12/5 Black pine algae, State of the Sound, Fraser salmon, King County pollution, shrinking birds, Raquel Momtoya-Lewis, Port Moody rail, BC Skagit logging

Black pine [Mary Jo Adams]

Black pine Neorhodomela larix
Black pine is a species of red algae native to coastal areas of the North Pacific, from Mexico to the Bering Sea to Japan. It forms dense mats on semi-exposed rocks in intertidal areas. The thallus is dark brown to black in color with whorled branches resembling a bottlebrush. (Wikipedia)

Puget Sound was supposed to be healthy by now. It's not
Puget Sound was supposed to be healthy by now. Fifteen years ago, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire made it the state’s aim to clean up Puget Sound by 2020. But a new report from the agency she created to accomplish that goal shows that with one month to go, we are nowhere close. Almost all the indicators that the Puget Sound Partnership uses to gauge the health of the sound are off the mark. Those include dozens of measures of pollution, habitat and aquatic life in Washington’s inland sea and the lands that drain into it. In the new State of the Sound report, partnership executive director Laura Blackmore says Puget Sound is “in grave trouble.” John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

Low water flows key to next phase in Fraser River salmon rescue: DFO
Government officials say there is a “high risk” they won’t be fully successful in rescuing salmon threatened by a massive landslide on the Fraser River. The landslide at Big Bar northwest of Kamloops was discovered in June and the government has said several species are at risk of being wiped out. In a progress update Wednesday, Sarah Murdoch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans says water levels are beginning to drop on the river, presenting the only opportunity to remove enormous amounts of rock blocking salmon migration routes before spring and summer runs arrive next year. She says there will likely only be a window open until mid-March when the flow is low, but officials are also facing difficult winter conditions in the remote area. (Canadian Press)

King County cites soaring costs, climate change in bid to redo water-pollution agreement with state and feds 
King County wants to renegotiate a high-stakes court settlement to curb discharges of untreated storm and wastewater that may overflow sewers during heavy rainfall, citing challenges ranging from soaring construction costs to climate change. The county expects to spend some $1.9 billion on this work during the next decade. But county officials now want regulators with the state Ecology Department and federal Environmental Protection Agency to give them more time to complete some projects, and agree to a broad review of how the money should best be spent....A 2018 county technical memorandum that analyzed stormwater runoff found that that the untreated discharges from the combined sewer-storm system totals about 595 million gallons. In contrast, the county estimates that 118 billion gallons of untreated stormwater flows from a separate network of ditches and pipes that enter the region’s streams, rivers and estuaries and can carry chemicals, oil, lubricants, animal waste, copper and other contaminants that can harm aquatic life. The current county spending is guided by a 2013 consent decree filed in U.S. District Court. The 72-page settlement lays out a series of timelines stretching to 2030 for improvements in the network of sewers that carries a combination of human waste and stormwater. Hal Bernton and David Gutman report. (Seattle Times)

Climate change is causing birds to shrink, study says
As the climate warms, birds are shrinking and their wingspans are growing, according to a new study. Researchers analysed 70,716 specimens from 52 North American migratory bird species collected over 40 years. The birds had died after colliding with buildings in Chicago, Illinois. The authors say the study is the largest of its kind and that the findings are important to understanding how animals will adapt to climate change. Kelsey Vlamis reports. (BBC)

Inslee appoints Raquel Montoya-Lewis as first Native American to sit on Washington Supreme Court 
Gov. Jay Inslee appointed a Whatcom County Superior Court judge Wednesday to the Washington State Supreme Court, making her the first Native American justice in the institution’s history. Raquel Montoya-Lewis, 51,  is from the Pueblo of Laguna Indian and Pueblo of Isleta tribes in New Mexico. A former professor at Western Washington University, she has also served as chief judge for three Native American tribes  in Washington — the Nooksack, Skagit and Lummi tribes. With her appointment to the nine-member court, Montoya-Lewis will be on the ballot in next fall’s election. Joseph O'Sullivan reports. (Seattle Times)

$31-million Port Moody rail project worries environmentalists
A $31-million rail expansion project to add a third track between Port Moody and Burnaby’s Suncor terminal is set to begin construction amid rising concerns over the project’s impact on the surrounding freshwater and marine environments. The Cascade Capacity Expansion Project involves extending the shoreline embankment in several locations along more than a kilometre of waterfront running west of Port Moody's Reed Point Marina to make room for a parallel track...A spokesperson for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority — the agency responsible for overseeing the project and environmental review process — said it will make a final decision on the project and environmental review application before the end of the year. But the review process and project itself have raised environmental red flags, both among local eco advocates and from the city of Port Moody, which in a Sept. 10 letter to the port laid out 30 concerns with the project in its current form.  Stefan Labbe reports. (Tai-City News)

British Columbia says it will no longer log in Skagit headwaters key to Puget Sound 
Amid an international dispute, British Columbia’s government announced Wednesday that it will no longer allow timber sales in the Skagit River’s headwaters. The decision could intensify pressure over a Canadian company’s pending permit to begin exploratory mining in the area, which conservationists view as a bigger threat to the river’s ecology. Last year, loggers built roads and clear-cut several large swaths of forest in the headwaters, which drain into the Skagit River and eventually flow through Washington state to Puget Sound. Evan Bush reports. (Seattle Times)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  228 AM PST Thu Dec 5 2019   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON   
TODAY  SE wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 6 ft  at 12 seconds. A chance of showers. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  4 ft at 14 seconds. A chance of showers.



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