Earth Share of Washington

Biofuels Legislation Advancing in Olympia

- By Patrick Mazza from ESW organization Climate Solutions

Energy Independence legislation to require that Washington fuels contain a minimum share of biofuels is now moving forward in Olympia. Requested by Gov. Christine Gregoire, the bill's lead sponsors are Rep. Janea Holquist, a Columbia Basin Republican and Rep. Hans Dunshee, a Puget Sound Democrat. The measure is also one of the environmental community’s four lead priorities for the 2006 session (see www.environmentalpriorities.org).

The Energy Independence Bill, HB2738, calls for replacing 2.5% of our gasoline with ethanol and 2% of our diesel fuel with biodiesel in 2007. The biodiesel content will be increased to 5% and the ethanol content to 10% as Washington capacity to grow and make biofuels increases.

The win-win-win of a clean fuel that reduces air pollution and global warming gases, builds new markets for farmers and improves energy security draws support from across the aisle and state.

Reduce Washington's dependence on foreign fuels

Using more renewable fuels will increase our energy independence by powering our lives, our jobs and our economy with homegrown fuels. The U.S. imports 60% of its oil, and 20% of our imports come from the unstable Persian Gulf region. Imported oil also represents one-third of our trade deficit. Renewable fuels come from crops like canola, mustard and corn that are grown here.

Keep fuel dollars in our economy

Washington spends more than $9 billion per year on imported gasoline, dollars that do nothing to support our local economy. By comparison, we also spend $5-6 billion per year on K-12 education. The Energy Independence bill will take the first, needed step towards keeping those dollars in our economy, instead of sending them overseas.

Create new markets and new jobs for Eastern Washington

This legislation is being constructed to maximize use of Washington crops, but the production of biofuels alone will generate economic benefits: A 40 million gallon-per-year plant will create 41 direct jobs, $16 million in local purchases other than grain, and a $142 million local economic boost during construction.

Reduce global warming pollution

Biofuels reduce emissions of global warming pollution, which is a serious threat for our snow pack-dependent region. Global warming is caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere. One of the largest sources of carbon dioxide is burning fossil fuels. By replacing fossil fuels with biofuels we take a real step toward combating global warming. Biodiesel represents a 78% greenhouse gas reduction.

Find out more and stay in touch.

Visit the campaign website, www.independentfuels.org.

Salvage Logging Rears Its Head Again

- Submitted by Liz Banse from ESW organization Washington Foundation for the Environment

It's mid-winter in the rainy Northwest and only the most avid hikers are hitting the trails. While we are denned up in our homes, Congress is hard at work tinkering with national forest policies that could affect the health of our beloved Northwest forests.

To meddle or not to meddle with nature, that is the question. U.S. Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Brian Baird, D-Wash., are proposing legislation to allow quick logging and replanting after forest fires on National Forest land.

Environmental groups, scientists and others believe this one-size-fits-all approach to managing our nation's forests is not in our best interest. This is a mandate from the federal government that insists we cut trees whether or not scientists or on-the-ground managers think it is appropriate. Plenty of economists, agency officials and conservation groups have made the case over the past decade that this will be a money loser for taxpayers and a management nightmare for the Forest Service. It risks long-term damage to some of our most pristine places and will almost certainly hurt the forests' ability to naturally recover, which they quite often can do better on their own through their unique adaptive traits.

To be sure, it often makes good sense to cut and replant after a fire. However, there will be many instances where logging could go into fragile areas with rare plants, wild salmon streams, few roads and some of our last remaining old-growth trees. Industrial-style reforestation would follow, making the area look and function more like a runaway lawn than the remarkably diverse conifer forest it once was.

A logged over and planted plantation has trees, but it's not the type of place you would want to visit with your family to view wildlife, camp or pick wildflowers. And without proper management, it’s a tinderbox.

A burned forest is still a forest, and our forests have evolved to deal with fire on their own terms. Scientists tell us that burned trees serve a vital role in the forest's web of life. As University of Washington Biology Professor James Karr recently wrote, “These forests have evolved with fire. Periodic fires have been part of a normal cycle lasting thousands of years. Logging a burned forest damages the soil, carrying away nutrients, robbing seedlings of moisture, and clogging nearby streams. Trees in a burned landscape, both dead and alive, continue to provide homes for wildlife after a fire and form the building blocks of new forests. Yet these are precisely the trees that would be burned or hauled away under Baird and Walden’s proposed legislation.�

"Baird and Walden would have us believe that forests are restored by replanting seedlings. In reality, left alone, a forest with intact soils and the shade of big, even burned, trees will establish, as one informal survey showed, up to four times as many seedlings as a logged area. And the seedlings that recolonize these sites are the descendents of trees naturally selected over many generations to grow in these places."

