from Endangered Orcas Focus of Proposal; Government Offers Recovery Plan for Puget Sound Group, Associated Press

Federal agencies must now consult with the fisheries service to make sure their actions will not harm the whales’ habitat. Eighteen military sites covering nearly 112 square miles of orca habitat have been excluded from the critical habitat area.

Apparently, endangered orcas are a threat to national security.

from Gregoire takes first swipe at huge Sound cleanup, by Warren Cornwall, Seattle Times, 14 dec 06

“… in releasing a $220 million, two-year proposal for cleaning up the Sound, Gregoire made a cautious step toward what she has said is a top initiative in her administration. It’s a plan calculated to build momentum for a broader cleanup in coming years while also winning over a public that appears lukewarm to ambitious and costly efforts.

Creosote logs are an easy target - old piers and rail platforms - but are now, and have been for decades, environments of marine life and birds. Seeing the gulls gather for an evening as they swoop in low and stall for the updraft to a creosote piling, as at Quilcene by the dozens, does little to urge that they be removed by other than natural causes - unless you are a barge and towboat contractor (but beware to burn drift in your campfire). - JF

“The money she wants to spend would be about a 17 percent increase compared to the two previous years, for a wide range of efforts from restoring an estuary of the Snohomish River to hauling creosote-soaked logs off beaches. But it represents a fraction of the estimated $18 billion to $27 billion it could cost to achieve Gregoire’s goal of completely restoring the Sound to health by 2020.

” ‘We have to show the public that, in fact, Puget Sound is sick,’ Gregoire told reporters Wednesday at a news conference in a building at Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park overlooking the Sound.

” … one of the divers, Mike Racine of Snoqualmie, offered Gregoire a graphic account of what he sees spilling into the Sound when he dives beneath the water around Seattle after a hard rain: all the debris and pollution washed off nearby streets and homes.”

more from Gregoire takes first swipe at huge Sound cleanup

Due to deterioration of water quality and marine habitat, and the general environment, Puget Sound Partnership has been created, a Washington state panel for developing a plan to restore the health of Puget Sound by 2020.

Excerpts from People have got to stand up by Richard Walker, Indian Country Today, December 04, 2006:

Today, Puget Sound’s killer whales are symbols of a new battle. Dead killer whales have been found to contain enough PCBs - a chemical found in industrial lubricants - to qualify the carcasses as hazardous waste. Areas of Hood Canal in South Puget Sound are dead zones. The Duwamish River is a Superfund cleanup site. Depleted salmon populations struggle to recover from pollution and habitat lost to development.

») Protect existing habitat and prevent further losses; restore the amount and quality of habitat, and reduce fragmentation; restore freshwater and marine habitats and restore 100 miles of shoreline.

») Significantly reduce toxins entering Puget Sound fresh and marine waters; clean up all sites on the state’s priority list and Superfund sites by 2020; significantly reduce pollution from human and animal wastes in fresh and marine waters; replace or repair septic systems on Hood Canal and other sensitive areas of Puget Sound.

») Improve water quality and habitat by managing stormwater runoff; accelerate the efficient use of reclaimed water to reduce demand on potable water supply and to improve stream flows.

») Implement recovery plans for chinook salmon, bull trout, sea otters and southern resident killer whales; create and implement recovery programs for species at risk of extinction without recovery plans, such as marine birds.

») Set harvest quotas that account for the numbers of animals required for ecosystem needs.

») Build greater public understanding and involvement in improving Puget Sound.

») Determine how much money is spent on Puget Sound protection and restoration, and determine how effective that spending is.