Olympic Peninsula Environmental News

In addition to running this web site, I also produce videos.  We have just finished “Voices of the Strait”, a short video documentary interviewing people who have lived out here on the Peninsula over the last 50 years. They discuss the way they grew up, the changes they’ve seen in our natural resources along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, what we have lost, and how we might restore them.

We will also be showing a short documentary video interviewing some of the SCUBA community on the changes they have seen in our natural resources over  the last twenty years. The SCUBA video was done by local Port Angeles graduate Cameron Little.

Voices of the Strait is a production of Mountainstone Productions of Port Townsend, with sponsorship by the Feiro Marine Life Center in Port Angeles. Both of these documentaries were supported by  the Puget Sound Partnerships,  a network of educators and communicators.

Please come out to see these short videos, at one of the community events listed below, and participate in the questions and answers with a panel of video participants, the video production team, and the local groups that helped sponsor the video.

Attached is a poster that will be used to advertise for these community events.This version will not print well at 8×10 as it was reduced in size for email use only.  If you wish a larger size version to post at appropriate locations within your community, email me. If you want to print it for local PR and then put your local information in, feel free to do so.

If you wish to arrange for a showing at your location, other than these dates, let me know. We expect to be releasing this to the Internet (i.e. Youtube and/or Vimeo) in early September. We have no plans to sell videos but if there is a need for an actual video, please contact me and we can discuss it.

“This documentary, though it lasts a mere 16 minutes, has the goods to drive a new conversation about restoring the body of water that sustains the North Olympic Peninsula” – Diane Urbani de la Paz – Peninsula Daily News

Please forward this email to your email distribution lists, as appropriate. Thank you!

Al Bergstein
Producer/Director
Mountainstone Productions
Port Townsend, WA

Community Events:
September 16th  – 6:30 PM  – Makah Community Hall – Neah Bay
October 20th – 7PM  Joyce Area – A potluck will be  held at 6:30  Video shows afterwards – Crescent Grange in Joyce.

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The Voices of the Strait video project is now live on the web. Enjoy!

http://www.vimeo.com/12452315

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With the latest odd story quoting Jim Boyer that he believes the U.N. may somehow be involved in the environmental protection efforts of Jefferson County, we now have a new chapter opening in the race for county commissioner from District 3. The most disturbing part of this ‘allegation’ is that this is the kind of conspiracy theory that was initiated in the late 1950s by the John Birch Society. It is still a John Birch tenet, that somehow the U.N. (“get U.S. out of the UN!” bill boards still around today), is behind some kind of world domination effort to subvert the U.S. By throwing out this comment, it raises the question that I would have never asked before this, which is, “Mr. Boyer, are you or have you been a member of the John Birch Society?” I believe that moderate Republican and swing voters would like to clearly have this laid out for them before choosing to vote. Up to now, Mr. Boyer simply seemed like a conservative Republican, painting all environmental efforts as “bad”. Now we wonder, what is going on here? What beliefs does he really represent? I can’t for the life of me, understand how the U.N. factors into shoreline protection in Jefferson County.

As Mark Twain once said:
“A man’s character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.”

From Sunday’s Peninsula Daily News: Please link through and read the whole story at their web site.

PORT TOWNSEND — Is there a link between the United Nations, Olympic National Park and possible control of Jefferson County shoreline regulations and water policy?

Republican District 3 county commissioner candidate Jim Boyer, who has called his opponent an “enviro-wacko,” suspects there is a connection through the U.N.’s Biosphere Program.

“I am interested in what is entailed and how it manifests itself into the control of our water for farmers and in the Chimacum Valley and Snow Creek Watershed and how these different entities intertwine,” Boyer, a 64-year-old Port Ludlow home-builder, said Thursday.

“I have concerns about why it seems like we have subordinated our sovereignty to an international body that makes its own rules,” he added

Read this rest of this odd story at:

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100912/news/309129990/olympic-national-parks-un-designation-worries-jefferson

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So now that everyone has calmed down a bit on whether David Dicks drives his car home , or buys Macs instead of PCs, the real value of the Partnership, along with it’s family ties to pursestrings  in Washington, is showing up. They put out a document last year that tried to prioritize the cleanup and now the Feds have come back with a significant amount of money to do what many of us have asked for, for years. Real solid monitoring of the efforts. State government, while always wanting results, has not appropriately funded the efforts. This is a great start. It does mean something significant. And it will give jobs to scientists on the ground here in Washington. Let’s at least give a small amount of gratitude for the Partnership for helping get this done.

