Salish Sea Communications

Friday, May 29, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review May 29 2026

Aloha Paper Clip Friday
Fastening papers together was first done in the thirteenth century. Short pieces of ribbon were put through parallel cuts that were made in the upper left-hand corners of paper. In 1835, John Ireland Howe, a New York physician, invented the machine for the mass production of straight pins. These pins were designed to be used with cloth, but people also used them to fasten paper together. At the end of the nineteenth century, steel was new and the machines used to make large quantities of paper clips were invented.

Tiny birds, and their tiny superfood, could decline due to ‘irreversible’ effects of Vancouver port expansion
A republication of a Nov. 3, 2026 feature story by Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood with new photographs by Isabelle Groc.

‘Going green now for who?’ Yakama protest clean energy project on sacred site to power data center
Supporters of the Goldendale pumped-hydro energy storage project have said it will help meet growing regional energy demand, but mounting evidence shows a large data center campus could be among the main beneficiaries of that power.

‘One of the Strongest Marine Protected Areas in the World’
Six First Nations, BC and Canada will preserve and steward a large chunk of the Central Coast. That means no pipelines.

The past, present and future of protecting Skeena salmon
Ten years ago, Indigenous leaders led allies in protecting Lelu Island. In Prince Rupert, B.C., this month, a group took a moment to celebrate, before facing the challenge of future stewardship.

Carney will give tax breaks to oil companies that capture carbon … to pump more carbon
Critics warn Canada’s plan to subsidize companies that capture pollution only to use it to produce more oil is counterproductive.

Landmark LNG deal between Canada and Germany to be announced: sources
Deal will see Ksi Lisims LNG in northwestern B.C. sell 1 million metric tonnes per year to German buyer.

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 msato(at)salish-current.org .Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Friday, May 22, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review May 22 2026

Aloha Sherlock Holmes Day!

Sherlock Holmes Day celebrates Sherlock Holmes and the author who created him, Arthur Conan Doyle, who was born on today's date in 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Sherlock Holmes and his assistant, Watson, were introduced in the novel A Study in Scarlet, which first appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887. It was with this novel that Doyle's writing career finally began taking off. Sherlock Holmes, a "consulting detective" who pursued criminals in London, around England, and throughout Europe, has endured as perhaps the most noteworthy detective character of all time.

High fuel costs are testing Washington and Oregon's fishing industry
To find salmon, Oregon fisherman Jesse Coon has to travel miles offshore, searching for dense shoals and burning lots of fuel. It’s still early in the season, and it's hard to know how good the fishing will be. Since the war in Iran began in late February, diesel costs have surged, cutting thousands of dollars from already thin margins.

Whale washed ashore on Whidbey is 19th this year, marks ‘decimation’ of population
On May 13, a deceased 39-foot gray whale washed ashore at West Beach County Park in Oak Harbor around midday. The male is the 19th dead gray whale to wash ashore in the state this year, already surpassing last year’s tragic toll.

Where does the water go? Nooksack River flood recovery is complicated
Smaller cities like Sumas and its neighbor Everson want to increase the river’s capacity. But doing so could risk sending more water to downstream communities like Lummi Nation.

Washington DNR asks for grace this camping season amid budget cuts
The budget for the DNR’s recreation program was cut by over 20% in 2025 — and this year, another $580,000 of maintenance funding was eliminated. All told, the program has seen $8 million of cuts in less than two years.

E.P.A. to End Some Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water
The Trump administration announced Monday that it will drop some limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water that officials had determined can cause cancer and other serious health problems — angering some key activists who had supported President Trump’s campaign.

E.P.A. Clears a Weedkiller, Saying It Won’t Push Species to Extinction
The finding effectively paves the way for continued use of atrazine, a widely used herbicide that has been linked to birth defects and cancer in humans.

Ottawa proposes $164M in whale protection funding for B.C. coast
Ottawa says it has proposed spending about $164 million to protect whales and their habitat off British Columbia, including working with B.C. Ferries to reduce underwater vessel noise by half.

Super Cool: Alaska Cruise Line Experiments with new Fuel
The newest cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises is the first oceangoing vessel to be refueled in Seattle with liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Friday, May 15, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review May 15 2026

Aloha Endangered Species Day!

The United States Congress created Endangered Species Day in 2006 with the adoption of Senate Resolution 431. The resolution encouraged "the people of the United States to become educated about, and aware of, threats to species, success stories in species recovery, and the opportunity to promote species conservation worldwide." The day is for learning why it's important to protect endangered species, for learning how to take part in protection efforts, and for celebrating species that have recovered as a result of these efforts.

Washington tribe seeks control of Dungeness Spit refuge
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is pushing for federal legislation to take over the Dungeness and Protection Island national wildlife refuges.

Feds Won’t Recommit to the BC Salmon Farm Ban
As lobbying intensifies, the Carney government is ‘considering how it can best move sustainable aquaculture forward.’

Trump is lifting restrictions on hunting in national parks, refuges and wilderness areas
President Donald Trump's administration is pushing federal land management officials to lift restrictions on hunting and trapping in national parks, refuges and wilderness areas.

