Building a stronger, more just & transparent democracy
Building a stronger, more just & transparent democracy
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Drayton Harbor Oyster Company (DHO) is seeking to expand its oyster growing operations to add an off-bottom farm in a cleaner area of Drayton Harbor as water quality issues continue to be a pressing challenge. The farm would be in addition to the company's existing tideland farm on the eastern side of the harbor. DHO co-owner Steve Seymour said he began looking into the benefits of off-bottom farming a few years ago after seeing it used on the east coast, Australia, New...
WHATCOM - A grassy field, open skies, fresh air and birds in song. Trees and plants whose colors change with the seasons. These are ways someone might describe The Meadow. The Meadow, located at Greenacres Memorial Park in Ferndale, offers the option of green burial, a relatively new alternative method of laying a loved one to rest. Green burial at The Meadow provides families the option to bury loved ones in a serene and natural environment that utilizes sustainable burial...
Scientists are now asking the public to refer to the world's largest hornets as "northern giant hornets," opposed to the previously dubbed names "Asian giant hornets" and "murder hornets." The name was changed in late July to avoid using a geographical region in the insect's title. The Entomological Society of America (ESA) adopted "northern giant hornet" in its list of common names of insects and related organisms. ESA didn't have an official name for the hornets until now, a...
Washington's wildlife commissioners have chosen not to enact a new rule that was developed with the goal of reducing the number of wolves killed under state orders due to conflicts with livestock. The rule would have designated areas of "chronic conflict" and required state wildlife officials to verify that livestock owners in those areas have taken appropriate measures to prevent conflicts before the state kills wolves after attacks on livestock. The vote by the Washington Fi...
Wolverines have reproduced at Mount Rainier National Park for a third year in a row, according to an announcement last week by the Cascade Carnivore Project. The news marks another positive development for the project as well as the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service, which have been working together to document and study the "natural recolonization of wolverines in Washington and the impacts of climate change on their mountain home." Back in 2019, a female...
This month, the Yakama Nation and Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation began construction for fish habitat restoration projects along the Twisp and Methow rivers. The two entities, which are working independently on adjacent sites along the Twisp River, oversaw the transport of hundreds of logs to project sites via helicopter earlier this month. Now, that timber is being used to create log structures in the water, designed to restore critical habitat for endangered...
Though there are no confirmed sightings of Asian giant hornets yet this year, scientists and entomologists from the Washington Department of Agriculture (WSDA) were ready to talk about new research related to the massive bugs during a training session in Birch Bay State Park Tuesday. The training session was designed to teach attendees about the trapping, tracking and eradication of the invasive hornets. Among the small group of trainees: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. "I'm here...
This could be the next image of flood recovery: Houses raised up from their foundations to be repositioned several feet higher, if rebuilt at all. Several homeowners in hard-hit Sumas have taken the action already, without knowing for sure if they will be reimbursed part of their costs of doing so. Their effort is through the National Flood Insurance Program of FEMA, which offers a maximum of $30,000 for personally doing “flood risk mitigation” such as raising a house out of floods’ reach. Usually it is only partial reimb...
The King County Superior Court jury awarded the Lummi Nation close to $600,000 in damages Wednesday over the 2017 collapse of an Atlantic salmon net pen in Puget Sound. The collapsed net pen, owned by Cooke Aquaculture Pacific LLC, triggered statewide studies, new regulations and bans on farming non-native fish when it collapsed five years ago, releasing close to a quarter-million Atlantic salmon into the sea near Skagit County. When the nets failed, between 243,000 and...
A piece of Blaine is now displayed for the world to view at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The first Asian giant hornet nest found and eradicated in the U.S., or "nest zero," was displayed July 1 in the Smithsonian's new "Our Places: Connecting People and Nature" exhibition. The exhibit explores how peoples' experiences with nature across the globe motivates them to care for and protect the environment, according to a National Museum of...
Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz visited Lakebay Marina June 4 in part to celebrate the partnership to save the iconic facility and to see for herself what the Department of Natural Resources now owns. "This was a long, long haul here," said Bob Wise, president of the Recreational Boaters Association of Washington. "There were a lot of ups and downs, a lot of very dark days. Number one, I thank Hilary Franz for having the courage to do this." Doug...
The latest addition to the Southern Resident orca J pod has been identified as a girl, according to observers from the Center for Whale Research (CWR). This orca, the first calf born in the pod since September 2020, was first seen in early March and is named J59. Last week, researchers with the CWR observed the pod. The orcas were "very socially active with lots of splashing and horsing around," according to a post on the group's blog. "J37 was pushing her new calf around and...
Voracious invaders are seeking a foothold in the region's tidelands. And you've been enlisted in the battle. The enemy is the European green crab - considered one of the world's worst invasive species for how it feeds on shellfish such as clams, mussels, young oysters, small fish and even young Dungeness crab. They can destroy marsh habitats by burrowing into the mud, -obliterating eelgrass beds and disrupting critical habitats for juvenile salmon, herring and other animals....
Tens of thousands of endangered salmon could access high-quality habitat in the Similkameen River watershed if Enloe Dam were removed, but any plans to demolish the dam would have to address arsenic contamination in sediment that's collected behind the dam under deep gravel. At a community meeting on Enloe Dam in Tonasket last week, federal, state and tribal biologists and hydrologists, along with representatives from the Colville Tribes, presented conclusions from...
ILWACO - Fishing roughly 20 miles off the Washington coast near a vast submarine canyon, it took the bait more than two minutes to reach the bottom in an ink-black abyss. It's in this deep-water habitat, near the rim of the Astoria Canyon, where one of the most prized fishes in the Pacific Northwest lurks. Pacific halibut eat their fill in this nutrient-rich environment, where a gradually sloping Washington seafloor drops precipitously from a few hundred feet into a dizzying d...
Below the surface of Puget Sound, disappearing kelp forests and eelgrass beds are threatening the stability of dependent species. The shrinking population is now drawing the attention of lawmakers, with a variety of approaches encouraging restoration of the building block of this aquatic ecosystem. A bill signed into law by Gov. Inslee earlier this year will provide the Department of Natural Resources with funding to create a plan to conserve 10,000 acres of kelp and eelgrass habitats by 2040. The department will work with...
People hoping for a share of the earthy mushrooms that often pop up after a wildfire can apply for a commercial harvesting permit for morels from the Methow Valley Ranger District starting Monday (May 2). People can collect up to 5 gallons a day for their own use without a permit, as long as they carry a copy of the Free Incidental Use Mushroom Information Sheet while they’re foraging. Commercial permits are required for anyone who plans to sell mushrooms or collect more than 5 gallons per day. Permits are $30 for two d...
The gray wolf population in Washington topped 200 animals last year, with 33 packs in the central and eastern parts of the state at the end of 2021. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) recently released its yearly wolf population report, which tallied 206 wolves, a 16% increase over the 2020 count of 178 wolves. Of the 33 packs documented in 2021, 19 had successful breeding pairs. In 2020, WDFW counted 29 packs with 16 breeding pairs. Three packs with...
Removing derelict or abandoned boats from the waters of Puget Sound is a high priority for the Department of Natural Resources. The department's underfunded Derelict Vessel Removal Program got a big boost from legislators with the passage of HB 1700 in March. Twenty-five percent of the money generated from watercraft excise taxes, roughly $7.5 million, will go toward funding the program each biennium. To read more from this article, visit: https://keypennew...
