4/14 Skunk cabbage, PNW NOAA, BC old growth, dying sea lions, blueberries, 1949 quake, Naval Academy reading, first 100 days

Skunk cabbage [Dan Legler]

Skunk cabbage Lysichiton americanus
A perennial fleshy herb from upright underground stems with a skunk-like odor which grows in marshes, swamps, streambanks, and forested wetlands. This plant grows from Alaska to California (including British Columbia) and east to northern Idaho and western Montana. (WA Native Plant Society)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Cross-border camaraderie: residents gather in unity against Trump rhetoric / Borderlands in the time of tariffs

Trump admin aims to gut salmon recovery spending
The Trump White House wants to eliminate several programs that benefit Pacific salmon, the iconic but widely threatened species of the Pacific Northwest. An internal document from the Office of Management and Budget calls for eliminating NOAA’s Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, as well as national grant programs for species recovery, interjurisdictional fisheries, and habitat conservation and restoration. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

Trump’s NOAA firings raise doubts for PNW fisheries
The scientists who shared their stories inform and set salmon fisheries quotas and identify priority salmon habitat recovery work. They were hired to forecast climate impacts, like low-oxygen conditions and marine heat, on fisheries and provide data to reduce the risk of whale entanglements, among other things. Isabella Breda reports. (Seattle Times)

Protecting B.C. old-growth forests could yield $10.9B in benefits, report finds
That number could quadruple to $43.1 billion over the next century if 100% of old growth trees were protected in the Okanagan and Prince George timber supply areas. Stefan Labbé reports. (Times Colonist)

Inside the fight to save California’s dying sea lions from toxic algae: ‘We’re like 911 operators’
An animal’s chance of survival after domoic acid poisoning is 50-50, and this year an outbreak has sickened hundreds. Amanda Ulrich reports. (The Guardian)

Blueberry bust: Hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars blueberry biz in the Northwest and Canada act as one, tariffs could complicate the relationship
About 40 million pounds of Washington’s blueberries are shipped to Canada for packing or processing each year.. If tariffs are imposed on Canadian blueberries and in return, U.S. berries, that could mean blueberry distributors might halt fruit shipments across the border – because the product would be too expensive for people to buy. That could lead to rotting berry islands in places like Whatcom County, Washington, where farmers may not be able to get their fruit to processing or cold storage. Anna King reports. (NW Public Broadcasting)

A look back at the devastating magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck Washington in 1949
On April 13, 1949, a massive 6.7 magnitude earthquake rattled western Washington. The ground shook for 30 seconds and was felt over a 230,000-square-mile area, with the epicenter near the Joint Base Lewis–McChord area. The quake was devastating. Eight people were killed, and numerous others were injured. (KOMO)

Who’s In and Who’s Out at the Naval Academy’s Library?
An order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office resulted in a purge of books critical of racism but preserved volumes defending white power. John Ismay reports. (NY Times)

The First 100 Days

• RFK Jr. wants to target chronic disease in US tribes. A key program to do that was gutted  (Associated Press)
  
• Trump administration overrode Social Security staff to list immigrants as dead  (Washington Post)
  
• DOGE takes over federal grants website, wresting control of billions  (Washington Post)
  
• Judge relaxes ban on DOGE access to sensitive US Treasury information  (Associated Press)
  
• Who’s In and Who’s Out at the Naval Academy’s Library? (NY Times)
  
• Trump administration says it will exclude some electronics from reciprocal tariffs (Associated Press)
  
• DOGE Is Far Short of Its Goal, and Still Overstating Its Progress  (NY Times)
  
• Trump’s order seeks to force states to buy costly new voting machines  (Washington Post)
  
• Trump says CBS and '60 Minutes' should 'pay a big price' for going after him (Associated Press)
  

Have you read the Salish Current? 
Independent, fact based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties. Community supported, free from ads. Read the latest weekly newsletter here.

Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  254 AM PDT Mon Apr 14 2025    
TODAY  E wind 5 to 10 kt, backing to NW late. Seas 3 to 5 ft.  Wave Detail: W 5 ft at 12 seconds.  TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: W 6 ft  at 13 seconds.

---


"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email msato(at)salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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4/11 Hellebore, climate policy defense, bat disease, oil spill, salmon returns, Candian travel, gray whales, first 100 days, week in review

Hellebore

Hellebore
The Eurasian genus Helleborus consists of approximately 20 species of herbaceous or evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, within which it gave its name to the tribe of Helleboreae. Many hellebore species are poisonous. Wikipedia

Today's top story in Salish Current: New quiet zones in Fairhaven silence train horn sounds

West Coast governors: We will defend our climate policies against Trump attack
An executive order signed by President Trump on Tuesday directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to look for state and local laws that address climate change or environmental justice and to “take all appropriate action” to stop enforcement of any that are illegal...Trump’s order singles out policies such as the cap-and-trade systems for limiting carbon emissions that states including Washington and California have adopted. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

A deadly disease is killing millions of bats. Now Trump funding cuts threaten a promising Canadian treatment
At a crucial point in their research, biologists are scrambling to find new support for their study into a treatment for white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has devastated insect-eating bats across North America. Ainslie Cruickshank reports. (The Narwhal)

Coast Guard, WA Ecology Department investigate spill in Seattle’s Salmon Bay
Pollution responders with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Washington State Department of Ecology are investigating a diesel spill that occurred in Lake Washington Ship Canal’s Salmon Bay on Thursday morning. Amanda Zhou reports. (Seattle Times)

Ocean conditions mixed for salmon, leading to average salmon returns
For a long time, scientists have studied what salmon eat. They also know where salmon go and know a lot more about their survival in the ocean. However, that could change if scientists no longer have funding for research on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessels. Courtney Platt reports. (NW Public Broadcasting)

Canadian travel to the U.S. has plummeted. One reason why: fear
The number of Canadian trips to the U.S. by land has dropped by almost a third. Sophia Harris reports. (CBC)

From Washington to Baja California: the quest to touch a gray whale
Gray whales pass through Washington waters every year as they complete a 10,000 mile migration along the West Coast. They’re also the target species for a possible renewed hunt by the Makah Tribe. And there’s an annual trip many Whidbey Island whale watchers make, a kind of pilgrimage, to San Ignacio Lagoon, in Baja California. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Trump nominee for public lands withdraws after criticism of Jan. 6 surfaces
President Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee an agency that manages a quarter-billion acres of public land has withdrawn her nomination following revelations that she criticized the Republican president in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Matthew Brown and Matthew Daly report. (Associated Press)

The First 100 Days

• Trump administration extends deadline for schools to meet anti-DEI order or lose funds (News From The States)
  
• Pressuring migrants to ‘self-deport,’ White House moves to cancel Social Security numbers  (NY Times)
  
• RFK Jr. says HHS will determine cause of autism by September (Associated Press)
  
• U.S. Military Removes Commander of Greenland Base (NY Times)
  

Salish Sea News Week in Review 4/11/25: Aloha Louie Louie, Trump's logging, clean energy freeze, crab larvae, watching oil and gas, 'clean' coal, new orca, no enviro justice, Tacoma wastewater, state climate policy.

Have you read the Salish Current? 
Independent, fact based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties. Community supported, free from ads. Read the latest weekly newsletter here.