9/8 KPLU-FM
Liam Moriarty
SEATTLE (KPLU) – The effort to restore Puget Sound to health depends a lot on good science. A new infusion of federal money for research sheds light on that complex and wide-ranging task.
The nearly $13 million will pay for 17 projects aimed at increasing our knowledge of specific aspects of what’s ailing Puget Sound   and how to heal it.
Michael Rylko – with the Environmental Protection Agency – says the research will cover a lot of ground.
Listen at KPLU

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Cute, the Coast Guard constantly misspells Clallam Bay in the follow Press Release…Luckily it appears that the fuel tanks may not have been full…

__________________________________

SEATTLE – The Coast Guard is monitoring the salvage of the sunken fishing vessel North Pass near Clallum Bay, Wash., Friday.

The Coast Guard responded to the vessel taking when it was taking on water, Wednesday, at Slip Point near Clallum Bay with two people onboard.  Both people were recovered and safely transported to nearby Olson’s Resort in Sekiu, Wash., by a Good Samaritan.

Global Diving and Salvage attempted to raise the 95-year-old wooden fishing vessel with air bags until it was determined, when lifted, it was too unstable to tow to shore. In order to prevent the vessel from drifting into the straits and becoming a possible hazard to navigation the airbags were cut and the fishing vessel sank in approximately 150 to 200-feet of water 300 yards offshore.

Global Diving and Salvage sealed the fuel tanks with a potential of 300 gallons of diesel in those tanks.  There are no reports of a sheen.

The Coast Guard has issued a Safety Marine Information Broadcast and will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the safety of the environment and the maritime public.

For additional information contact Lt. Jennifer Osburn at (206) 391-7421 or the Joint Harbor Operations Center at (206) 217-6002.

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Please hand out modern clothes, along with forks and knives, to our neighbors to the north. They can now take off their sabre tooth tiger wraps…welcome to the modern age (with tongue in cheek to my son in law and his family in Victoria). Mr. Floaty might have to stick around to project manage this thing and make sure it’s on time and under budget. There’s a bunch of stuff floating around out there until these plants get built.

*8/26/10 SeattlePI.Com

Joel Connelly
After decades in which Victoria and nearby cities wouldn’t get off the pot,  the British Columbia government on Thursday approved a plan to treat millions of gallons of raw sewage dumped daily into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
"Sewage treatment will be in operation by 2016:  That’s the time-line in the plan," B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner told seattlepi.com
…"It’s unbelievable how long this has taken:  It is long overdue but better than not doing it," Kathy Fletcher, executive director of People for Puget Sound said Thursday night.
More at
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/219510.asp?from=blog_last3
Listen at 8/27 KPLU-FM
Victoria’s Neighbors Heave A Sigh of Relief
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kplu/news.newsmain/article/0/1/1693231/KPLU.Local.News/Victoria%E2%80%99s.Neighbors.Heave.A.Sigh.of.Relief
See also 8/26 Associated Press
British Columbia government approves plan to treat raw sewage
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012735281_sewage27.html

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I still remain skeptical about whether this was the Navy or not. As I remember it, that side of the Canal has oysters all over the beaches. It’s just odd. Even the scientists say they haven’t seen a storm create this kind of thing….. call me unconvinced.

Kitsap Sun
Oyster Cleanup Completed at Scenic Beach
By Kitsap Sun staff

SEABECK —
About 35 volunteers turned out Monday to move oysters at Scenic Beach State Park, completing the work that 65 other volunteers started <http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/aug/20/dozens-turn-out-to-help-imperiled-oysters-in/>  on Friday.

The oysters had been washed up high on the beach on Aug. 11 — about the time a Navy ship, the USS Port Royal, was operating in Hood Canal <http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/aug/13/ships-wake-prompts-oysters-to-wash-up-on-shore/> . Navy officials are investigating to determine whether the ship was to blame. Shellfish biologists familiar with Hood Canal say they have never seen a storm move oysters in such an extreme pattern.

More at
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/aug/23/oyster-cleanup-completed-at-scenic-beach/

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8/22 Peninsula Daily News
Tribe’s, city’s separate plans for Rayonier site can coincide, tribal leader says
By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES — The leader of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe says the city’s plan to purchase a portion of Rayonier’s former mill site and use a large tank on the property to reduce sewage overflows wouldn’t affect the tribe’s plans for developing the property.

But the 5-million-gallon tank may need to be given a spruce-up if the tribe’s Salish Village proposal pans out, said Ron Allen, tribal chairman.

Allen said the tank might need to be painted to “change its image” or more trees could be planted nearby so that it blends in with the mix of residential, cultural and commercial uses that would make up the village.

