Tulalip News

Bird Group Sues Over Federal ‘Take Permits’ Allowing Eagle Deaths At Wind Farms

A national bird conservation group is going to sue the federal government over a 30-year permit it will issue to wind farms. | credit: Flickr Creative Commons: ahisgett

By Courtney Flatt, Northwest Public Radio

It’s essentially a fight between conservation-minded groups. On one side, renewable energy companies want to build wind farms. On the other side, bird advocates don’t want those giant, blade-spinning wind turbines to harm bald and golden eagles.

Now, a national bird conservation group is going to sue the federal government over a 30-year permit it will issue to wind farms.

The permit will allow wind farms to legally kill a certain number of eagles. The birds are shielded by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

Matthew Stuber, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1 eagle permit coordinator, said take permits have been an important management tool since 2009.

“A permit allows an activity to happen that needs to happen. And in doing so, it gets the best possible thing for the eagles. We’re actually able to get conservation, and hopefully in the long run, prevent that nest from begin disturbed at all by that activity.” Stuber said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service originally wanted to grant five-year permit. West Butte Wind Farm in Central Oregon was the first facility in the nation to apply for a five-year “take” permit.

But the wind industry complained that five years was not enough time to find financial backers and get the project up and running. It wanted more continuity.

Now, to provide that continuity for wind farms, the service has extended the permit to 30 years. Permits must be reviewed every five years.

The American Bird Conservancy is suing the U.S. Department of Interior over the 30-year rule.

Michael Hutchins, the American Bird Conservancy’s bird-smart wind energy coordinator, the 30-year permit will make the process less transparent.

“Data on things like bird fatalities at a particular institution might be hidden from us, and therefore, it would be very difficult to do a legitimate review of what is exactly going on at any one of those facilities,” Hutchins said.

For its part, the Fish and Wildlife Service says this 30-year permit means regulators will have to anticipate more problems ahead of time.

“Before we issue a permit, since it’s a lot longer time frame, we need to try to foresee more possible situations and have a better, what we call, adaptive management plan as a part of these permits. That way, when we come in for the five-year check-in, we have things on paper of what we’ll do to respond to certain situations,” Stuber said.

Companies mitigate for eagle deaths upfront. One way to do that is to retrofit existing power poles, where historically, a lot of eagles have been electrocuted when their wings touch two power lines at the same time.

Fish and Wildlife officials say they can quantify how many eagles will be saved be retrofitting a certain number of power poles.

Hutchins said the American Bird Conservancy is not against wind energy. He said wind farms need to be sited properly to not disturb or kill eagles, even if they are producing green energy.

“It’s just a really big price to pay. I don’t think that we can see these resources as collateral damage to try to win the fight on climate change,” Hutchins said.

Bird Mortality at Wind Farms

Growers Tell Congress Pesticide Ban Won’t Solve Bee Problems

Oregon growers testified in Congress that the government should take a scientific approach to banning pesticides. | credit: University of California-Davis

By Eric Mortenson, Capital Pres

Instead of banning the neonicotinoid class of pesticides, Congress should follow Oregon’s example and use a collaborative and science-based approach to improving honeybee health, the executive director of the Oregon Association of Nurseries said.

OAN director Jeff Stone told a congressional subcommittee that the state’s nursery industry depends on pollinators, but also relies on chemical agents to kill pests and protect plant health.

“This chemical class, when used properly, is vital to the success of our industry,” Stone told members of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology and Foreign Agriculture.

The subcommittee, which includes Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader and Washington Rep. Suzan K. DelBene, invited testimony on pollinator health — a hot topic as honey bees have been decimated by colony collapse disorder.

Some researchers believe hive loss could be caused by a combination of parasites, nutrition problems or the stress of being moved long distances. Many beekeepers truck hives across farming regions each spring, pollinating crops in rotation as the season advances.

Others conclude heavy pesticide use — especially neonicotinoids — disrupts bee behavior, kills them outright or weakens them to the point they are susceptible to illness or infection. Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenaur last year introduced legislation that would ban neonicotinoids, a synthetic pesticide.

