9/28 Baldhip rose, baby orca, TM timeline, Pt Roberts, fish farm suit, whitebark pine, Miller Peninsula Park

Baldhip rose [Paul Noll]

 
Baldhip rose Rosa gymnocarpa
Baldhip rose is found from southern British Columbia to the southern California coast in the west, to northern Idaho and western Montana in the east.  It is also called Wood Rose because it is a woodland species. Flowers are small, pale pink to rose, fragrant, and are usually borne singly at the ends of branches.  Fruits are small, red, pear-shaped, berry-like hips, with no sepals remaining attached. This rose was not used as much as other roses by natives.  A tea was made from the young leaves.  The leaves and bark were toasted and smoked, often mixed with tobacco and other plants.  A decoction of the bark was used as an eyewash.  Chewed leaves were applied to beestings.  The fruits of this species, being very small, were not often eaten. (Dana Kelley Bressette/Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest)

Another baby orca born to J pod — the second this month
Another baby orca has been born to J pod, the Center for Whale Research confirmed Friday morning. It’s the second calf born this month for the endangered southern resident orcas that frequent Puget Sound. “We confirm that there is a new calf in J pod and the mother is J41,” Ken Balcomb, the founding director of the center, wrote...“We have to await the whales’ return to determine its health condition and hopefully determine its success. It is important to note that the observation was in Canada and we could not be there due to covid restrictions.” Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Trans Mountain pipeline expansion workforce tops 5,600
Environmentalists bet shifts in construction will delay the December 2022, completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, company argues there is give in the timeline. Derrick Penner reports. (Vancouver Sun)

The birth of a ghost town: Point Roberts has lost 80% of its business, hundreds of its residents
In a normal year, Point Roberts is a bustling place during the summer season, packed with B.C. tourists ready to spend their money on local businesses, B.C. bargain hunters filling up on gas and picking up packages at the local parcel shops while dual citizens spend the summer at their homes on the idyllic peninsula. But this year has been different; COVID-19 made certain of that. Joel Ballard reports. (CBC) See also: COVID hammers border towns on both sides of the Canada-U.S. divide  COVID-19 border restrictions have limited B.C.-Washington State traffic to essential traffic, increasing the boundary divide between traditional neighbours. Derrick Penner reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Judge hears lawsuit over fish farms
Whether Cooke Aquaculture’s plan to raise native steelhead at fish farms in Puget Sound is a simple business transition or a complex threat to the marine ecosystem is being debated in King County Superior Court. Judge Johanna Bender heard testimony Thursday over Zoom in a lawsuit environment groups brought against the state Department of Fish & Wildlife for granting a permit to the seafood company to raise steelhead. The environment groups — Wild Fish Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth — contend Fish & Wildlife did not meet the requirements of SEPA, the State Environmental Policy Act, before issuing a mitigated determination of nonsignificance for Cooke Aquaculture’s proposal to move into the production of steelhead following a state-mandated phase-out of non-native Atlantic salmon. The state Office of the Attorney General and Cooke Aquaculture disagree. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald) 

Saving Western Canada’s only endangered tree
Whitebark pine is facing down the triple threat of climate change, habitat loss and disease. Restoration projects by northwest B.C. researchers may be the tree’s best chance for survival. Matt Simmons reports. (The Narwhal)

Planning revived for new park
A state effort more than 15 years in the making to further develop Miller Peninsula State Park will be revived this fall. The first of several Washington State Parks meetings to define the future of the property just east of Sequim is set for 6 p.m. Oct. 6 on the Microsoft Teams platform at https://j.mp/32CRZbO. State officials say they will take into account community members’ hopes for and concerns regarding the park’s development at the 2,800-acre site on Miller Peninsula between Sequim and the Clallam/Jefferson county boundary. Michael Dashiell reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  252 AM PDT Mon Sep 28 2020   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH LATE  TONIGHT   
TODAY  E wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 5 ft  at 10 seconds. 
TONIGHT  E wind to 10 kt rising to 5 to 15 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 10 ft at 16 seconds.

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