Monthly News Archive:
November 2005
Table of Contents:
- Developer Initiative launched in Washington
- To free urban forests from invaders, some weigh ban on noxious plants
- Seattle pumps up biodiesel sales
- "Greener" heat sources cost money, save energy
- New facility aimed at ending fish farm woes
- State considers tighter oil-spill regulations
- An Offering of Thanks
- Executive Director's weblog - "Quite a Week"
- Certified for saving salmon
- Stories of a Wildlife Rescue - "Follow the Leader?"
- Government agrees to list Puget Sound orcas as endangered species
- Student power: Colleges are going green
- Clif Bar Greens Slopes to Fight Global Warming
- Earth Saving Tips - Save Energy, Stay Warm / Autumn Lawn Care
- Bill would open public land
- Columbia River Estuary Report Card Mixed
- Seattle City Light reduces net greenhouse-gas emissions to zero
- Powerful senator revives plan for more oil tankers in Sound
- Arctic oil drilling plan put on ice
- State DNR and Nature Conservancy Sign First Aquatic Conservation Lease
- Bioheat gains fans among ecominded
- City forests in peril: Invasive plants are killing native trees
- Nature Conservancy gets piece of prairie
- Gregoire urges forest protection
- Executive Director's weblog - "On the Road"
Developer Initiative launched in Washington
Land speculators and property rights extremists launched their effort to bring a Developer Initiative to Washington this month. Also known as a takings initiative, the proposal requires that local governments pay property owners if land protections affect their property values, or waive the protections.
Inspired by the passage of Measure 37 in Oregon, development interests are seeking to cut giant loopholes in the Growth Management Act. The effort is spearheaded by the State Farm Bureau – an organization known more for serving land speculators that helping farmers.
By requ...Read the full story
November 30, 2005
Add Comments...To free urban forests from invaders, some weigh ban on noxious plants
English ivy and other invasive plants are strangling Seattle’s forests, spurring a multimillion-dollar plan to restore the woods. It is also suddenly putting homeowners and garden stores here under scrutiny.
Experts, environmentalists and even some public officials are raising questions: Where’s all this stuff coming from? Should it be outlawed?
Evidence of the weedy invaders is easy to find across the city, especially at this time of year. Maples on Queen Anne’s western slope have dropped their leaves, exposing twisting cables of ivy that swarm up trunks a...Read the full story
Seattle pumps up biodiesel sales
City’s refiners work to corner ‘green’ fuel market
The Pacific Northwest loves being green.
Recycling got an early start here. Seattle-based coffee giant Starbucks has scrambled to provide bird-friendly shade-grown coffee. State forestlands were the first in the West to earn “green certification” for environmentally sound management.
Now, with gasoline prices to wallet-busting ranges and petroleum tainted in many minds by violence in the Mideast, demand for biodiesel is booming.
The vegetable oil-based fuel can b...Read the full story
"Greener" heat sources cost money, save energy
Seven years ago, Jeremy Smithson decided it would be neat to heat and light his home with solar power.
Then he did the math.
His 1908 Craftsman on the western slope of Phinney Ridge would need a roof four times bigger just to hold enough solar panels to meet his energy needs.
Now Smithson has a house so tightly insulated “that a BTU can’t wiggle out of it.” Efficient fluorescent bulbs poke out of the light sockets. Solar panels and tubes line his home’s south-facing roof and wall.
“What we discovered is ...Read the full story
New facility aimed at ending fish farm woes
A former salmon farmer will unveil today his model for a new form of fish farm he hopes would end many of the major controversies surrounding the industry in this province.
Richard Buchanan of AgriMarine Industries, who participated in a B.C. government-funded study of alternative fish farming methods in 2000, has worked with marine structural engineers and scientists on a new form of farm that could solve troubling controversies about escapes, pollution and disease.
Environmental groups have long argued that aquaculture operators should raise their f...Read the full story
State considers tighter oil-spill regulations
Better oversight of load transfers sought
In the wake of oil spills that fouled Puget Sound and shook public confidence in Washington’s spill-prevention efforts, state officials took steps Monday to beef up regulations governing ships loading or unloading oil.
Floating oil-containment curtains designed to corral spilled oil would be required in many circumstances. Currently the devices, known as “boom,” do not have to be set up ahead of an oil transfer.
The draft rules proposed by Department of Ecology staff also would impose additi...Read the full story
An Offering of Thanks
A special Thanksgiving message from Eleanor Huffines, Regional Director of The Wilderness Society, Anchorage, Alaska
Every offering of thanks is a statement of hope. I am full of both in this Thanksgiving season.