Here's your weekend tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  321 AM PDT Fri Apr 11 2025    
TODAY  W wind 10 to 15 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: W 6 ft  at 11 seconds.  
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 15 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: NW  2 ft at 4 seconds and W 5 ft at 10 seconds.  
SAT  W wind 10 to 15 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 5 ft at  10 seconds.  
SAT NIGHT  W wind 10 to 15 kt, easing to around 5 kt after  midnight. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: NW 2 ft at 4 seconds and W  5 ft at 11 seconds.  
SUN  NE wind around 5 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft. Wave Detail: W 3 ft  at 10 seconds.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email msato(at)salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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4/10 Jelly fungi, Tacoma wastewater, F&W Commission, whales, legal aid, ICE vision, first 100 days

 

Jelly fungi

Jelly fungi Tremella cf. fuciformis
Jelly fungi are a paraphyletic group of several heterobasidiomycete fungal orders from different classes of the subphylum Agaricomycotina: Tremellales, Dacrymycetales, Auriculariales and Sebacinales. Wikipedia

Today's top story in Salish Current: Circus returns! gravity-defying acts, toe-tapping tunes / My bromance with Elon and my Tesla

Has a Tacoma wastewater plant threatened this endangered species?
Two environmental groups say they plan to sue Tacoma  for allegedly discharging toxic materials from the city’s Central Wastewater Treatment Plant that are poisoning Puget Sound chinook salmon — a federally protected species. The organizations, Northwest Environmental Advocates and the Center for Biological Diversity, alleged that the city is violating the Endangered Species Act by discharging “contaminants of emerging concern” to the Puyallup River estuary and Commencement Bay from its Central Wastewater Treatment Plant. Shea Johnson reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Hunters, anglers, tribes see win in Ferguson’s Fish & Wildlife picks
Wildlife advocates are not happy about the governor’s selections, which follow his removal of a commissioner they favored. Bill Lucia reports.(Washington State Standard)

Welcome the Whales
Orca Network presents the Festival & Parade in Langley on April 12. The costume making party kicks off at 11 a.m. at the Langley United Methodist Church. Staging will begin at 1:30 PM at the Whidbey Center for the Arts parking lot at 6th and Camano. (Orca Network)

A humanitarian crisis’: Legal aid for unaccompanied minors slashed in Washington state
A federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to temporarily restore legal aid for migrant children who are in the United States without a parent or guardian...The Trump administration terminated a $200 million contract with Acacia Center for Justice, a national network that provides legal representation to immigrants at risk of deportation.  Reneé Diaz reports. (NW Public Broadcasting)

ICE director envisions Amazon-like mass deportation system: ‘Prime, but with human beings’
Trump immigration officials tout expanding the Alien Enemies Act while courting private contractors for mass removals. Jerod MacDonald-Evoy reports. (AZ Mirror)

The First 100 Days

• REI says it was a 'mistake' to endorse Trump interior secretary (KNKX)
  
• Joe Kent defends Signal chat, repeats Jan. 6 conspiracy at Senate hearing (Seattle Times)
  
• In Washington, a Rural County Sheriff Fights His State’s Immigration Law (NY Times)
  
• Trump Signs Orders Punishing Those Who Opposed His 2020 Election Lies (NY Times)
  
• Trump Threatens Climate Policies in the States (NY Times)
  
• FDA reverses course on telework after layoffs and resignations threaten basic operations (Associated Press)
  
• Social Security abandons DOGE-led phone service cuts amid chaos, backlash (Washington Post)
  

Have you read the Salish Current? 
Independent, fact based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties. Community supported, free from ads. Read the latest weekly newsletter here.

Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  310 AM PDT Thu Apr 10 2025    
TODAY  SE wind 15 to 20 kt, veering to SW this afternoon. Seas  4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: S 5 ft at 5 seconds and W 3 ft at 10  seconds. A chance of showers early this morning, then showers late  this morning and afternoon.  
TONIGHT  W wind 15 to 20 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: W 6  ft at 11 seconds. A chance of showers.

