Salish Sea Communications: September 2023

Friday, September 29, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 29 2023

[Maria Tenev/UN]

Aloha Reducing Food Waste and Loss Friday!
The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, with the 2023 theme “Reducing food loss and waste: Taking Action to Transform Food Systems”, is an opportunity to call to action both the public (national or local authorities) and the private sector (businesses and individuals), to prioritise actions and move ahead with innovation to reduce food loss and waste towards restoring and building back better and resilient-ready, food systems. (United Nations)

The secret dispute behind cleaning Seattle’s only river
Toxic legacy of Seattle’s only river could cost Boeing, taxpayers $1 billion. Talks over who pays more are secret.

Money, power and an ecosystem are all at stake in Canada-U.S. negotiations over a massive river
The Columbia River Treaty, hammered out between Canada and the United States and ratified in 1964, is being negotiated again — a process that has already lasted years — and the potential deal could have profound consequences both for the electrical output of the river and the people and wildlife that depend on it.

Warm ocean waters work their way into Puget Sound
Unusually warm waters in the Pacific Ocean — now pushing up against the Washington coast — are keeping oceanographers on alert for changes that could reverberate through the food web, potentially affecting fish, birds and marine mammals in coastal waters and in Puget Sound.

This has been the worst wildfire season on record. What could 2024 have in store?
Dry conditions and warmer-than-usual temperatures helped fuel a long and unrelenting wildfire season that, to date, has burned more than 17,500,000 hectares, a 647 per cent increase over the 10-year average.

Mineral claims require First Nations consultation, B.C. Supreme Court rules
The decision transforms the province’s mineral rights regime, which previously allowed almost anyone to stake a claim in First Nations territory without a duty to consult or even notify them.

Biden calls for ‘abundant’ salmon populations, directs agencies to honor tribal treaty rights President Bidendirected federal agencies to restore healthy and abundant wild salmon populations to the Columbia River Basin. The presidential memorandum also called for tribal treaty and trust obligations to be honored.

Court order that prevents protest blockades at Fairy Creek expires
The court order that made it illegal to block logging activity in the forest near the Fairy Creek watershed on southwestern Vancouver Island has expired.

Puget Sound orcas beat up and even kill porpoises, new research reveals. But why?
In a study published Thursday in Marine Mammal Science, researchers analyzed 78 documented interactions between southern residents and porpoises in the Salish Sea, mostly around the San Juan Islands, beginning in 1962.

There are new proposals to bring back grizzly bears in the North Cascades
Federal plans to reintroduce the bears in Washington derailed during the Trump years. A grizzly hasn’t been seen in the region since the 1990s.

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 at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to mikesato772 at gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Friday, September 22, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 22, 2023

This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled
with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby,
young, star-forming region called NGC 3324
in the Carina Nebula. [NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI]

Aloha Astronomy Friday!Astronomy Day takes astronomy out of lofty places and brings it to the people. It provides a means of interaction between the general public and astronomy enthusiasts, groups, and professionals, and provides information, resources, and encouragement related to astronomy. Doug Berger started it in 1973 while president of the Astronomical Association of Northern California. Astronomy Day has expanded over the years. Now more than a dozen astronomical organizations cosponsor it, and events and festivities related to astronomy are held all around the world.

What is the Trans Mountain pipeline — and why should I care?
New roadblocks, ballooning costs, legal actions and its impact on endangered species — we explain the timeline and lingering mysteries behind this contentious Canadian pipeline project.

Lawsuit against Washington cap-and-trade program set for hearing
The first legal showdown over Washington’s cap-and-trade program, which went into effect in January, will be Sept. 22 in Thurston County Superior Court.

‘Marred by litter’: Millions of pounds of trash soil Washington roads and state lands
Washington has a litter problem. Nearly 38 million pounds of garbage and other debris were strewn across roads, rest areas and state lands last year, according to a new Department of Ecology-commissioned study.

Blazes spread in center of Olympic National Park
Large helicopters were requested this week to fight fires in Olympic National Park as blazes chew up acreage in the interior of the park.

