Legacy - June 2014

Legacy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ IIssssuuee 3322 | JJuunnee 22001144 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++………………………..

eeM Maaggaazziinnee ooff W Wiilldd G Gaam mee FFiisshh C Coonnsseerrvvaattiioonn IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall

IInn TThhiiss IIssssuuee H Hoonnoorriinngg M Myy FFrriieenndd,, B Biillllyy FFrraannkk JJrr..

C Coonnsseerrvvaattiioonniisstt E Exxttrraaoorrddiinnaaiirree H Hoosstteedd ttrriippss,, G Gaalllleerryy ““FFiisshhyy”” B Buussiinneesssseess FFiisshhiinngg TTiippss aanndd TTrriicckkss W Wiillddlliiffee A Arrttiissttss C Coom mm muunniittyy A Accttiivviissm m S Seeaaffoooodd C Coonnssuum mppttiioonn O Occeeaann--bbaasseedd S Saallm moonn FFeeeeddlloottss E Enneerrggyy G Geenneerraattiioonn M Moorree

Published by: Wild Game Fish Conservation International

O O n h o On n ttth heee ccco ovvveeerrr::: A w o r k e r A h o d m d m o n o n L o h L n n h Aw wo orrkkeerr h ho ollld dsss aaa fffaaarrrm meeed d sssaaalllm mo on n aaattt aaa sssiiittteee o on nL Lo occch hL Liiin nn nh heee...

P P u D d C h n T h S o m n Piiiccctttu urrreee::: D Daaavvviiid dC Ch heeessskkkiiin n (((T Th heee S Sccco otttsssm maaan n)))

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy Wild Game Fish Conservation International Wild Game Fish Conservation International (WGFCI): Established to advocate for wild game fish, their fragile ecosystems and the cultures and economies that rely on their robust populations.

LEGACY – Journal of Wild Game Fish Conservation: Complimentary, nononsense, monthly publication by conservationists for conservationists LEGACY, the WGFCI Facebook page and the WGFCI website are utilized to better equip fellow conservationists, elected officials, business owners and others regarding wild game fish, their contributions to society and the varied and complex issues impacting them and those who rely on their sustainability.

LEGACY exposes impacts to wild game fish while featuring wild game fish conservation projects, fishing adventures, wildlife art, accommodations, equipment and more. Your photos and articles featuring wild game fish from around planet earth are welcome for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue of LEGACY. E-mail them with captions and credits to Jim (wilcoxj@katewwdb.com).

Successful wild game fish conservation efforts around planet earth will ensure existence of these precious natural resources and their ecosystems for future generations to enjoy and appreciate. This is our LEGACY.

Wild Game Fish Conservation International Founders

Bruce Treichler

Jim Wilcox

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Contents WGFCI Outreach via Legacy and Facebook _________________________________________________________ 9 Honoring My Friend, Billy Frank Jr. ________________________________________________________________ 10  Honoring Billy Frank Jr and the Fight Against Big Oil ___________________________________________________ 11  Thousands pay tribute to Billy Frank Jr. — activist, environmental giant, leader, friend ____________________ 13

Conservationist Extraordinaire – Walking the Talk __________________________________________________ 16  Jeannie Williams Wallen ______________________________________________________________________________ 16

Special Recognition ______________________________________________________________________________ 17  Ta’kaiya Blaney honored during Swinomish Regalia Gifting Ceremony ___________________________________ 17

Featured Fishing Adventures, Photos, “Funnies” and Not so Funny: _________________________________ 18             

Fish for Peacock Bass on Brazil’s Aqua Boa River with host Camille Egdorf ______________________________ Fly Gal Ventures Hosted Travel: New Zealand – December 2014 _________________________________________ Amber Serbin – Another amazing wild steelhead _______________________________________________________ Rock Wyrsta (GTPopping.com): Dinosaur Class Coral Trout _____________________________________________ Jeannie Williams Wallen: Wild Steelhead - Russian River (California) ____________________________________ Gašper Konkolič: Big wild rainbow from Tržiška Bistrica River – Slovenia ________________________________ Chinook on a Fly _____________________________________________________________________________________ Vlasta Štefanič: rainbow trout - Sava Bohinjka River, Slovenia ___________________________________________ Young fisherman with a jumbo Black Rockfish _________________________________________________________ Natalia Noel Gomez – Golden Dorado – Secure River – Tsimane Asunta Lodge Bolivia, Brazil ______________ Rune Kringler – Wild Atlantic Salmon __________________________________________________________________ April Vokey and her custom Wooldridge sled___________________________________________________________ Jet boat jump stunt ___________________________________________________________________________________

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 32

Conservation-minded businesses – please support these fine businesses ___________________________ 37  Fishing Guide Arek Kotecki - Iceland __________________________________________________________________ 37  Darren Bisson’s Northern Pacific Fishing Adventures ___________________________________________________ 38         

Rhett Weber’s Charterboat “Slammer” _________________________________________________________________ April Vokey’s Fly Gal Ventures ________________________________________________________________________ TMkey Film/Research _________________________________________________________________________________ Riverman Guide Service – since 1969 __________________________________________________________________ Learn to fish: experienced, conservation-minded professional instructors________________________________ Cabo Sails – Cabo San Lucas Sailing, Tours and Activities ______________________________________________ Westcoast Fishing Adventures ________________________________________________________________________ Dave and Kim Egdorf's Western Alaska Sport Fishing __________________________________________________ Great River Fishing Adventures _______________________________________________________________________

39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

Fishing Tips and Tricks ___________________________________________________________________________ 49  Hidden Paths Tips ____________________________________________________________________________________ 49  HOW TO CURE SPAWN USING PAUTZKE'S BORAX O FIRE FOR STEELHEAD ____________________________ 50