As drought worsens, Western states brace for wildfires, water shortages
This year, Western states are heading into the summer with a desperately low balance — threatening wildfires, drinking water, crops, electricity and more.

WA public lands agency confronts operating cash crunch, as logging revenue lags
A key account is expected to have a deficit by June. Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove argues his decision to set aside some older forests is not to blame.

$4B Seattle City Light hydropower deal gets Mayor Wilson’s signature
Mayor Katie Wilson signed a historic $4 billion agreement Tuesday, marking a turning point in Seattle’s hydropower operations on the Skagit River. It lays out a road map over the next half-century, including investments in salmon passage, habitat and cultural resources.

What do Chinook salmon eat? BC anglers and scientists map the Salish Sea food chain
The Adult Salmon Diet Program, led by UVic biologist and Liber Ero Chair for Fisheries Research Francis Juanes and PSF biologist Will Duguid, is a citizen science initiative that analyzes the stomach contents of adult Chinook salmon caught by recreational anglers.

Fish take a spin at Cle Elum Dam’s spiral helix
The Yakima River Basin project aims to provide gentler and more adaptable fish passage as snowpack melts and the climate warms.

Fundraising effort saves patch of state-managed forest in western WA from logging
Environmental activists have raised the $32,000 needed to spare the trees surrounding a campground on the northern end of the Olympic Peninsula from logging. The Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition paid Webster Logging to halt the cutting of a two-acre state-managed parcel around the Sadie Creek campground.

Friday, April 24, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review April 24 2026

Aloha Arbor Day
Many holidays commemorate some event from the past, but National Arbor Day is about investing in the future. It focuses on the care and preservation of existing trees, as well as on the planting of new ones. The holiday's name comes from the Latin word arbor, which means tree. In 1594, the mayor of the Spanish village of Mondoñedo organized a tree-planting festival—the first festival of its kind. Another Spanish village, Villanueva de la Sierra, held the first Arbor Day in 1805.

Can Nature Help Solve the Flood Threat Humans Created?
Constraining the Nooksack has had devastating, costly results. US officials aim to give it more space to flow.

B.C. government pulls back on DRIPA suspension again amid First Nations opposition
Province walked back proposed amendments to the law again after public appeal from First Nations leaders.

UW prof in political storm as Trump targets national weather lab
An expert on extreme weather, Shuyi Chen currently chairs the academic nonprofit that manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research. That means she and like-minded scientists are now in a battle with President Donald Trump.

Ex-consultants now drafting B.C. mine permit they once promoted
Former consultants helped advance the massive KSM mine in the private sector. Metadata shows they are now drafting its permit from inside the B.C. government.

Parasite found in Western WA coyotes puts dogs and humans at risk
A new study by a team of University of Washington researchers recently has revealed that over one-third of the coyotes studied across Western Washington carry a deadly tapeworm that can be transmitted to pets and, in some cases, to humans.

Tending to Paradise
A rare prairie ecosystem shaped by humans in Washington State exemplifies a shift in how conservationists envision our relationship with the natural world.

The Forest Quietly Removed from BC’s Old-Growth Deferral List
Most of Vancouver Island has been logged. Now, one of the last ancient forests, in the Tsitika River watershed, is on the chopping block.

BP refinery incident being inspected by state labor and air agencies
The industrial accident at BP Cherry Point Refinery in Blaine on Saturday, April 18, is being inspected by multiple agencies, including the Northwest Clean Air Agency and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.

Trump canceled the National Nature Assessment. Scientists will publish it anyway
Now independent and rebranded as The Nature Record, the assessment was first launched through an executive order signed by then-President Biden in Seattle.

WA wolf numbers jump after slight decline
Washington’s wolf population grew by 17% last year, resuming an upward trend following a momentary decline in 2024. At the end of 2025, Washington had an estimated minimum wolf population of 270 individual animals living in 49 packs with 23 breeding pairs.

Friday, April 17, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review April 17 2026

Aloha Haiku Poetry Day!

Haiku is a Japanese verse form most often composed, in English versions, of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. A haiku often features an image, or a pair of images, meant to depict the essence of a specific moment in time. (Poetry Foundation)

Every tire produces a chemical that kills coho salmon. Can scientists pump the brakes?
6PPD-quinone, a chemical produced by tires to protect rubber from degrading, is highly toxic to fish and other aquatic animals, even in microscopic doses. Placing a single drop of the chemical in an Olympic swimming pool would kill at least half of the coho salmon in that pool.

Trump approves disaster declaration for WA flooding
President Donald Trump has approved opening up federal funding to deal with the aftermath of historic flooding that hit Washington in December, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Saturday. The much-anticipated decision makes money available for individuals, nonprofits and state, tribal and local governments.

The Climate Commitment Act Five Years Later
This week, ahead of Earth Day, we’re focusing on stories about the environment, starting with a look at how Washington’s Climate Commitment Act is playing out 5 years after it was created. The law aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by allowing companies to buy into a cap-and-invest auction system.

NDP government to pause DRIPA amendments amid caucus divisions
The NDP government is pumping the brakes on its plan to suspend sections of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, as a growing number of NDP MLAs were concerned with the proposed changes.

