12/23 Snowberry, orca calf, logging, bad oysters, battery storage, dead marine mammals, boat turn-in, Columbia R treaty, holly

 

Common Snowberry (Native Plants PNW]

Common Snowberry Symphoricarpos albus
Common Snowberry is found from southeast Alaska to southern California; all across the northern United States and the Canadian provinces. Snowberries are high in saponins, which are poorly absorbed by the body.  Although they are largely considered poisonous, (given names like ‘corpse berry’ or ‘snake’s berry’), some tribes ate them fresh or dried them for later consumption. (Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Unseen and overlooked Anacortes / Seeing the forests through the plantations

New calf born in pod of endangered southern resident orca whales, researchers say
The Center for Whale Research (CWR) said the orca calf was spotted swimming with J pod in Puget Sound Friday, Dec. 20, and say it is most likely the child of the orca known as J35. CWR said it has not yet had an official encounter with the calf to confirm its lineage. Jeff Lawrence reports. (CHEK)

Logging would be allowed in millions of acres of national forest in Washington, Oregon and California, including older trees currently off-limits to cutting, under proposed amendments to the Northwest Forest Plan...The Biden administration has embarked on an update of the plan to address changes, including a loss of nearly 7% of protected old-growth forest within the plan area because of wildfire. The loss has eliminated gains of old growth achieved during the first 25 years of the plan. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Taylor brand oysters distributed in 3 provinces recalled over possible norovirus contamination
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall due to possible norovirus contamination of certain oysters distributed in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. The agency says the recall covers certain Fanny Bay, Sunseeker and Cloudy Bay oysters under the Taylor Shellfish Canada brand. The recall says most of the affected oysters were harvested and processed in early December, although some may have been harvested as early as Nov. 27. (Canadian Press)

Skagit County hearing examiner considers battery energy storage facility
A Skagit County hearing examiner considered Friday whether to grant a special-use permit for a battery energy storage facility in the Bayview Ridge area west of Burlington. The facility would be on about 22 acres along McFarland Road. The property is near a Puget Sound Energy substation and is zoned heavy industrial. The facility would be able to store up to 200 megawatt hours of energy for about four hours, increasing the power capacity and grid resiliency of the area, according to Skagit County. Racquel Muncy reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Activists sue to release images of dead orcas entangled by fishing boats
Activists sued the federal government Thursday to release images of dead orca whales, sea lions and other marine mammals entangled by commercial fishing boats off the U.S. West Coast. The complaints were filed after the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration failed to fulfill multiple Freedom of Information Act requests filed by Oceana, a Washington-based conservation group, as part of its campaign to raise public awareness about the harmful effects of trawl fishing in federally managed waters. (Associated Press)

Skagit County vessel turn-in event brings in 49 boats
Forty-nine vessels were kept from possibly becoming abandoned or derelict during a state Department of Natural Resources’ Vessel Turn in Program event held in Skagit County. The event, which ran July 22 through November, allowed vessel owners to responsibly dispose of their unwanted boats for free. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Stopgap Columbia River Treaty leaves U.S. with more electricity, trickier flood management
A stopgap update to the 60-year-old Columbia River Treaty between the U.S. and Canada upends flood control and hydropower across the river basin. The U.S. Department of State announced the temporary agreement late last month. It shifts flood risk management mostly to the U.S., which could make it trickier to manage floods on the Lower Columbia. But it also lets the U.S. keep an estimated $100 million in hydropower previously sent north. The new regime will have downstream impacts on hydropower generation, flood-control costs and ecosystems in ways that river managers say are not entirely clear yet. Henry Brannan reports. (The Columbian)

Holly
Reader Forest Shomer comments regarding Washington state efforts to label holly a noxious weed: "The eight holly growers could and should set a positive example, by helping develop and then cultivating a sterile hybrid form of the species. I don’t think many would object to a sterile holly, but as long as it is only available as an aggressive invader of our parks and forests—it is non grata to those of us who labor to keep heritage lands intact for the future (and present."

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Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  219 AM PST Mon Dec 23 2024    
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT    
TODAY  SE wind 5 to 10 kt, becoming E 20 to 25 kt. Seas 9 to  13 ft, building to 11 to 15 ft this afternoon. Wave Detail: E  3 ft at 5 seconds and W 14 ft at 19 seconds. Rain late.  
TONIGHT  E wind 20 to 25 kt, veering to S after midnight. Gusts  up to 40 kt. Seas 10 to 14 ft, subsiding to 7 to 10 ft after  midnight. Wave Detail: E 7 ft at 6 seconds and W 12 ft at  18 seconds. Rain.

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