Salish Sea News Week in Review May 21, 2021

Aloha Endangered Species Friday!

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.

Buried danger: A slumbering geologic fault beneath us
An earthquake along the southern Whidbey Island fault reshaped the land some 2,700 years ago. Another big one is expected, and it could be devastating.

To restore Sidney Island’s ecology, a push to kill 500 fallow deer
A coalition of First Nations, property owners and Parks Canada is planning a “final eradication” of the invasive species that will see up to 500 of the animals rounded up and killed.

The PNW is a leader on forage fish management — but it needs better data
A U.S. Senate bill highlights West Coast progressiveness in managing fisheries, but even our region is a long way off from really knowing what’s out there.

King County’s culvert hunters — and a $9 billion plan to save salmon habitat
....Urban creeks are the arteries and veins of the region carrying the lifeblood that animates the region’s ecology: salmon. Food for more than 123 species of animals — including endangered southern resident killer whales that frequent Puget Sound.

B.C. government ending climate program for municipalities
The sudden cancellation of a climate action program that provided municipal governments with millions of dollars every year has local politicians scratching their heads.

Nations Must Drop Fossil Fuels, Fast, World Energy Body Warns
Nations around the world would need to immediately stop approving new coal-fired power plants and new oil and gas fields and quickly phase out gasoline-powered vehicles if they want to avert the most catastrophic effects of climate change, the world’s leading energy agency said Tuesday.

Inslee signs ambitious environmental protection laws
Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed a series of bills Monday designed to strengthen the environment in Washington state. Inslee signed the Climate Commitment Act, environmental justice legislation, a clean fuels standard and bills related to reducing Washington’s single-use plastic waste and hydrofluorocarbon pollution.

1st wild fishers born in North Cascades in decades
The first wild members of the wolverine family known as fishers have been born in the North Cascades for the first time in decades.

‘We don’t have time’: scientists urge B.C. to immediately defer logging in key old-growth forests amid arrests
One year after an independent panel recommended the province immediately halt logging in B.C’s rarest forests, no meaningful deferrals have been implemented.

Half of the world’s single-use plastic waste is from just 20 companies, says a study
In 2019, more than 130 million metric tons of single-use plastics were thrown away, with most of that waste burned, buried in a landfill or dumped directly into the ocean or onto land. Now, a new report finds that just 20 companies account for more than half of all single-use plastic waste generated worldwide.

B.C. failing to meet international targets for protecting biodiversity, critical habitat: report
A decade after Aichi biodiversity targets were set by Canada and other nations, a new report looks at how B.C. measures up, finding the province has failed to protect nature in the midst of a growing global ecological crisis.

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 or to this weekly compilation, 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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