I stand corrected on this, as I think I actually got this originally from someone who mis labeled it. While not directly related to us here on the Peninsula, it’s all about what we are working to save and restore. Enjoy the weekend and get outside!
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | 1 Comment »
We still need to get this bill passed. The bill now moves to the Senate floor for a vote. – editor
July 1, 2010
OLYMPIA – The Federal Government today took a major step to augment the monumental collaborative efforts already underway to restore Puget Sound by 2020. The Puget Sound Recovery Act, sponsored by Senator Maria Cantwell and co-sponsored by Senator Patty Murray, is designed to strengthen cleanup of the Puget Sound. It won the approval Wednesday of the key Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works (EPW).
“As the second largest estuary in the nation and the core of our region’s identity and prosperity, it is absolutely critical to restore and preserve this important body of water for generations to come,” Senator Cantwell said. “With the passage of the Puget Sound Recovery Act, the ongoing cleanup of Puget Sound will benefit significantly from the creation of a federal grant program to support a more comprehensive effort and complement the great work of the Puget Sound Partnership. I am proud that with the committee’s passage, we have taken a significant step toward restoring Puget Sound and protecting everything from animal habitats, to tourism, to our precious environment and our regional economy.”
"Yesterday’s passage is an important step in giving Puget Sound the protection it deserves," said Governor Gregoire. "I applaud Senator Cantwell and Senator Murray for their leadership and continued support as this bill moves forward."
“This is a big step forward,” said David Dicks, executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership. “We are on the path to move from the kids’ table to the big table with the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay in terms of the federal government’s commitment to our national treasure – Puget Sound.”
The Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay and a handful of other “great water bodies” have enjoyed formal Clean Water Act “program” status for years, ensuring consistent federal attention and funding.
Achieving this federal status was one of the goals that Governor Gregoire and the Washington State Legislature had in mind in 2007 when they created the Puget Sound Partnership and mandated the creation of an Action Agenda to restore Puget Sound by 2020. That plan was finished in December 2008 and has been widely supported.
Recognizing Washington’s leadership, the Puget Sound Recovery Act takes a new approach that would provide the national attention and strong federal involvement, up to $90 million per year, while supporting Washington State’s leadership and existing stakeholder effort.
“Federal support will be tethered to the Action Agenda’s priorities and therefore result in greater coordination and leverage for both State and Federal efforts. This codifies our Action Agenda’s citizen-based effort. I applaud Senators Cantwell and Murray for this achievement” said David Dicks.
Bill Ruckelshaus, chairman of the Puget Sound Partnership’s Leadership Council and the first head of EPA, said “We in Washington State greatly appreciate the efforts of this committee to fashion legislation that will put the federal government on a course to play a major supportive role in the restoration of Puget Sound. Congressman Dicks and Senators Murray and Cantwell have already helped get a major increase in federal funding, this bill will take the Puget Sound Partnership’s efforts to the next level.”
The bill now moves to the Senate floor.
Filed under: Government, Puget Sound, Straits of Juan de Fuca | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on Major action by U.S. Senate to help Puget Sound
Wondering how Puget Sound fares with Big Oil? From People For Puget Sound: Here’s how Puget Sound’s Big Oil industry has over the years lobbied against environmental protections, put its workers at risk, and spilled product on the Sound’s waters:
http://pugetsound.org/sound-spotlight/062110oil/
Filed under: Government, Oil Spills, Puget Sound | Tagged: Oil Spills, Puget Sound, Water Pollution | Comments Off on Big Oil’s History in Puget Sound
*6/28/10 Huffington Post
Brenda Peterson
What can we do, besides sit paralyzed before Gulf oil spill images of BP burning sea turtles alive, desperate fishermen waiting for clean-up jobs, and a toxic gusher hours away from the threat of gale-force winds? For those of us who also live by water, we can get involved in protecting our own shores from increased offshore drilling and future oil spills.