Northwesterners admire our forests’ ability to flourish in our temperate climate, succumb to disaster, and bounce right back. This is a good example of where nature should be trusted to manage its own affairs.

Note: The Washington Foundation for the Environment is a charitable foundation and does not take official positions on issues, but seeks to educate the public on current events.

Storm Victims Find Help at PAWS

- Submitted by Kevin Mack from ESW organization PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

2006 started off with a bang at the PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center as 57 Western Grebes and one Clark's Grebe arrived from Ocean Shores. Thin and weak, the grebes had been tossed up on the shore by heavy, wind-driven surf. Grebes' legs are specialized for swimming, but they do not work well for standing or walking on land. Once the birds are on the beach, they have extreme difficulty getting back into the water. They also become soiled by sand and dirt, which compromises the waterproofing of their feathers. Even if they do make it back into the water, the birds may return to the beach to avoid hypothermia or drowning. Without help, many slowly starve to death.

At PAWS, the grebes receive very specialized care. Each bird is given a full physical examination and treated for any wounds or injuries. The birds are tube-fed a rehydrating solution and slowly introduced to a richer liquid diet over the course of a few days. They are tube-fed as many as seven times per day during their treatment. PAWS houses the birds in special net-bottomed pens that help prevent them from developing pressure sores when they are out of the water. They are also placed in pools regularly to allow them to preen sand and other debris from their feathers. In the pools, the grebes are offered as much fish as they will eat. Over time, and with a lot of preening, the grebes are able to restore their own waterproofing. If they are having difficulty, the birds are washed to speed up the process.

Once they are entirely waterproof, the grebes stay in water pools around the clock. Their tube feedings may be decreased as they begin to eat more fish on their own. Once they have regained both their health and their strength, they are ready for release. For a species whose population has decreased by as much as 90 percent or more in recent years, every individual that can be returned to the wild is extremely important. It is very possible that the birds that entered PAWS care in January will have been released by the time you read this!

PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is located in Lynnwood, WA (see www.paws.org).

Policy changes threaten pristine national parks

- Submitted by Josh Walter from ESW organization National Parks Conservation Association

Protecting national parks, such as Olympic, Mount Rainier, and the North Cascades for future generations has been the priority of the National Park Service (NPS) since inception. The 1916 Organic Act, which created the Park Service, directs that the national parks be preserved “by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

However, sweeping changes proposed to the National Park Service's management policies, which park superintendents and managers use as the guiding principles for running their parks, put this tradition in jeopardy. Based upon National Parks Conservation Association’s (NPCA) analysis, these draft policy changes weaken the protections for America’s national parks.

While making some potentially positive changes to the existing (2001) management policies, such as including language about the NPS's increased homeland security responsibilities and certain business practices, the Department of Interior’s current draft includes several damaging proposals. Most notably, the proposal removes significant language about the importance of conservation in park decisions.

These changes could lead to increases in more damaging park uses, such as off-road vehicles, jet skis, and snowmobiles as well as ease the way for questionable development and commercialization.
The deadline for public comments is February 18, 2006, and NPCA's Northwest Regional Office would like your help in sharing this important public feedback on this harmful management policy rewrite with the Park Service. For more information, please visit www.npca.org/stoptherewrite, or email Josh Walter at jwalter@npca.org.

This is a critical opportunity to help shape the future of our national parks and ensure they do not lose their inherent natural wonder.

Upcoming Events & Volunteer Opportunities

• February 1 through April 5 - The Mountaineers 2006 NW Environmental Issues Course - Become a fully informed environmental advocate for the Northwest by taking the Mountaineers Northwest Environmental Issues Course. This course provides lectures and optional field trips designed to equip participants with the tools and awareness that they can use to protect the natural resources of the Northwest. Students examine the often conflicting interests of population, wildlife, global warming, forests, transportation, water, simpler lifestyles, green economics, energy, and more—through lectures by environmental experts, group discussions, field trips, and other activities.
  