Stone said there are alternatives, and described how Oregon handled spraying incidents in which thousands of bees were killed in 2013. The Oregon Department of Agriculture temporarily restricted the use of dinotefuran and imidacloprid, both neonicotinoids. An education campaign told people not to use the sprays on flowering linden and basswood trees.

Other speakers testifying included Dan Cummings, an almond and walnut grower in Hamilton, Calif., and chair of the Almond Board of California Bee Task Force.

Cummings said about 1.6 million honeybee colonies — approximately two thirds of all the commercially kept honeybees in the United States — are needed to pollinate California’s almond orchards. The orchards are completely dependent on honeybees for pollination, he said.

The Almond Board of California funds honeybee research, spending $2.3 million in health projects since 1995, Cummings said. “Without honeybees, there would be no crop,” he said.

Jeff Pettis, lead researcher at the USDA’s bee lab in Maryland, said a parasite called the varroa mite is wreaking havoc on honey bees. It’s full name is “Varroa destructor,” he said, “and it is perhaps the most aptly named parasite to enter this country. Varroa destructor is a modern honey bee plague.”

When Varroa destructor was first detected in the U.S. in 1987, beekeepers managed more than 3 million colonies for crop pollination and their winter hive losses ranged from 10 to 15 percent annually, Pettis told the committee. Beekeepers now have about 2.5 million colonies and winter hive losses average more than 30 percent per year.

“The economic sustainability of beekeeping is at the tipping point,” Pettis said.

Researchers Detect Fukushima Radiation in Albacore Tuna Caught off Oregon Coast

Researchers check albacore tuna caught off Oregon Coast radiation from Fukushima, Japan. | credit: Oregon State University | rollover image for more — Researchers check albacore tuna caught off Oregon Coast radiation from Fukushima, Japan. | credit: Oregon State University

By Angela Kellner, KLCC

Researchers at Oregon State University have found trace levels of radiation from Fukushima in albacore tuna caught off the Oregon coast. Results of the study are being published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was destroyed by the earthquake that hit Japan in 2011. Radiation has made its way into the Pacific Ocean, raising concerns about exposure to Cesium-134 and 137.

Two OSU researchers, Jason Phillips and Delvan Neville, looked specifically at albacore tuna. The large fish migrate far distances and are near the top of the aquatic food chain. The study found detectable levels of Fukushima radiation in the 4-year-old fish. The majority of age 3 fish had no detectable level of Cesium-134. Neville said the amount found is very small compared to the radiation people are exposed to everyday.

“A year of albacore, which for the average American is about 16 pounds, at the highest concentration we saw is the same dose you’d get by spending 23-seconds in a stuffy basement,” Neville said.

Other authors of the study were Richard Brodeur of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, and Kathryn Higley of the OSU Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics. The study was supported by OSU and NOAA, with continued support from the Oregon Sea Grant.

Neville said the next round of research will study a larger number of albacore. For his dissertation, Neville will examine the near-surface food web along the coasts of Washington, Oregon and Northern California.

Washington Schools Face Multiple Threats From Natural Disasters

A new draft report finds that Washington schools face threats from nine different kinds of natural hazards.Credit Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction — A new draft report finds that Washington schools face threats from nine different kinds of natural hazards.
Credit Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction

By Austin Jenkins, NW News Network

The Oso landslide, with 41 dead and two still missing, could be the the third-worst natural disaster in Washington history after the Stevens Pass Avalanche of 1910 and the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.

But what if there had been a school in the path of the slide? The death toll could have been much higher.

A new draft report from Washington’s Superintendent of Public Instruction finds that 15 public schools in Washington are within 500 feet of a mapped landslide zone. The good news is none of those nearby slopes are considered steep and the risk of a landslide in those areas ranks as “low.”

However, the report finds another 28 Washington schools have a steep slope with a “high” risk of sliding in the immediate vicinity. And dozens more K-12 buildings are close to hills with a “low” or “moderate” risk of failing.

Six major natural hazards

It’s not just landslides. The draft report finds that Washington schools face threats from nine different kinds of natural hazards. Six of those pose the greatest threat:

Earthquakes
Tsunamis
Floods
Wildfires
Volcanoes
Landslides

“It doesn’t necessarily mean we need to start packing our bags and shutting down schools,” says report co-author Robert Dengel with Washington’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). “But talking about risk in a real and practical way.”

