12/3 Noble fir, BC pipe, net-pen settlement, Fraser river salmon, Roberts Bank project, octopus, wildfire tax

Noble fir

Noble fir Abies procera
The noble fir, also called red fir and Christmastree, is a western North American fir, native to the Cascade Range and Coast Range mountains of extreme northwest California and western Oregon and Washington.

Trans Mountain to start construction on pipeline expansion
Trans Mountain Corp. is preparing to officially start construction on its pipeline expansion after years of delay. On Tuesday, Trans Mountain president and CEO Ian Anderson, federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan, provincial Energy Minister Sonya Savage, as well as representatives from local governments and the Enoch Cree Nation will officially mark the start of construction at an event near Acheson, Alta., west of Edmonton. The Crown corporation that owns the project has already mobilized its workforce and restarted some work at the pipeline's terminals, since the federal Liberal government approved the $7.4-billion expansion for the second time earlier this year.  The Federal Court of Appeal is currently reviewing an appeal by Indigenous groups of that second approval. Sarah Rieger reports. (CBC)

Cooke Aquaculture agrees to pay $2.75M to settle lawsuit over salmon net-pen collapse
Cooke Aquaculture has reached a settlement to pay $2.75 million in legal fees and to fund Puget Sound restoration projects, putting an end to a Clean Water Act lawsuit that followed the 2017 collapse of one of the fish-farming company’s net-pen structures. The nonprofit Wild Fish Conservancy, an advocacy group that opposes fish farming in open water, initiated its lawsuit against Cooke in August 2017, about a week after a Cooke net pen near Cypress Island collapsed. State regulators would later say the company’s negligence led to the collapse and determined that as many as 263,000 Atlantic salmon escaped the floating cage structure and into Puget Sound. Fears did not materialize that the escaped salmon would survive and spread in Washington waters long-term. Some were concerned they could be a threat to native salmon. Evan Bush reports. (Seattle Times)

Fraser River most critically endangered river in B.C: Outdoor council
The combined impacts of habitat destruction, fisheries management and climate change on the Fraser River are at their most damaging point since the Outdoor Recreation Council began compiling data 40 years ago. Steelhead runs in the largest tributaries of the Fraser are on the brink of extinction. The spawning population in the Thompson watershed is estimated to be 86 fish, according to a recent update from the ministry of forests, lands and natural resources. The Chilcotin watershed has only 39 steelhead likely to spawn. Non-selective net fishing for salmon is undercutting conservation and habitat restoration efforts intended to save the Fraser River steelhead from blinking out of existence, said Mark Angelo, chairman of the 100,000-member ORC. Randy Shore reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Biologist 'gobsmacked' the salmon sperm he helped freeze 20 years ago may now boost a dwindling stock
After a particularly bad year for salmon returns because of a landslide near Big Bar, the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council partnered with the Spruce City Wildlife Association in Prince George, to use salmon sperm they cryogenically froze 20 years ago, to try to replenish a Chinook salmon stock. Dustin Snyder, a spokesperson for the Spruce City Wildlife Association, said that 1,600 out of the 2,000 eggs they fertilized in September have survived. This is lower than what they usually see when using fresh salmon sperm, or milt, but they are excited to be reintroducing genetic diversity that has likely been lost. Biologist Brian Harvey helped the Carrier Sekani collect the milt 20 years ago in the Endako River and was "gobsmacked" when he heard they're now successfully using it. Dominika Lirette reports. (CBC)

Field Studies Continue for Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is continuing field studies in December 2019 as part of ongoing environmental and technical work for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project. Since 2011, the Port Authority has been conducting field studies at Roberts Bank and the surrounding areas that build on previous scientific work as well as address existing information gaps. According to the Port, the purpose of these studies is to determine the physical conditions (e.g., temperature and salinity) influencing biofilm presence and distribution at Roberts Bank. The Roberts Bank study area is located in the upper and mid intertidal zones north of the Roberts Bank causeway. The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project is a proposed new three-berth marine container terminal located at Roberts Bank in Delta, British Columbia, approximately 35 km south of Vancouver. (DredgingToday)

The Octopus from Outer Space
Seattle’s most beguiling sea creatures were once feared and hunted—and even wrestled—for sport. But new research and a few surprising encounters are changing how we view them. A story in eight parts.  James Ross Gardner writes. (SeattleMet)

New tax proposed to protect Washington from looming wildfire crisis
State Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz says a new tax is needed to help protect Washington during the upcoming wildfire season. But the plan is getting a cold reception from Republicans at the state Legislature...Franz is proposing a new way to bring in money each year for firefighting and fire prevention -- a tax. Her plan would hike Washington residents' insurance tax rate for property and casualty by $1 each month for the average household. It is estimated to generate $63 million annually.   Keith Eldridge reports. (KOMO)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  213 AM PST Tue Dec 3 2019   
TODAY  SE wind 5 to 15 kt becoming 10 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 4 ft at 10 seconds  building to 6 ft at 13 seconds in the afternoon. A chance of rain  in the morning then rain likely in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 10 to 20 kt becoming SW 5 to 15 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 8 ft at 14 seconds. Rain.



