3/15 Short-eared owl, rescue tug, Tacoma sewage, BC old growth, tree methane, Orting dam, NW salmon, border closure, David Schindler

Short-eared Owl [Alan Fritzberg]

 
Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus
This open-country hunter is one of the world's most widely distributed owls, and among the most frequently seen in daylight. Don't look too eagerly for the ear tufts, which are so short they're often invisible. More conspicuous features are its black-rimmed yellow eyes staring out from a pale facial disk. These birds course silently over grasslands on broad, rounded wings, especially at dawn and dusk. They use acute hearing to hunt small mammals and birds. (All About Birds}

Rescue tug stationed in islands is best bet to avoid oil spills in San Juan – Gulf waters, study says
With increased vessel traffic around the San Juan Islands, some worry that the risk of oil spills may be rising as well. A new study makes the case that an emergency response tug stationed in the islands would be money well-spent. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Salish Current)

Tacoma sues over planned wastewater treatment requirements that could cost $1 billion
Tacoma has sued the state Department of Ecology over proposed requirements for wastewater treatment plants that discharge to Puget Sound, a new regulation the city said could cost up to $1 billion to implement. The lawsuit is over a draft permit Ecology has developed to control excess nutrients, which the agency has said flow from those plants to Puget Sound and hurt the environment. “Ecology’s stated intention is that the General Permit shall apply to nearly 60 domestic wastewater treatment plants discharging into Puget Sound,” the lawsuit said. “Each of these plants is already required by the CWA (Clean Water Act) to discharge pursuant to an individual NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit.” Alexis Krell reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

B.C. urged to protect at-risk old growth forests while it works to transform policy
The most at-risk ecosystems should be set aside from logging while British Columbia shifts its forestry policies toward a more sustainable system, says a forester who helped write a provincial report on old-growth forests. The report last April co-written by Garry Merkel urged B.C. to act within six months to defer harvesting in old forest ecosystems at the highest risk of permanent biodiversity loss. Brenna Owen reports. (CBC) See also: BC Promised to Protect Old Growth. How Is It Doing?  Andrew MacLeod reports. (The Tyee)

The secret life of trees: Researchers probe methane in Washington’s coastal forest
Trees have a little secret you might not know about. Yes, they produce oxygen. Yes, they take in carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping greenhouse gas. But, they also emit methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas that can be significantly more potent than carbon dioxide. "Just about every tree we measured had elevated amounts of methane in it. And that was consistent across the Northwest with a variety of different species," says Nick Ward, a scientist with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Courtney Flatt reports. (NW News Network)

Pierce County dam operator sued for third time after turf released in Puyallup River
Citizens for a Healthy Bay filed a lawsuit on March 9 against an Orting dam after turf polluted the Puyallup River during a construction project last summer. The Tacoma nonprofit and Seattle-based Puget Soundkeeper Alliance allege in their lawsuit that Electron Hydro violated the federal Clean Water Act when crews placed a layer of field turf in the bed of the Puyallup River while working on a diversion system last summer. Field turf escaped and flowed downstream. The lawsuit also claims the daily operation of the hydropower dam pollutes the river. Josephine Peterson reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Northwest’s iconic salmon face tough conditions during ocean journey
Ocean conditions can be integral to salmon survival. And in 2021, the Pacific Northwest’s iconic fish will face a mixed bag: some good and some bad conditions while out at sea. Salmon survive best when the water is cooler along the coast and warmer farther out. Colder La Niña conditions have also led to higher salmon counts. Right now, that’s exactly what’s happening. But things will likely change over the summer. “The next few months look pretty good. However, things are expected to change. A lot of the warm water we’ve seen the past couple of years is not gone completely. It’s just not at the surface,” says Brian Burke, a research fisheries biologist with NOAA Fisheries. Courtney Flatt reports. (NW News Network)

The Canada-U.S. border's been shut down for a year — and there's no reopening plan
The one-year anniversary of the quasi-shutdown of the Canada-U.S. border will come and go next week, with no end in sight to disruptions that have affected lives, businesses, and communities touching the world's so-called longest undefended frontier. Once again, the tightening will be extended on March 21 for another month as it has every month since the pandemic crashed onto this continent last year. Once again, the people most affected will wonder what the plan is for reopening and what sorts of publi health stats would allow regular travel to resume. The truth is: There is no plan. Alexander Panetta writes. (CBC)

David Schindler, the Scientific Giant Who Defended Fresh Water
Among the world’s greatest ecologists, his boreal research has touched all of our lives. Andrew Nikiforuk writes. (The Tyee)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  239 AM PDT Mon Mar 15 2021   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM PDT EARLY THIS  MORNING   
TODAY  NW wind 15 to 25 kt through 5 AM then becoming 10 to 20  kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft through 5 AM then subsiding to 1 to 3  ft. W swell 7 ft at 10 seconds. 
TONIGHT  NW wind 5 to 15 kt easing to 10 kt after midnight.  Win

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