12/18 Summer tanager, Bellingham fire, impaired waters, ethnohistoric data

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Summer tanager [Ann Nightingale/CBC]

Birders atwitter as rare summer tanager makes flashy first-ever appearance near Victoria, B.C.
The appearance of the summer tanager, which is about the size of a robin and has tip-to-tail fiery plumage, has bird enthusiasts near and far all atwitter. The bird has never been seen in the Victoria area before, and has only been spotted once previously on Vancouver Island, according to birder Ann Nightingale. The rare bird's appearance in North Saanich is the first time a summer tanager has ever been seen in the area. Summer tanagers normally breed across much of the eastern and southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, spending their winters in the Caribbean, Central America, and parts of South America. How this one made its way to B.C. is a mystery. Karin Larsen reports. (CBC)

One person unaccounted for after overnight fire destroys historic building
One person remains unaccounted for after an overnight fire ravaged the historic Fairhaven Terminal Building in Bellingham’s southside Fairhaven Village. No injuries or other missing persons have been reported and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. The fire was first reported just before midnight on Saturday, December 16 and was contained by 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 17. The fire caused extensive damage to the historic Harris Avenue structure, destroying the Harris Avenue Café, the former Tony’s Coffee now called Old Independent Coffeehouse, and numerous second floor office spaces. (City of Bellingham)  See also: Business owner missing following fire that destroyed historic Fairhaven building Nathaniel V. Breaux, 39, has been reported as missing to Bellingham Police. Breaux is the owner of Harris Avenue Cafe. Jack Belcher reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Washington lags behind in water-pollution oversight
The GAO report found that the Washington State Department of Ecology, the agency responsible for submitting the lists, has been missing deadlines for a decade. (The EPA has been tardy, too: The agency is supposed to approve or deny impaired waters lists within 30 days of submission, but in 2018, it took nine months to complete its initial review of Washington’s work.) According to the EPA, Washington is one of only three states — the others are New York and North Dakota — that hadn’t submitted its 2020 and 2022 impaired waters lists as of August 2023. Kylie Mohr reports. (High Country News)

Using Ethnohistoric Data to Correct Historical Ecological Baselines: Urbanization and the Collapse of Forage Fish in Vancouver
Indigenous people and government bodies are often at odds when it comes to acceptable levels of impacts to local ecology that are based on two very different historical and cultural perspectives...The historical ecology of forage fish in the Vancouver region is an excellent example of this, and of how Indigenous knowledge can be used to correct currently accepted, but misleading, baselines and objectives for conservation management. (Salish Sea Institute)

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Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  216 AM PST Mon Dec 18 2023    
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT    
TODAY  SE wind 15 to 25 kt easing to 10 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. SW swell 4 ft at 11 seconds. A  slight chance of rain in the morning then a chance of rain in the  afternoon.  
TONIGHT  SE wind 15 to 25 kt becoming 15 to 20 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 4 ft at 11 seconds. Rain.

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