2/13 Steelhead, fish farm suit, Howard Hanson Dam, BC LNG protests, 'War in the Woods,' BP reinvented, Kalama methanol, WA water impact, going electric, WA lege halfway, McClatchy bankrupcy

Steelhead [US NPS]

Steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss
Steelhead and rainbow trout are the same species, but rainbow are freshwater only, and steelhead are anadromous, or go to sea. Unlike most salmon, steelhead can survive spawning, and can spawn in multiple years. Like chinook salmon, steelhead have two runs, a summer run and a winter run. Most summer runs are east of the Cascades, and enter streams in summer to reach the spawning grounds by the following spring. A few western Washington rivers also have established runs of summer steelhead. Winter runs spawn closer to the ocean, and require less travel time. They generally prefer fast water in small-to-large mainstem rivers, and medium-to-large tributaries. Steelhead are highly regarded game fish and the steelhead is the state fish of Washington. (WDFW)

Groups sue over steelhead farming in Puget Sound 
Four nonprofits filed a joint lawsuit Tuesday against the state Department of Fish & Wildlife for issuing a permit for steelhead farms in the marine waters of Skagit and Kitsap counties. The organizations — Wild Fish Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth — argue that allowing Cooke Aquaculture to raise steelhead in floating net pens would jeopardize the region's wild steelhead, salmon and endangered Southern Resident orca whales. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valle Herald)

Feds agree to reboot fish-passage project at Howard Hanson Dam, open upper Green River to salmon
Salmon and steelhead could once again inhabit more than 100 miles of the upper Green River watershed now that the entire Washington congressional delegation has backed restarting a federal project to allow fish to pass the Howard Hanson Dam. The fish-passage project could open even more habitat for chinook and coho salmon and steelhead than the celebrated Elwha Dam removal project, the largest in the world. The Howard Hanson Dam would remain intact but the work would double the amount of spawning habitat available to salmon and steelhead in the watershed — and open all of the best of it for the first time in more than a century. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

In photos: Wet’suwet’en matriarchs arrested as RCMP enforce Coastal GasLink pipeline injunction
Police made arrests Monday on the Morice River bridge, the sole entrance point to the Unist'ot'en land-based healing centre. Amber Bracken reports. (The Narwhal)

'We still have title': How a landmark B.C. court case set the stage for Wet'suwet'en protests
Amid the backdrop of nationwide protests, blockades, and arrests, Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs on the front lines of the fight to stop a pipeline in their traditional territories are pointing to a Supreme Court case from the 1990s that underscores their authority over the land. The decision in Delgamuukw vs. British Columbia was delivered on Dec. 11, 1997, affirming Aboriginal land title and setting a precedent for how it is understood in Canadian courts. Jon Hernandez reports. (CBC) See also: Protesters hope to shut down B.C. government buildings with demonstrations on Friday  (CBC)

‘War in the Woods, round two:’ Amid civil unrest, activists gear up for bigger battle over Trans Mountain
Recent protests and blockades are only the beginning of the civil disobedience that lies ahead as Ottawa pushes ahead with the controversial Trans Mountain expansion project, claims an activist group. “I really do see this as a taste of things to come,” said Alexandra Woodsworth, campaign organizer at the British Columbia-based Dogwood Initiative. Woodsworth likened the coming fight to “the War in the Woods, round two,” alluding to a 1993 anti-logging protest on Vancouver Island that led to nearly 1,000 arrests. Jesse Snyder reports. (National Post)

BP boss plans to 'reinvent' oil giant for green era
New BP boss Bernard Looney has said he wants the company to sharply cut net carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner. Mr Looney said the 111-year-old company needed to "reinvent" itself, a strategy that will eventually include more investment in alternative energy. BP will have to fundamentally reorganise itself to help make those changes, said Mr Looney, who took over as chief executive last week. It follows similar moves by rivals, including Royal Dutch Shell and Total. (BBC)

Columbia Riverkeeper Wants SEC To Investigate Kalama Methanol Project
A conservation group is pushing the federal government to investigate a proposed methanol plant in Kalama, Washington. Columbia Riverkeeper on Tuesday sent a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission saying the plant’s backers have misrepresented how the methanol will be used and broke a federal law in the process. Troy Brynelson reports. (OPB)

UW summarizes Washington climate impact on water
Climate change is affecting water systems in Washington, and with nearly 70 percent of the state’s population living near the coastline, it will likely affect life in the state in the coming decades. A new summary published by the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group consolidated a September report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and localized it for the state. It illustrated how the state could be swept up in global changes to both oceans and the cryosphere, or Earth’s frozen regions. These places include glaciers on the Cascades and Olympics, as well as seasonal snowfall. Aaron Kunkler reports. (Seattle Weekly)

From Delivery Trucks To Scooter-Moving Vans, Fleets Are Going Electric 
As electric cars grow in popularity and visibility, experts say a revolution is coming in a place most people overlook: corporate and municipal fleets. The scooter company Lime is the latest firm to announce that it plans to completely remove gas- and diesel-powered vehicles from its fleet and power its new electric work vehicles with renewable energy. Camila Domonoske reports. (NPR)

Halfway there, budget committees dive into a pile of bills 
(2/11)We’ve reached the halfway point of the 2020 session. Which means it’s all downhill from here. We can only hope. It is cutoff day for fiscal bills, which means marathon meetings of the budget committees in the two chambers. Check out the agenda for the Senate Ways and Means Committee. It has 63 bills up for votes. Starting Wednesday, lawmakers in both chambers will spend many hours on the floor passing bills for the other chamber to consider. Jerry Cornfield reports. (Everett Herald)

McClatchy, Major Local News Publisher, Files for Bankruptcy
The newspaper publisher, which operates in 14 states, is trying to restructure its debt and pursue a “digital transformation” as local news struggles. [In Puget Sound, the company owns the Bellingham Herald, the News Tribune of Tacoma, and the Olympian.] Katie Robertson reports. (NY Times)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  339 AM PST Thu Feb 13 2020   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT   
TODAY  SE wind 15 to 25 kt becoming W 20 to 30 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft. W swell 4 ft at 15 seconds.  Rain. 
TONIGHT  W wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 8 ft  at 16 seconds. Rain in the evening then rain likely after  midnight.



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