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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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12/2 Snow geese, BC salmon, water temp, 'salmon cannon,' First Nation solar, coastal sea rise, Stanwood berm, owl hits, marbled murrelet economics, gypsy moth spray

Snow geese [Mike Hamilton/BirdNote]

Snow Geese: Too Much of a Good Thing
Large migrant flocks of Snow Geese descend on the Lower 48 states in October and November, returning from their summer breeding grounds in the Arctic. The geese are an entrancing natural spectacle in sparkling white — but there is a problem. “Conservation” usually means protecting declining species and critical habitats. But what happens when a species’ population swells beyond the capacity of its habitat? How should we handle it? Too much of a good thing — that is the Snow Goose conundrum. Snow Geese numbers have ballooned, from fewer than a million in the 1960s to perhaps 15 million today. The geese overwhelm the Arctic tundra where they nest, degrading breeding areas they share with nesting sandpipers and other birds. (BirdNote)

Some B.C. salmon runs face 'meaningful chance of extinction' after landslide, despite rescue mission
Scientists fear that some Fraser River salmon populations could be wiped out completely following a landslide that has blocked part of the critical B.C. migration route for the last year. Federal government scientists told the Pacific Salmon Commission there is a "meaningful chance of extinction" for three salmon runs after the Big Bar landslide, according to a copy of a PowerPoint presentation, dated  Oct. 16, obtained by CBC News. That includes the Early Stuart sockeye and the Mid-Fraser and Upper Fraser Spring 1.3 chinook populations. The landslide prompted officials at multiple levels of government to organize a rescue mission that saw thousands of salmon, which are very vulnerable to stress, lifted by helicopter across the rocks that blocked their migration route. But despite that effort, prospects are dismal for the salmon in the upper reaches of the river, according to Dean Werk, president of the Fraser Valley Salmon Society. Bethany Lindsay reports. (CBC)

East Vancouver's urban salmon stream sees no returning fish in 3 years
Biologists are sounding the alarm over the lack of fish in one of Vancouver's few salmon-bearing streams. Nestled in an industrial corner of East Vancouver, Still Creek is one of a handful of places in the city where salmon come to spawn. After 80 dormant years, the salmon returned in 2012 following a city restoration of the creek. Hundreds of chum salmon have been through since then. But biologist and volunteer stream keeper David Scott says there haven't been any salmon in three years. (CBC)

Water temperature problem in local creeks regains attention
The state Department of Ecology is refocusing on a water quality problem in the Skagit River watershed that’s gotten little attention over the past decade. The problem has to do with high water temperatures during the summer in some tributaries to the river in the lower watershed, from Hansen Creek in the Sedro-Woolley area to Fisher Creek south of Mount Vernon. Sections of those and six other tributaries to the lower Skagit River were listed in 1998 under the federal Clean Water Act as having impaired water quality due to the high temperatures — an issue of particular concern for the region’s salmon, which need cold water. A July 2008 report from Ecology set the goal of planting trees along the banks of the eight creeks as well as a ninth in the area by 2020 in order to bring water temperatures to acceptable levels by 2080. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

BTC students work with famous ‘Salmon Cannon’ that could help local salmon runs
Bellingham Technical College students used Whooshh Innovations’ famous “Salmon Cannon” to aid salmon migration to the Whatcom Creek Hatchery at Maritime Heritage Park. The Seattle-based company’s fish transport system has achieved stardom over the last five years, even making an appearance on HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The system can be used to help migrating salmon — and other fish — pass by human-made obstacles, such as dams. In its second year, the collaboration between Whooshh Innovations and BTC is an example of how the college is helping students “work really closely with industry,” said Brittany Palm-Flawd, hatchery manager and BTC faculty member. It also gave students an opportunity to work with emerging technology in their industry. Warren Sterling reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Community prepares to throw switch on solar farm 100% owned and operated by First Nation
The chief of a small First Nations community in British Columbia's Interior says he expects the power to go on any day now for what will be among the first solar farms 100 per cent owned and operated by a First Nation in the province. Chief Russell Myers Ross of the Yunesit'in in the Chilcotin region west of Williams Lake says the 1.25-megawatt hours per year project is also among the largest operational solar farms in the province. (Canadian Press)