  The course runs from February 1 to April 5, 2006. Lectures will be held Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 9:00 PM at The Mountaineers (located at 300 Third Avenue West in Seattle, 98119). Course cost is $45 for members of The Mountaineers and $50 for non-members. A $10 discount is available for students and seniors. Participants who signup in pairs receive $5 off the second course fee. Combinations of discounts are not acceptable. Registration for single lectures is also available for $7 for Mountaineers members and $8 for non-members. Register online at www.mountaineers.org or call 206-284-8484 to register by phone. For more information please contact Terri Cloonan at 425-746-3821 or TLCloonan@comcast.net.
• February 2 - Speaker Series: Birds of Puget Sound: 50 Years of Watching – 7:00 to 9:00 PM - 
REI Flagship Store, Seattle - Sponsored by KUOW-FM and People For Puget Sound - Did you know that Pacific Black Brant fly nonstop for over 50 hours migrating from Alaska to Baja? Ever see Great Blue Heron “impersonateâ€? Double-crested Cormorants? Come share bird stories with Joe Meche who has been watching birds for more than 50 years and capturing their beauty on film and videotape for more than 20 years. He presents a slide-illustrated program featuring the birds of the greater Puget Sound area and talks about the diversity of habitats they frequent. He is currently working on a video project documenting the life cycle and spectacular migration of the Pacific Black Brant. Admission $8 in advance; $10 at the door. $2 discount for members and students. For reservations, purchase online (http://www.pugetsound.org) or call Jenny Aunan (206) 382-7007.
• February 4 – Longfellow Creek Restoration Work Party – 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM - Join EarthCorps, Longfellow Creek Watershed Council, and Seattle Parks and Recreation/Green Seattle Partnership (GSP) as they work to restore habitat along Longfellow Creek. Located in West Seattle, Longfellow Creek is one of only three natural waterways left within Seattle city limits. Salmon stopped using the creek in the 1930s due to pollution and blocked stream passage. The efforts of many community groups and volunteers made the return of the salmon possible in the 1990s. Now we are working to continue the improvement of conditions in the creek. For more information, contact Elizabeth White, Outreach Project Manager at (206) 255-4160 or email elizabeth@earthcorps.org
• February 11, 18, 25 - Golden Gardens Hiking Trail Restoration Work Party - 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM - Volunteers for Outdoor Washington has teamed up with the City of Seattle to restore the trails of this popular urban park on the shores of Puget Sound. Following a safety talk, volunteers will be doing many things from clearing invasive species – including blackberry and ivy - to planting native vegetation to re-building the trails so park visitors will have a safe and enjoyable visit. For more information or to signup for this event, please contact Todd Jennings at todd@trailvolunteers.org or call 206-517-3019.
• February 15 - Environmental Health Lecture Series -- "Plastic Promises: Better Living or Bodily Harm?" - Seattle, Washington - Plastics permeate our lives -- from CDs and cell phone casings to baby bottles and incubators for premature infants. Mounting evidence suggests that exposures to certain chemicals found in hard plastics may contribute to a variety of lifelong human health problems. Frederick vom Saal, PhD, is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia and has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, such as Neurotoxicology and Teratology and Environmental Health Perspectives. Dr. vom Saal will present his seminal research on the health effects of low dose exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, specifically bisphenol-A., Bisphenol-A, found in many household, medical, and baby products, is now associated with compromised uterine function, thwarted fetal development, decreased sperm production, neurological problems, prostate and other cancers, aggressive behaviors, and more. He will also discuss how this research may catalyze the plastics industry to develop less toxic materials. For more information about this event, please call 360-331-7904 or iceh@iceh.org
• February 18 - Hamm Creek Habitat Restoration - 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM - 10000 W. Marginal Pl S., Seattle, WA - Join People For Puget Sound, 50 Boeing employees and Sound Stewards at their Hamm Creek restoration site on the Duwamish River. Volunteers will remove invasive weeds such as Himalayan blackberry, Scot’s broom, butterfly bush, and reed canary grass, and planting native plants that will provide shade to the creek. No experience necessary. Children 10 and under must have one to one adult supervision. Bring sturdy footwear, dress for the weather (event takes place rain or shine). Bring your own sack lunch and plenty of water. For more information about this event please contact Brian Craig at brian.a.craig@boeing.com or call Bronwyn Dexter at (206) 382-7007.
• February 18-19 - Volunteer at Bike Expo – Here's an opportunity to help out the Bicycle Alliance of Washington, check out everything bicycle, and have some fun! They will have a booth at this year’s Group Health Seattle International Bike Expo and they need volunteers to help staff the table. Bike Expo is slated for February 18 & 19 in Hangar 27 at Magnuson Park (Sand Point). They need volunteers to help at our booth during these shifts: Saturday, February 18th, 12:00PM to 4:00 PM and 3:00 PM to -7:00 PM - Sunday, February 19th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. For more information or to signup for this event, please contact Louise McGrody at louisemc@bicyclealliance.org.