That’s why I joined my Seattle neighbors here on the serpentine Salish Sea (Puget Sound) for the "Hands Across the Sand" <http://http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/>  event. On Alki Beach, 168 of us joined hands at low tide. It was high noon and we stood, mostly barefoot in the cool, sinking sand, chanting "No More Offshore Drilling!" and "We Need Clean, Alternative Energies!"
…"Talk to each other," one of the organizers advised. And we did. A Sierra Club <http://http://www.sierraclub.org/welcome/>  volunteer handed out bumper stickers: "Chill the Drills in the Arctic." People for Puget Sound <http://pugetsound.org/> handed out postcards to our governor and legislature, "No Oil Spills in Puget Sound: Fully Fund Washington State’s Oil Spill Program." Though we have no offshore drilling here, 15 billion gallons of oil travel through our waters. We have four huge refineries to receive and process them.
More at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brenda-peterson/oil-spill-activism-a-hole_b_627076.html
Filed under: Around the Sound, Puget Sound, Salish Sea | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on Oil Spill Activism: A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea
Volunteer Brown Bag Lunch—Tuesday, June 29, noon to about 1pm, Marine Exhibit classroom. Our volunteer brown bag lunches are like ‘continuing ed’ and ‘party’ wrapped into one. Jen Kingfisher will give an update on the plastics projects, and volunteer Rachel Gaspers will talk about the flotsam exhibit on the dock. There will be time for questions, general volunteer announcements, and socializing. Bring your lunch, (microwave is available) we’ll provide drinks and cookies. RSVP requested but not required.
Filed under: Around the Sound, Jefferson County, Port Townsend | Tagged: Port Townsend | Comments Off on PT Marine Science Center Brown Bag – Tuesday Noon to 1
In stark contrast to the somewhat incoherent rant of a county farmer in the Leader last week who has opposed many of the efforts to restore creeks here in Jefferson County, is this positive article from Bellingham (Whatcom county), about the efforts there to pay farmers to protect streams. This is what we likely will see more of as the efforts to fix a century of damage both from bad and good intentions continue. Canary grass, as an example, was promoted by state and county officials in the 40s, if I have my decade right. A nice piece of positive news for a change! Click through to read the whole article and help protect local journalism…
6/24 Bellingham Herald
JOHN STARK / THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
The tall shrubbery along the bank of Four Mile Creek probably doesn’t attract much notice from the motorists who whiz past it on Hannegan Road, but it’s a piece of a broad effort to help Whatcom County farmers improve water quality in the streams that cross their land.
The willows and other vegetation along the banks almost completely conceal the creek below. That’s part of the idea, said George Boggs, executive director of the Whatcom Conservation District.
"It shades out the canary grass," Boggs said. "The canary grass slows down the water, which makes drainage more difficult for the farmer."
More at
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/06/25/1496775/whatcom-county-program-helps-farmers.html
Filed under: Around the Sound, Salish Sea | Comments Off on Whatcom County program helps farmers pay for projects to protect creeks
After 10 years, finally, an agreement.
6/22/10 Kitsap Sun
Shipping Industry to Begin Footing Bill for Rescue Tug
By Christopher Dunagan
NEAH BAY
Oil shippers will pay 57 percent of the cost of an emergency rescue tugboat at Neah Bay when private industry takes over paying for the tug operation on July 1.
Representatives of the tanker and non-tanker sectors of the shipping industry have reached an agreement on cost allocation. They have signed a contract with Foss Maritime to provide a rescue tug for the coming year.
“It was a yearlong process (of negotiation),” said Frank Holmes, Northwest manager for Western States Petroleum Association. “In the end, the industry stakeholders were able to reach a cost-sharing agreement.”
More at
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jun/22/shipping-industry-begins-footing-bill-for-rescue/
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Great news!