More at
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100823/news/308239997/tribes-citys-separate-plans-for-rayonier-site-can-coincide-tribal

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I’m still trying to figure out if this is a real story. Hundreds of thousands kicked up by a Navy ship? It appears as if something may have happened during the time a Navy ship was in manuveurs, but it’s very hard to comprehend how one ships’ wake could throw hundreds of thousands of oysters ashore in one swoop. Odd…

8/20 Kitsap Sun
Dozens Turn Out To Help Imperiled Oysters in Seabeck
By Derek Sheppard

SEABECK — Mary-Cathern Edwards was drawn in by the “plight of the oysters.”

Strewn high on the beach at Scenic Beach State Park, hundreds of thousands of oysters were barely surviving on the few sips of water they got each day at high tide.

Edwards and her 10-year-old granddaughter Hannah Holloway-Miller were among about 65 volunteers who showed up Friday morning to the Central Kitsap beach to save the oysters by moving them closer to the water.

More at
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/aug/20/dozens-turn-out-to-help-imperiled-oysters-in/

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Anti environmental candidate Jim Boyer, who has primarily run opposing the SMP and CAO and vows to attempt to overturn them if elected, has garnered the most votes in the primary for Jefferson County Commissioner. John Austin is running a strong but distance second, and Diane Johnson, also an openly anti environmental candidate, is running a distant third.  The key here is that this is the primary, and Port Townsend was not voting at this point for the south county candidates.

If you value environmental protection in this county, you need to at least vote, if not work for, John Austin’s candidacy. Make no mistake about it, years of hard work to better protect our county’s environment are at stake if Jim Boyer is elected. He has publicly opposed almost any new regulation to protect shores and critical areas, and he is strongly backed by the libertarian “Olympic Stewardship Foundation”, which is also staunchly opposed to any and all new land regulation. He is wanting to roll back the regs, which strikes me as odd, as being a Republican his normal stance is for less government waste and spending. Our county has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the latest round of regulations, and now Boyer wants them thrown out. Talk about waste in government!

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8/11 Peninsula Daily News
Jamestown S’Klallam tribe has its own ideas for redeveloping Rayonier site
By Tom Callis
Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES — The Jamestown S’Klallam tribe remains interested in pursuing the redevelopment of Rayonier’s former mill site despite deadlocked negotiations between the company and Harbor-Works.

Tribal Chairman Ron Allen said the Blyn-based tribe, which has developed 7 Cedars Casino and the Cedars at the Dungeness Golf Course, is still hopeful that it will be the lead agency for redevelopment of the fallow property — considered the largest undeveloped land on the North Olympic Peninsula — and become the eventual owner of most, if not all, of the 75-acre site.

In fact, he said, the tribe is preparing to release a conceptual drawing of a Native American cultural center that it wants to build on the eastern edge of the waterfront property.

More at
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100811/NEWS/308119987/jamestown-sklallam-tribe-has-its-own-ideas-for-redeveloping-rayonier

Read letter from Jamestown S’Klallam Chairman Ron Allen to Gov. Chris Gregoire
http://issuu.com/peninsuladailynews/docs/jamestownrayonierletter?mode=embed&viewMode=presentation&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true

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Fresh water resources are being depleted at a rate that exceeds the rate of natural replenishment through rainfall and snowmelt.  Declining aquifers threaten reliable water supplies from wells.  Seasonal low flows in rivers and streams harm aquatic habitat for endangered fish.  Population growth magnifies these threats to the sustainability of water supplies for people and the environment.

On Wednesday, August 11, 2010, the League of Women Voters of Clallam County will sponsor the first of a series of forums on water issues in the Dungeness watershed.

The meeting will be held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 525 N. 5^th Avenue in Sequim from 7 – 8:30 p.m.

Speakers at our first Water Forum include Amanda Cronin of the Washington Water Trust and water lawyer Shirley Nixon.  Amanda will cover hydrology of the Dungeness River Basin, water use patterns and trends, and techniques for protecting instream flows – including acquisition of water rights.  Shirley will cover “Water Law 101” with emphasis on the prior appropriation doctrine and how it interacts with reality in times of water scarcity.

Additional technical experts will be available to answer questions regarding water availability in the Dungeness River Basin and offer tools for what you can do to protect our existing water supplies and ensure a more sustainable water future.

The Water Forum will allow at least 30 minutes for questions and answers.  Informational tables and displays containing more information will be available before and after the formal forum program.

CONTACT:  Sonja Rotter

PHONE:  360/452-2413

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