Salish Sea Communications: September 2022

Friday, September 30, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 30 2022

Aloha Koala Friday!
The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats. (Wikipedia)

Old volcanoes, big energy
Volcanoes beneath mountains near Whistler, B.C., hold a big green energy promise. But can scientists and industry deliver?

After 2-year pandemic pause, Seattle-BC train service returns
Amtrak service between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., is back up and running as of Monday, Sept. 26...Just one daily round trip will be offered, at first, while Amtrak gets its staffing and equipment levels back up to par.

BC’s Big Trees Protection Is Toothless. Government Knew It
Officials in British Columbia’s Forests Ministry understood that a regulation introduced in 2020 to protect big trees on public lands would have little impact. They designed it that way.

Biden administration launches environmental justice office
The Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights — comprised of more than 200 current staff members in 10 U.S. regions — will merge three existing EPA programs to oversee a portion of Democrats’ $60 billion investment in environmental justice initiatives created by the Inflation Reduction Act and distribute $3 billion in block grants to underserved communities burdened by pollution.

The racism, and resilience, behind today’s Pacific Northwest salmon crisis
There’s no one in this region whose life isn’t touched by the fish, whether they think about it or not.

Killer whale census shows another down year, with three deaths and two births
Three deaths and two births. Over the past year, the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population has declined by a total of one, according to the annual census report submitted yesterday by the Center for Whale Research. Now the number of whales in all three pods stands at 73, down from 74 last year and declining from 98 animals the past 25 years.

From pavement to gardens: how urban green spaces can alleviate flood problems
By 2050, Vancouver is expected to see more rain during the fall, winter, and spring months due to human-caused climate change. Without new measures to manage heavy rainstorms, the city could see more flooding. A new 'rainway' in Vancouver aims to combat climate change and prevent flooding in the city, while also supporting biodiversity.

River Deltas Are Running Out of Land
Millions of people live on river deltas, occupying land that exists in the delicate balance between a river’s push and the ocean’s pull. Deltas are inherently transient, but according to a new study, many may be even more precarious than once thought, with unexpectedly high levels of land loss threatening to submerge these low-lying landscapes.

Study raises concerns about contaminants in edible seaweeds
A new study just published by researchers at Western Washington University (WWU) reports concentrations of up to 162 chemical contaminants in three species of edible seaweeds gathered in the Salish Sea.

State Board awards nearly $76 Million in grants to fund salmon recovery projects
On Sept. 26, the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board announced the award of nearly $76 million in grants across the state to help ensure the survival of salmon in Washington. The grants that were funded went to 138 projects in 30 of the state’s 39 counties.

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 23, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 23 2022

Aloha Bisexuality Friday!
Bisexuality Day came about in response to prejudice and marginalization that bisexuals experienced from both straight people and from those within the LGBT community. It was first observed in 1999, after being thought up by three bisexual rights activists: Wendy Curry, Michael Page, and Gigi Raven Wilbur.

Inside a 50-year journey to reopen the ‘lungs’ of the Squamish River
A company built a spit that blocked salmon from accessing crucial habitat — then it left. Decades later, the Squamish Nation, local environmentalists and the federal government have worked together to finally break open the barrier and reconnect a fractured estuary.

Indigenous leaders hope to restore the culinary and cultural bounty of ancient B.C. sea gardens
For years, academics wondered about the origins of the long string of rocks piled along the tide line. The answer came when they spoke to local First Nations, who said the rocks were sea gardens created by their ancestors as cultivation sites thousands of years ago.

The Once and Future River
The Duwamish has been a vital waterway for Indigenous peoples for generations. Now it’s largely invisible, drastically reshaped, and among the most polluted rivers in the nation. Can it be saved?

First public global database of fossil fuels launches
A first-of-its-kind database for tracking the world’s fossil fuel production, reserves and emissions includes data from over 50,000 oil, gas and coal fields in 89 countries, covering 75% of global reserves, production and emissions.

Coastal GasLink warned more than 50 times over environmental violations during pipeline construction
Coastal GasLink has now been warned more than 50 times about environmental violations during construction of its natural gas pipeline across northern British Columbia, according to the province.

After decades of dwindling runs, sockeye salmon return to Yukon fishing village in droves
It's been more than 20 years since Champagne and Aishihik elder Chuck Hume has seen anything close to the number of sockeye salmon that have shown up to spawn at the Yukon fishing village of Klukshu this fall. Numbers are almost double the escapement goal so far, but it's not yet clear why the fish are back.