6/20 Seattle Times
By Cassandra Brooks
Seattle Times staff reporter
A federal research cruise off the Olympic Peninsula coast has revealed new deep-sea boulder fields peppered with bright sponges, small corals and rockfish.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cruise, which returned last week from the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, was the first in a series of summer cruises looking for new deep-water rocky habitats and deep-sea coral fields.
Using high-tech underwater vehicles that take video and still photos, researchers examined critters in the sanctuary’s depths, including petite deep-water corals, bright green sponges and a variety of fish.
More at
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012168334_coral21m.html
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Kathy Fletcher, the Executive Director of People For Puget Sound, and Bruce Wishart, Policy Director of the group, will hold a call in conference to discuss the state of oil spill preparedness for Puget Sound on Wednesday evening, at 7PM. Here’s the invitation from Kathy. Please preregister!
Thankfully, underwater oil drilling is not allowed in Washington waters. Instead we have major oil refineries bringing in millions of gallons of crude oil, barges taking out millions of gallons of petroleum product, and large cargo vessels and cruise ships each carrying thousands of gallons of fuel on our inland waters.
A state oil spill advisory council reported that the state and these industries are not prepared for a major oil spill in Puget Sound and the Straits.
I’d like to invite you to a phone conference briefing on the state of our Puget Sound oil spill prevention and spill preparedness with policy director Bruce Wishart and myself on Wednesday, June 23, beginning at 7 PM and lasting for about an hour.
We can accommodate 1,000 phone participants at this phone briefing. To participate, please RSVP online and a call-in number and access code will be sent back to you.
I think you will find this briefing informative and inspiring. Whether you are able to call in or not, I urge you to help us make the state’s spill prevention and response measures stricter.
Before the end of this month, please donate to our $175,000 Spring Clean Water Campaign so we can continue our work to keep our Puget Sound waters and shorelines oil-free and healthy.
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The Feiro Marine Life Center created this handy matrix of the educational groups (all of which are listed on the left side of this page under “educational” links) operating on the Peninsula. This document goes into greater detail of what they are doing, who they serve, etc. Updated as of June 2010. Feiro_EE_matrix_final 3_30_10
Filed under: Jefferson County, Olympic Peninsula, Places | Tagged: Clallam County, Olympic Peninsula | Comments Off on Matrix of Olympic Peninsula Environmental Education groups
From People For Puget Sound…How it all fits together.
People for Puget Sound | Orcas and Salmon from eric becker on Vimeo.
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | 1 Comment »
Did you like the video on salmon? If you appreciate that and also the work I do on this blog, invest in this campaign.If you want more info on People For Puget Sound, go here…
http://pugetsound.org/pps-home-page/cleanwater
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Jeff June, Natural Resources Consultants, is the derelict fishing gear removal field manager for the Northwest Straits Foundation. Jeff presented results from the recent study of Dungeness crab mortality from derelict pots supported by the Stillaguamish Tribe and Northwest Straits Foundation.
Jeff reported that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates that 12,193 crab pots are lost each year in Puget Sound. Each lost crab pot without escape cord kills approximately 30 crabs each year until deterioration. Jeff provided several ways to prevent crab pot loss:
· Don’t fish in marine transit zones
· Weight your pots so they don’t move in high currents
· Make sure line is long enough for the depth you are fishing
· Use multiple floats in high current areas
· Don’t set pots too close together
· Always use escape cord – 120 thread count is regulation but a better rule of thumb is to use 1/8 inch diameter cord.
A recent change in regulations allows enforcement agents to ticket crabbers for transporting illegal pots on marine waters, instead of only ticketing for actively fishing illegal pots. Jeff explained that there are some areas of concentrated accumulation of crab pots that will be targeted for this enforcement.
Click here for a pdf copy of the presentation.
