Free workshop for shoreline homeowners
Just to follow up. This was a standing room only crowd. We intend to run this again later in the year, for those who missed it.
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Sad, but expected. They likely will lose, as other suits have, and cost the State hundreds of thousands to defend.
The Olympic Resource Protection Council has decided it will sue the state over a rule that governs water use in the Dungeness Valley. In a meeting Thursday night at the Sequim library, the group membership agreed to pursue a lawsuit against the state Department of Ecology in an effort to force the agency to review the Dungeness Water Rule…. Water use in the basin was restricted by the Dungeness Water Rule, a measure instituted January 2013 by Ecology with the aim of preserving water in the Dungeness River for both human use and for aquatic species when its flow diminishes in dry summer months. Joe Smillie (Peninsula Daily News)
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Michelle McConnell, who has been a stalwart at the Jefferson County Dept. of Community Development for many years, has chosen to leave and work for the Department of Ecology. Michelle has had the extremely hard job of shepherding the Shoreline Master Program through over the last 8 years. She has always been a steady hand and been a sea of calm in the midst of turbulent public meetings over the SMP. We will miss her guidance on these issues. No word on a replacement yet. Best of luck to Michelle in future endeavors.
I’m pleased to announce I have accepted a new job and will be leaving DCD the week of April 7; my new position will be as a Shoreline Planner with WA Department of Ecology.
I have learned a lot during my eight years with the County and it has been both challenging and rewarding to have served as Project Manager for major, multi-year projects including the Shoreline Master Program Update and Watershed Stewardship Resource Center/SquareONE. I’m proud of the many positive contributions I’ve made to the never-ending, fast-paced and varied work of DCD.
Thanks to all the good folks I’ve met and worked with along the way!
Best wishes,
Michelle
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: county government, Department of Community Development, Jefferson County, Puget Sound, SMP | Comments Off on Jefferson County – Michelle McConnell leaves for Ecology
Always a good thing to do with kids or grandkids.
An intimate display of animals that can be found in local waters will be on view to the public this Friday as the Port Townsend Marine Science Center opens its doors for the season… The marine display, which features 14 tanks with thousands of different animals, is located at the end of the pier that extends from Fort Worden State Park. The new season begins Friday with a public feed where visitors are invited to help feed the animals at 2 p.m.. Charlie Bermant reports. (Peninsula Daily News)
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25 years later, and the pain and destruction just keeps on keepin on. This is why we are so hard core about protecting us from an oil spill. I want to point out that we should be very proud of the Coast Guard here in the Sound that have done an excellent job of vessel traffic control, and our politicians like Representative Kevin Van De Wege who helped push through the rescue tug at Neah Bay (with the help of the Tribes, many governmental and NGOs too over 15 years of work). There are new threats coming, and the need to be ever vigilant is never going to leave. But we have done a great job up to now. Knock on wood.
Before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, there was the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, at the time the nation’s largest oil spill.
The 987-foot tanker, carrying 53 million gallons of crude, struck Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m. on March 24, 1989. Within hours, it unleashed an estimated 10.8 million gallons of thick, toxic crude oil into the water. Storms and currents then smeared it over 1,300 miles of shoreline.
Read the whole story at:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/25-years-exxon-valdez-spill-effects-linger-22981757
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: exxon valdez, oil spill, Puget Sound | 1 Comment »
Looking for a ton of scientific information on the Fukushima Crisis and it’s affects on us? The good folks at the Georgia Strait Alliance in Canada have put this web site up. A web site of web sites. Likely I’ll refer to some of this on the left side of this blog someday as well.
Georgia Strait Alliance has put up a web page to update the crisis: “The devastating explosions in 2011 at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan released huge quantities of radioactive isotopes into the ocean and our atmosphere….”
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From my good friend Mike Sato:
I learned about the Exxon Valdez going aground 25 years ago while working in corporate communications for the investor-owned utility, Hawaiian Electric Company. We sadly watched the national news for days as 11 million gallons of oil spread and coated the pristine shorelines.
Read the rest of the story at:
http://salishseacommunications.blogspot.com/2014/03/oil-and-water-dont-mix-never-have.html
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Herring Country Safari
Puget Sound Institute lead ecosystem ecologist Tessa Francis writes: “Hood Canal never disappoints me. We’re in year 2 of our herring habitat study, asking whether Puget Sound herring populations are limited by the availability of spawning habitat…. Substrate type doesn’t matter. What does matter, we found, is where that substrate occurs. We found greater differences in egg mortality among spawning sites — Elliott Bay versus, say, Hood Canal — than among spawning habitat within sites. This year, we’re looking closely at why herring egg survival varies among spawning sites….”