Heat pumps key to WA, coalition’s plan to end building emissions
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee vowed this week to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from new buildings, in large part by rapidly expanding the installation of heat pumps. Inslee is joined in that promise by 24 other governors representing states that belong to the Climate Alliance (of which the Washington governor is a founding member). In all, the governors agreed to install 20 million new heat pumps across their states by 2030.

Wanted: 20,000 Young Americans to Fight Climate Change
President Biden intends to use executive authority to train and employ thousands of young people in jobs to fight global warming. The American Climate Corps, as the White House has named the organization, would provide young people with skills to work in wind and solar production, disaster preparedness and land conservation.

‘Treated like machines’: wildfire fighters describe a mental health crisis on the frontlines
Extreme working conditions, low pay and high turnover are leading to a crisis exacerbated by more intense wildfires. Eighteen firefighters tell their stories of the mental toll — from burnout to PTSD to the loss of peers to suicide.

Biden administration promises $200 million to help reintroduce salmon in Columbia River
The Biden administration agreed Thursday to spend more than $200 million to fully fund Native tribes’ plans to reintroduce salmon in the Upper Columbia River Basin — more than 80 years after construction of the Grand Coulee Dam rendered the fish extinct in parts of Washington, Idaho and British Columbia.

Friday, September 15, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review September15 2023

ʻŌhiʻa (National Park Service)

Aloha ʻŌhiʻa Friday!
ʻŌhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha, is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaiʻi. It is a member of the diverse Metrosideros genus, which are widespread over the southwest Pacific. It is the state tree of Hawai‘i. (Wikipedia)

How the humpback whale made a massive comeback in the Salish Sea
hey are big. They are beautiful. And they are back. The return of the humpback whale to greater numbers than observed in decades is part of a larger revival of marine mammals in the Salish Sea.

Humpback whales find their voice
During the fall months, the Salish Sea comes alive with “whups,” “moans,” “growls” and an assorted variety of “creaks,” “trumpets,” “buzzes” and other humpback whale vocalizations.

About a decade after an outbreak of disease, researchers find mixed results for sea stars
Almost a decade after a massive outbreak of sea star wasting syndrome, researchers are working to measure sea star populations. Derek Smith, Shannon Point lab manager and a research assistant professor in the marine and coastal science program, said sea star numbers are still low compared to the pre-2014 numbers.

‘Frustrating as hell’: advocates say old-growth still being cut years after protections promised
The province promised to implement more than a dozen recommendations made by an independent review. Some worry change for the old forests home to at-risk species hasn’t come fast enough.

Walking Among Vancouver’s Urban Giants
Most of the city’s old growth was cleared long ago. But not in Stanley Park.

Biodegradable Fishing Gear Isn’t Good Enough
Lower efficiency makes the eco-friendly nets and ropes fall short. That’s a trade-off we might have to accept.

Tracing the sticky history of slug races
The annual racing of slugs on Bowen Island, B.C., highlights life in the slow lane and the importance of this small, slimy species. Francesca Fionda reports. (The Narwhal)

Friday, September 8, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 8 2023

Aloha Star Trek Friday!
Star Trek Day celebrates the premiere of Star Trek: The Original Series, but more broadly speaking, it celebrates everything in the Star Trek universe. Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry. What became known as the Star Trek: The Original Series debuted on September 8, 1966, and ran for three seasons on NBC. (Although, Canadian viewers actually saw it on September 6th.) Set in the twenty-third century, it followed the Starship USS Enterprise, captained by James T. Kirk, who was played by William Shatner. Star Trek gained a cult following and Trekkies were born.

'Light of hope': B.C. researchers say some fish surviving heat waves better than once thought
A new study has found bottom-dwelling fish — including flounder, halibut, rockfish, and all five Pacific salmon species — are defying expectations in the face of heat waves.

Gulf Islands’ water woes an ominous omen for the rest of B.C.
Southern Gulf Islanders have always known their water is a precious commodity as their supply depends on the deep, broken-rock aquifers that supply most of it. In the second straight year of severe drought, worries are creeping in.

Judge: Growler flights continue
U.S. District Judge Richard Jones has ruled that jet training flights over Whidbey Island can continue because of national security even as he ordered the Navy to redo its environmental impact statement concerning the impacts of noise and emissions on the area.

