Nearly two years of serious negotiations have brought the Skokomish Tribe and city of Tacoma close to an agreement over what to do with the Cushman dams on the North Fork of the Skokomish River.

I was able to report on some broad provisions of the agreement in today’s Kitsap Sun, following the lead of Jason Hagey, a News Tribune reporter who covered a Tacoma City Council meeting where the city agreed to include land as part of a settlement with the tribe.

City Councilman Jake Fey noted that Tacoma had benefited from low electricity rates for decades while ignoring the damage caused to the tribe. Fey said the settlement would help remove a “black mark” regarding Tacoma’s regard for the environment and the tribe, according to Hagey’s report.

I have been following this issue for most of my 31 years as a reporter for the Kitsap Sun. For much of that time, both the tribe and the city believed they held the upper hand in the legal arguments. As a result, both sides looked to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the courts for answers.

After one court threw out a $5.8 billion damage claim made by the tribe against Tacoma and another court said the relicensing process should include both damage mitigation and environmental restoration, suddenly both sides had potentially more to gain — and more to lose — by leaving the judgment to FERC and the courts.

Both the city and the tribe should be given credit for working together, given their 80 years of history in which each side believed it was right.

As for the terms of the settlement, I see where many people are already passing judgment in comments after reading my account in the Sun. And that troubles me. I urge everyone to wait until they see the final settlement, which will deal with a number of environmental issues not yet made public.

I’ll have more to say on this subject in the future, but sometimes a situation is too complex to be boiled down to winners and losers.

Washington state’s Salmon Recovery Funding Board on Thursday awarded nearly $20 million for ecosystem restoration projects next year.

I outlined the projects for the Kitsap Peninsula and Hood Canal in a Kitsap Sun story last week.

It’s worth noting that Gov. Chris Gregoire continues to tout the economic benefits of environmental restoration, as well as the benefits to Puget Sound, the Columbia River and other important ecosystems.

“The health of salmon populations is an indication of the health of our environment,” Gregoire said. “These grants will not only help protect and restore our land and water, but many will help stimulate our economy. Some of these grants create jobs with small companies to complete the restoration work. These grants also help keep Washington a place that people want to visit for its natural resources.”

Some observers say Puget Sound restoration will be proposed as part of this state’s economic stimulus package to be funded by the federal government.

For information about how the grants are awarded, check out the news release by the SRF Board. Because the link was not working today, I’ve pasted the information below:
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Washington Department of Natural Resources has approved a 30-year lease to allow a dock in the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve. It was the last approval needed for construction of a gravel mine that has been the subject of intense opposition by environmental groups.

Robert McClure, environmental reporter for the Seattle PI, calls the approval the most controversial of Land Commissioner Doug Sutherland’s eight years in office. Sutherland has taken this action in his final weeks as head of the DNR, having lost in the November election to Peter Goldmark.

Goldmark issued a statement saying he was “deeply disappointed” by the decision.

“The timing of this decision, only one day after the Puget Sound Partnership brought forward their plan to clean up Puget Sound, is very troubling,” Goldmark was quoted as saying in the Seattle Times. “While I understand there is only one lands commissioner at a time, this decision does come after the voters of Washington sent a very clear message.”

Amy Carey, president of Preserve Our Islands, was not pleased with Sutherland’s decision. She told the Times, “It’s disappointing he felt he had to stick to Glacier’s needs and agenda. There’s absolutely no reason that this decision had to come out now other than that Glacier wanted it now. It’s a really pitiful legacy as his tenure ends.”

In a news release, Sutherland said, “This has been an extremely rigorous process, and our aquatics staff have examined every document submitted to us and to the permitting agencies to be sure that we have addressed the issues. I directed staff to add requirements to protect this aquatic ecosystem in the long-term—which they have. This lease agreement accomplishes the goal of environmental protection while allowing existing commercial activities.”