The Forest Service is experimenting with relocating tree species to save them from climate change
‘Assisted migration’ has come to the Pacific Northwest, but experts don’t agree if it’s a good thing or a radical response to a warming world.

Mayor Harrell signs $6.5 million Green New Deal to reduce impact of climate change
Mayor Bruce Harrell signed the Green New Deal legislation into law Thursday morning, which includes a series of projects that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Seattle and build the communities' resilience against the effects of climate change.

Pandemic Poaching Sets Rockfish Conservation Effort Back Years
Illegal fishing in rockfish conservation areas around Galiano Island, British Columbia, spiked dramatically in 2020 and 2021.

Friday, September 16, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 16 2022

Aloha Guacamole Friday!
Guacamole was first made by the Aztecs, who lived in what is now central Mexico, between the 14th and 16th centuries. Appropriately, the day is celebrated on Mexican Independence Day. The name guacamole means "avocado sauce" in Nahuatl, the Aztec language, and many times it is simply called "guac" in the United States.

US officially changes names of places with racist term for Native women
The U.S. government has joined a ski resort and others that have quit using a racist term for a Native American woman by renaming hundreds of peaks, lakes, streams and other geographical features on federal lands in the West and elsewhere.

B.C. conservationists decry lack of action, transparency 2 years into forestry stewardship overhaul
Two years into a three-year process to defer the logging of some of B.C.'s grandest trees in its most ecologically diverse wilderness so that forestry stewardship could undergo a vast transformation, First Nations and conservationists are decrying a lack of progress and transparency.

Restoring salmon habitat could help B.C.’s flood problems
Decisions to restrict the mighty Fraser River through extensive diking have had dire consequences for fish. Now B.C. has an opportunity to 'build back better' — but will it?

B.C. still a long way from meeting greenhouse gas targets
The province set a legislated target of a 16 per cent reduction from 2007 levels by 2025. B.C. has only reduced a fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions needed to meet its 2025 targets, according to the updated inventory released by the province last week.

Operator of Colstrip coal plant to buy out co-owner Puget Sound Energy, install some wind
The operator of Montana’s Colstrip coal-fired power plant said Monday it was buying out one of the site’s co-owners and plans to construct a wind farm nearby that would generate 600 megawatts of electricity. Talen Energy Supply would acquire Puget Sound Energy’s 25 percent share of Colstrip’s two remaining coal-fired units under the deal. The units combined generate about 1,480 megawatts of electricity.

Boardman smokestack demolition will mark the end of a coal-fired era in Oregon
A contractor is set to demolish the towering smokestack at Portland General Electric’s shuttered coal-fired power plant near Boardman at 10 a.m. Thursday, heralding the end of the era of coal-fired power generation in Oregon.

Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company
Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children have transferred their ownership of Patagonia, valued at about $3 billion, to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization. They were created to preserve the company’s independence and ensure that all of its profits — some $100 million a year — are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.

EPA Must Act on Toxics, Court Orders
A federal court ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Aug. 30 to take the first step towards updating Washington’s water quality standards for 17 key toxic pollutants known to harm endangered salmon, steelhead, and the Southern Resident killer whales that depend upon them.

Lululemon founder Chip Wilson gifts $100M to help protect nature in B.C.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. founder and billionaire Chip Wilson is donating $100 million to the B.C. Parks Foundation to help protect and enhance the province's nature.

Friday, September 9, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 9 2022

Aloha Teddy Bear Friday!
National Teddy Bear Day is dedicated to the stuffed bear that was named after the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. On a hunting expedition, Roosevelt refused to shoot an injured bear. After the incident was publicized in a Washington Post drawing, Rose and Morris Mitchom, store owners in New York City, saw the cartoon and were inspired to create the teddy bear, which they originally called "Teddy's bear." They eventually founded the Ideal Toy Company which produced the bears.

Group seeks endangered species protection for West Coast bull kelp
An environmental group is seeking Endangered Species Act protections for underwater forests of bull kelp along the West Coast. The Center for Biological Diversity on Thursday submitted a petition to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to grant endangered status to the long stalks of kelp that are critical to Oregon coastal ecosystems.