If you like to watch: Crosscut Documentaries presents: The Rising
Climate change is quickly altering the shape of the Northwest — its ecosystems, its coastlines and the ways of life of the humans who live on it. This is perhaps felt most acutely by several tribes on the Pacific Coast, where declining salmon stocks and an ocean in revolt are forcing them to confront the reality of moving from the place they’ve inhabited since time immemorial. In the Quinault Indian Nation, plans are underway for relocating the villages of Taholah and Queets, where over a thousand people face increased tsunami risk as the sea rises inch by inch, year by year. Severe floods already breach the sea walls meant to protect Taholah, and the mouth of the Queets River has transformed into a funnel for surging waves. (25:10)      Sarah Hoffman and Ted Alvarez report. (Crosscut)

Climate change: COP25 island nation in 'fight to death'
The president of an island nation on the frontline of climate change says it is in a "fight to the death" after freak waves inundated the capital. Powerful swells averaging 5m (16ft) washed across the capital of the Marshall Islands, Majuro, last week. But President Hilda Heine said the Pacific nation had been fighting rising tides even before last week's disaster. Political leaders and climate diplomats are meeting in Madrid for two weeks of talks amid a growing sense of crisis. Matt McGrath reports. (BBC)

New berm will offer flood protection, views in Stanwood
A quarter-mile berm will soon protect a historic business district in downtown Stanwood from the flood-prone Stillaguamish River. Atop the berm, which will be between between Marine Drive and 92nd Avenue Northwest, a 10-foot-wide paved trail will connect bicyclists and pedestrians to the 88th Street park and ride. The trail will offer views of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound. Bids go out Dec. 11 for the million-dollar project. Construction is set to begin in early 2020, and will take about six months, according to city engineer Shawn Smith. The Stillaguamish River has flooded downtown Stanwood somewhere in the company of three times in the past decade, Smith said. Julia-Grace Sanders reports. (Everett Herald)

Owl collisions with vehicles on seasonal rise
With more hours of darkness, and more rain and fog that can obscure vision this time of year, area wildlife rehabilitation facilities are seeing an increase in owls being hit by vehicles. “It’s becoming dark earlier, and then these owls are out hunting and there’s trash and things on the sides of roads, and that attracts rodents ... so that’s where they hunt and then they get clipped by cars,” Sarvey Wildlife Center Executive Director Suzanne West said. This increase is something Sarvey in Arlington and Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on San Juan Island see each fall. Both centers treat wildlife from Skagit County, and each have recently received several owls injured along roadsides here. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Marbled murrelet plan to have huge impact on junior taxing districts, Forks official says
The financial impact that the state’s preferred alternative for the Marbled Murrelet Long-Term Conservation Strategy would have on West End junior taxing districts could be significantly greater than officials have said previously, according to Rod Fleck, Forks city attorney and planner. An analysis by Fleck shows that West End districts that have trust lands comprised largely of 50-year-old trees or older would see significant impacts over the next two decades. “Looking through the pages for Clallam County … the actual impacts are much higher than clearly stated [in the final Environmental Impact Statement,]” Fleck said in an email...The final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the plan to protect the threatened seabird was released in September and has been criticized by local officials for lacking adequate financial analysis. Jesse Major reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Washington plans to spray 1,300 acres for gypsy moths
About 1,300 acres in northwest Washington likely will be sprayed with an insecticide next spring to stop an outbreak of gypsy moths, including a type native to Asia never before detected in the U.S. The Washington State Department of Agriculture said it tentatively plans to release Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki over Woodway, a small city on Puget Sound, and Boulevard Bluffs, an Everett neighborhood. Both places are in Snohomish County. Don Jenkins reports. (Capitol Press)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  201 AM PST Mon Dec 2 2019   
TODAY  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  6 ft at 11 seconds. A chance of rain in the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  5 ft at 10 seconds. A slight chance of rain in the evening. A  chance of rain after midnight.



