9/6 Vine maple, bull kelp, sunken boat, dogfish, Site C wetlands, Steven Guilbeault, False Cr, tribe salmon fishery, Biden's forests

Vine maple [Native Plants PNW]

Vine Maple Acer circinatum
There are nearly 150 species of maples worldwide.  Most are from eastern Asia.  North America is home to about a dozen.  Maples are popular ornamental trees and there are many cultivated varieties. Vine Maple is one of the most popular native shrubs for landscapes.  An enchanting woodland landscape may be created by planting large groupings under the shade of taller trees along with ferns and woodland flowers. Natives used Vine Maple branches for baskets and fish traps.  It was often used for firewood. (Native Plants PNW)

Group seeks endangered species protection for West Coast bull kelp
An environmental group is seeking Endangered Species Act protections for underwater forests of bull kelp along the West Coast. The Center for Biological Diversity on Thursday submitted a petition to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to grant endangered status to the long stalks of kelp that are critical to Oregon coastal ecosystems. Bradley Parks reports. (OPB)

Fishing boat that sank in orca habitat ran into trouble 24 hours earlier
The fishing boat that sank off San Juan Island in August had run into trouble – apparently running aground – the previous day. The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies have declined to say why the boat sank, or even what it was doing before it went down, citing the ongoing investigation of the maritime disaster. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

Spiny dogfish
Regarding last Thursday's critter feature, reader Gene Helfman, author of "Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide," writes: "In the interests of taxonomic accuracy, the Spiny Dogfish on our coast is Squalus suckleyi, the Pacific Spiny Dogfish, not Squalus acanthias, which occurs on the east coast and elsewhere. Spiny Dogfish are probably the most abundant shark in the world.  Estimates of abundance for the combined Pacific coasts of Canada and the US put numbers at almost 2 billion individuals."

‘A beautiful lie’: BC Hydro says it will replace the wetlands Site C destroys, but experts say it’s impossible
This month, BC Hydro is set to drain and log Watson Slough to make way for the Site C dam in northwest B.C. Beavers will be trapped and euthanized and their dams will be destroyed to release the water from the wetlands. The slough, a collection of different types of wetlands stretching 20 hectares — roughly the size of 25 Canadian football fields — is a beloved nature area in the Peace River Valley renowned for birdwatching and visited by hundreds of schoolchildren over the years. It’s home to at-risk species like the yellow rail, a small marsh bird that hides among the grasses, and the stocky western toad. Elk, black bears, beavers, deer and muskrats also use the wetland along Highway 29 west of Fort St. John.Ainslie Cruickshank reports. (The Narwhal) https://thenarwhal.ca/site-c-construction-to-destroy-wetlands/

‘We’re Sued on Pretty Much Everything We Try’: Canada’s Climate Minister  
When Steven Guilbeault became Canada’s environment minister he was assigned a lengthy mandate letter which boils down to, more or less: fix climate change, please. In fact, his official title is Minister of Environment and Climate Change — a mantle he wears after being an environmental activist for 30 years before he transitioned to politics. Michelle Gamage reports. (The Tyee)

What's in store for Vancouver's False Creek? Scientists and locals take first steps toward revitalization
Volunteers and scientists are in the midst of a six-day "bio blitz" in Vancouver's False Creek, collecting water samples as an initial step toward cleaning up the inlet between Science World and English Bay. The project, running until Wednesday, is a collaboration between local non-profit False Creek Friends, scientists from the Hakai Institute coastal research centre, and the City of Vancouver. The blitz is part of a push to see False Creek recognized as an urban marine park or a protected environmental area — as well as somewhere people can safely swim — beginning with a biological inventory to identify as many species in the inlet as possible over six days. Joah Grant reports. (CBC)

Lummi Nation receives $11 million in salmon fishery disaster assistance funding
The Lummi Nation is set to receive more than $11 million in fishery disaster assistance funding to compensate for recent salmon fishery disasters the Tribe has faced in the past decade. according to Sen. Patty Murray, as part of more than $16 million in disaster relief funding for the Lummi Nation and three other Tribes in the region. David Rasbach reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Despite Biden's promises, logging poses major threat to PNW forests
On Earth Day this year, President Joe Biden visited Seattle’s Seward Park — home to 200-year-old stands of bigleaf maple and western red cedar covered in moss and licorice fern — where he gave a speech and signed an executive order aimed at strengthening the nation’s forests, communities and local economies. Section 2 of the executive order recognizes the value of mature and old-growth forests as natural tools against climate change and the biodiversity crisis. After all, big trees store a lot of carbon, and protecting older forests helps maintain healthy ecosystems and critical habitat. The order also directs the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to inventory these forests on federal lands and develop policies that conserve them as a linchpin of U.S. climate policy.  By the time all that comes to fruition, however, many of these forests could be gone. Rochelle Gluzman reports. (InvestigateWest)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  240 AM PDT Tue Sep 6 2022   
TODAY  SE wind to 10 kt becoming NE 10 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 ft or less building to 1 to 3 ft in the  afternoon. W swell 4 ft at 9 seconds. Patchy fog. 
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 3 ft  at 9 seconds.

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