---


"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email msato(at)salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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4/9 Comb jellies, baby orca, NOAA cuts, AI whale watch, Trump's coal, Yakima drought, WA schools DEI, enviro justice funding, Summit Carbon Solutions, first 100 days

 

Comb jellies [Pat McMahon]

Comb jellies Ctenophores
Comb jellies are small animals with bodies made of a gelatinous material but are are not jellyfish. Instead of pulsing their bodies to move they use small cilia paddles that line the sides of their bodies to move. Comb jellies living near the surface are mostly colorless almost transparent. They have an important role in the ecosystem of the Salish Sea acting as both predator and prey contributing to the marine food chain. They will eat the larval stages of zooplankton, the adults of small zooplankton and larval fish. Some have large mouths and will prey on other comb jellies. (Courtesy Pat McMahon)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Bellingham adds 66 acres to Samish Crest green space / Cultural resources require nurturing, not eliminating

Another baby orca spotted with Northwest's endangered J Pod
A Center for Whale Research crew spotted the baby, still ruddy from the womb, from a boat near Victoria, British Columbia, on Sunday. It is the fourth calf born to the southern resident orcas since December. Two of the four have died already. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

NOAA Staffing Cuts Threaten Years of Salmon Harvests
In Washington, where salmon is a multibillion dollar industry, government staff terminations and budget freezes may put salmon production at risk. Austyn Gaffney reports. (NY Times)

Research and whale watching enhanced with artificial intelligence to identify individual orcas
Thanks to artificial intelligence, amateur whale watchers can now submit photos of orcas to a website that “predicts” each whale’s identification. The system — something like facial recognition technology used to identify people — is designed to get faster and more accurate over time. Christopher Dunagan reports. (Puget Sound Institute)

Trump signs orders targeting revival of ‘beautiful, clean coal’
President Donald Trump signed four executive orders Tuesday aiming to invigorate the U.S. coal industry. In wide-ranging comments in front of a phalanx of coal miners at the White House, Trump said the orders would revitalize an industry pushed to the brink by Democratic policies that encourage renewable energy. Jacob Fischler reports. (News From The States)

Ecology declares third year of drought for Yakima Basin
The drought declaration, which began in 2023, covers the Upper Yakima, Lower Yakima and Naches watersheds. Kittitas and Yakima counties and part of Benton County are part of the drought emergency. Questen Inghram reports. (Yakima Herald-Republic)
 
WA schools superintendent resists Trump’s DEI order
Washington’s state school superintendent will not sign the Trump administration’s order to end diversity, equity and inclusion practices in public schools, arguing that the state has already agreed to follow requirements spelled out in federal law. Claire Bryan reports. (Seattle Times)

EPA withholds $85 million meant to fund environmental justice projects in Oregon
Ten Oregon projects are among more than 470 across the country stuck in limbo, with recipients denied access to millions in funding. Alex Baumhardt reports. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

A pipeline company filed hundreds of lawsuits against landowners. Now its project is threatened
Summit Carbon Solutions, the company behind a massive proposed carbon pipeline, sued farmers through eminent domain legal actions in South Dakota to obtain land for the nearly $9 billion pipeline spanning five Midwest states. Eric Ferkenhoff and Josh Kelty report. (Lee Enterprise/Associated Press)

The First 100 Days

• The IRS finalizes a deal to share tax information with immigration authorities (NPR)
  
• NOAA contracts are being reviewed one by one. It's throwing the agency into chaos (NPR)
  
• Trump administration opens more public land to drilling, mining (NY Times)
  
• ‘Just a Mess’: Staff Cuts, Rushed Changes and Anxiety at Social Security (NY Times)
  

Have you read the Salish Current? 
Independent, fact based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties. Community supported, free from ads. Read the latest weekly newsletter here.

Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  230 AM PDT Wed Apr 9 2025    
TODAY  SE wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft. Wave Detail: W 4 ft  at 10 seconds.  
TONIGHT  E wind 5 to 10 kt, becoming SE 10 to 15 kt after  midnight. Seas 3 to 4 ft. Wave Detail: SE 2 ft at 3 seconds and W  3 ft at 10 seconds.