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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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11/29 Salish Sea News Week in Review November 29 2019: Bill Ruckelshaus, car-tab initiative paused, plastic ban, Indigenous People's rights, suing fish farms, kelp crisis, rising carbon, Kalama methanol, Rayonier cleanup, squid pro quo

Aloha Pong Friday!
One of the very first arcade games to hit the market, Pong was a 1 or 2 player video game similar to tennis, where the goal is to use a paddle to hit a ball. Around 35,000 Pong consoles were sold around the world. Pong was released by Atari on this day in 1972.

William D. Ruckelshaus, who refused to join in Nixon’s ‘Saturday Night Massacre,’ dies at 87
William D. Ruckelshaus, a pragmatic and resolute government official who shaped the Environmental Protection Agency in the early 1970s as its first administrator and returned to the agency a decade later to restore its shattered morale after its watchdog powers had been muzzled, died Nov. 27 at his home in Medina, Wash. He was 87....A longtime Seattle resident, Mr. Ruckelshaus served from 2007 to 2010 as the first head of the Puget Sound Partnership, an environmental agency in Washington state. In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Timothy R. Smith reports. (Washington Post)

King County judge presses pause on car-tab fee initiative
A King County Superior Court judge granted a temporary injunction blocking implementation of Initiative 976, which was scheduled to go into effect next week.  In order to get a preliminary injunction, attorneys have to show they're likely to win the case on its merits and that any harms resulting from the initiative would be immediate. Judge Marshall Ferguson agreed with a coalition of cities, counties and transit agencies on both of those counts. Simone Alicea reports. (KNKX)

Vancouver has banned plastics — but will it hold up, legally?
The City of Vancouver says its plastic ban bylaw will withstand legal challenge because it is governed by a different charter than the City of Victoria, which had a similar bylaw struck down earlier this year after a legal battle. On Wednesday, Vancouver city council voted to phase in a ban on plastic straws and plastic shopping bags. Under the bylaw, plastic straws will be banned starting in April, and plastic bags will be banned in January 2021. However, in July, a similar bylaw proposed by the City of Victoria — banning plastic bags — was struck down by the B.C. Court of Appeal after being challenged by the Canadian Plastic Bag Association. (CBC)


UN Indigenous rights bill approved unanimously in B.C.
B.C. has become the first jurisdiction in Canada to formally implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The bill was approved unanimously in the legislature on Tuesday.


Atlantic salmon farms in Puget Sound taken to court
Atlantic salmon farms go on trial Monday, Dec. 2 in Seattle. Environmentalists have taken the owners of a salmon farm that collapsed two years ago to court for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.


Kelp crisis? Decline of underwater forests raises alarms
They rival tropical forest in their richness and diversity, but Puget Sound's kelp beds have declined steeply in recent decades. Scientists are just starting to understand the extent of these losses through mapping projects and consultations with local tribes. What they are finding is bringing kelp to the forefront of Puget Sound's environmental concerns. Sarah DeWeerdt reports. (Salish Sea Currents)


Climate change: Greenhouse gas concentrations again break records
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases once again reached new highs in 2018.

Washington state deals setback to massive methanol plant
Washington state dealt a setback Friday to efforts to build one of the world’s biggest methanol plants on the Columbia River, saying that five years in, its backers had failed to provide enough information about its greenhouse gas emissions and how they would be offset.


Port Angeles city manger outlines objections to Rayonier cleanup proposal
City staff members plan to submit comments by Tuesday’s deadline objecting to the state Department of Ecology’s preferred alternative for cleaning up the former Rayonier pulp mill site, the city manager said. Port Angeles City Manager Nathan West said that the preferred approach “effectively creates a landfill on the highest and most usable portion of the Rayonier site and it creates a landfill in perpetuity.”


How to become an ink-stained wretch.
'I subscribe to a daily email roundup and summary of local environmental news called the Salish Sea News and Weather. Yesterday’s installment contained a story from Seattle’s KOMO News called “Got squid? Why officials say you should catch and eat it out of Puget Sound.” It went on to say, “Forget fishing for salmon. Puget Sound crab pots are so passé. Squid is in.” The upshot was that officials had tested local squid for heavy metals and other contaminants, declared them fit for consumption, and now we Pacific Northwest salmon-loving denizens should all switch to squid....' Karen Sullivan writes.


These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Now, your weekend tug weather:
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  756 PM PST Thu Nov 28 2019  
FRI  E wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 2 ft at  9 seconds. 
FRI NIGHT  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  1 ft at 9 seconds. 
SAT  E wind 5 to 15 kt rising to 15 to 25 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 1 to 2 ft building to 2 to 4 ft. W swell 2 ft at 9  seconds building to 4 ft at 18 seconds. 
SAT NIGHT  E wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell  6 ft at 16 seconds. 
SUN  E wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 6 ft at  14 seconds.