To that end, OSPI has partnered with 28 school districts in a pilot project to help them create their own hazard mitigation plans. Dengel gives the example of the Ocosta School District on the Washington coast where plans are underway to construct a tsunami safe haven.

In the case of landslides, Dengel says districts may want to have a geotechnical engineer do a formal on-site assessment of the slide risk. But it might not even take that to rule out a threat.

‘I’m Pretty Shocked’

Take the example of Holmes Elementary School in Northwest Spokane. It shows up in the draft report as sitting near to a steep-slope hill with a preliminary landslide risk level of “high.”

“I’m pretty shocked,” says Holmes Elementary principal Steve Barnes.

Barnes says his school is about three blocks from the Spokane River and there is a steep slope there. But if the hillside were to give way, the debris field would flow north away from the school. So how did Holmes Elementary end up on the list? Because the list was created using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, not actual site visits.

The report emphasizes the list does not represent a “determination of landslide hazards nor the level of landslide risk.”

Wake-Up Call

Still, the principal at Holmes Elementary sees a value in being reminded of the potential for natural hazards to affect his school. “Natural disasters are pretty low, if at all, on my radar,” admits Barnes, whose school regularly drills for shootings and other human dangers. “We have lockdowns, we have shelter-in-place … so those are where we’re spending our time.”

Washington has 295 school districts with more than 2,400 campuses and more than 1 million students, according to the draft report. Dengel, the report’s co-author, says in an average-sized school district with 30 school buildings, usually only one or two would be at high risk for some sort of natural disaster.

His bottom line: “The sky isn’t falling, but there’s definitely work to do to better protect our students.”

The draft report is titled “Washington State K-12 Facilities Hazard Mitigation Plan.” It’s the first of its kind in the nation and was made possible by a 2012 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

OSPI will accept public comments on the draft until July 25. A final report is due out this fall.

Sale of Kimberly-Clark property called off

Mark Mulligan / The HeraldBarbed wire surrounds Kimberly-Clark's now vacant property along the Everett waterfront during sunset Wednesday evening. A proposed deal to sell the property to Saltchuck has fallen apart, both companies announced Wednesday. — Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Barbed wire surrounds Kimberly-Clark’s now vacant property along the Everett waterfront during sunset Wednesday evening. A proposed deal to sell the property to Saltchuck has fallen apart, both companies announced Wednesday.

By Dan Catchpole and Noah Haglund, The Herald

EVERETT — A deal to sell Kimberly-Clark’s former waterfront mill to a Seattle-based shipbuilder has fallen through, both sides announced Wednesday afternoon.

Saltchuk had planned on buying the vacant mill property for its subsidiary Foss Maritime Co., which operates a shipyard and maintains a fleet of tugs, barges and other specialty vessels in Seattle. The 66-acre mill property has sat vacant since Kimberly-Clark closed the mill about two years ago.

The amount of the transaction was never disclosed.

“Despite the fact both sides worked diligently, they were unable to agree on the allocation of risks and responsibilities related to certain soil stability, seismic and environmental conditions as they relate to Saltchuk’s proposed use of the property as a ship yard and terminal,” a statement read.

When announced in October, to much fanfare, the deal appeared to be a sure thing.

After performing due diligence on the property, Saltchuk in March raised concerns about the land, including soil stability, and it took more time to study the site.

Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson and other civic leaders had enthusiastically embraced Foss’ arrival and its promise of 250 skilled blue-collar jobs.

When the potential sale was first announced last fall, leaders from Everett, Snohomish County, Naval Station Everett, the Tulalip Tribes and the business community were on hand.

“I am disappointed that Kimberly-Clark and Saltchuk have not yet been able to reach an agreement, but I hold both companies in the highest regard and am hopeful they can resume their discussions,” Stephanson said Wednesday in a written response. “Preserving our working waterfront is important, and I believe a maritime use is a great fit for this unique site.”

April 30, 2014 syəcəb

SYS 04302014 April 30 2014 Download

Idaho Students Get 700 Free Copies of Challenged Sherman Alexie Book

source: instagram.com/rediscoveredbooksHigh school junior Brady Kissel holding a copy of Sherman Alexie's 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. — source: instagram.com/rediscoveredbooks
High school junior Brady Kissel holding a copy of Sherman Alexie’s ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Indian Country Today Media Network

When it comes to banning books, it’s the same old story — tell someone they can’t read a text and you’ll just make them seek it out.

