Salish Sea Communications: October 2022

Friday, October 28, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review October 28 2022

Aloha Lemur Friday!
World Lemur Day celebrates lemurs and spreads the word about the need to conserve them; it inspires a love for them and actions to save them from extinction. It also celebrates Madagascar, the island nation located 250 miles off the east coast of Africa that lemurs call home. Events are held around the world on the day, in person and virtually. World Lemur Day takes place on the last Friday of October, and the World Lemur Festival takes place during the weeks surrounding it.

Through Pacific Northwest drought and downpour, what will happen to the salmon?
...After Western Washington saw the driest June to October on record, several storms were slated to soak the region beginning Friday. It’s a welcome sight for many, including fish stuck downstream. But it comes at the risk of scouring eggs already laid in vulnerable places throughout the Northwest.

These Island gems are among B.C.’s seven biodiversity hot spots
They’re called “key biodiversity areas,” and seven swaths of land across British Columbia — including Tofino’s mudflats, the Trial Islands and Fort Rodd Hill — now have that international designation, which is meant to prevent the decimation of wild animal and plant species before it’s too late.

Canada is 'weaving' Indigenous science into environmental policy-making
Myrle Ballard is the first director of Environment and Climate Change Canada's new division of Indigenous Science, a role in which she's tasked with raising awareness of Indigenous science within the department and helping the government find ways to integrate it into its policies.

Recycling plastic is practically impossible — and the problem is getting worse
The vast majority of plastic that people put into recycling bins is headed to landfills, or worse, according to a report from Greenpeace on the state of plastic recycling in the U.S.

Rare spotted owls released into protected habitat in 1st stage of recovery program
The effort to revive one of Canada's most endangered species has taken flight. There is only one known northern spotted owl in the wild, according to the B.C. government — but three birds released into a protected habitat in B.C.'s Fraser Canyon on Friday bring the total to four.

How oil and gas lobbyists build ‘very close relationships’ with politicians and governments
The relationship between governments and the fossil fuel industry in Canada is under the spotlight again after a high-profile staffer jumped straight from the Alberta premier’s office to one of the country’s most powerful oil and gas companies.

BC's 'most endangered' Fraser River in dire need of protection: report
‘Eden in our midst’: Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. calls for urgent action to protect section of the river between Hope and Mission that faces threats from industry and climate change.

'Forever chemicals' detected in almost all U.S. waterways
The new study, published last week by the Waterkeeper Alliance Initiative and Cyclopure, found that 83% of waterways in the United States are contaminated with PFAS, including several rivers and lakes in Washington.

Court halts DNR timber sales in Jefferson County
Superior Court Judge Keith Harper ruled Wednesday in favor of plaintiffs Center for Sustainable Economy and Save the Olympic Peninsula who argued Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had violated the state Environmental Policy Act by failing to consider the impacts of climate change from two timber sales in the county.

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, October 21, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review October 21 2022

Aloha Apple Friday!
Apple Day is mainly celebrated in the United Kingdom, where it was started. Common Ground, a group dedicated to building strong communities, strengthening local distinctiveness, and connecting people with nature and each other, held the first Apple Day in 1990, at Covent Garden in London, England. Their goal was to create an autumn holiday that would not only be celebrated in London, but also in other cities, villages, parishes, markets, and even orchards. They wanted to demonstrate the richness and diversity of apples, but also the diversity of landscape, ecology, and culture as a whole.

The Clean Water Act at 50: Big Successes, More to Be Done
Sparked by the 1970s environmental movement, the Clean Water Act — which marks its 50th anniversary this month — transformed America’s polluted rivers. The Delaware, once an industrial cesspool, is one of the success stories, but its urban stretches remain a work in progress.

The Trans Mountain Boondoggle: Taxpayers Lose Billions, Oil Companies Win
A new analysis confirms the pipeline expansion makes no economic sense and taxpayers will subsidize Big Oil.

RCMP Spending on Pipeline Conflict Reaches $25 Million
As Coastal GasLink begins drilling under the Morice River, police presence on Wet’suwet’en territory appears to be on the rise.

It’s ludicrous’: Coastal GasLink pushes its pipeline under a Wet’suwet’en river while salmon are spawning
Coastal GasLink is drilling under the Wedzin Kwa (Morice River) as spawning salmon lay their eggs throughout the river system.

Carbon auctions will bring WA more money than predicted. Transportation could benefit
The cornerstone of the 2021 Climate Commitment Act, the new carbon “cap and invest” program requires the state’s largest emitters to either reduce their emissions or purchase carbon allowances at auction if they exceed a set limit.

Big ships transiting North Puget Sound asked to slow down, quiet down for orcas
Big ships entering and leaving Puget Sound will be asked to temporarily slow down to reduce underwater noise this fall.

Scientists confirm newborn endangered orca is a female
Scientists were celebrating Wednesday after determining that K-45, the southern resident killer whale calf born in April, is a female.

Metro Vancouver's last remaining glacier is disappearing fast
Metro Vancouver's last surviving glacier, a source of local fresh water, will disappear in less than 30 years, according to local scientists.

What killed these giant fish?
A dozen white sturgeon died recently in a B.C. river. No one knows what killed them. Georgie Smyth reports.

Have you read the Salish Current?
Independent, fact based news for Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties. Free to read, free from ads. Catch the Current here.