---


"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email msato(at)salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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4/8 Merganser, Dungeness larvae, EV sales, USFS workers, BC oil gas inspections, oil tanker moratorium, first 100 days

Red-breasted Merganser [Daniel Grossi]

Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator
The Red-breasted Merganser is a shaggy-headed diving duck also known as the "sawbill"; named for its thin bill with tiny serrations on it that it uses to keep hold of slippery fish. It breeds in the boreal forest on freshwater and saltwater wetlands. (All About Birds)

Today's top story in Salish Current: Which side are you on?

Researchers look to larvae for answers about Washington’s most lucrative fishery
One of Washington’s most lucrative commercial fisheries is also one about which the least is known. Unlike numerous salmon runs in the state, data about Dungeness crabs is scarce – leaving managers with little to go on when projecting future harvest levels. That’s changing, as a growing collaborative of researchers is using light traps to survey the crab’s larvae and track trends. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)

Electric vehicle market stalls in Washington state as Tesla sales plunge
Electric-vehicle sales in Washington state are stuck in neutral and might even be going in reverse, according to data from the Washington Department of Licensing. The market share of electric vehicles had been climbing for years, with some monthly fluctuations, until they peaked at 27% of all new car and truck sales in Washington in September. John Ryan reports. (KUOW)

US Forest Service employees return to work after mass terminations
Okanogan-Wenatchee U.S. Forest Service employees returned to work on March 24 after being laid off on Valentine’s Day. Employees who were laid off include members in Local 34 of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE),  a union that represents workers across the Okanagan, Wenatchee, Colville, Olympic, Mount Baker and Snoqualmie forests. Reneé Diaz reports. (NW Public Broadcasting)

17 government inspectors, 170 companies and more than 9,000 potential infractions: inside B.C.’s oversight of the oil and gas sector
Notes made by regulator officers during thousands of inspections that were marked in compliance with provincial rules offer a glimpse behind the scenes of government oversight of the fossil fuel industry — and the companies doing business in B.C.Matt Simmons and Zak Vescera report. (The Narwhal)

Conservatives Vow to End Oil Tanker Moratorium
Reversing the ban could pave the way for projects like Northern Gateway, which faced fierce opposition in Skeena-Bulkley Valley. Amanda Follett Hosgood reports. (The Tyee)

The First 100 Days

• Supreme Court permits Trump to use wartime law for deportations, for now and with limits (News From The States)
  
• Health secretary RFK Jr. endorses the MMR vaccine — stoking fury among his supporters (NPR)
  
• RFK Jr. to tell CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water (Associated Press)
  
• As RFK Jr. Champions Chronic Disease Prevention, Key Research Is Cut (NY Times)
  
• It's sexual assault awareness month and HHS just gutted its rape prevention unit (NPR)
  
• Trump Administration to Roll Back Array of Gun Control Measures (NY Times) 
  
• Trump Administration Aims to Spend $45 Billion to Expand Immigrant Detention (NY Times)
  
• US ends life-saving food aid for millions. The World Food Program calls it a 'death sentence' (Associated Press)
  
• Trump administration fires senior Navy female officer at NATO (Associated Press)
  

Have you read the Salish Current? 
Independent, fact based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties. Community supported, free from ads. Read the latest weekly newsletter here.

Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  320 AM PDT Tue Apr 8 2025    
TODAY  SE wind 10 to 15 kt, veering to SW late. Seas 4 to 6 ft.  Wave Detail: SE 2 ft at 4 seconds and W 6 ft at 12 seconds.  Showers with a slight chance of tstms.  
TONIGHT  W wind 10 to 15 kt, becoming SW 5 to 10 kt after  midnight. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 5 ft at 11 seconds.  Showers likely, mainly in the evening.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email msato(at)salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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4/7 Ranunculus, 'Hands Off!,' logging, clean-energy programs, tidal swamps, gray wolves, avian flu, forest management, whale welcome, first 100 days

Ranunculus

Ranunculus
Ranunculus is a large genus of about 1750 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.

