11/30 Isopod, president's prize. BC pipe, BC LNG, Kicking Gas, controlled burns, solar farms, grey whale return, democracy watch, week in review

 

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Rockweed isopod

Rockweed isopod Idotea wosnesenskii
They are large isopods, measuring up to 3-4 cm long and quite dark. Generally their color is olive-green but it may vary from bright green to brown or nearly black. You can find it under rocks, under cobble at the edges of tide pools, in blades of seaweed, attached to floats and on eelgrass. Hangs onto holdfasts stalks, worm tubes and other objects. But the most common place is under rocks on the shore. Ranges from Alaska (and Russia) to Estero Bay, San Luis Obispo County. (Race Rocks Taxonomy) 

Today's top story in Salish Current: Skagit County critical areas plan sees updates

Edmonds students win President’s Environmental Youth Award for their Salish Sea documentary
Four former Hazelwood Elementary fourth and fifth-grade students helped create a documentary highlighting the Edmonds Underwater Park, a marine protected area located just off the city’s shore. Eliza Aronson reports. (Everett Herald) 

A guide to Carney’s pipeline deal — and the climate policies it weakens
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith have signed an agreement to advance Alberta’s pipeline dreams — and weaken at least seven climate policies. Carl Meyer and Drew Anderson write. (The Narwhal) 

Carney-Smith Pipeline Plan Is Slammed in BC
While the federal and Alberta governments have agreed on conditional approval for a bitumen pipeline to B.C.’s northwest coast, B.C. Premier David Eby said it doesn’t deal with the reasons he opposes the project. The proposed pipeline has “no proponent, no route, no money, no First Nations support,” he said. Andrew MacLeod and Amanda Follett Hosgood report. (The Tyee) 

Hodgson says it's 'premature' to draw conclusions about B.C. tanker ban fate
"What the MOU says is there will be a deepwater port with access to Asia," says Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson. "It does not say which port, on what part of the coast." Nick Murray reports. (Canadian Press) 

LNG Is the ‘Elephant in the Room’ at BC Climate Plan Update
B.C.’s CleanBC climate plan to lower carbon emissions and reduce global warming is working, but exists alongside a massive “elephant in the room” — the province’s burgeoning liquefied natural gas industry and the potential it will undermine emissions reduction efforts. Amanda Follett Hosgood and Zoë Yunker report. (The Tyee) 

Climate justice group Kicking Gas is expanding efforts to Snohomish County
The Whidbey Island-based climate justice group Kicking Gas is expanding its mission of helping households transition to electric appliances across Snohomish County, supporting the switch by covering up to 75% of installation costs. Eliza Aronson reports. (Everett Herald) 

Amid climate impacts in B.C., leading Secwépemc firekeeper shares ‘a better way of looking after the land’
In a time of worsening wildfires, Joe Gilchrist says cultural burning ‘needs to be multiplied hundreds of times’ — returning forests to Indigenous stewardship. Aaron Hemens reports. (IndigiNews/The Narwhal) 

Building resilience: How landowners and land managers are working to educate people on prescribed burns
On a wooded property near the small community of Viola in north Idaho, the air is hot and thick with smoke. Volunteers are here for a controlled burn, where fire is intentionally started to reduce wildfire risk and improve ecological health. The team is made up of university students, professors and staff from local lumber companies and forest management groups. Rachel Sun reports. (NW Public Broadcasting) 

This new innovation could make solar farms more wildlife friendly
At a proposed solar installation in southern Oregon, the renewable energy company Invenergy has plans to build a wildlife corridor and a nearly 2,000-acre conservation area to help offset the ecological impacts of industrial-scale construction in a largely undeveloped wilderness. Kendra Chamberlain reports. (Columbia Standard) 

‘Unusual timing’: Beloved grey whale is back feeding in B.C. instead of Mexico this winter
A well-known grey whale is back feeding in British Columbia for the second time this year, with whale watchers saying its winter apperance marks a change in its normal migration pattern. Alanna Kelly reports. (CBC) 

Democracry Watch

• Trump says he wants to ‘permanently pause’ migration to the US from poorer countries (AP) 
• Blaming some child deaths on covid shots, FDA vows stricter vaccine rules (Washington Post) 
• Trump cut tariffs on these five foods. It’s too late to stop price hikes. (Washington Post) 

Salish Sea News Week in Review 11/30/25: Rosa Parks, watershed rights, Makah whaling, pipeline penalty, air pollution rule, BC herring, president's prize, Kicking Gas. 

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Here's your tug weather— 
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  206 AM PST Sun Nov 30 2025    
MON  SE wind around 5 kt, veering to S in the afternoon. Seas  3 to 4 ft. Wave Detail: W 4 ft at 16 seconds. A chance of rain in  the morning, then rain in the afternoon.  
MON NIGHT  S wind 5 to 10 kt, veering to NW after midnight.  Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: W 6 ft at 16 seconds. Rain.

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