Kathy Fletcher, executive director of People for Puget Sound, had this to say in her blog:

One of the black clouds hanging over the Puget Sound Partnership’s celebration the other day was the bleak budgetary outlook. Optimism about the new plan is tempered by the knowledge that money will be hard to come by. Not to sound too naïve, but since it’s expensive to undo the harm that we’ve done to our Sound over the years, why would we proceed to do more? Saying “no” to a bad idea like the Maury Island gravel dock doesn’t restore the Sound to health, but at least it’s a pretty cost-effective way to avoid making things worse.

Maybe I’m also naïve to think that in a year when we lost seven more of our endangered orcas, most likely to starvation, responsible decision-makers would say no to a project that puts one of the whales’ favorite winter fishing grounds at risk. Perhaps the whales had heard what was up in Sutherland’s office on Tuesday, when they decided to spend that very day hanging out in the Vashon area—their first visit of the season.

Conditions of the lease include the following, according to the DNR:
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I received an announcement this evening from the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission:

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission convened in a special meeting via telephone conference call this afternoon and immediately went into executive session to discuss personnel issues. The Commission came back into public session and voted in favor of accepting a letter of resignation received today from Director Jeff Koenings, with an effective date of December 11, 2008.

Another vote was taken to appoint Phil Anderson as acting director.

The Commission also approved the following statement:

“The Fish and Wildlife Commission has accepted the resignation of Dr. Jeffrey P. Koenings from his position as Director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife effective December 11, 2008. The Commission is extremely grateful to Dr. Koenings for his service and contributions as Director of the Department for the past 10 years. The Commission has named Phil Anderson as interim director. Anderson has been the deputy director of the Department for the past 1-1/2 years. The Commission will begin a nationwide search for a permanent Director in 2009.”

For a couple of weeks, I have heard rumors that Koenings may be leaving. I never got to the bottom of them, but it sounds like there may be more to this than the commission is letting on. I’m not sure about the politics of commission members, but I realize that some anglers believed Koenings favored commercial fishermen when it came to salmon allocations.

Koenings was always helpful to me, but that says nothing about his troubles inside or outside the agency. Anyone who cares to comment may do so here or contact me offline.

The Associated Press carried this story:
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The Washington Department of Ecology is working on an instream flow rule to protect water levels in 13 streams in the northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula.

Map of Quilcene Snow Watershed. (Click to enlarge.)

Folks in that area have been putting a tremendous amount of time, effort and money into restoring their local streams. I’m sure it’s discouraging — and not so good for the salmon — when water disappears from some of these streams during critical times of the year.

A story I wrote for today’s Kitsap Sun explains some of the restrictions under consideration for future water users. The proposed rule would not affect current owners of water rights. You can also see a list of streams proposed for the rule on the Web page for the story.

Streams on the Kitsap Peninsula, as well as much of the Puget Sound basin, were closed years ago to water withdrawals to protect existing stream flows. See Washington state map (PDF 220 kb). This issue has caused consternation among local water managers, because it increases the difficulty to get water rights for deep community wells but does nothing about individual exempt wells, which are usually shallower and more likely to affect stream flows.

In the Quilcene Snow Watershed, Ecology is planning to tackle the problem by limiting water rights for future individual wells in some areas and sometimes requiring that water be used only in-home use where that’s justified. Ecology also would free up residents to capture rain water for irrigation.

Water rights and water allocations have become a huge issue in managing population growth in Western Washington, following years of water battles in some areas of Eastern Washington. Some regular readers of Watching Our Water Ways are far more versed on this subject than I am, and I would welcome further comments.

ABC World News is reporting that it will feature a story about the seven Puget Sound killer whales that are missing and presumed dead. Locally, watch Channel 4 at 5:30 p.m. A written story with plenty of photos can be seen on the World News Web site.

The Kitsap Sun was the first daily newspaper to report on the missing orcas. For breaking news and regular reports, sign up for e-mail notification or RSS in the right-hand column of “Watching Our Water Ways.”