Today's top story in Salish Current: Transgender rights and inclusion: growing concern

WA protesters call on Trump, Musk to keep ‘hands off’ programs, rights
Opponents and critics of President Donald Trump gathered in large numbers in Seattle, Olympia and other parts of Washington and the U.S. on Saturday, rallying to protest the administration’s policies and actions on the economy, immigration, cuts to government agencies and democracy itself. Nicholas Deshais, Lulu Ramadan and Caitlyn Freeman report. (Seattle Times)  Bellingham turns out for local version of national day of protest against Trump policies (Bellingham Herald)  ‘Hands Off!’ protests in Whatcom, Skagit counties draw thousands (CDN)  Angry protesters from New York to Alaska assail Trump and Musk in ‘Hands Off!’ rallies (Associated Press)

More details surface in Trump administration plan to cut national forests
A Trump administration memorandum issued Thursday declared a state of emergency in domestic timber supply and national forest health, directing the Forest Service to suspend normal environmental reviews and increase logging on more than 100 million acres of national forest, including in the Pacific Northwest. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Trump administration funding freeze of $27B clean-energy program strands local projects
A multibillion-dollar Environmental Protection Agency program designed to spur investment in energy-efficiency improvements nationwide is tied up in a legal battle that threatens to upend planned projects across the United States focused on affordable housing, the adoption of electric vehicles and more. Allison Prang reports. (News from the States)

The West Coast’s tidal swamps are supercharged carbon sinks
The woody wetlands feature a tangle of shrubs, grasses and trees that can trap about nine million tonnes of organic carbon per hectare. Rochelle Baker reports. (National Observer)
 
Gray wolf numbers dip in WA as downlisting debate continues
At the end of 2024, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife estimated there were 230 wolves in Washington, 43 different packs and 18 breeding pairs. The overall population estimate declined 9% compared to 2023 when the state’s wolf count was 254 in 42 packs with 24 breeding pairs. Eric Barker reports. (Lewiston Tribune)

With 8.7M birds dead, B.C. farmers assess avian flu toll, and worry about what's next
Scientists say spring migration of wild birds brings new challenges, B.C. most affected by ongoing outbreak. Brieanna Charlebois reports. (Canadian Press)

Forest management company buys 68,000 acres on North Olympic Peninsula
EFM, a forest investment and management firm based in Portland, Ore., has purchased 68,000 acres on the North Olympic Peninsula with plans of managing the forests through climate-smart practices. Emma Maple reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

Welcome the Whales
Orca Network presents the Festival & Parade in Langley on April 12. The costume making party kicks off at 11 a.m. at the Langley United Methodist Church. Staging will begin at 1:30 PM at the Whidbey Center for the Arts parking lot at 6th and Camano. (Orca Network)

The First 100 Days

• Amid anti-DEI push, National Park Service rewrites history of Underground Railroad (Washington Post)
  
• Senate GOP passes budget plan, setting up a critical next phase for Trump agenda (NPR)
  
• USDA cuts hit small farms as Trump showers billions on big farms (Washington State Standard)
  

Have you read the Salish Current? 
Independent, fact based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties. Community supported, free from ads. Read the latest weekly newsletter here.

Here's your tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  302 AM PDT Mon Apr 7 2025    
TODAY  SE wind 5 to 10 kt, becoming SW 10 to 15 kt this  afternoon. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: W 6 ft at 14 seconds. A  chance of showers early this morning, then showers late this  morning and early afternoon. A chance of showers with a slight  chance of tstms late.  
TONIGHT  SW wind 10 to 15 kt, backing to SE after midnight.  Seas 4 to 6 ft. Wave Detail: W 6 ft at 12 seconds. Showers in the  evening, then rain after midnight.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. It is included as a daily feature in the Salish Current newsletter. Click here to subscribe. Questions? Email msato(at)salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.