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11/27 Wild turkey, indigenous rights, BC LNG, suing WA fish farms

Eastern wild turkey [Texas A&M]

Eastern wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo silvestris
Since 1960, three subspecies of wild turkey have been introduced in Washington: the Merriam’s, Rio Grande, and eastern.Currently, the Merriam’s subspecies occupies portions of Ferry, Klickitat, Pend Oreille, Skamania, Stevens, Spokane, Okanogan, Chelan, Kittitas, and Yakima counties. Rio Grande turkeys can be found in Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, Lincoln, Walla Walla, and Whitman counties. Turkeys of the eastern subspecies can be found west of the Cascades in Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Thurston, and Wahkiakum counties. (WDFW)

UN Indigenous rights bill approved unanimously in B.C.
B.C. has become the first jurisdiction in Canada to formally implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The bill was approved unanimously in the legislature on Tuesday.  "Today, we have made history," the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation and the First Nations Leadership Council said in a joint statement. The bill mandates the provincial government to bring its policies and laws into harmony with the aims of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. (CBC)

Arriving 'too late' rated biggest risk for growth in Canadian LNG industry
The former executive director of the International Energy Agency says the biggest risk to Canada's nascent LNG industry is that it will be "too late" to join in a massive LNG expansion surge sweeping the globe. Maria van der Hoeven, a retired Dutch politician and leader of the IEA from 2011 to 2015, says there's time for Canada to compete in a field led by players from the Middle East, Australia, Russia and, increasingly, the United States. She says the question is whether Canada can overcome its unique regulatory hurdles to build projects and be ready to deliver liquefied natural gas as demand ramps up in Asian countries such as China, Korea and Japan...Van der Hoeven says environmentalists who have attacked the use of natural gas to replace coal because it's also a fossil fuel are being unrealistic if they think the world can wean itself off all fossil fuels in a decade or less. (CBC)

Atlantic salmon farms in Puget Sound taken to court
Atlantic salmon farms go on trial Monday, Dec. 2 in Seattle. Environmentalists have taken the owners of a salmon farm that collapsed two years ago to court for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. Puget Sound has just two farms that still raise Atlantic salmon today. That’s down from eight a couple years ago, when a poorly maintained Cooke Aquaculture farm collapsed. A quarter-million fish from another ocean escaped into Puget Sound. An activist group called the Wild Fish Conservancy is suing Cooke. The group says Cooke failed to keep the collapsed farm in good condition and is doing the same at its remaining farms. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  306 AM PST Wed Nov 27 2019   
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT   
TODAY  NE wind 25 to 35 kt. Combined seas 6 to 8 ft with a  dominant period of 6 seconds. 
TONIGHT  NE wind 25 to 35 kt. Combined seas 6 to 8 ft with a  dominant period of 6 seconds.



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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter. 

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11/26 Aggregating anemone, rising greenhouse gases, got squid?

Aggregating anemone [Mary Jo Adams]

Aggregating anemone Anthopleura elegantissima
Anthopleura elegantissima lives in rocky areas from the middle to low intertidal zones, it can also be found higher in tide pools...Colonies of Anthopleura elegantissima may cover large rocks. These cloned individuals usually don't grow more than about an inch across before splitting into two new anemones. Larger solitary individuals can be found in tide pools and in the low intertidal zone. This anemone is generally green with pink or purple tipped tentacles. The exact shade of green varies depending on the presence and ratio of two single-celled symbiotic organisms in its tissues; a green algae and an olive or golden brown dinoflagellate. Without the symbiont, they appear grayish or white except for the pink on their tentacles. (Sound Water Stewards)

Climate change: Greenhouse gas concentrations again break records
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases once again reached new highs in 2018. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says the increase in CO2 was just above the average rise recorded over the last decade. Levels of other warming gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide, have also surged by above average amounts. Since 1990 there's been an increase of 43% in the warming effect on the climate of long lived greenhouse gases. Matt McGrath reports. (BBC) See also: World Powers Vowed to Cut Greenhouse Gases. They’re Still Rising Perilously.  Somini Sengupta reports. (NY Times)

Got squid?
Yesterday's item about catching and eating Puget Sound squid [Got squid? Why officials say you should catch and eat it out of Puget Sound] prompted our Bad Punster Home Runster columnist to write: "I gotta tell you, getting us Northwesterners to switch from eating salmon to cephalopods may require some serious outreach, perhaps even a bit of squid pro quo." Undaunted, she returned with: "I’m kraken myself up over here."


