2/16 Kinnikinnick, Snohomish R, Pacific Salmon Treaty, Frances Wood, No Discharge Zone, rising seas, cruise ship living

Kinnikinnick [Ben Legler]

 
Kinnikinnick Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Glossy leaves that stay green all year, bright red berries that glisten into winter—as C.L. Hitchcock, dean of Northwest botany, wrote: "one of the finest groundcovers known." Happy in full sun to part shade and dry soils, it's a well-mannered alternative to aggressive species, English ivy (Hedera helix) and the periwinkles (Vinca major and V. minor).  Kinnikinnick has many names, most referring to its fruits. Arctostaphylos (Greek) and uva-ursi (Latin) both mean "bear grapes." And what about the name kinnikinnick itself? It's an Algonquian word referring to the dried leaves' use in smoking mixtures. (Sarah Gage/Washington Native Plant Society)

Plan for Snohomish River Watershed meant to tackle threats to salmon 'head on'
Calling it the “Watershed Resilience Action Plan” for the Snohomish River Watershed, Washington state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz outlined a system of fixes to bring back salmon and other fish to the river on Tuesday. Citing 16 populations of salmon and salmon-related fish that are now endangered or threatened, the plan calls for protection and cleanup of aquatic habitat from the forests of the Cascades to where the river empties into the salt water of the Salish Sea. Glen Farley reports. (KING)

Pacific Salmon Treaty failing to address harvest of B.C. stocks
Significant numbers of salmon returning to spawn in British Columbia are being caught in southeast Alaskan fisheries, hindering Canada’s efforts to preserve and rebuild stocks that are declining to historic lows, B.C. salmon advocates say. Canada and the United States ratified the Pacific Salmon Treaty in 1985 to manage cross-border harvesting, but it wasn’t designed to deal with climate change and stocks that are in crisis, said Greg Knox, executive director of SkeenaWild Conservation Trust based in Terrace. “We can’t protect and rebuild B.C. salmon without Alaska giving us a hand, there’s just no way,” he said. “The productivity of a lot of our populations has gone way down, so they can’t sustain high harvest levels anymore.” Brenna Owen reports. (Canadian Press)

Frances Wood: Watcher on the beach
For Frances Wood, the pigeon guillemot is an endless source of fascination. So much so, that she has convinced hundreds of others to watch them too. As one of the founders of a long-running project surveying the birds on a yearly basis, Wood recently received some recognition for her efforts. The Island County Marine Resources Committee, Sound Water Stewards and WSU Extension presented Wood with the Jan Holmes award a few days before Sound Waters University, which is when the award is usually given out. Kira Erickson reports. (Whidbey News Times)

Court Rules on No Discharge Zone, Blocking Lingering Trump Administration Attempt to Allow Vessels to Dump Sewage into Puget Sound
Late February 14, the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., denied a move by the American Waterways Operators and the previous Trump Administration U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to halt the implementation of a No Discharge Zone (NDZ) for Puget Sound in Washington state. The NDZ, first proposed in 2012, prohibits ships and boats from discharging raw or partially treated sewage across the 2,300 square miles of marine waters as well as contiguous waters around Lake Washington and Lake Union. Trump’s EPA tried to take back its signoff of the NDZ to reconsider compliance costs to industry, and as the court put it, “take a second bite at the apple.” (EarthJustice) See also: Department of Ecology Statement on federal No Discharge Zone decision

Sea level to rise one foot along U.S. coastlines by 2050, government report finds
Sea levels along the United States' shorelines will increase as much by 2050 as they did over the past century, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sarah Kaplan and Brady Dennis report. (Washington Post)

Would You Live on a Cruise Ship?
As the pandemic forces cruise ships into early retirement, some want to see them converted into affordable housing. Doug Johnson reports. (Hakai Magazine)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  239 AM PST Wed Feb 16 2022   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST THIS MORNING   
TODAY  SW wind to 10 kt becoming E in the afternoon. Wind waves  1 ft or less. W swell 10 ft at 9 seconds subsiding to 8 ft at  9 seconds in the afternoon. Patchy fog in the morning. 
TONIGHT  S wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 7 ft  at 9 seconds subsiding to 5 ft at 17 seconds after midnight.

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