Bessent Questions the Cause of Climate Change and Its Economic Toll
The Treasury secretary said it is “difficult to deconstruct” the reasons for global warming, which he described as a belief of the “elite.”

Can one of the most endangered grizzly bear populations on the continent be brought back?
In the cross-border North Cascades mountain range, First Nations in B.C. are working to restore an ecological and cultural relationship with grizzlies.

Vancouver approves 250-room floating hotel in Coal Harbour
Sunborn Group and local seaplane terminal Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre, received approval from the Vancouver City Council to build a low-carbon vessel with 250 hotel rooms and 200 new jobs in Coal Harbor.

BC’s Toxic Drug Crisis Hits a Grim 10-Year Anniversary
More than 18,000 British Columbians have been killed and there’s no end in sight.

Friday, April 10, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review April 10 2026

Aloha ASPCA Day!
The American Society For the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the first animal welfare organization of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, was created on April 10, 1866. It works with shelters and humane societies across the country, with the mission of preventing cruelty to animals. Its founder, Henry Bergh, was inspired to create the organization after seeing a carthorse being beaten by its drivers.

A gray whale that swam 20 miles up a Washington state river is found dead
A juvenile gray whale that amazed Washington state residents after it swam 20 miles up a small river was found dead, and an official with a marine mammal research group suspects hunger may have driven the whale to new hunting grounds as the species’ population declines. The whale was discovered Saturday near Raymond, Washington, in the Willapa River, which feeds into the ocean at Willapa Bay.

Your ‘widely recyclable’ Starbucks cup is still trash
Just because a product can be collected for recycling doesn’t mean it actually gets recycled. To imply otherwise is to conflate two very different numbers: the access rate and the real recycling rate. There’s not much evidence to suggest that the recycling rate for plastic cups is above 1 or 2 percent.

Seattle reaches $4B deal to keep Skagit River dams, truck salmon
The Seattle City Council approved a landmark $4 billion agreement Tuesday laying out a road map for the city’s next half-century of hydropower on the Skagit River.

Federal government puts out $412.9M to renew Pacific Salmon Initiative
The federal government is spending $412.9 million over five years to renew the Pacific Salmon Strategy in a plan to protect and rebuild wild populations.

Statewide drought declared due to dismal snowpack
After a warm winter left Washington’s mountains largely bare this spring, the Washington Department of Ecology issued a statewide emergency drought declaration as projected water supplies are likely to fall far short of the state’s summer demand.

Why are you mostly being sold Alaska-caught salmon in British Columbia?
Many critics argue Alaska takes too many salmon and is harming populations — but it’s easier to find Alaska-caught fish in B.C. stores and Alaskan salmon fisheries have global sustainability certification that B.C. salmon fisheries don’t.

Friday, April 3, 2026

Salish Sea News Week in Review April 3 2026

Aloha Cellphone Day
On April 3, 1973 Motorola engineer Martin Cooper made a phone call from a New York City sidewalk to his rival Dr. Joel Engel at Bell Laboratories to tell him he was calling from a real cellular telephone - a handheld unit. The prototype was the size of a brick, weighed about 2 1/2 pounds, and had a battery life of only 20 minutes.

Why pink salmon are climate winners
Humpies, or pink salmon, are among the world’s so-called climate winners. About 8 million were forecast to return to Puget Sound watersheds last fall.

Arctic sea ice hits lowest winter level as unprecedented heat hits smashes records all over Earth
Vital Arctic sea ice shrank to tie its lowest measured level for the winter, the season when ice grows, as a warming Earth shattered records across the continents.

El Niño, marine heat will likely make Washington's warm year even warmer
This winter has been one of Washington’s warmest and driest on record. Despite the wet weather we have experienced recently, the state’s snow pack remains much lower than normal. And climate observers say conditions are likely to get worse.

U.S. could exempt oil industry from protecting Gulf animals, for 'national security'
National security has never been used to call a meeting of the "God Squad." But other federal agencies have been citing the "energy emergency" to avoid rules meant to protect endangered animals.

Trump’s Iran war and drilling push show ‘dangerous volatility’ of fossil fuel era
Critics say president is locking into 20th-century energy systems even as his ‘bet’ on oil and gas ‘isn’t going so well’

Millions of pounds of trash. Is there hope for Tacoma’s litter problem?
More than 26 million pounds of litter end up on Washington roadways every year, see some of the weirdest.

Whatcom County hearing examiner halts Ferndale Terminal expansion
The Whatcom County Hearing Examiner has sided with a coalition of environmental groups in ruling that the county must conduct analyses of the expansion of the ALA Energy Ferndale Terminal before any projects can continue.

Amazon to pay $20.5 million settlement over Oregon nitrate pollution
Tech giant Amazon will pay $20.5 million to settle with northeast Oregonians living with contaminated groundwater in exchange for no admission of guilt in the polluting.

Policies meant to limit air pollution allow toxic dumping in Salish Sea
Washington state is facing a conundrum on the open water. A tool to reduce air pollution from ships can result in water pollution. And a proposal to untangle that paradox ran aground this winter in the Washington Legislature for the second year in a row.