10/12 Chocolate vine, wolverines, Navy vs orcas, NW salmon, stormwater, Colstrip, Tongass NF, basking shark, ANWR drilling

Chocolate vine

 
Chocolate vine Akebia quinta
Chocolate vine is a semi-evergreen, twining, woody vine with dangling racemes of small, red-white flowers with a spicy, chocolate fragrance in spring. The blooms send out against the bright green foliage of elliptic leaflets which become purple flushed in cold weather. If the summer is long and warm, the flowers will give wear to a crop of unusual, sausage-shaped, violet seedpod, which split open in fall to reveal small black seeds embedded in a whitish, edible pulp. (Gardenia.net)

Wolverines denied federal protection
The North American wolverine found in mountain habitats including the North Cascades does not warrant federal Endangered Species Act protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday.  "New research and analysis show that wolverine populations in the American Northwest remain stable, and individuals are moving across the Canadian border in both directions and returning to former territories," a Fish and Wildlife Service news release states.  Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

U.S. Navy, state leaders at odds over proposal that could affect Washington’s orcas
The U.S. Navy is requesting permission from the National Marine Fisheries Service to conduct military exercises in Puget Sound and coastal Washington waters that would potentially harm the endangered Southern Resident orca population. The impacts from the Navy’s request were determined to be “negligible” by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the proposal appears to be headed for approval. The Navy’s proposal would increase the potential “take” of Southern Resident orca — “take” means the attempted or actual harassment, hunting, capturing or killing of any marine mammal. Currently, the Navy is authorized to take up to two Southern Resident orcas per year but is asking that to increase to 51 per year. Abbie Shull reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

4 governors agree to work together as NW salmon may have just 20 to 30 years left
The governors of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana have agreed to work together to rebuild the Columbia River system’s salmon and steelhead stocks. They may not all agree on the adequacy of the recently completed comprehensive environmental study of the Columbia and Snake hydrosystems, which resulted in a decision by federal agencies in late September to maintain the four lower Snake River hydroelectric dams in Eastern Washington state. Annette Cary reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Anacortes stormwater coming under closer watch
At a spot on the beach where the Guemes Channel Trail begins and state ferries are seen coming and going, a concrete structure with a metal grate protrudes from the shoreline. There are dozens like it along beaches encircling the city of Anacortes, and each funnels stormwater from roads, roofs and lawns into the saltwater that surrounds the city...[S]tormwater is...not closely monitored, in part because there’s not enough government funding and manpower to do so. Friends of Skagit Beaches President Tim Gohrke has devised a plan — with the help of Anacortes Stormwater Program Manager Diane Hennebert, the Samish Indian Nation’s Natural Resources Department and a $20,000 grant from the Rose Foundation — to change that. Volunteers are being recruited to monitor the city’s 79 stormwater outfalls once a month. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Heald)

Colstrip purchase gets public listening session
The public, starting Oct. 13, will have three chances to comment about NorthWestern Energy’s plans to increase its share in Colstrip Power Plant Unit 4. Every Tuesday for three weeks in a row, Montana’s Public Service Commission will hold a four-hour listening session on Zoom to gather input about the proposed purchase. Participation is audio-only, and the event will be streamed live at the commission’s website. Anyone wanting to comment during a listening session must contact the Commission in advance. Commenters may email the commission at pschelp@mt.gov or call the commission’s toll-free number at 800-646-6150 and leave a message with the commenter’s name, phone number, email address, and the date of the session they plan to attend. A commission representative will respond with instructions for providing comments. Steve Lutey reports. (Montana Standard)

Alaska’s Magnificent Tongass National Forest Threatened by new “Chainsaw Rule”
The Trump Administration is substituting the “Chainsaw Rule” for the Roadless Rule in managing the vast Tongass National Forest.  The largest national forest in the United States, at 16 million acres, it takes up most of Southeast Alaska. With publication of an Environmental Impact Statement late last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has set in motion removal of 9.37 million acres from a ban on construction of new logging roads, enacted in 2001 during the waning days of the Clinton Administration. The immediate impact would be to open up 168,000 acres of old growth forest, and 20,000 acres of younger forests, to loggers’ chainsaws.  With much, much more to come.  The Tongass was for a half-century dominated by logging and pulp mills prior to the Roadless Rule. Joel Connelly reports. (Post Alley)

Researchers hopeful bus-sized sharks will return in abundance to B.C. waters
Whenever Scott Wallace heads out on the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia, he hopes it will be the time when he finally sees a Basking shark, an endangered species which once cruised in large numbers in plankton-rich waters. It's been a decade since the Canadian government deemed Basking sharks endangered, which created legal protections to help them recover, but it could take a lot more time for the fish to return to its former prominence here. Chad Pawson reports. (CBC)

Can Canada stymie the Trump administration’s plan to open an Arctic refuge to oil drilling?
Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was originally designed to be a … well, wildlife refuge. But a recent U.S. decision opens the remote wilderness to industrial development. Here’s how Canadians looking to protect Indigenous rights and a threatened caribou herd could hamper those plans. Julien Gignac writes. (The Narwhal)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  348 AM PDT Mon Oct 12 2020   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM PDT THIS MORNING   
TODAY  W wind 15 to 25 kt easing to 5 to 15 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 2 ft or less in the  afternoon. W swell 12 ft at 11 seconds subsiding to 10 ft at  11 seconds in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  S wind to 10 kt becoming SE 20 to 30 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 1 ft or less building to 3 to 5 ft after  midnight. W swell 8 ft at 11 seconds. A chance of rain in the  evening then rain after midnight.

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