3/29 Magnolia, Chevron refinery, small ship cruise, Skagit stormwater, US fisheries, groundfish count, Montana wild Alexandra Morton

Magnolia Tree [Arbor Hill Trees]

 
Magnolia Tree
Magnolias are believed to be the earliest known flowering plants, with their fossils dating back over 100 million years. Magnolia trees even existed before bees, so they rely on beetles for pollination. Instead of nectar, the flowers produce large quantities of pollen that the beetles use for food. Magnolia Tree are the state flowers for two states, Louisiana and Mississippi.  (Arbor Hill Trees)

Chevron eyes deal for Shell oil refinery in Pacific Northwest
Chevron has emerged as a leading contender to buy Royal Dutch Shell's Puget Sound refinery in Anacortes, Wash., Reuters reports. The 145K bbl/day Puget Sound plant supplies fuel markets in the Pacific Northwest and competes with plants owned by BP, Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66. Shell last month settled a seven-year-old dispute with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over past air pollution violations from the facility. (Seeking Alpha)

Small ship cruising getting ready to resume in Pacific Northwest and Alaska
Small ship cruise lines are pressing ahead with plans to restart overnight cruises on the Columbia and Snake rivers, around Puget Sound and in Alaska. They aim to cast off in April and May while the big cruise ships remain laid up by a red light from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tom Banse reports. (NW News Network)

Skagit County taking comment on stormwater management plan
Skagit County Public Works is taking public comment on a draft Stormwater Management Program Plan update... Skagit County is required to manage stormwater runoff under the state’s Western Washington Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit. That permit applies to developed areas outside of incorporated cities. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Comparing the Collateral Damage of US Fisheries
American fisheries are getting better at only catching the fish they actually intend to catch, rather than pulling in a menagerie of unintended victims. Around the world, the number of extra animals unnecessarily snagged during fishing—often called by-catch or discard—is decreasing. In the United States, by-catch rates have fallen from around 22 percent in 2002 to just over 10 percent in 2015, the most recent year for which figures are available. But these improvements have not happened evenly, and certain fisheries remain worse offenders than others. Dalmeet Singh Chawla reports. (Hakai Magazine)

Researchers reconstruct historical groundfish population using vessel logbooks
Marine science poses a challenge to researchers, particularly when it comes to the accessibility of information. In the Puget Sound, active data on fish populations was not properly maintained until 1990, leaving modern-day marine biologists, conservationists, and associated researchers with a gap in the region’s history...In January, [Jim] Essington [a professor at the School of Aquatics and Fisheries] and a team of researchers published their work in the Marine Ecological Progress Series (MEPS), breaking down the historical reconstruction of the Puget Sound groundfish community. Nolan Anderson reports. (UW Daily)

In Montana, Bears and Wolves Become Part of the Culture Wars
In addition to its spectacular landscape of mountains, rivers and prairie, Montana, the third least populous state in the country, has long been known for something else — wildlife policies that have protected animals of all sorts, including ones like grizzly bears and gray wolves that are often seen as threats to humans and to farming and ranching... Now, with its first Republican governor in 16 years, Greg Gianforte, and a solidly Republican legislature, the politics of predators seem poised to enter a new chapter. In the West these days, predators are very much part of the culture wars, and the state now seems intent on reviving some of the practices of a century ago that virtually exterminated wolves from Montana. Jim Robbins reports. (NY Times)

Alexandra Morton’s Book Should Galvanize Action on Salmon
‘Not on My Watch’ advances a devastating case against fish farms and compliant officials. Ian Gill writes. (The Tyee)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  251 AM PDT Mon Mar 29 2021   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT   
TODAY  NW wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 11 ft  at 11 seconds. 
TONIGHT  NW wind 20 to 30 kt easing to 10 to 20 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft subsiding to 1 to 3 ft after  midnight. W swell 9 ft at 10 seconds.

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