Alexandra Morton of Echo Bay, British Columbia, is a fascinating person — part researcher, part activist and 100 percent advocate for killer whales. She is often compared to Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, who studied complex mammals by essentially living with them.

Morton and a group of salmon-farming opponents — including Anne Mossness of Washington state — are trying to make people aware of their concerns regarding salmon farming, which they say threatens wild salmon, orcas and other predators.

On Sunday, the group signed an ”international declaration” (PDF 856 kb) outlining why salmon farming violates the United Nations “Code of Conduct” regarding sustainable aquaculture.

“Scientific studies show that wild salmon populations are crashing wherever there are salmon farms due to pathogen amplification and genetic pollution, but the damage runs much deeper,” according to a press release issued yesterday.

Meanwhile, reporter Cornelia Dean spent some time with Morton and wrote about the researcher’s personal and somewhat tragic life in a story published yesterday in the New York Times.

The timing of the story may be related to a court challenge last month by Morton and other fish-farming opponents trying to force the federal government in Canada to take authority over fish farms. In an AOL video, Morton explains the legal aspects of the case and talks about how killer whales are at risk from the farms. The seven-minute video is a solid piece of education that illuminates Morton’s point of view, once you ignore the wind on the microphone.

While I may not have a clear perspective of who Morton really is, I think I share a fascination with most people who have read her autobiography, “Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us” Am I right? Maybe I’ll get the chance to meet her one of these days.

It’s a good day to talk about chum salmon, what with recent rains causing these amazing fish to sniff out our local streams. We packed a lot of local salmon news into today’s Kitsap Sun:

One of 12 sections for a new culvert for Barker Creek under Tracyton Boulevard. (Click to enlarge. One reader noticed “ancestors’ faces” next to the ladder.)// Kitsap Sun photo

• An update on the stream restoration of Chico Creek, the most productive chum stream on the Kitsap Peninsula. This is the first of three phases at Kitsap Golf and Country Club. Sue Donahue, who is managing the project for Kitsap County, provided a description for the video of salmon working their way upstream.
• An update of the culvert work where Barker Creek passes under Tracyton Boulevard. The new 34-wide culvert will allow debris to pass downstream during floods and will improve access for salmon coming into the stream. A video shows sections of the culvert being moved into place. (By the way, one reader noticed “ancestors’ faces” in the photo at right.)
• With salmon beginning to move, it was time to bring out the interactive salmon map, which intern Angela Hiatt and I put together last year to show the best salmon-viewing streams in the Kitsap and North Mason areas. By clicking on the map. you’ll see how to get to the streams, and you can watch a video with descriptions of each one.
• In terms of news, I learned that somebody had pulled out a board on the dam at Kitsap Lake, presumably to lower the lake level. That action caused a surge of water that stimulated several hundred fish to swim upstream toward Kitsap Lake. When the flow declined, the fish were stranded and 200 to 300 died before spawning, according to Jon Oleyar, a biologist with the Suquamish Tribe.
• And here’s something for family fun: A self-guided salmon tour will be offered on Nov. 22, when salmon experts will provide information and answer questions at Fish Park in Poulsbo, Chico Creek near Chico and Jarstad Park near Gorst. Participants should plan to be at one or more of the locations at these times: 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m.

Local government officials have been getting letters from the Federal Emergency Management Agency about saving salmon. The letters say the National Flood Insurance Program violates the Endangered Species Act and describe how to fix the problem.

I mentioned this situation in a story in Oct. 19 in the Kitsap Sun. This morning, I received the text of the letter (PDF 40 kb) in an e-mail from FEMA.

As the result of a federal lawsuit and consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service, FEMA needs to change its flood-management program. It remains unclear, however, how much local governments will need to change their land-use rules to qualify for flood insurance under the new program.

Measures that must be taken to comply with the law are spelled out as “reasonable and prudent alternatives,” which begin on page 151 of the “biological opinion,” which can be downloaded from NOAA’s Web site.