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4/4 Creeping jenny, tidal power projects, dead beavers, island marble butterfly, clearcuts, BC energy supply, Kitimat LNG, emerging issues papers, first 100 days, week in review

 

Creeping jenny

Creeping jenny
Lysimachia nummularia is a species of flowering plant in the primrose family Primulaceae. Its common names include moneywort, creeping jenny, herb twopence and twopenny grass.

Today's top story in Salish Current: New La Conner paper emerges after long-time weekly shutters

WA pulls funding for Puget Sound tidal energy project
The state Commerce Department cancelled a $1.37 million grant awarded to California company Aquantis which proposed to test a tidal turbine in Skagit Bay this spring. Isabella Breda reports. (Seattle Times)

Rosario Strait tidal power pilot project
OPALCO (Orcas Power and Light Company) has filed a Draft License Application with the Federal Regulatory Commission for a 10-year pilot project license for OPALCO’s proposed Rosario Strait Tidal Energy Project. (OPALCO)

WA researchers awaiting test results for mysterious deaths of beavers along Salish Sea
Experts with The Whale Museum, located in Friday Harbor, are currently waiting for test results on what killed the beavers. Researchers said their team isn’t sure if the creatures died from toxins, disease, human influence, or climate-related stress. Franque Thompson reports. (Fox 13)

State proposes listing island marble butterfly as endangered
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife announced last week it is proposing to classify a local San Juan Islands butterfly as an endangered species within the state. The island marble butterfly is a medium-sized green, yellow and white butterfly. It lives now in a small area of southern San Juan Island. Emma Fletcher-Frazer reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Clearcuts Came. The Martens and Lynx Left
The tree plantations replacing primary forests don’t support fur-bearing species, says this trapper. Ben Parfitt reports. (The Tyee)

Megaprojects could eat up B.C.’s electricity supply. Here’s what you need to know
One LNG project alone is requesting more than half the amount of electricity B.C.’s Site C dam will produce — and other key takeaways from government documents obtained by The Narwhal. Shannon Waters reports. (The Narwhal)

First LNG carrier arrives in Kitimat, B.C., as $40B liquefied natural gas plant prepares to start
LNG Canada is 'largest single private sector investment' in Canadian history, government says. Andrew Kurjata reports. (CBC)

WWU's Salish Sea Institute publishes two new papers as part of its 'Emerging Issues' series
WWU's Salish Sea Institute recently published papers on "Climate Change in the Salish Sea Region: Historical and Projected Future Trends in Temperature and Precipitation" and "Centering Community Values in Marine Planning." (WWU News)

The First 100 Days

• States ordered by U.S. Education Department to certify school DEI ban or lose funds (News From The States)
  
• U.S. Senate confirms Dr. Oz to lead Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (News From The States)
  
• The head of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command is ousted. (NY Times)
  
• On top of layoffs, HHS ordered to cut 35% of spending on contracts (NPR)
  

Salish Sea News Week in Review 4/4/25: MLK Memorial Day, wildfire plans, culvert removal, flood prevention, EPA museum, consumer carbon tax, pipeline exemptions, Iona Is wastewater, sea stars saved.

Have you read the Salish Current? 
Independent, fact based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties. Community supported, free from ads. Read the latest weekly newsletter here.

Here's your weekend tug weather—
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  306 AM PDT Fri Apr 4 2025    
TODAY  E wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas around 2 ft or less. Wave  Detail: W 2 ft at 7 seconds.  
TONIGHT  E wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas around 2 ft or less. Wave  Detail: E 2 ft at 5 seconds.  
SAT  SE wind 10 to 15 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft. Wave Detail: E 3 ft  at 6 seconds.  
SAT NIGHT  SE wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: SE  2 ft at 6 seconds and W 5 ft at 15 seconds. Rain likely after  midnight.  
SUN  SE wind 5 to 10 kt. Seas 5 to 7 ft. Wave Detail: W 7 ft at  17 seconds. Rain.

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