2/4 Blue butterfly, Columbia fish, Belfair tree, saving trees, WA wind power, oyster farming, hot ocean

Fender's blue butterfly [xerces.org]

Fender's blue butterfly Icaricia Icarioides Fenderi
This endangered butterfly is only found in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Although it once thrived, this butterfly is now rare due farmland and other dwellings on the prairies in which it once bred. It was thought that the Fender’s Blue Butterfly was extinct until it was rediscovered in 1989. Luckily, a recovery plan was published in 2010 which aims to protect this stunning butterfly. This small butterfly has a small wingspan of one inch. Like many butterfly species, gender can be determined by colour. Males are a lush blue hue, whereas females are brown in colour. Both sexes have underwings that are a cream-tan colour with black spots.

Salmon Are No Longer Kings Of The Columbia. That Has Biologists Worried
A recent report shows an explosion of growth of a non-native species in the Columbia River. What does that mean for salmon and the cultures built on them? Eli Francovich report. (Columbia Insight)

A Belfair tree more than 500 years old comes down: 'It's a loss for humanity'
Up a muddy road off Old Belfair Highway, a trail of deep-crusted footprints leads to a garage door-sized stump covered in fresh sawdust. A downed Douglas Fir tree stretches far into the brush, covered in mangled limbs and other trunks it struck on its earth-shaking descent. It was between 500 and 1,000 years old, arborists say.  In the time since it fell Tuesday, a steady stream of local residents have come to visit, akin to a paying of respects for a grand tree regarded as a community landmark — a rare old-growth fir within the Puget Trough. Josh Farley reports. (Kitsap Sun)

To save Western US forests, cut them way back, study suggests
A new study proposes a radical prescription for the ailing health of dry U.S. Western forests: cutting back trees by as much as 80%. The study suggests that forests in the Sierra Nevada and nearby ranges could better withstand severe wildfire, drought, infestations and climate change if the density of trees was dramatically reduced. That would shut out competition for water and other resources, helping remaining trees weather an array of stresses. The study appears in next month’s edition of Forest Ecology and Management and adds to a debate about how to protect fragile forest ecosystems as climate change exacerbates threats. Laura Bliss reports. (Bloomberg)

WA wind power farms may conflict with habitat preservation projects
Projects addressing alternative power issues sometimes pit environmentalists vs. environmentalists. John Stang reports. (Crosscut)

Oyster farm long-term project for tribe
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is seeking to re-establish an oyster farm that had been decertified because of pollution now that the area has been restored. The area in Dungeness Bay had been used for oyster farming since before 1953 through a succession of private owners. The tribe purchased the farm in 1990 and operated it until increasing fecal coliform pollution contaminated the water to the point that the tribe closed the farm in 2005. Michael Dashiell reports. (Peninsula Daily News) See also: Concerns remain over tribe’s oyster farm in Dungeness Bay  (Peninsula Daily News)

Extreme Heat Is a New Normal for the Ocean
Extreme heat in the world’s oceans passed the “point of no return” in 2014 and has become the new normal, according to research. Scientists analyzed sea surface temperatures over the last 150 years, which have risen because of global heating. They found that extreme temperatures occurring just two percent of the time a century ago have occurred at least 50 percent of the time across the global ocean since 2014. Damian Carrington reports. (Guardian/Hakai Magazine)

Salish Sea News Week in Review 2/4/22: Hemp Friday! fossil fuel bans, Canada carbon costs, Salish Sea ships, salmon mysteries, quiet ships, noise risks, Nooksack floods, BC wolf kill, Intalco, green crabs, tree seeds, saving forests

Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  213 AM PST Fri Feb 4 2022   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING   
TODAY  S wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 3 ft  at 11 seconds. Rain likely in the morning then rain in the  afternoon. 
TONIGHT  W wind 15 to 25 kt easing to 5 to 15 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 1 to 2 ft after  midnight. W swell 3 ft at 14 seconds building to 5 ft at  15 seconds after midnight. A slight chance of rain. 
SAT  NW wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 8 ft at  12 seconds. 
SAT NIGHT  NW wind to 10 kt becoming E 5 to 15 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 9 ft at 13 seconds. 
SUN  E wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 7 ft at  13 seconds.

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