In Meridian, Idaho, parents succeeded in getting Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian removed from the curriculum of Mountain View High School. The book, published in 2007, won a National Book Award, but has become a frequent target of parents seeking to sanitize their children’s reading material because of some language and frank discussion of sexuality. In Meridian, some object to the book as anti-Christian as well.

The book is not “banned” per se, but “challenged” — it has been taken off the school reading list, but remains on the school library’s shelves, pending review.

Stacks of Alexie’s book, which was handed out for free on World Book Night.

When Sara Baker, a student at the University of Washington, and her friend Jen Lott, learned that the book had been challenged, they decided to get involved. They started a page at GoFundMe.com to raise funds to purchase 350 copies of the book, which they planned to distribute for free to Meridian students. The campaign met its goal, and the books were purchased through Rediscovered Books, a bookstore in Boise. Brady Kissel, a junior at Mountain View, spearheaded the plan to distribute them, and on the evening of April 23 — World Book Night — over 225 copies were handed out, and the rest went to Rediscovered Books, where they remained available for free.

Today, Rediscovered announced on its Facebook page that it had run out of books — but this isn’t over yet. Alexie’s publisher (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) donated another 350 copies, which are on their way.

Alexie himself weighed in on the matter, writing in a letter to his publisher, “I am honored by the hundreds of Meridian students who showed incredible passion and courage for books. Mine, yes, but literature in general. And Sara Baker and Jennifer Lott are friggin’ superheroes. If I ever get caught in a fire, I’m calling them.”

Notah Begay III Recovering After Heart Attack, Thanks Doctors and Supporters

AP ImagesIn this April 2011, file photo, professional golfer Notah Begay III talks to students in Albuquerque, N.M., about his mission to combat diabetes among Native American youth. The latest effort on the Navajo Nation, the country's largest reservation, is to use the tax system to spur people to ditch junk food. A proposed 2 percent sales tax on chips, cookies and sodas failed Tuesday, April 22, 2014, in a Tribal Council vote. — AP Images
In this April 2011, file photo, professional golfer Notah Begay III talks to students in Albuquerque, N.M., about his mission to combat diabetes among Native American youth. The latest effort on the Navajo Nation, the country’s largest reservation, is to use the tax system to spur people to ditch junk food. A proposed 2 percent sales tax on chips, cookies and sodas failed Tuesday, April 22, 2014, in a Tribal Council vote.

Indian Country Today Media Network

Notah Begay III is recovering from a heart attack he suffered on Thursday, April 24, in Dallas, Texas. He is resting comfortably at home with his family and is expected to make a full recovery, according to a statement released by the Notah Begay III Foundation.

Begay was treated at Methodist Hospital, where doctors successfully inserted a stent into a blocked coronary artery.

The four-time PGA Tour winner and Golf Channel analyst is in good spirits and has expressed gratitude to his doctors and many supporters.

“I’m humbled by the outpouring of support and well wishes and am thankful for the excellent medical care I received,” Begay said. “I look forward to returning to my duties as a golf analyst and to continuing the important work of my Foundation. This experience has reinforced for me the need to urgently address health and wellness issues among Native America youth.”

Begay (Navajo, San Felipe Pueblo and Isleta Pueblo), 41, launched the Notah Begay III Foundation (NB3F) in 2005 to help reduce incidences of type 2 diabetes and childhood obesity among Native American youth. The nonprofit has increased access to youth sport and health and wellness programs across Indian country.

“This is the first generation of Native American youth that may not outlive their parents due to childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes,” Begay has said. “The epidemic of type 2 diabetes among our people is relative to the devastation that HIV/AIDS has caused in Africa. As Native peoples, we can’t afford to risk our future. We have to invest in the health, well being and leadership development of our Native youth.”