I’ve been in Washington for most of the last month while the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge faced its direst threat yet. With hundreds of other Arctic activists, I celebrated on November 9 when a committee of the House of Representatives was forced to remove Arctic drilling provisions from its budget bill.
I have been privileged to ...Read the full story
Executive Director's weblog - "Quite a Week"
People for Puget Sound Executive Director Kathy Fletcher recently started her own weblog to share her thoughts about conservation and the health of Puget Sound
Quite a Week
This past week the Southern Resident community of orca whales was officially added to the Endangered Species list. My first reaction was jubilation—we have been seeking this listing for a long time. My second reaction was to realize that actually, there is nothing to celebrate when a species reaches the brink of extinction. This listing is ...Read the full story
Certified for saving salmon
New certification gives farmers another way to attract environmentally conscious customers
For La Conner farmer Dave Hedlin, saving the struggling salmon in local waterways is a complicated, three-pronged formula — scientific research, a change in farming methods and cooperation among a variety of government, farming and community organizations.
But the best of his own contributions may be far more simplistic overall.
The tall, quiet, third-generation farmer hiked up the embankment of a dike to the tangled, gnarled shrubs and trees that hang ov...Read the full story
Stories of a Wildlife Rescue - "Follow the Leader?"
By Naturalist Kevin Mack from Earth Share organization PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, published in the November 16, 2005 edition of Wild Again
On October 18th, five large wooden boxes stood side-by-side in a field. The only sounds that could be heard came from a cacophony of gulls and crows arguing over the rights to spawned-out salmon carcasses on the banks of the Green River nearby. The occupant of one of the wooden boxes was restless, and the box rocked noticeably as the animal shifted ...Read the full story
Government agrees to list Puget Sound orcas as endangered species
After years of legal challenges, Puget Sound orcas have been granted federal protection as an endangered species, officials announced this morning.
Citing new information and analysis, NOAA Fisheries Service officials acknowledged that the local killer whales were at risk of extinction and reversed an earlier decision not to give the iconic orcas protection under the Endangered Species Act.
By granting protection “we have a better chance of keeping this population alive for future generations,” said Bob Lohn, regional administrator for Read the full story
Student power: Colleges are going green
Western Washington University senior Molly Ayre-Svingen recalls being shocked.
Standing in a classroom, she and other members of a group called Students for Renewable Energy asked fellow students in 2003 how much they would be willing to pay a quarter to ensure that their campus consumed only renewable energy. The questioning started at $1 and rose to $20.
“A huge number of hands were still up after 20 bucks,” Ayre-Svingen said.
Just two years after that classroom revelation, and backed by a student body vote, the university has become one of the nation&#...Read the full story
Clif Bar Greens Slopes to Fight Global Warming
BERKELEY, CA - Clif Bar is launching a nationwide campaign this winter to help ski resorts, skiers, and snowboarders combat global warming, which threatens to reduce snowfall and jeopardize winter sports for years to come.
Clif Bar will be a partner in the 2006 Golden Eagle Awards program, which honors the nation’s most eco-friendly ski resorts. The company also will enable winter sports enthusiasts to purchase renewable energy to offset their own impact on global climate change, gain access to carpools and public transit, and educate themselves on o...Read the full story
Earth Saving Tips - Save Energy, Stay Warm / Autumn Lawn Care
Save Energy, Stay Warm
While the icy winds of winter may seem a long way off, now is the best time to get your home ready for the cold season. Did you know that the largest portion of any utility bill for a typical house is heating and cooling? Try these tips for saving energy:
- Install a programmable thermostat. Being able to turn down the heat for large chunks of time, such as at night or while at work, can make a difference in your overall energy consumption. Consider turning off the heat to rooms that are not heavily used. <...Read the full story
Bill would open public land
Thousands of acres could be privatized
More than 50,000 acres of old mining claims in Washington — including some inside Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades national parks — could be converted to private land under legislation expected to pass the U.S. House next week.
The proposal also would open up millions of acres in Washington’s national forests — and more than 350 million acres across the West — to be newly privatized under a revision of the 1872 Mining Law tucked into a 184-page budget bill...Read the full story
Columbia River Estuary Report Card Mixed
PORTLAND— Calling the Columbia River the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest, elected officials recommitted themselves to improving the ecological health of the river’s estuary.
The bistate Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership released its first state of the estuary report on Wednesday, six years after then-Govs. Gary Locke and John Kitzhaber of Oregon agreed during a visit to Vancouver to implement a series of actions to improve watershed health.
