to save orcas, should Washington fish cops get more power?
For years, state wildlife officials responsible for protecting the fish of Puget Sound have urged the Legislature to overhaul a 76-year-old law that is supposed to protect ecologically critical shorelines. Now a renewed focus on the area’s diminishing orca population has provided proponents with their best chance ever of a winning new powers for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to manage the building of seawalls, docks and other structures along the state’s shorelines to interfere with natural processes. Of particular interest are seawalls, which can hold back sand that would otherwise cover rocky shores, providing small fish like surf smelt a place to lay eggs. Currently, hundreds of miles of Puget Sound shoreline have been ecologically compromised by these and other structures, reducing populations of small fish and taking a toll on a Puget Sound food chain that ends with resident orca whales. Brad Shannon and Robert McClure report. (Investigate West)

Trump signs permit for construction of controversial Keystone XL pipeline
President Trump signed a new order Friday granting permission for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, marking the White House’s latest effort to jump-start one of the most controversial infrastructure proposals in recent U.S. history. Trump’s presidential permit gives TransCanada, the Calgary-based firm behind the project, permission to “construct, connect, operate and maintain” the pipeline in U.S. territory. The order appears aimed at addressing a ruling from a federal court judge in Montana last fall, who halted the project after finding the Trump administration had inadequately considered the environmental impact of the project before allowing it to move forward. That ruling faulted the State Department for not doing a sufficient review as required under the National Environmental Policy Act. But because that law applies to agency actions, as opposed to those by the White House, the president may be able to sidestep the issue by granting the permit himself rather than delegating the cross-border permit to the secretary of state. Brady Dennis and Juliet Eilperin report. (Washington Post)

State public lands commissioner seeks unprecedented $55M increase to wildfire budget
Based on legislative budgets released so far, a major increase in state funding for wildfire fighting and prevention looks likely. Washington's Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz, has requested an unprecedented $55 million dollars to fight and prevent wildfires. She argues this will save taxpayer money in the long run. Franz says $55 million may sound like a lot, given all the competing priorities before lawmakers this year. It's also a steep hike compared to increases that only totalled about $2.5 million in the state Department of Natural Resource's wildfire budget over the past decade, she added. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Union questions response to derailment, chemical fire that closed Eastern Washington rail line
A Union Pacific rail line in Eastern Washington has reopened after a 23-car derailment and a subsequent chemical spill and fire that left union officials raising questions about the response. The accident was caused by a March 14 rock slide near the small Adams County community of Hooper. Thirteen of the cars derailed within a tunnel. The fire flared two days later, March 16, followed by a controlled burn the next day of the remainder of the chemical spill. The line reopened March 21, according to Tim McMahan, a spokesman for Union Pacific. State Department of Ecology and Adams County Emergency Management officials were not informed by Union Pacific of the sodium chlorate spill until March 16 — two days after the derailment. Still, they gave the railroad generally high marks for the cleanup.... But Union Pacific has come under criticism from a railroad union — the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen — whose members expressed concern about the potential for a bigger conflagration. They faulted the railroad company for not reporting the spill sooner and failing to inform the locomotive crew about the decision to conduct the controlled burn. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  246 AM PDT Tue Apr 2 2019   
TODAY  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft. NW swell 5 ft  at 15 seconds. 
TONIGHT  W wind to 10 kt becoming SE after midnight. Wind waves  1 ft or less. NW swell 4 ft at 15 seconds becoming NW at  15 seconds after midnight. A chance of showers in the evening  then showers likely after midnight.



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