6/15 Green rope, Vancouver parking, Belfair gravel mine, salmon-friendly dams, summer smoke, Fairy Cr, logging old growth, white-tailed ptarmigan, bullfrog, Sara Mall Johani

Green rope [Mary Jo Adams]

 

Green rope Acrosiphonia sp.
The strands of several species of this green seaweed form entangled mats that resemble frayed rope.  The individual strands have hooked lateral branches which hold the twisted mats together.  Acrosiphonia is found attached to rocks or epiphytic on other algae in the mid to low intertidal zone, and can reach lengths over 25 cm (10 inches) long. (Jan Holmes/Sound Water Watchers)

Gas-powered sports cars, SUVs face higher street parking fees under Vancouver's anti-pollution proposal
Vancouver residents who buy gas-powered vehicles after 2023 will face street parking fees of up to $1,000 a year if the city goes forward with its Climate Emergency Parking Program. The City of Vancouver announced Monday it's now seeking public feedback on the plan until July 5. Vancouver is looking at putting two parking initiatives in place by 2022 that could cost drivers more money depending on their vehicles. If approved, the changes are expected to generate around $60 million between 2022 and 2025 that would be used for climate emergency initiatives in the city. (CBC)

Federal judge upholds decision to deny permits to expanded Belfair gravel mine
A federal judge has upheld a decision by the Mason County Hearing Examiner to overturn a surface mining permit for a 66.5-acre gravel mine in Belfair. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly ruled on June 7 that a Mason County Hearing Examiner was correct in upholding a decision by Mason County to rescind a surface-mining permit for Grump Ventures LLC for the mine being planned on a hillside above Hood Canal, about 4.5 miles from Belfair on North Shore Road. The case made its way to federal court after Russell Scott, owner of Grump Ventures LLC, appealed the decision filed by the Mason County Hearing Examiner in Thurston County Superior Court but claimed his constitutional right of due process was harmed in the permit's denial, moving the case to federal court.  Jesse Darland reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Puget Sound Energy shows how salmon can prosper in a river blocked by hydroelectric dams
Stakeholders say Seattle City Light could learn from another utility, Puget Sound Energy, on how to better admit impacts for their dams and find solutions. Susannah Frame reports. (KING)

Another smoky summer could be on Washington's horizon
Record-breaking rainfall drenched Seattle and Olympia on Sunday. Even with the wet weather and snowpack in the Cascades about 40% deeper than normal for this time of year, western Washington could be in for a smoky summer from forest fires. Much of eastern Washington and most of the western United States are experiencing severe droughts, priming forests and grasslands there for wildfires. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

A future in Fairy Creek ‘that is fair, just and equitable’
The Pacheedaht, Ditidaht and Huu-ay-aht First Nations' notice last week to defer old-growth logging in their territories was the latest development in a conflict that has sparked nationwide attention Josie Kao writes. (The Narwhal)

Coastal logging needs old-growth for at least next decade, forester says
 Forestry companies on the coast are dependent on old-growth logging for at least the next decade because second-growth trees aren’t yet big enough to be harvested, says the co-author of an old-growth strategic review. Registered professional forester Garry Merkel said forest companies told him and co-author Al Gorley while working on the review that they all have long-term plans to phase out dependency on old-growth in roughly 10 to 20 years. Roxanne Egan-Elliott reports. (Times Colonist)

Federal effort would list Mount Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan as threatened species
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is proposing new protections for the Mount Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan. If approved, the Endangered Species Act would list the birds as threatened. White-tailed ptarmigans spend their entire lifecycle on alpine mountaintops, above the tree line of the Cascades.  They’re the smallest bird in the grouse family. They have feathered talons that function like snowshoes and plumage that adapts to the season. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

What sounds like a cow bellowing ‘jug-o-rum’? A critter that threatens Whatcom natives
A good-sized female American bullfrog plopped on a large dinner plate will fill that plate. She and others of her kind are hefty eaters — with a taste for smaller native frogs, waterfowl hatchlings such as mallard and wood ducks, and anything else they can fit into their big mouths...The big bullfrogs, Lithobates catesbeiana, aren’t native to the Pacific Northwest, and they are here in Whatcom County...The hope is to find the bullfrogs before they overwhelm areas of Whatcom County. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Author connects story with Wild Olympic Salmon 
For Sara Mall Johani, this spring brings fresh gifts. The 75-year-old sculptor has just published a book that’s been years in the making, a paperback that spans decades inside its 28 pages: “Mine, Your, Nobody’s: My story of Wild Olympic Salmon.” A photo of a sculpture bares its teeth on the front cover: “Grandmother Salmon Digs a Redd in the River of Time” was created by Johani’s late husband, artist and poet Tom Jay. Diane Urbani de la Paz reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  240 AM PDT Tue Jun 15 2021   
TODAY  Light wind becoming NW 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Wind  waves becoming 2 ft or less in the afternoon. W swell 4 ft at 8  seconds. A chance of showers in the morning then showers likely  and a slight chance of tstms in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt in the evening becoming light. Wind  waves 2 ft or less. W swell 3 ft at 7 seconds. A slight chance of  tstms in the evening. A chance of showers.

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