9/12 Douglas squirrel, Aleutian Isle, SJ National Monument, racist names, forge fish pesticides, Blue Heron Slough, PT jetty, BC forests, "Orca Rescue," state forests, Pig War

Douglas squirrel [VJ Anderson/WikiMedia]

Douglas squirrel Tamiasciurus douglasii
Douglas squirrels are found along the Pacific coast of North America. Their range is limited to northern California, west and central Oregon, western Washington and southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Douglas squirrels have distinct summer and winter coats. Their summer pelage ranges from reddish-brown to grayish-brown on the backside. Many of these hairs are orange or black at the ends. The underside ranges from light to dark orange, sometimes with white areas. It is this orange coloring on the chest and belly that sets Tamiasciurus douglasii apart from its nearest relative, the red squirrel. (Animal Diversity Web)

Diesel oil from sunken Aleutian Isle ‘nonrecoverable’
More than 200 feet below the surface of Haro Strait — a major shipway for British Columbia — a fishing vessel has settled on the sea floor near Sunset Point off the west coast of San Juan Island. The 49-foot purse seiner Aleutian Isle began sinking on Aug. 13, sending waves of a glossy diesel sheen two miles north of the sink. What was initially a search-and-rescue response quickly turned into minimizing the environmental impact. Zach Kortge reports. (Salish Current)

San Juan Islands National Monument: where’s the plan?
Almost 10 years ago, on March 25, 2013, then-President Barack Obama signed a presidential proclamation to protect, conserve and restore approximately 1,000 acres of BLM lands which  included 60 to 70 small islands plus parcels at Cattle Point on San Juan Island and Iceberg Point and Point Colville on Lopez Island. Nancy DeVaux reports. (Salish Current )

US officially changes names of places with racist term for Native women
The U.S. government has joined a ski resort and others that have quit using a racist term for a Native American woman by renaming hundreds of peaks, lakes, streams and other geographical features on federal lands in the West and elsewhere. New names for nearly 650 places bearing the offensive word "squaw" include the mundane (Echo Peak, Texas) peculiar (No Name Island, Maine) and Indigenous terms (Pannaite Naokwaide, Wyoming) whose meaning at a glance will elude those unfamiliar with Native languages. Among the place names changed are more than 50 features in Oregon and 17 in Washington state. Mead Gruver reports. (Associated Press)

Over-the-counter pesticides found in islands’ forage fish
A two-year study of contaminants in locally caught forage fish confirms the presence of pyrethroid pesticides, the most common active ingredient in home and garden products sold in the San Juan Islands including “knock down” sprays and carpenter ant treatments. Supported by the Rose Foundation’s Southern Resident Orca program, the study focused on Pacific Sand Lance, a keystone prey species for seabirds as well as Chinook salmon. Russell Barsh writes. (KWIAHT/San Juan Journal)

Blue Heron Slough, a 350-acre estuary restoration project, nears completion
Earlier this month, the Port of Everett celebrated the return of 353 acres of estuary near the mouth of the Snohomish River. Blue Heron Slough will be fully restored in the coming weeks when a final dike is breached and the tides flow in. It will be the first time in 100 years that the land is reconnected to Puget Sound. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

B.C. river mystery: What is killing the giant sturgeon of Nechako River?
Government scientists are asking for the public’s help to solve that mystery after 11 of the iconic and endangered fish were recently found dead in the Nechako in central B.C. (Canadian Press)

Researchers tackle mystery of missing bear toes, floating feet
British Columbia’s reputation for foot-related mysteries endures. Five years after B.C. officials solved the decade-long mystery of detached sneaker-clad feet washing up on shore in the region, another, lesser-known foot mystery has been exposed and its cause identified. During a study to better understand grizzly-bear deaths, Clayton Lamb, now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, captured and collared 59 grizzlies in southeastern B.C. between 2016 and 2020. Four of the bears were missing some front toes. Monique Keiran reports. (Times Colonist)

Jetty replacement to begin next week
The Port of Port Townsend on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. will conduct a groundbreaking ceremony at Point Hudson Marina to commence the project intended to rebuild the almost 90-year-old north and south jetties in a manner that honors their original aesthetic, but uses contemporary design and material elements. Paula Hunt reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

B.C. conservationists decry lack of action, transparency 2 years into forestry stewardship overhaul
Two years into a three-year process to defer the logging of some of B.C.'s grandest trees in its most ecologically diverse wilderness so that forestry stewardship could undergo a vast transformation, First Nations and conservationists are decrying a lack of progress and transparency. "Clearcutting of irreplaceable, endangered old growth continues, even in the most-at-risk stands," said Jens Wieting with Sierra Club B.C. as part of a report card issued by four conservation groups on Thursday. Chad Pawson reports. (CBC)

"Orca Rescue" and "Rooted": Nominees for Washington State Book Award
Celebrate Washington State Book Award nominations with authors Lynda Lyn Haupt and Donna Sandstorm tonight, Sept. 12 6 to 8 p.m., at C& P Coffee Company, West Seattle. Readings and book signings.

WA Supreme Court: State Not Required to Cut Forests to Maximize Revenue
On July 21, the state supreme court said unanimously that the state does indeed have a duty to the schools and other beneficiaries, BUT it also has a duty to “all the people.” Dan Chasan writes. (Post Alley)

Watch: 600-pound sea lion jumps into small BC boat
Reader Connie Gallant writes: " The story of the sea lion jumping on the small boat took me back to when my late husband JD was on his small sailboat on Quilcene Bay, minding his own business, writing on his notebook when suddenly he saw several Orcas coming very fast toward him. He looked around and saw this frantic young seal circling the sailboat and wanting desperately to jump in, but the freeboard was a tad too high for it. Seeing its plight, JD circled the boat and kept the boat between them. Of course, the whales would've not been remotely stopped by this action but apparently they were kinda full anyway so they gave up. That seal stayed around the boat for a long while. JD only wished someone would have filmed it - there were some locals on the shore who saw the whole thing but this was prior to everyone carrying a cell phone with camera. He never forgot the incredible desperation on the seal's eyes."

The US island that nearly ignited a war
On Washington's San Juan Island, a national historical park harks back to a notorious 1859 border dispute when the British and Americans almost went to war over a pig. Brendan Sainsbury writes. (BBC)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  247 AM PDT Mon Sep 12 2022   
TODAY  W 10 to 20 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves less than 1  ft becoming 1 to 3 ft in the afternoon. W swell 2 ft at 8 seconds.  A chance of showers in the morning then a slight chance of  showers in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt easing to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft subsiding to 1 ft or less after midnight. SW  swell 2 ft at 7 seconds. A slight chance of showers in the  evening then a chance of showers after midnight.

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