11/17 Aspen, grizzlies, Indigenous voices, culturally modified trees, trout farm, struggling trees

Quaking Aspen [Native Plants PNW]

 

Quaking Aspen Populus tremuloides
Quaking Aspen is sometimes called Trembling Aspen.  All of its names refer to how the leaves will quiver with the slightest breeze. It is the most widely distributed tree in North America.  It ranges from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador, southeast to Virginia.  It is also found near the shores of Puget Sound and on southeastern Vancouver Island. Quaking Aspen is one of the most important timber trees in the east.  It is used for making engineered lumber such as waferboard and oriented strandboard.  The pulp makes fine paper.  It is also used to make crates, pallets and furniture as well as excelsior (wood shavings used for packing or stuffing), matchsticks, tongue depressors, and pellets for fuel. (Native Plants of PNW]

Meeting held to talk about grizzlies in the North Cascades
Federal agencies have begun an outreach and education process that will eventually lead to a plan to bring grizzly bears back to the North Cascades. At the first of four planned informational meetings Tuesday, staff with the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service updated the public on their plans, and fielded questions. Brandon Stone reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Community Voice: Listen, and support Indigenous voices
Knowledge and awareness of the challenges Indigenous peoples face are good; what matters is action. Terri Thayer writes. (Salish Current)

‘Removing the evidence of our existence’: logging of culturally important trees rampant in B.C.
Culturally modified trees are an important marker of Indigenous Peoples’ presence on and stewardship of the land — and not enough is being done to protect them, experts say. Judith Lavoie reports. (The Narwhal)

Cooke hits back at Washington State’s license decision
Cooke Aquaculture says the decision by the Washington Department of Natural Resources not to renew the company’s steelhead trout farming licenses is out of line with both science and judicial precedent. The company said that in 2018 Washington state had banned the farming of non-native fish such as Atlantic salmon but the state legislature had explicitly allowed for the farming of native species, including steelhead trout. The company said that in January 2022, the Washington State Supreme Court unanimously rejected the arguments of a group of environmental organizations and upheld a permit granted to Cooke Aquaculture Pacific by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for the farming of Pacific steelhead trout. (Fish Farmer)

As climate change progresses, trees in cities struggle
As the driest summer in Seattle’s record books ended, trees across the city were sounding silent alarms. It was the latest in a string of Seattle summers in the last decade, including a record-breaking heat dome in 2021, to feature drier conditions and hotter temperatures that have left many trees with premature brown leaves and needles, bald branches and excessive seeding –- all signs of stress. (Associated Press)

Have you read the Salish Current?
Independent, fact based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties. Free to read, free from ads. Catch the Current here.

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  309 AM PST Thu Nov 17 2022   
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM PST THIS MORNING   
TODAY  E wind 20 to 35 kt. Wind waves 5 to 7 ft. W swell 4 ft  at 13 seconds. 
TONIGHT  E wind 20 to 25 kt becoming 15 to 25 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft. W swell 3 ft at 12 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