Filed under: Jefferson County, Olympic Peninsula, Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Puget Sound, Salish Sea, Straits of Juan de Fuca | Tagged: Crab, Hood Canal, Olympic Peninsula, Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Puget Sound | Comments Off on Dungeness Crab Mortality Due to Derelict Pots
Rich Childers, Shellfish Manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, recently gave a presentation on the management of Puget Sound’s Dungeness crab fishery. This is one of the most complex fisheries in the world to manage, involving 17 tribes and three natural resource agencies. This year the state will assess a $10.00 penalty for failure to report crab catch, in an effort to more accurately estimate the recreational harvest. Rich reported that the crab fishery is sustainable, and currently all marine areas except for South Hood Canal have the highest catches on record.
Click here for a pdf of Rich’s presentation.
If you are interested in crabbing at all,you should read Rich’s great presentation.
Filed under: Jefferson County, Olympic Peninsula, Port Townsend, Salish Sea, Straits of Juan de Fuca | Tagged: Crab, Olympic Peninsula, Port Townsend | Comments Off on Crab Management in Washington State
Filed under: Jefferson County | Comments Off on Plastics Summit Draws a Crowd
The Brinnon Group will be meeting at the Timberhouse in Quilcene from 4 to 6 on June 23. Ben Gruel from the Sierra Club plans to attend and to talk with us about our "challenges and opportunities." Other topics will include the EB 5 funding program the developer wants to use, MOUs being developed, water-related issues, and communication strategies. Let me know if you have any questions or any suggestions for the agenda. Thanks. Barbara
Filed under: Jefferson County, Olympic Peninsula | Tagged: Hood Canal, Olympic Peninsula | Comments Off on Brinnon Group Meeting in Quilcene – 6/23 4 to 6 PM
I visited Peter Downing at his Geoduck farm the other day, and he alluded to this situation. A real dark side to the whole aquaculture world. And the state funding for enforcement is virtually non-existant. You can’t just legislate stuff, you have to provide money for enforcement, which has been a weak spot for years. Demand enforcement! – Editor
6/17 KPLU-FM
Austin Jenkins
OLYMPIA, WA (N3) – If you ever eat shellfish, you’ll want to listen to this story. A major oyster and clam poaching case has revealed gaps in the system that’s supposed to ensure Washington shellfish are safe to eat. Washington Fish and Wildlife cops recently raided a seafood operation on Hood Canal. They allege an outfit called G&R Quality Seafood was a front for a nighttime shellfish theft ring. KPLU’s Austin Jenkins has our story.
Listen at
Oyster Poaching Podcast
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Congratulations to our friends at the Adventuress, who use the boat as a floating environmental training facility. If you have never taken a ride on her, you should do so this summer. With the economy in tatters, it’s a good idea to spend your vacation dollars closer to home. It’s also environmentally the best thing to do!- Editor
6/15 Seattle Times
By Craig Welch
Seattle Times staff reporter
”…Nearly two dozen icons of Puget Sound’s past will split $750,000 in grants as runners-up in a public contest to boost historic preservation in the Seattle area.
… The first place winners — Town Hall on Seattle’s First Hill and a 136-foot wooden ship called Schooner Adventuress — were chosen by the public in a campaign that ended last month. Each was awarded $125,000.
More at
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012126779_preservation16m.html
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | 1 Comment »
About 15 of us showed up at Seal Rock State Park to be trained by two of the top experts in the Olympia Oyster in the state. Brady Blake, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Betsy Peabody, Puget Sound Restoration Fund were the primary trainers.
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6/11 Seattle Times
Red tide closes beaches in Clallam, Whatcom counties
By Susan Gilmore
Seattle Times staff reporter
The state Department of Health has closed the recreational shellfish harvest on beaches in Clallam and Whatcom counties due to dangerous levels of red tide.
Paralytic Shellfish Poison (PSP), or red tide, has been detected at dangerously high concentrations in shellfish samples collected from coastal beaches, the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Clallam County and throughout Whatcom County, said the Health Department.
Commercial beaches are sampled separately and commercial products should be safe to eat, said health officials.
More at
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012089396_redtide12m.html
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on Beaches closed due to Red Tide