It all goes to show that more research into the Salish Sea is needed to better understand the processes and root causes of their success or failures.
http://blogs.uw.edu/tessa/2014/03/15/herring-country-safari/
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Jefferson County Commissioner John Austin has decided not to run for a third 4 year term. I have appreciated his strong stand on environmental issues over the last years, and will miss him on the Commission Board. He has been a very solid vote for environmental protection, health care for all county residents, and a man willing to deliberate over a position. Politics is about trying to make everyone feel like they are being considered, and some in this county have not felt that way over the last few years, but that wasn’t for a lack of trying by John. Good luck John in all your future travels. I thank you for your friendship and consultations.
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: government, Jefferson County, John Austin, Puget Sound | 1 Comment »
You know, I have a hard time giving money to political parties when this kind of outcome is standard operating procedure. Excuses don’t cut it. Results do.
The Washington Legislature’s Republicans and Democrats couldn’t get together to pass a single piece of legislation specifically relating to oil trains or vessels, despite the introduction of several bills from both sides of the aisle. Ashley Ahearn reports. (EarthFix)
http://earthfix.kcts9.org/energy/article/washington-legislature-fails-to-pass-any-oil-train/
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This was presented to the State of Washington House Energy Committee last week .
What did they do about it? You guessed it. Sculpture “Politicians Discussing Global Warming”
From Timeline Photos
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Sound Action, the relative newcomer to the Salish Sea environmental action scene, continues to expand. Diane Tilstra joined the team to help expand fundraising and capacity. Diane is passionate about Puget Sound and has a long history of helping organizations thrive. She spent many years as the development director at People for Puget Sound and was a liaison to the Alliance for Puget Sound Shorelines, which worked to find establish and private funding for common environmental projects around Puget Sound shorelines. Diane also serves as a board member for the Seabury School in Tacoma and volunteers with the National Alliance to End Veteran Suicide. I worked with Diane at People For Puget Sound and can attest that she is a great asset to have brought on to S.A. They are rapidly becoming the new organization that is actually challenging the status quo around the Salish Sea. Lord knows it needs it. Far too many endless meetings and far too little action.
Here’s a wrap up from Sound Action on their Olympia efforts. Given the general ‘do nothing’ nature of this last session, this is good work for such a small organization like theirs.
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Good news at least from the forecast for these fish.
Under options approved this week, recreation anglers fishing off the Washington coast this year could see a higher catch quota for chinook salmon and certainly higher coho quotas. The three alternatives for ocean fishing, approved late Thursday by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, are in response to projections of a higher abundance of hatchery chinook and a significant increase in the number of coho bound for the Columbia River. The council establishes fishing seasons in ocean waters three to 200 miles off the Pacific coast. Chinook options range from 47,500 to 60,000 fish, while the coho options range from 159,600 to 193,200 fish. Jeffery Mayor reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)
Read the whole story at:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/03/14/3097998/ocean-salmon-quota-options-reflect.html
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: chinook, coho, fishing, Puget Sound, quotas, Salmon | Comments Off on Ocean salmon quota options reflect strong runs – Tacoma News Tribune
Your opportunity to tell the ONP what changes you would like to see to their Wilderness Plan.
The public is invited to mix and match elements of four preliminary alternatives outlined for managing wilderness in Olympic National Park. Park staff are seeking public input on preliminary alternatives for the park’s first Wilderness Stewardship Plan before it puts together its draft environmental impact statement. The final plan, expected to be put into effect in late 2015, will guide management of most of the 922,650-acre park for the next 15 to 20 years. Comment can be made in person at meetings in Port Angeles and Forks this week and in Port Townsend next week. Comments also can be made in writing by mail or online by May 17. Arwyn Rice and Leah Leach report. (Peninsula Daily News)
Read the rest of the story.
From the Olympic Forest Coalition a bit more detailed viewpoint. The National Park Service has released a range of preliminary draft alternatives for the Olympic National Park Wilderness Stewardship Plan. The preliminary draft alternatives were designed to reflect key topics raised during the initial public scoping process last spring. “The public’s review and comment at this key stage of the planning process will ensure that we are developing the best possible future for the Olympic Wilderness,” said Olympic National Park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum. “Moreover, we want to ensure that we have accurately heard and addressed the public’s comments as we move forward in developing the plan.” This planning process applies only to lands within Olympic National Park and when complete, will guide the preservation, management and use of the park’s wilderness area. “In accordance with the Wilderness Act of 1964, the goal of this wilderness stewardship plan is to restore, protect and enhance the overall wilderness character of the wilderness area within Olympic National Park,” Creachbaum emphasized. The preliminary draft alternatives and maps, along with extensive background information and a copy of the public comments submitted during last year’s public scoping period, can be reviewed online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/olymwild. Comments may also be submitted at that website. Six public workshops will be offered and are scheduled as follows:
Ninety-five percent of Olympic National Park was designated as wilderness in 1988, and is part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Wilderness Act of 1964 established the National Wilderness Preservation System and established a policy for the protection of wilderness resources for public use and enjoyment. For more information or to be added to the Olympic National Park Wilderness Stewardship Plan, people should visit http://parkplanning.nps.gov/olymwild or call the park at 360-565-3004.