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  245 AM PST Tue Nov 26 2019     
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON  THROUGH LATE TONIGHT 
GALE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY  NIGHT   
TODAY  E wind 5 to 15 kt rising to 15 to 25 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 2 ft or less building to 2 to 4 ft in the  afternoon. W swell 8 ft at 13 seconds. A slight chance of rain in  the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  NE wind 20 to 30 kt becoming 25 to 30 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft. W swell 6 ft at 11 seconds.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

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11/25 Elwha, Kalama methanol, BC subsidies, Nooksack water, Rayonier cleanup, Big Beef Cr, Budd Inlet closed, got squid?, Jamestown S'Klallam oyster farm, EPA prosecutions, forest grooming, king tides

Elwha nearshore 11/21/19 [Lindsey Howard/CWI]

Washington state deals setback to massive methanol plant
Washington state dealt a setback Friday to efforts to build one of the world’s biggest methanol plants on the Columbia River, saying that five years in, its backers had failed to provide enough information about its greenhouse gas emissions and how they would be offset. The $2 billion Northwest Innovation Works project would take natural gas from Canada and convert it into methanol, which would be shipped to China to make olefins — compounds used in everything from fabrics and contact lenses to iPhones and medical equipment. Gene Johnson reports. (Associated Press)

B.C. subsidizes fossil fuels to tune of hundreds of millions annually, according to study
B.C.’s provincial government provided at least $830 million in subsidies in 2017-18 for the production and consumption of fossil fuels, according to a new report out of the International Institute for Sustainable Development. The province’s subsidies are complicated and extensive, often overlooked and not always transparent, and they amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in public cash annually in support of activities that contribute to climate change, the authors of the report found. Vanessa Corkal, one of the authors of the study, titled Locked In and Losing Out, explained that the report took on B.C. not to single out the province, but rather to get a full sense of the types of provincial fossil fuel subsidies that exist in Canada and that effectively hold back the country’s ability to move forward on its climate goals. Matt Robinson reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Even the Wet Northwest Is Struggling to Manage Its Water
The Nooksack River winds its way from the glaciers on Mount Baker to Bellingham Bay in northwest Washington. Though it originates in one of the snowiest places in the world, the river this summer was running about as low as it ever has in recorded history. That meant some farms in the berry, dairy, and potato-producing region weren’t allowed to water their crops. Similarly low flows in 2015 forced salmon to navigate away from their usual spawning grounds to find cooler water, and highlighted vulnerability for some local crops.  Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Bitterroot Magazine)

Port Angeles city manger outlines objections to Rayonier cleanup proposal
City staff members plan to submit comments by Tuesday’s deadline objecting to the state Department of Ecology’s preferred alternative for cleaning up the former Rayonier pulp mill site, the city manager said. Port Angeles City Manager Nathan West said that the preferred approach “effectively creates a landfill on the highest and most usable portion of the Rayonier site and it creates a landfill in perpetuity.” The proposal covers the 75-acre industrial site on the waterfront on the east side of Port Angeles Harbor and harbor water. Under Volume 3 of the plan, more than 1 foot of 0.5 acres of mill site would be excavated, while 10 acres would be excavated to 1 foot on an industrial section that is mostly covered with cement. Another 10 acres of polluted area would be capped. Leah Leach reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Conservation groups protect Hood Canal shoreline at Big Beef Creek
Native plants will soon take the place of invasive ones at the Big Beef Creek estuary, and more fish will return to the creek, bringing bald eagles to feast on the shore of Hood Canal. Twelve acres of Hood Canal tidelands are being protected through the purchase of property near Seabeck that occurred this month. The Great Peninsula Conservancy and Hood Canal Coordinating Council partnered to acquire the land, which will preserve 1,083 feet of shoreline. The groups plan to restore the area to its natural state, free of human interference. The land includes the outlet of Big Beef Creek, which supports salmon and trout. The Great Peninsula Conservancy says the purchase will help to ensure habitat and health for shellfish, forage fish, birds, and endangered salmon in the area. Jesse Darland reports. Jessie Darland reports.  (Kitsap Sun)

