Olympic Peninsula Environmental News

Invasive saltwater snails, including dreaded oyster drills, seem to be far more leery of predators than native snails under certain conditions, according to a new study by Emily Grason, whose research earned her a doctoral degree from the University of Washington. Why non-native snails in Puget Sound would run and hide while native species stand their ground remains an open question, but the difference in behavior might provide an opportunity to better control the invasive species. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

http://pugetsoundblogs.com/waterways/2017/01/29/invasive-oyster-drills-react-differently-to-predators-than-natives/

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on Invasive oyster drills react differently to predators than natives – Watching Our Waterways

The battle over water rights  continues after the Supreme Court decision.

Some lawmakers are taking aim at a recent Washington Supreme Court decision that put the onus on counties to determine whether water is legally available in certain rural areas before they issue building permits. One bill sponsored by Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, amends parts of the state law at the heart of the ruling, known as the Hirst decision. County officials, builders, business and farm groups are among supporting the measure, while environmental groups and tribes oppose it. A competing bill sponsored by Sen. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, supports the court decision and sets up a program to help counties find ways to meet the requirements. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press and Bellingham Herald)

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/business/national-business/article129340894.html

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on Competing bills target, affirm high court water decision

If ever there were worse choices for EPA, it’s hard to imagine it. Better put on your steel underwear. This is going to get really ugly quickly. These two are as anti-environment as you can get. They don’t respect science, they don’t respect our hard fought support of the environment, they are, in fact, very much, against everything that is worth saving. It will be interesting to see what the Tribes reaction to these two will be, and what, if anything they can do with these two.

The Trump administration’s political “beachhead team” taking over at the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration is led in part by two pro-development, pro-oil politicians from Washington, State Sen. Doug Ericksen and ex-Sen. Don Benton, E & E News reported Monday.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Benton-Ericksen-part-of-Trump-beachhead-team-10877927.php?cmpid=twitter-desktop

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on Benton, Ericksen part of Trump’s political ‘beachhead’ takeover team at EPA – Seattle PI

Can’t imagine that the Corp would slow this down much, given the new administration. Obviously we hope that the Navy has done their engineering to plan on replacing these “erosion controlling rocks”.

The cost and timeline for the Navy’s $25.6 million pier and uplands construction project at Ediz Hook is being re-evaluated while the Navy awaits permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to remove thousands of cubic yards of erosion controlling rock, a Navy spokeswoman said last week. Corps spokeswoman Patricia Graesser said the agency would notify the Navy on Monday of the Corps’ decision. Paul Gottlieb report. (Peninsula Daily News)

Permit holds up Navy pier project at Ediz Hook

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on Permit holds up Navy pier project at Ediz Hook- PDN

Event mainly for educators, but others are welcome.

The 18th regional gathering of environmental educators takes place January 26 from 9 AM to 4:30 PM at Maple Hall in La Conner. The annual event brings together 120 NW Washington environmental educators, K-12 teachers and students for a day to learn about classroom resources, programs and opportunities for collaboration. Keynote speaker is Dr. John Stein, recently retired Director of the NW Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries. Register here at http://www.padillabay.gov/storming/registration.html

http://www.padillabay.gov/storming/speakers.html

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on EVENT: Storming the Sound January 26th – La Conner

Marches are great to get people involved for a day. They show volume of support. They get spirits running real high. But as Trump takes office, there is every reason to be on guard against a President whose attachment to constitutional norms seems episodic at best. David Remnick writes. (The New Yorker). The real question now is,”What are you going to do to keep it, beyond a one day march? ” One thing we need, is a way more new Democrats out running for office all over the country, and working every month on making sure that the five decades of laws protecting the water, air, workers rights, minority rights, women’s rights, and much much more are  not going to have to be rewritten again in 4 years. There cannot be a second term for Trump. He must lose the next election, and in the meantime, we need to elect at least a Senate that can keep him at bay. The House will be another matter. It will be very hard to win that back.

On September 17, 1787, as Benjamin Franklin was leaving the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention, at Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, a woman called out to him, saying, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”

“A republic,” Franklin said, “if you can keep it.”

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/preserve-protect-and-defend

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on Preserve, Protect, and Defend- The New Yorker

An  8 minute radio piece on night harvest of shellfish at Totten Inlet.While it’s a nice story on the workers that harvest our oysters,  the reporter avoided discussing the issues that have been causing a citizen activist organization to be suing to stop the growth of the industry in this very inlet. If you were looking for any of the controversy on Totten Inlet, you won’t find it in this piece. You could also check out the following story on more background.

http://archive.kitsapsun.com/outdoors/oyster-hatchery-targeted-in-hood-canal-pollution-lawsuit-3464be83-710d-673e-e053-0100007f4737-381840051.html

Almost every night in the winter, there are hundreds of farmers at work along the Washington coast. The lights of their head lamps are just barely visible on the shoreline. They are shellfish farmers out harvesting clams, oysters, and geoducks. They are up at such late hours because of the tide. That’s when it’s lowest during the winter months. Allie Ferguson reports. (KNKX)

http://knkx.org/post/harvesting-under-stars-night-life-shellfish-farmer

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on Harvesting Under The Stars: A Night In The Life Of A Shellfish Farmer – KNKX

Support local journalism. Subscribe!

Some names of who leaves, other shoes waiting to fall. Heidi Groover reports. (The Stranger)

http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/01/07/24787891/after-buyouts-and-layoffs-nearly-two-dozen-people-will-leave-the-seattle-times-newsroom

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on After Buyouts and Layoffs, Nearly Two Dozen People Will Leave the Seattle Times Newsroom 

Some good news today. Eelgrass doing better than thought.

Read the whole story:

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/science/a-bright-spot-in-puget-sound-eelgrass-beds-holding-steady/

Support local journalism. Subscribe to the Seattle Times. I do!

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | 1 Comment »

Phil Andrus and I will take 45 minutes and go over the Good, Bad and Ugly from 2016’s environmental news. We will break it down into  International/National, Regional and Local news. While the year ahead looks pretty dark, there’s lots to celebrate from 2016. So boost your spirits and tune in, turn up and drop down into your nearest sitting position (stand if you wish), and catch a dose of what mattered in 2016.

While you are there, take a few minutes and donate to KPTZ and help us continue this incredible radio resource for the Olympic Peninsula.

91.9 on the Quimper Peninsula and kptz.org on the web.

Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | Comments Off on Environmental Year In Review on KPTZ.org today. 1:45 PM PST.