11/10 Chickadee, climate tax, Indigenous salmon management, geoduck farm, Delta development, spotted owl logging, cargo containers, salmon poaching, BC forestry, pumped storage

 

Chestnut-backed chickadee [All About Birds]

Chestnut-backed chickadee Poecile rufescens
A handsome chickadee that matches the rich brown bark of the coastal trees it lives among, the Chestnut-backed Chickadee is the species to look for up and down the West Coast and in the Pacific Northwest. Active, sociable, and noisy as any chickadee, you’ll find these birds at the heart of foraging flocks moving through tall conifers with titmice, nuthatches, and sometimes other chickadee species. (All About Birds)

Bellingham mayor urges tax to fund climate change programs
Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood asked the City Council to consider asking voters to approve a tax to pay for citywide programs aimed at reducing the city’s carbon footprint and helping the effort to fight global climate change...Fleetwood didn’t provide any details, but said that it likely would be a property tax...Fleetwood said he would ask the council for funds to draft a ballot measure at its Nov. 22 meeting. Robert Mittendorf reports. (Bellingham Herald)

B.C. study shows sustainable management of salmon before colonization
The study published Wednesday in the journal Scientific Reports examined chum salmon bones dating from between 400 BC and AD 1200 from four archeological sites around Burrard Inlet. Brenna Owen reports. (The Canadian Press) See: Indigenous sex-selective salmon harvesting demonstrates pre-contact marine resource management in Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, Canada  (Nature)

A Pierce County oyster farm wants to raise geoducks. Neighbors are raising the alarm 
A new draft Environmental Impact Statement has reignited a long-simmering dispute between the Taylor Shellfish Company and its neighbors over a proposal for geoduck farming in Burley Lagoon. The dispute has gone on so long — since 2016 — that some of the neighbors, like Karen McDonell, have made virtual second careers of fighting Taylor Shellfish and the very idea of farming geoducks. Kerry Webster reports. (Gateway News)

Delta wants more oversight for Fraser River, Salish Sea
The grinding facility and marine terminal application will undergo a provincial and federal environmental assessment through a process led by the BC Environmental Assessment Office. Sandor Gyarmati reports. (Delta Optimist)

‘Faulty’ science used by Trump appointees to cut owl habitat
Political appointees in the Trump administration relied on faulty science to justify stripping habitat protections for the imperiled northern spotted owl, U.S. wildlife officials said Tuesday as they struck down a rule that would have opened millions of acres of West Coast forest to potential logging. Matthew Brown and Gillian Flaccus report. (Associated Press)

Most cargo containers vanished after falling overboard from ship near Victoria, B.C.
Of the 109 cargo containers that went overboard from the Zim Kingston, a cargo ship that caught fire near British Columbia last month, 105 have not been seen, according to the Canadian Coast Guard. In all, 57 tons of potassium amyl xanthate, used in mines and pulp mills, and thiourea dioxide, used to manufacture textiles, were aboard the Zim Kingston in four containers: two that fell overboard and the two that caused the onboard fire. Christine Clarridge reports. (Seattle Times)

Residents near salmon-bearing streams in B.C. asked to watch for poachers
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is asking residents near salmon-bearing creeks to be on the lookout for poachers during spawning season, after three men were spotted taking fish from a stream in Coquitlam, B.C. Rafferty Baker reports. (CBC)

How B.C.’s long-awaited forestry law updates leave gaps around protecting old-growth and Indigenous Rights
While environmental advocates are cautiously optimistic about proposed amendments to B.C.'s 2004 Forest Ranges and Practices Act, many worry they lack clarity and don't provide the protections the province's oldest forests need. Zoe Yunker writes. (The Narwhal) See also: Counting the Job Cost of Halting Old-Growth Logging  The government says 4,500, industry says 18,000. Critics say there are too many unanswered questions about the government’s plans. Andrew MacLeod reports. (The Tyee)

New electricity project in WA takes a twist on hydropower
An effort to generate energy along the Columbia through a concept called 'pumped storage' has drawn pushback from tribes and environmental groups. John Stang reports. (Crosscut)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  238 AM PST Wed Nov 10 2021   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT   
TODAY  SW wind 5 to 15 kt becoming SE 10 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft building to 2 to 4 ft in the  afternoon. W swell 17 ft at 14 seconds subsiding to 14 ft at  12 seconds in the afternoon. A chance of rain. 
TONIGHT  E wind 15 to 25 kt becoming 20 to 25 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft building to 6 to 8 ft after  midnight. W swell 10 ft at 11 seconds subsiding to 7 ft at  10 seconds after midnight. Rain.

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