The group’s report revealed mixed results, at best.
“More work needs...Read the full story
Seattle City Light reduces net greenhouse-gas emissions to zero
Seattle City Light has become the nation’s first major utility to cut its net greenhouse-gas emissions to zero, courtesy of plentiful hydropower, conservation and payments to companies to cut their emissions when City Light couldn’t, city officials announced Wednesday.
The achievement for a utility with 370,000 customers was trumpeted by Mayor Greg Nickels, who has made global warming a priority issue.
“We have a fundamental belief that we can power the city without toasting the planet,” Nickels said at a news conference at City Light’s control ...Read the full story
Powerful senator revives plan for more oil tankers in Sound
WASHINGTON — Reviving an idea that was scuttled last month in the House, a powerful senator from Alaska has introduced legislation that would open Puget Sound to significantly more traffic from oil tankers.
The bill by Republican Sen. Ted Stevens would rescind restrictions enacted in 1977 that severely limit the number and size of tankers serving Washington’s five refineries.
The late Sen. Warren Magnuson, D-Wash., put the protections in place after concluding that the Cherry Point refinery in Whatcom County could become a “superpo...Read the full story
Arctic oil drilling plan put on ice
House pulls it from budget
WASHINGTON — House leaders late Wednesday abandoned an attempt to push through a hotly contested plan to open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling, fearing that it would jeopardize approval of a sweeping budget bill today.
They also dropped from the budget document plans to allow states to authorize oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts — regions now under a drilling moratorium.
The actions were a stunning setback for those who have tried for years to open a coa...Read the full story
State DNR and Nature Conservancy Sign First Aquatic Conservation Lease
Conservancy to restore once plentiful Olympia oysters to Woodard Bay
Olympia, WA-A first-in-the-nation conservation lease of submerged lands was announced last week by The Nature Conservancy of Washington and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, ushering in a promising new tool for marine conservation and setting the stage for important restoration of the marine environment.
Under DNR’s new aquatic conservation leasing program, the Conservancy will lease 10 acres of submerged lands at Woodard Bay in South Puget Sou...Read the full story
Bioheat gains fans among ecominded
Blend aims to cut use of fossil fuel
Wood stoves and fireplaces. Sweaters, wool socks and long johns. Fluffy down comforters.
These are among the myriad ways ecosensitive Seattleites such as Renata Lillig cope with their consciences every winter, finding ways to keep warm without having to drain the finite resources of crude oil or natural gas from the planet.
So a notice by Laurelhurst Oil Co. offering to sell Lillig bioheat for her home heating system got her attention last month.
Bioheat is a blend of petroleum-based heating oil and biodie...Read the full story
City forests in peril: Invasive plants are killing native trees
Restoration efforts rely heavily on volunteers
Under a damp awning of yellowing bigleaf maples, Judith Starbuck is laying waste to a patch of English ivy. A vine at a time, she rips and tugs at the menace creeping through Madrona Woods.
Starbuck and a small band of mud-stained volunteers are reclaiming these woods, saving native trees and shrubs from the stranglehold of fast-growing foreign invaders.
The sloping park, covering more than 9 acres above Lake Washington, is a valuable piece of urban forest — a refuge where people can hike, learn a ...Read the full story
Nature Conservancy gets piece of prairie
125 acres of land near Fort Lewis to provide habitat
RAINIER — After a decade of working with private and public landowners to protect and restore South Sound native prairie lands, The Nature Conservancy of Washington has its own piece of prairie to continue that work.
The conservation group last month purchased 125 acres of native prairie next to Fort Lewis west of Rainier, providing a long-term home for several imperiled plants and animals that rely on the rapidly vanishing habitat.
It represents the only privately o...Read the full story
Gregoire urges forest protection
Wants power to limit development
OLYMPIA — Gov. Christine Gregoire called Wednesday for broader state powers to limit development in national forests, joining three other Western states in a challenge of the Bush administration’s forest protections.
In a petition to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, Gregoire asked that states be allowed to adopt President Clinton’s so-called roadless rule, which banned development on 58 million acres of national forests.
That 2001 policy protected more than 2 million acre...Read the full story
Executive Director's weblog - "On the Road"
People for Puget Sound Executive Director Kathy Fletcher recently started her own weblog to share her thoughts about conservation and the health of Puget Sound
On the Road
I spent the first part of last week at the board meeting of Restore America’s Estuaries, our national partnership of 11 organizations like People For Puget Sound.
We met at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s headquarters in Annapolis—a “green” building certified at the highest level, the platinum standard. Sorry to plunge right into a ...Read the full story