State officials close Budd Inlet to all shellfish harvesting because of toxin levels
The State Department of Health has closed Budd Inlet for all shellfish harvesting because of elevated Diarrhetic Shellfish Poison (DSP), the department announced Friday afternoon. Shellfish samples taken earlier this week had toxin levels of 136 micrograms (ug)/100 grams of shellfish tissue. The advisory limit is 16 ug/100 grams, DOH said a statement. The closure covers the entire inlet — the area south of the end of Cooper Point on the west side and Boston Harbor on the east. (The Olympian)

Got squid? Why officials say you should catch and eat it out of Puget Sound
Forget fishing for salmon. Puget Sound crab pots are so passé. Squid is in. For the first time in a couple decades, officials have tested squid in Puget Sound for metals and other contaminants. Results are very positive, and now they say that squid is a great option for fishing and eating out of Puget Sound. Dyer Oxley reports. (KOMO)

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe awaits decision on oyster farm
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe will know before Christmas whether it will secure two Clallam County permits needed for its proposal to re-establish its oyster farm inside the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. Clallam County Hearing Examiner Andrew Reeves said during a hearing Thursday that he would render his decision on a Conditional Use Permit and a Shoreline Substantial Development Permit by Dec. 23. The Clallam County Department of Community Development has recommended that Reeves deny the tribe’s application, arguing that the project is “not consistent with the Natural Shoreline Designation, does not meet the Shoreline CUP Criteria, and will negatively impact the wildlife at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge,” according to a Nov. 14 staff report. Jesse Major reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

EPA prosecutions of polluters approach quarter-century lows
Criminal prosecution and convictions of polluters have fallen to quarter-century lows under the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency, deepening three years of overall enforcement declines, according to Justice Department statistics. And while the administration says it’s focusing on quality over quantity in pollution cases, using its enforcement resources to go after the biggest and worst offenders, an Associated Press analysis found little sign of that so far in court cases closed in 2019. The criminal pollution cases initiated, and won this year, under the Trump administration, appear to be smaller one-offs, such as an Alaska fishing captain who let a reality TV show crew film his cheering crew as it dumped waste overboard into an Alaskan strait in 2017. Ellen Knickmeyer reports. (Associated Press)

Grooming forests could be making fires worse, researchers warn
Researchers are growing increasingly critical of a common forest management practice, as studies show it may be causing fires to travel farther, faster. "In 2017 and 2018 here in British Columbia, in both summers, we burned over 1.2 million hectares of forest," says Lori Daniels, a forest ecologist at the University of British Columbia.  "Diversifying the forest ... is a really effective way to create resilience in our landscape and resistance to these major fires we've been witnessing." Meanwhile, much of the Canadian forestry industry is doing the opposite, spraying thousands of hectares of public forest with glyphosate each year to promote profitable coniferous growth, and eliminate hardwood species like aspen and birch. The primary ingredient in the Monsanto-made herbicide Roundup, glyphosate has been under scrutiny in both agriculture and forestry for years. It remains widely used, because while softwood species like pine and spruce can tolerate a certain dosage of the chemical, glyphosate can be effective in eliminating the growth of hardwood trees for decades. Jill English reports. (CBC)

Oregon Project Asks Citizens To Document King Tides For Climate Science
Oregonians, it’s time to take pictures of the coast. For science. Thanksgiving week, the world will experience some of the highest tides of the year. These tides, called king tides, can be 2 or more feet higher than the average high tides. Jesse Jones, volunteer coordinator with Coastwatch, said extra high tides can help us learn how different communities will be impacted by climate change. Erin Ross reports. (OPB) See also: 82 Days Underwater: The Tide Is High, but They’re Holding On  A brutal “king tides” season made worse by climate change has flooded the streets of a Florida Keys community for nearly three months. Patricia Mazzei reports. (NY Times)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  243 AM PST Mon Nov 25 2019   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE  TONIGHT   
TODAY  NW wind 10 to 20 kt becoming W 5 to 15 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. W swell 11 ft at 14 seconds. A  slight chance of showers in the morning. 
TONIGHT  NW wind 10 to 20 kt easing to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 1 to 3 ft subsiding to 1 ft or less after midnight. W  swell 11 ft at 14 seconds.



