9/1 Dogfish, 'woody debris,' forage fish, animal crossings, data centers, Conservation Corps, youth transit, Jay Inslee

Spiny dogfish [Seattle Aquarium]

Spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias
Dogfish are small, bottom-dwelling sharks that live along the northern Pacific and Atlantic coasts. They are able to travel long distances, and their habitat can range from dark depths of 3,000 feet to shallower waters receiving ample sunlight. Dogfish can live for over 40 years, and in the Pacific they have even been known to live as long as 70 years. (Seattle Aquarium)

Study raises questions about using ‘woody debris’ to restore streams
Efforts to improve salmon streams damaged by past logging and other human activities commonly include the addition of carefully placed logs, tree roots or “woody debris” to mimic this natural system. But a new report raises questions about the value of adding wood to streams — at least in the way it has been done in many restoration projects. Chris Dunagan reports. (Salish Sea Currents)

Stewardship groups from around the Salish Sea come together for forage fish conservation
Since the early 2000s, stewardship groups around the Salish Sea have been involved in monitoring the intertidal spawning of forage fish and documenting where and when they spawn. Surf smelt and Pacific sand lance, two of the seven forage fish species in British Columbia, are the only ones that spawn on coastal beaches (intertidally). Jennifer Sutherst reports. (Comox Valley Record)

Animal crossings over and under highways can save big dollars — not just lives — says new study
Collisions between vehicles and large animals, like deer, are not only scary. The medical, car repair and cleanup costs really add up. That is according to a new study out of Washington State University that supports the case for building more wildlife crossings on highways. Tom Banse reports. (NW News Network)

Data centers, backbone of the digital economy, face water scarcity and climate risk
For years, companies that operate data centers have faced scrutiny for the huge amounts of electricity they use storing and moving digital information like emails and videos. Now, the U.S. public is beginning to take notice of the water many facilities require to keep from overheating. Like cooling systems in large office buildings, water often is evaporated in data center cooling towers, leaving behind salty wastewater known as blowdown that has to be treated by local utilities. Michael Copley reports. (NPR)

Seattle program helps homeless people and neighborhoods at the same time
Established in 1986 and modeled on the Civilian Conservation Corps (the New Deal program that put young men to work in parks and forests during the Great Depression), Seattle’s Corps has operated mostly under the radar, based in a dilapidated old military hangar in Magnuson Park. The Parks Department manages the program, which seems tailor-made for Seattle today, where skyrocketing housing costs have spawned a street camping crisis, exacerbated by inadequate care for people struggling with mental health challenges, trauma and drugs. The Corps caters to a particularly marginalized group of people experiencing homelessness: those recovering from addiction or recently released from incarceration. Daniel Beekman reports. (Seattle Times)

Free transit starts today for most youths across WA
Young transit riders in most of Washington won’t pay their bus fares today or any day until they turn 19, as agencies across the state pivot toward providing free rides for people 18 and under...The shift is one piece of a massive 16-year, nearly $17 billion transportation funding measure passed mostly along party lines during the 2022 legislative session in Olympia. While the package included billions in new spending on roads and highways, Democratic lawmakers set aside more than $3 billion for transit in the state, over the opposition of the minority Republicans. About half of that is available to local transit agencies on the condition they make trains, buses and ferries free for youth. Every agency has signaled they will do so. David Kroman reports. (Seattle Times)

Opinion: Gov. Jay Inslee Is Taking a Well-Earned Climate Victory Lap
...Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington wasn’t just a novelty candidate in the 2020 primaries, but he did become something of an instrumental one: bringing debates again and again back to climate issues and pushing the green growth opportunities of decarbonization closer to the center of the Democratic policy vibe space. (When Joe Biden started saying, again and again on the campaign trail, “When I think about climate change, I think about jobs,” he might as well have been cribbing from Inslee.) David Wallace-Wells writes. (NY Times)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  208 AM PDT Thu Sep 1 2022   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt becoming NW in the afternoon. Wind waves  1 to 2 ft. W swell 3 ft at 9 seconds. Patchy fog in the morning. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 1 to 2 ft. W swell 3 ft  at 9 seconds.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to mikesato772 (@) gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter. 

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told