Salish Sea News Week in Review January 3 2020

PHOTO: Laurie MacBride


A Quiet that Resonates
Laurie MacBride in Eye on Environment writes: "Last summer we anchored in a little bay that I’ve considered writing about for a  long time. But where to begin?  The moss-topped terraces on the cliffs that rise over one side of the bay? Their brilliant reflections in the water below? The deep green of the firs, cedars and salal along the shoreline, dipped in saltwater at high tides? (Read more...)


2020 MUST WATCH: The Democracy Rebellion
It’s the missing story of American politics. Not Washington, but grassroots America. Not stale gridlock, but fresh reforms. Not negative ads and billionaire donors, but positive change and citizen activists pressing for gerrymander reform, voting rights for former felons, exposing dark money, and winning surprising victories to give voters more voice and make elections fairer in states as disparate as Florida and California, North Carolina and South Dakota, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, Missouri, Utah and more. Veteran Frontline Correspondent Hedrick Smith, one of PBS’s most trusted voices over three decades, takes viewers into half a dozen states with citizen activist leaders. Watch January 9 at 8 PM on KBTC-28 or January 11 at 11 PM on KCTS-9. For a sneak peek, click here.

If you like to watch: Pride of the PNW: Tribe's perspective on saving the Salish Sea
Climate change is threatening to take the Salish Sea away from the Coastal Salish People that need it most. Part 1  and Part 2  Jordan Steele reports. (KING)

Refinery cancels xylenes project in settlement agreement
(12/31) A legal battle over a project at Marathon Anacortes Refinery has come to a close after a settlement agreement was reached under which the refinery will scrap its plans to produce xylenes for shipment overseas. The agreement was signed Monday by the Skagit County Board of Commissioners after it had been signed by representatives of the refinery and of various environmental groups that filed a series of appeals against the three-part project. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Lawsuit alleges failure to clean up Deschutes River, Budd Inlet
(12/28) A lawsuit filed this week alleges federal authorities have failed to take action on pollution in Olympia area waters that violates the Clean Water Act. The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Seattle by Portland-based Northwest Environmental Advocates, argues the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to put cleanup plans for Budd Inlet, Capitol Lake and the Deschutes River on the books. Abby Spegman reports. (Olympian)

B.C. Supreme Court grants injunction against Wet'suwet'en protesters in pipeline standoff 
(12/28) A B.C. Supreme Court judge has issued an injunction against members of the Wet'suwe'ten Nation who have blocked access to a natural gas pipeline project inside their traditional territory in northern B.C. Justice Marguerite Church granted Coastal GasLink's application for an interlocutory injunction in a Prince George courtroom on Tuesday, restraining protesters from barring workers from getting through their checkpoints along a remote logging road near Houston, B.C. Bethany Lindsay reports. (CBC)

Ban on foam cups and containers in Vancouver goes into effect Jan. 1
(12/29) Don’t expect to sip your takeout caffeinated hangover cure from a foam cup on the morning of Jan. 1. Come New Year’s Day, food and beverages in foam cups and foam take-out containers will be banned from Vancouver’s restaurants and takeout stalls, part of the city’s single-use-item reduction strategy. Gordon McIntyre reports. (Vancouver Sun)

What is the future of Washington state's forests? Endangered marbled murrelet seabird caught in fight
(12/30) Nobody’s happy about the latest plans for our state’s forest lands. Not the environmentalists....Not the timber industrialists, who predict lost jobs...Not the local officials, whose economies and budgets rely on timber revenue...Caught in the hubbub is the marbled murrelet, a zippy, robin-sized bird that spends time in coastal waters and nests in Washington forests. Evan Bush reports. (Seattle Tims)

County appeals state timber harvest plan
(12/31) Skagit County has appealed a state timber harvest plan that is expected to result in less revenue for local taxing districts. The Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed a complaint Monday in Skagit County Superior Court regarding the Board of Natural Resource’s adoption Dec. 3 of a sustainable harvest calculation for 2015-2024. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald) See also: Skagit County sues over timber harvest, teeing up fight over Washington's forests - and money  (1/1) Evan Bush reports. (Seattle Times)
Pacific Northwest forests fit trifecta for curbing climate change — if we stop logging them
(1/1)  A new study finds some Northwest forests have a lot of potential to capture carbon and offset climate change. That is, if they’re preserved and not logged. Researchers at Oregon State University and the University of California, Berkeley, looked at which forests in the Western United States should be prioritized for preservation under climate change scenarios. Cassandra Profita reports. (OPB)
Land trust saves half-mile stretch of Whidbey Island beach from development 
(12/30)Just south of Clinton on Whidbey Island, a forested hillside descends into an isolated beach, with rocky bluffs stretching into the distance and a view of Mount Baker appearing on a clear day. The half-mile stretch of beach will open to the public in 2020 as the Whidbey Camano Land Trust’s newest project, Possession Sound Preserve. As beachfront property is increasingly developed, the project is a rare chance to open undeveloped shoreline. Julia-Grace Sanders reports. (Everett Herald)

New Year Brings New Protections For West Coast Seafloor Habitat 
(1/1) Along with the new year, the West Coast is getting new protections for corals and sponges that live on the seafloor. Regulations starting Jan. 1 restrict bottom trawl fishing on about 90% of the seafloor off Oregon, Washington and California. Cassandra Profita reports. (OPB)

Massive anchovy school in White Rock draws a crowd
(12/28) Thousands of anchovies provided a holiday feast for sea birds, seals and sea lions in White Rock this week, with the seaside spectacle also attracting crowds of curious onlookers. A vast school of the tiny fish teemed in the water near the repaired pier, while thousands of dead fish washed up on shore. Glenda Luymes reports. (Vancouver Sun)

World's bird species face much higher risk of extinction than previously known, study says 
(12/27) Bird species may be going extinct up to six times faster than previously thought, but the numbers would be much worse without conservation efforts over the last three decades, according to new research from a B.C. scientist. The study suggests conservation projects targeting critically endangered species have reduced the rate of bird extinctions by about 40 per cent over the last 28 years. (CBC)

Canadian fish-farm operator says most of its escaped salmon were likely eaten
(12/27) The owners of a Canadian facility north of Vancouver Island where thousands of Atlantic salmon escaped following a fire said it is likely predators ate most of the fish. Mowi Canada West downplayed threats to wild salmon stocks because of the number of sea lions feeding on the 21,000 non-native salmon held in pens there, CoastAlaska reported Thursday. Mowi Canada West’s fish farm off Robertson Island caught fire Dec. 20.(Associated Press)


* * *

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.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow @savepugetsound

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told