12/19 Pine, Growler noise, Skagit Valley, BC pipe, barrel company dumping, herring, clear-cut forests, Trump's Red Tree Vole

Shore pine [Walter Siegmund]

Lodgepole pine Pinus contorta
Lodgepole pine or shore pine, also known as twisted pine and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine, but is rare in lowland rain forests. (Wikipedia) The Nisga'a were said to use the split and twisted roots of shore pine as rope. The Haida used peeled sheets of the bark as splints for broken limbs. The pitch was used by the Sechelt to waterproof canoes and baskets, by the Saanich to fasten arrowheads onto shafts and by the Lower Stl'atl'imx as a glue and to provide a protective coating for Indian-hemp fishing nets. (Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast)

NAS Whidbey jet noise to be monitored
The National Defense Authorization Act that sets the military budget for 2020 includes a section members of Congress and of the regional Sound Defense Alliance say will require real-time monitoring of jet noise at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The act has passed Congress and now requires President Donald Trump’s signature to enact it. Noise from EA-18G Growler jets flown out of NAS Whidbey has long been a contentious issue for area communities including Coupeville and Oak Harbor. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald) See also: Defense bill includes real-time sound tests  (Peninsula Daily News)

Who's got the right to be in the Skagit Valley? Tribe says they and elk do, along with farmers
Scott Schuyler said he’s been shot at, his tires slashed, his fish stolen. He’s gotten death threats on social media. “I’ve had a lot of firearms pointed in my direction, a lot of lead being shot in my direction,” Schuyler said. “I’ve been peppered with birdshot.” Schuyler is a member of the Upper Skagit Tribe, and he believes these acts of violence stem from a battle over rights in Skagit Valley: a fight about who gets to decide how water, fish and wildlife are managed. He said some public officials in Skagit County disagree with tribal rights “and it becomes socially acceptable to attack the tribe, tribal members and tribes’ rights,” he said. The tension between tribal members and Skagit farmers is one that dates back more than a century. Most recently, things have come to a head over elk. Eilis O'Neill reports. (Crosscut)

Trans Mountain urges court in Vancouver to dismiss Indigenous action
Trans Mountain Corp, the operator of Canada’s state-owned oil pipeline, asked a court on Wednesday to dismiss a legal application by four indigenous groups to overturn government approval for expansion. A three-day Federal Court of Appeal hearing began in Vancouver on Monday to hear the groups’ concerns that the government did not adequately consult them, the latest obstacle to tripling capacity on the Alberta-to-British Columbia pipeline, which the Canadian oil industry says is badly needed. The indigenous groups “did not negotiate in good faith, or at all,” Trans Mountain lawyer Maureen Killoran said. Effectively, the groups are attempting to hold a veto over the C$10 billion project despite the government’s best attempts to address their concerns, she said. Moira Warburton reports. (Reuters)

Seattle barrel company used 'hidden drain' to dump caustic material into sewer, federal prosecutors say 
Here’s how federal investigators say they found the “hidden drain” and unraveled an alleged pollution conspiracy by a century-old Seattle barrel company. A sensitive sewer flow meter tipped them off to something strange, according to a federal search-warrant affidavit. So the agents sent a camera-mounted robot into the sewer to investigate. They found a mysterious white stain. Then, they installed a pair of probes to record real-time changes in water chemistry. One day in March, just after dawn, when the probes indicated a spike in the waste water’s pH, federal agents served a search warrant at Seattle Barrel and Cooperage Company, according to a federal indictment handed down Tuesday. The 36-count grand jury indictment says the company, its owner and its plant manager used the hidden drain to dump a corrosive solution of chemicals into public sewers, then lied to regulators about the practice and conspired to cover up their activities. Family-owned Seattle Barrel, collects, reconditions and sells 55-gallon industrial drums. It cleans the drums for reuse in a large tank using “highly corrosive chemical solution,” according to the indictment. Evan Bush reports. (Seattle Times)

Herring a key food source and a candidate for endangered species status
Pacific herring — including the Cherry Point subspecies — have been declining since state biologists began studying them in the 1970s, according to the University of Washington’s Puget Sound Institute...State Department of Fish and Wildlife reports showed that Cherry Point herring were at record lows in 2009. Pacific herring are a candidate for state threatened and endangered species status. Pollution and other effects of rising human population in the Puget Sound are thought to be the major issues, along with warming ocean temperatures and over-fishing. Loss of the eelgrass meadows where adults spawn and young fish hide has also had a considerable impact. Robert Mittendorf reports. (Bellingham Herald)

B.C.'s clear-cut forests are 'dead zones,' emitting more greenhouse gases than they absorb, new report finds
The clear-cutting of B.C.'s forests is contributing more to greenhouse gases than the burning of fossil fuels, according to a new report from the Sierra Club of B.C. The report found that 3.6 million hectares of old-growth and second-growth forests were clear-cut in the province between 2005 and 2017 — creating  "dead zones" that, combined, are larger than Vancouver Island. It says the clear-cuts create carbon sequestration dead zones that put more carbon into the atmosphere from decomposing matter and soil than newly replanted trees can absorb. Clare Hennig reports. (CBC)

Oregon’s Red Tree Vole Will Not Receive Federal Protections
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined the north Oregon coast red tree vole does not warrant a listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. USFWS said the small mammal did not meet the definition of an endangered or threatened species after reviewing the best and most recent scientific data available. In 2011, the USFWS determined the population did warrant listing based on the information provided then. After conducing yearly species status assessments, known as a candidate notice of review, it reversed its decision based on past and present information in 2016. Monica Samayoa reports. (OPB)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  229 AM PST Thu Dec 19 2019   
TODAY  SE wind 5 to 15 kt becoming E 10 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 9 ft at 12 seconds.  Rain. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 10 to 20 kt becoming SW after midnight. Wind  waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 10 ft at 13 seconds building to 12 ft at  17 seconds after midnight. Rain.



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