‘We’re Sued on Pretty Much Everything We Try’: Canada’s Climate Minister
When Steven Guilbeault became Canada’s environment minister he was assigned a lengthy mandate letter which boils down to, more or less: fix climate change, please. In fact, his official title is Minister of Environment and Climate Change — a mantle he wears after being an environmental activist for 30 years before he transitioned to politics.

‘A beautiful lie’: BC Hydro says it will replace the wetlands Site C destroys, but experts say it’s impossible
This month, BC Hydro is set to drain and log Watson Slough to make way for the Site C dam in northwest B.C. Beavers will be trapped and euthanized and their dams will be destroyed to release the water from the wetlands. The slough, a collection of different types of wetlands stretching 20 hectares — roughly the size of 25 Canadian football fields — is a beloved nature area in the Peace River Valley renowned for birdwatching and visited by hundreds of schoolchildren over the years. It’s home to at-risk species like the yellow rail, a small marsh bird that hides among the grasses, and the stocky western toad. Elk, black bears, beavers, deer and muskrats also use the wetland along Highway 29 west of Fort St. John.

Green crabs have already invaded Washington's shorelines. Now they're heading to Alaska.
The first signs of the Alaskan invasion were discovered by an intern. In July, a young woman walking the shoreline of the Metlakatla Indian Community during an internship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found a shell of a known menace in the U.S. — the European green crab...Within a month and half, more than 80 live green crabs had been trapped along the Metlakatla shoreline, Winter said, making the community ground zero in the fight against the species in Alaska, though it’s possible other areas of Alaska have been colonized already.

Intalco aluminum smelter releasing high levels of sulfur dioxide
Despite curtailment, Ferndale’s Intalco aluminum smelter continues to exceed safe emission levels of sulfur dioxide, a respiratory risk, in the region. [T]he plant will need significant modification to produce “permanent and enforceable reductions to SO2 emissions” at the facility.

Rising seas could swallow millions of U.S. acres within decades
New research finds an estimated 25,000 properties in Louisiana could slip below tidal boundary lines by 2050. Florida, Texas and North Carolina also face profound economic risks.

The northern B.C. pipeline you’ve never heard of — Enbridge’s Westcoast Connector
First approved in 2014, the pipeline would ship up to 8.4 billion cubic feet of fracked gas every day. Now the company is seeking an extension until 2029 and applying to amend its route to avoid a Treaty 8 nation territory at the centre of a court ruling on the impacts of industry.

Friday, September 2, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review September 2 2022

Aloha Coconut Friday!
Coconuts grow on the coconut palm tree and are a fruit from the drupe family. They grow in more than 80 countries and are an essential crop in the tropics. It takes a year for a coconut to ripen, and a tree may produce about 100 of them each season. Coconuts have antifungal and antiviral properties and are high in lauric acid, electrolytes, and antioxidants. The flesh, which is high in fat, can be dried and eaten fresh, or be used to make coconut milk or coconut oil. Coconut water can be found at the center of the coconut.

How a 32-year-old climate activist is shaking up the race to be B.C.’s next premier
In a litmus test for the political clout of the climate movement, Anjali Appadurai, who’s never held public office, is gunning for an upset over establishment favourite David Eby in the NDP leadership contest.

Camera station documents a Pacific marten in Olympic National Forest
A rare Pacific marten recorded by a motion-triggered wildlife camera is the first time the species has been recorded by a camera survey in Olympic National Forest.

In a warming climate, Bristol Bay sockeye return this summer to Alaska in another record run
...This year’s return of Bristol Bay sockeye smashed the previous high set only last year. Meanwhile in western Alaska, the Yukon River’s runs of king and, more recently, chum — both mainstays of Native fishermen — have imploded, shutting down harvests for the past two years.

New rules put Puget Sound's urban trees in private hands
Because the majority of the region's trees are in residential neighborhoods, responsibility for maintaining canopy coverage is shifting to homeowners.

Data centers, backbone of the digital economy, face water scarcity and climate risk
For years, companies that operate data centers have faced scrutiny for the huge amounts of electricity they use storing and moving digital information like emails and videos. Now, the U.S. public is beginning to take notice of the water many facilities require to keep from overheating.

Study raises questions about using ‘woody debris’ to restore streams
Efforts to improve salmon streams damaged by past logging and other human activities commonly include the addition of carefully placed logs, tree roots or “woody debris” to mimic this natural system.

If you like to watch: Close encounter with orcas delights Quadra Island visitor
Callum Macnab of Victoria was standing in the water but scrambled out when four orcas swam by within metres of him. (video)