Pumped storage hydropower is the greenest renewable energy technology, study says
Researchers with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory said closed-loop pumped storage hydropower will have a lower carbon footprint throughout the lifecycle of the technology, from construction to decommissioning, than other renewable energy storage technologies like lithium-ion batteries.

Out of the smokestack, into the state budget
Washington’s cap-and-trade auctions are pulling in money faster than expected, spurring new ideas for spending, along with calls to rework the program to ease costs for consumers.

A company was forced to reduce logging in Haida Gwaii’s old-growth forests. Now they’re suing for $75M
The Haida Gwaii Management Council’s decision to protect ancient trees meant Teal-Jones could no longer log them. Now, the B.C. Supreme Court will decide who pays when conservation cuts into corporate profit.

The Biden administration is ending drilling leases in ANWR, at least for now
The Biden administration is canceling the only seven oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The leases were originally issued by the Trump administration.

Gitanyow celebrates the return of salmon as B.C. inches toward recognizing the nation’s protected area
Two years after the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs declared 54,000 hectares of land and water off-limits to industry, the provincial government still hasn’t officially acknowledged the Meziadin Indigenous Protected Area.

Friday, September 1, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 1 2023

Aloha National Food Bank Friday!
National Food Bank Day was created in 2017, to commemorate fifty years since the founding of St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance, the first food bank in the world, and to "recognize the outstanding contributions of food banks around the country". St. Mary's was founded by John ven Hengel in 1967, and its mission is to "alleviate hunger through the gathering and distribution of food while encouraging self-sufficiency, collaboration, advocacy and education."

Celebrating the life of Tokitae the orca on San Juan Island
More than 300 people gathered Sunday at a park in the heart of the home waters of the southern resident orcas to pay tribute to the life of Tokitae.

The quest for an ancient colossus, in the wild rainforest of B.C.
Experts worry B.C.’s giant trees could be the last of their kind as climate change jeopardizes their ability to survive the centuries to come.

Pink salmon are having a great 2023 return in Puget Sound
The 2023 pink salmon run is forecast to be about four million returning to Puget Sound, around the 10-year average.

Province of B.C. says it's spent $585M so far this year fighting wildfires
The B.C. government has spent more than half a billion dollars so far this year fighting a historically bad wildfire season, and that number is expected to continue to rise in the coming weeks as hundreds of blazes continue to burn.

30 years after Clayoquot Sound, old growth logging continues unabated, says B.C. conservation group
The Sierra Club of B.C. says the logging of large old trees in verdant, bio-diverse forests on Vancouver Island has continued mostly unabated in the 30 years since one of the biggest acts of civil disobedience in Canada.

New flame retardants found in breast milk years after similar chemicals were banned
In the early 2000s, researchers tested breast milk samples from U.S. mothers and found high levels of toxic compounds used as a common flame retardant in household items. This summer, scientists detected a new set of similar flame retardants in the breast milk of 50 U.S. women.

Native nations on front lines of climate change share knowledge and find support at intensive camps
People from at least 28 tribes and intertribal organizations attended this year’s camp in Port Angeles, Washington, and more than 70 tribes have taken part in similar camps organized by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians at other sites across the U.S. since 2016.

The EPA removes federal protections for most of the country's wetlands
The EPA and Department of the Army announced a final rule amending the definition of protected "waters of the United States" in light of the decision in Sackett v. EPA in May, which narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act and the agency's power to regulate waterways and wetlands.

BC Hydro apologizes for $128 million Site C dam data error
Over three years, undisclosed employees quietly handed out $558 million in direct-award contracts, including $92 million to engineering firm SNC Lavalin.

Trump-era rule change allowing the logging of old-growth forests violates laws, judge says
A federal judge has found that a Trump-era rule change that allowed for the logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest violates several laws.

Study directly links greenhouse gas emissions with polar bear decline, UW professor says
Polar bears and their cubs will starve faster in the coming decades as greenhouse gas emissions hasten the decline of Arctic ice, scientists found in a new study.