Fans and supporters of Begay and NB3F can send well wishes and prayers for Begay’s speedy recovery via the NB3F Facebook page, facebook.com/notahbegayfoundation, or directly to the Foundation:

The Notah Begay III Foundation
290 Prairie Star Rd.
Santa Ana Pueblo, NM 87004
Email: info@nb3f.org

Boom City Swap Meet open for 2014 summer season

By Brandi N. Montreuil, Tulalip News

TULALIP – The Boom City Swap Meet opened April 26, for the summer season, giving collectors, treasure seekers, and bargain hunters a chance to explore the emporium of eclectic items every Saturday and Sunday for only $1 vehicle entry fee. The swap meet will be open until mid-June, closing for a brief break for the Boom City Fireworks season, reopening in mid-July until September.

The swap meet features over 200 vendors selling wares, including a cariety of food vendors selling tasty treats where you can enjoy shaved ice, Mexican cuisine and Indian frybread among others.

This year children’s activities will include a large bouncy house and face painting.

Boom City Swap Meet is located at the Tulalip Boom City site behind the Tulalip Resort Casino and open Saturdays and Sundays, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is a family friendly atmosphere. For more information about the Boom City Swap Meet, please visit their website at www.boomcityswapmeet.com.

Brandi N. Montreuil: 360-913-5402; bmontreuil@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

Grateful drivers line up for Highway 530 bypass road

Mark Mulligan / The HeraldVehicles kick up dust as they travel eastbound on the service road bypass of Highway 530 toward Darrington Tuesday afternoon. Photo taken 20140429 — Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Vehicles kick up dust as they travel eastbound on the service road bypass of Highway 530 toward Darrington Tuesday afternoon. Photo taken 20140429

By Chris Winters, The Herald

OSO — The single-lane access road that bypasses the debris field of the Oso mudslide opened Tuesday morning.

It didn’t take long for grateful commuters to line up. State Department of Transportation spokesman Travis Phelps said as many as 60 vehicles at a time queued up to make the trip past the slide zone on the first day.

The access road off Highway 530 is accessible around the clock to local traffic, providing a much-needed lifeline to Darrington.

All trips are escorted through with a pilot car, leaving eastbound at the bottom of the hour and westbound at the top of the hour.

In many ways, it’s like a ferry line for passage to a remote island, with cars queueing up and neighbors getting out to chat to await the signal for the convoy to move forward.

Naomi Lieurance had gone to an appointment in Mount Vernon Tuesday morning with her shi tzu, Harley, via the Highway 20 route.

She had heard about the road opening during the day and was now waiting in line in Oso to return home to Darrington, hoping the new route will improve her access to the rest of the county.

“It’s got to be better than the Mountain Loop Highway,” she said.

She chatted in line with fellow Darrington resident Jake Sowers, who came over the access road earlier in the morning with his wife and was now heading home.

“I didn’t think it was as bad as I thought it was,” Sowers said. Approximately two dozen vehicles, including several logging trucks, made the 1:30 p.m. trip past the slide area to Darrington.

The view along the two-mile access road is not for the faint of heart, however.

The route skirts the edges of the slide zone. Trackhoes and construction vehicles below are dwarfed by a surrounding sea of rolling hillocks of mud and giant piles of broken timber. An American flag hangs from halfway up a denuded tree trunk.

The convoy passes stands of birch trees with new leaves and a pile of mangled cars. Behind it all is the exposed slope of the 650-foot cliff that slammed down into the valley on March 22.

“The horrific magnitude of it doesn’t sink in until you’ve seen it,” said Sowers, who laid eyes on the slide for the first time Tuesday morning.

A former ship’s mate, Sowers said, “I’ve seen some sad things in my life. I once surveyed a sunken ship, and this is right up there with it.”

The unpaved route is steep in places, with the convoy kicking up dust as it creeps over the hills.

According to the transportation department, only local traffic will be able to use the access road, and logging trucks will be able to use the road between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m.

No vehicles pulling trailers are permitted. The speed limit is a constant 10 miles per hour, and no stopping is permitted along the two-mile route.

The pilot cars and security at the two ends of the road are staffed by contractors hired by the state. Granite Construction Co. of Everett has been awarded a $3.4 million contract to maintain the access road and drive the pilot cars. Another firm, Seattle-based Central Protection, is providing security services.

The route is expected to remain open until at least one lane of Highway 530 is reopened. When that will happen is not immediately known, Phelps said.