Friday, October 14, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review October 14 2022

Aloha Winnie-the-Pooh Friday!
On this day in 1926 Winnie-the-Pooh made his literary debut. The popular children’s book character was created by British author A.A. Milne and first appeared in a collection of short stories called Winnie-the-Pooh. Winnie, a teddy bear, lives in Ashdown Forest, Sussex, England. The book followed his adventures in the forest with his friends Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, and Eeyore.

Why the country’s largest shellfish farm is struggling to hire and retain workers
It used to be that [Taylor Shellfish] could fill a job opening within a few weeks. Now, amid a remarkably tight labor market, that process can take four months.

Historic drought behind B.C. wildfires, salmon die off could continue, experts say
Thousands of dead fish, a prolonged wildfire season and intense water shortages leading to ice rink closures are all symptoms of record-setting drought in parts of British Columbia. The Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast and West Vancouver Island areas are experiencing Level 5 drought conditions — the most severe in the province's classification scale.

Conservation concerns cancel Alaska’s Bering snow, king crab seasons
Alaska officials have canceled the fall Bristol Bay red king crab harvest, and in a first-ever move, also scuttled the winter harvest of smaller snow crab. The move is a double whammy to a fleet from Alaska, Washington and Oregon pursuing Bering Sea crab in harvests that as recently as 2016 grossed $280 million.

West Coast gray whale population continues to decline but scientists remain cautiously optimistic
U.S. researchers say the number of gray whales off western North America has continued to fall over the last two years, a decline that resembles previous population swings over the past several decades.

Seattle’s record-setting warm and dry weather is both random and a dress rehearsal, experts say
Seattle’s identity has been synonymous with drizzle, moss and the angsty grunge music and compulsive coffee drinking that’s fueled by its notoriously damp, gray weather. But this year’s summer and start of fall are threatening to wring those traits from the city’s long-held character.

Puget Sound salmon habitat restored with tribes leading the way
Reconnecting estuaries — the place where fresh and salt water meet — is an effort largely led by Washington’s tribes and backed by local and state leaders... At 353 acres, the Port of Everett’s Blue Heron Slough restoration project is among the largest along the Puget Sound.

We need to talk about B.C.’s drought
In the depths of this record-breaking B.C. drought, pretty much everyone I know is tormented by two opposing sentiments: 1) Overwhelming joy at the endless summer we’re having and 2) A growing sense of anxiety about how nearly three months with no rain in much of B.C. is impacting, well, all other living things.

Groups working to remove thousands of tires from Puget Sound
The Washington Scuba Alliance (WSA) has teamed up with Coastal Sensing and Survey to locate 500,000 tires that were put underwater in Puget Sounds and Hood Canal in the 70s to create fish habitat. The organization said a recent study revealed the decomposing tires are poisoning sea life including Coho salmon.

Friday, October 7, 2022

Salish Sea News Week in Review October 7 2022

Aloha Smile Friday!
World Smile Day is dedicated to the smiley face, which was created by Harvey Ball in 1963. He also came up with the idea for World Smile Day, which was first held in 1999, two years before his death. Following his death, the Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation was created, with the slogan "improving the world, one smile at a time". The foundation's goal in raising awareness for World Smile Day is to "encourage smiles and acts of kindness around the world."

U.S. Supreme Court takes on Clean Water Act in Idaho couple’s case
A challenge to The Clean Water Act comes in the form of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, a case that will be heard by the Supreme Court on Monday, the first day of the court’s new term.

Final federal report on saving salmon calls for removing Snake River dams
The final draft of a federal report on rebuilding salmon and steelhead populations in the Pacific Northwest includes a call for removing the four Lower Snake River dams, among other actions.

Logging industry targeted B.C. old-growth forests for more than a century, SFU study finds
Ken Lertzman's paper shows between 1860 and 2016, 87 per cent of logging took place in old-growth forests.

B.C. government in court Tuesday to face inadequate climate plan allegations
The lawsuit — filed by Ecojustice on behalf of Sierra Club B.C. — alleges the government’s plan for the 2025, 2040 and 2050 climate targets is inadequate, and leaves out details on how it plans to cut carbon pollution from the oil and gas sector.

The complicated truth about pipelines crossing Wet’suwet’en territory
Alberta-based energy giant TC Energy frequently points to its agreements with 20 First Nations along the route of the Coastal GasLink pipeline. This is true, but look a little deeper and it's a lot more complex.

Low water levels caused by drought preventing salmon from spawning
Persistent dry conditions have left salmon populations struggling with low water levels and higher temperatures in streams where they typically spawn.

Report: Aging orca taken from Puget Sound fighting chronic infection at Miami Seaquarium
Ongoing medical issues may further hinder efforts to return an orca that was captured and sold to an aquarium in Florida, back home to Washington state.

Eleanor Stopps Award presented
Environmental advocate Lorna Smith was recognized for decades of conservation work Wednesday when she was given the 2022 Eleanor Stopps Environmental Leadership Award during a Port Townsend Marine Science Center ceremony at Fort Worden.

B.C. premier signs new climate agreement with U.S. governors
B.C.'s premier and governors from the western United States have signed a memorandum agreement on climate approaches for the Pacific region.

Buttigieg wades into Northwest salmon transportation
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg paid a visit Thursday afternoon to Carey Creek, a tributary of Issaquah Creek that is an ancient migration route for now-threatened salmon. Standing under smoky skies with Democratic politicians, he announced that the first $196 million of a $1 billion fish-passage fund.