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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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11/22 Cape Flattery. Jordan Cove, plastic straw ban, climate health, kelp reproduction, Colstrip closure, Surfrider coastlines

Cape Flattery {L. Lisa Lawrence]

Cape Flattery
Cape Flattery is the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States. It is in Clallam County, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, where the Strait of Juan de Fuca joins the Pacific Ocean. It is also part of the Makah Reservation, and is the northern boundary of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Cape Flattery is the oldest permanently named feature in Washington state, being described and named by James Cook on March 22, 1778. In 1834, the first Japanese persons known to have set foot on what is now Washington state arrived in a dismasted, rudderless ship that ran aground near Cape Flattery. The three survivors of the broken ship were held as slaves by the local Makah people. When William H. McNeill learned about them, he took them to British authorities at Fort Vancouver, under orders from John McLoughlin of the Hudson's Bay Company which controlled the site.(Wikipedia)

Protesters Take Over Oregon Gov. Kate Brown's Office Over Jordan Cove Project
UPDATE (Thursday, Nov. 21 at 9:50 p.m. PT) — Opponents of plans to build a liquefied natural gas pipeline and terminal on the Oregon coast occupied Gov. Kate Brown’s Salem office Thursday, demanding that she announce her opposition to the project. Brown spoke to the protesters late Thursday evening and told the group she wants to ensure that federal regulators don’t circumvent state agencies’ permitting powers. She did not come down on either side of the pipeline debate. (OPB)

Details of Vancouver's plastic straw and shopping bag ban released
A City of Vancouver staff report outlining a recommended plastic straw and shopping bag ban has been made public. In the report, city staff recommend banning plastic and compostable plastic straws by April 2020. There's a recommendation of a one-year exemption for straws served with bubble tea to allow businesses time to find alternatives. The report also recommends that accessible, bendable plastic straws wrapped in paper be provided only if someone asks for one. The report breaks disposable, single-use items into four categories: cups, utensils, straws and shopping bags. (CBC)

King County releases blueprint to address climate change and public health
Seattle and King County Public Health have developed a blueprint to address climate change and health...The blueprint is 31 pages in length, and covers public health action and developing leadership. It includes building climate and community resilience, climate change in the Puget Sound region and specific impacts on people’s health. In the blueprint, it said higher concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are causing global temperatures and sea levels to rise, snow and ice to decline and weather to become more varied and extreme. Jennifer Lee reports. (KCPQ)

Climate change may impact kelp’s ability to reproduce
Marine heat waves may be impacting one of the ocean’s major sources of food and shelter for sea life—kelp. A recent study by SFU post-doctoral student Jordan Hollarsmith published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology examined how giant kelp respond to increasingly warm and acidic oceans. Researchers found that in lab settings, high-latitude kelp completely failed to reproduce when stressed by heat. (Simon Fraser News)

Colstrip owner speeds up exit plans 9 years to 2025
A Colstrip Power Plant owner has accelerated its exit plans by nearly a decade and has agreed to compensate the community. Avista Corp. agreed to be financially ready to exit both Units 3 and 4 by 2025. Based in Spokane, Washington, Avista had previously given itself until 2034 to be financially ready for Unit 3’s closure and 2036 for Unit 4. The change in plans is part of a partial settlement agreement between Avista and multiple intervening parties in the utility’s general rate case in Washington State. Avista has a 15% share of each unit. Customer debt associated with Avista’s ownership share plant is about $50 million. The settlement calls for lowering customer depreciation share to $38.5 million, or $6.7 million a year through 2025. Tom Lutey reports. (KPVI)

How Does Your State Manage Its Coast? Surfrider Report Finds Most States Are ‘Not Making the Grade’
Today (11/12), Surfrider released the 2019 State of the Beach Report. Once again, our findings illustrate that 74% of coastal states are doing a mediocre to poor job of managing our nation’s shorelines and preparing for future sea level rise.  As timing would have it, our report was released on the heels of other major climate science reports that predict a dire future if society does not act on climate change very soon. Stefanie Sekich-Quinn writes. (Surfrider Foundation)


Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  230 AM PST Fri Nov 22 201 SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM  PST THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING   
TODAY  SE wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 11 ft  at 16 seconds. 
TONIGHT  SE wind to 10 kt rising to 10 to 20 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 1 ft or less building to 1 to 3 ft after midnight. W  swell 9 ft at 15 seconds. A chance of rain. 
SAT  SW wind 10 to 20 kt rising to 15 to 25 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft building to 2 to 4 ft in the  afternoon. W swell 9 ft at 15 seconds. Rain. 
SAT NIGHT  SW wind 15 to 25 kt becoming W 20 to 30 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft building to 3 to 5 ft after  midnight. W swell 11 ft at 15 seconds building to 13 ft at 16  seconds after midnight. 
SUN  NW wind 15 to 25 kt becoming W 5 to 15 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 1 to 2 ft in the  afternoon. W swell 12 ft at 15 seconds.



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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.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