Steve Landino of the National Marine Fisheries Service said the effects of the biological opinion are likely to vary from place to place.

“It is the most complicated (biological opinion) that we have worked with, at least in our office in Washington,” Landino told me.

The notice mailed last week was required to recommend a temporary moratorium on floodplain development and explain the next steps to come into compliance with the Endangered Species Act.

FEMA must make sure that local governments implement changes “as soon as practicable” but no later than three years from now. Priority must focus on “Tier 1” salmon populations, followed by “Tier 2.” Kitsap County and its cities are located in the second category.

Tier 1 areas involved in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) include all the major rivers in the Puget Sound area, as shown below.
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It was sad and disturbing to find out that seven Puget Sound killer whales have died so far this year.

We haven’t had that number of deaths since 1998 — the year after 19 orcas visited Dyes Inlet between Bremerton and Silverdale. To those who study these whales, the orcas aren’t just seven animals in a herd; they are individuals with unique characteristics; they are members of an extended family that stays together for life.

Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research believes the deaths are related to a shortage of chinook salmon seen this year from California to Washington to British Columbia. I went into some detail about this in a story in today’s Kitsap Sun. I also included a brief “obit” on the animals that died.

I would like to take a moment to remind myself and others that it is unlikely that the deaths were caused by a single factor. I have long been intrigued by the prospect of synergism in these animals, and I would hope that researchers will one day be able to accumulate enough data to support or deny this hypothesis.

What I’m talking about is this: Researchers have promoted three principal causes of the decline in Puget Sound whales, officially known as Southern Residents. They are toxic chemicals (such as PCBs) that have accumulated in their bodies, lack of prey (chinook primarily), and stresses caused by noise, whale-watching boats and other things. For more info, check out the recovery plan for the Southern Residents.

Follow this train of thought:

• PCBs and other chemicals are believed to damage the orcas’ immune systems and reduce their ability to fight off disease.
• If the animals are not getting enough food, they draw upon fat reserves in their blubber. Metabolizing these fats tend to release the toxic chemicals into their bloodstream, exposing their immune systems to more chemicals and further increasing their risk of disease.
• Although the whales seem accustomed to whale-watching boats, anything that causes them to use up excess energy to replenish their energy supplies by hunting for food cannot be a good thing, especially in times of a food shortage. Uninformed boaters sometimes interfere with the whales’ travel during foraging, and noise caused by boats is believed to decrease their efficiency in finding fish through echolocation (their natural sonar system).

In my mind, all of these factors tend to work together. What is often hard to sort out is whether an animal dies of starvation or disease. When food is in short supply, disease may set in before an animal literally starves to death. Also, especially for a hunting species, a disease can reduce their ability to get food, so the outcome is the same. For many species, a higher-level predator may kill an individual that is starving or diseased. But with an animal at the top of the food web, such as killer whales and humans, the dynamics may be different.

I guess I’m just trying to point out that it could be an oversimplification to say the whales starved to death, even if food were a certain factor.

With regard to news sources, I have to confess that this story of the seven missing whales has been in the wind since Oct. 8, but I missed it. Howard Garrett and Susan Berta of Orca Network put something on their Web site, but I overlooked it. Richard Walker, editor of the Journal of the San Juans had talked to Ken Balcomb about that time, but I missed his story until someone pointed it out to me.

Finally, several people have mentioned the coincidental stranding of a killer whale on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. Diana Leone of the Honolulu Advertiser reported that the 18-foot female was emaciated and had “cookie-cutter shark bites” and whale lice, all signs that it had been sick for some time.

CNN posted a user-generated video about the whale.

I understand that researchers are trying to see if the female orca, who was euthanized, can be connected with previous sightings.

I looked up a 2004 Marine Mammal Stock Assessment Report (PDF 56 kb) for a little background. It says Hawaiian killer whales are rarely seen, but the best population estimate is 430. Minimal genetic data indicate that the animals may be related to Gulf of Alaska transient killer whales.