Here is the full document if you are interested:
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Six public workshops will be offered and are scheduled as follows:
Public comments may also be mailed or delivered to: Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum Attn: Wilderness Stewardship Plan |
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“Tides of Change” is a new Science Minute Movie by the North Coast and Cascades Science Learning Network that takes viewers behind-the-scenes of Olympic National Park with coastal ecologist Steve Fradkin as he traverses “one of the most wild, scenic coastlines in North America” to monitor the health of the park’s rocky intertidal community. (Peninsula Daily News)
Read the whole story:
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Anne Shaffer sits on the sandy shoreline of the Elwha River and looks around in amazement. Just two years ago, this area would have been under about 20 feet of water. So far about 3 million cubic yards of sediment — enough to fill about 300,000 dump trucks — has been released from the giant bathtubs of sediment that formed behind the two hydroelectric dams upstream. And that’s only 16 percent of what’s expected to be delivered downstream in the next five years. All of that sediment is already reshaping the mouth of the Elwha, which empties into the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the northern shore of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Katie Campbell reports. (EarthFix)
http://earthfix.kcts9.org/water/article/an-undammed-rivers-sediment-flush-delivers-new-hab/
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While this is not directly related to around here, it does have some interesting scientific findings that are relevant to our own battles against net pens. Read the whole article. It’s quite worth it. Wonder if it’s totally a one to one fit with our fish farming industry?
FARMED salmon should be sterilised to prevent them breeding with wild fish and introducing genetic weaknesses that will hamper their survival, experts have urged.
New research shows that while salmon reared in captivity to be eaten are genetically distinct from their wild relatives, they are just as fertile and pose a potential danger to naturally occurring populations if they escape and breed with them. Millions of salmon escape from fish farms each year and can find their way into wild spawning groups, where they can reproduce and introduce undesirable traits.
Read the rest of the story at
http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/sterilise-farm-salmon-say-experts-1-3334304
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If you were thinking of getting your fishing boat together to get up and take part in the herring fisheries off Vancouver Island, think again. The Canadian Federal Government continues it’s amazing lack of even rudimentary fact finding on whether to allow commercial fishing. It looks like the First Nations and the courts are standing up to these people. None too soon. Is the tide finally starting to turn? Allowing Canada to wipe out their herring stocks does not help our fishing fleets either. As we all know, salmon live on the herring and we catch their fish, just like they catch ours.
An unprecedented court injunction has barred the Department of Fisheries and Oceans from opening a commercial fishery off Vancouver Island after a judge concluded DFO was “fudging the numbers” and that the federal minister declared it open against her own bureaucrats’ advice. The Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, whose herring-roe fishery has been closed since 2006, went to court last month seeking the injunction. The ruling has prompted the Haida First Nation to threaten similar court action. And the central coast First Nations say they’ll do whatever it takes to protect their fisheries. The First Nations say the fisheries should not be opened because they have not recovered enough to allow harvesting safely. In the Nuu-chah-nulth case, court documents showed that DFO experts agreed that all three areas should remain closed, but federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea chose to open the fisheries anyway. Zoe Tennant reports. (Globe and Mail)
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) called for new federal action to examine ocean acidification’s potential threat to seafood and the commercial fishing during a hearing on the law that guides management of American commercial fisheries.
During testimony at the Senate hearing on the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Reauthorization, the Alaska Regional Administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service told Cantwell that ocean acidification is a “cause for concern.”
Cantwell highlighted the need for a study that identifies which fisheries and fish habitats are most at risk from the effects of ocean acidification –as an expansion of a Puget Sound monitoring system for shellfish that she was instrumental in establishing in 2010. She cited previous research that showed adverse effects on Alaska’s red king crab fisheries.
Such research also would be critical to understanding potential impacts to Washington state’s $30 billion maritime industry. The sector supports 57,000 direct jobs and 90,000 indirect jobs, 60 percent of which are in the fishing industry.
“We want to make sure we understand the risks to our fisheries. We have some real life situations that are occurring,” Cantwell said today during the hearing of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard. “On this issue, I think we definitely need a study to understand the impacts.”
Read the rest of the story here:
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