Wildlife Artists: __________________________________________________________________________________ 51  Dan Wallace: “Raven” ________________________________________________________________________________ 52  Diane Michelin: FlyFishing Fine Art ____________________________________________________________________ 53  Katy Karnes: “Loon Family” __________________________________________________________________________ 54  J Peachy Gallery and Studio now open in Port Moody___________________________________________________ 55

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Commentary: Alexandra Morton ___________________________________________________________________ 56 Special: Ocean-based salmon feedlots ____________________________________________________________ 60  Nancy Greene Raine: Fish Farms? What About Wild BC Salmon? ________________________________________ 60

Seafood consumption: Public health risks and benefits _____________________________________________ 64  Enjoy seasonal wild salmon dinners at these fine restaurants:___________________________________________ 64  The Risk of Consuming a Serving of Farmed Salmon Outweighs the Benefits _____________________________ 65  Oxymoron: Responsibly Farmed ______________________________________________________________________ 68  Health Food Face-off: Wild Salmon vs Farmed Salmon __________________________________________________ 69  Investigators find something fishy with classical evidence for dietary fish recommendations ______________ 72  Lawsuit: Whole Foods suppliers pressured to lie about the origin, quality of their fish ____________________ 74  Preliminary examination of contaminant loadings in farmed salmon, wild salmon and commercial salmon feed _________________________________________________________________________________________ 77  Fish consumption advisories for expecting mothers fail to cover all types of contaminants ________________ 78  Lots of salmon recalled due to listeria contamination ___________________________________________________ 80

WGFCI: protecting what needs protected __________________________________________________________ 81  Barak Obama: Keystone XL pipeline proposal __________________________________________________________ 81  Tauna Christensen: Anti windfarm campaign ___________________________________________________________ 81      

John Kerry: Oppose Keystone XL project ______________________________________________________________ Christine Stewart: Humpback Whale listing ____________________________________________________________ Public comment: Crude by rail – export via Grays Harbor _______________________________________________ Christopher Hart: DOT-111 tank car ban _______________________________________________________________ Joseph C. Szabo: DOT-111 tank car ban _______________________________________________________________ Jack Durney: Oil export expansion ____________________________________________________________________

82 82 83 83 84 84

Responses to Wild Game Fish Conservation International __________________________________________ 86     

Gail Shea: Ocean-based salmon feedlots ______________________________________________________________ Dorothy Caldwell: Ocean-based salmon feedlots _______________________________________________________ Salmon Confidential – Historic State Theater – Olympia, Washington ____________________________________ CBS 60 Minutes: Saving the Wild Salmon ______________________________________________________________ Ocean-based salmon feedlots: Boycott alive and well ___________________________________________________

86 87 89 90 91

 Celebrating a successful Farmed Atlantic Salmon Boycott Rally at Costco _______________________________ 91  Are drug resistant sea lice here in BC? ________________________________________________________________ 93  Don Stanford: Five Fundamental Flaws of Sea Cage Salmon Farming ____________________________________ 94  Miawpukek Band to monitor aquaculture escapees _____________________________________________________ 95  Anglers to fight green light for fish farm after council U-turn ____________________________________________ 97  Sportsmen push for constitutional hunting and fishing rights ___________________________________________ 98        

"Anatomy of an Oil Spill" The Mary Hatch Story _______________________________________________________ Tsleil-Waututh Nation Press Conference on Kinder Morgan Pipeline and Tankers Project _________________ Legal challenges could stall decision on Kinder Morgan pipeline: experts _______________________________ Canada’s threats, whining and naiveté botched Keystone XL ___________________________________________ Choose Your Skeena River Salmon Future ____________________________________________________________ No Enbridge Pipeline Rally - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada _____________________________________ UNFRACKTURED: JOINING TOGETHER TO FIGHT FRACKING _________________________________________ CASTING A VOICE - Full Length Film _________________________________________________________________

102 103 105 107 110 112 113 114

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters  Long Live the King __________________________________________________________________________________ 115  Energy Integrity Project - Idaho ______________________________________________________________________ 116  Wild Salmon Warrior Radio with Jay Peachy – Tuesday Mornings_______________________________________ 117

Ocean-based salmon feedlots (aka: weapons of mass destruction) _________________________________ 119  Salmon farms ‘killing off wild stock’ __________________________________________________________________ 124  Escaped farmed salmon invading Canada’s rivers _____________________________________________________ 126  David Suzuki: After a decade of controversy, has anything changed at B.C. salmon farms?_______________ 128  The Cost of Salmon in Senegal _______________________________________________________________________ 131  Ocea Bremnes Seashore double team on sea lice solution _____________________________________________ 134  Atlantic salmon can be farmed on land, B.C. project shows ____________________________________________ 136  Net pen float from overseas aquaculture ______________________________________________________________ 138

Climate Change _________________________________________________________________________________ 139  National Climate Assessment ________________________________________________________________________ 139  Unprecedented melt of B.C. glaciers seeps into U.S. climate change concerns ___________________________ 140  Why climate deniers are winning: The twisted psychology that overwhelms scientific consensus _________ 143

Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind ______________ 144  Salish Sea Orca Whales Not Mating, Socializing in Polluted Soundscape ________________________________ 145 Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked ________________________________________________________  Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen _______________________________  Pipelines and Oil Tankers, Economic Cost and Environmental Risk _____________________________________  Pipelines and Oil Tankers – Economic Cost and Environmental Risk ____________________________________  The Best Intro to Tar Sands in 3 Minutes ______________________________________________________________  Spill liability changes could be paving way for Enbridge approval ______________________________________  Tougher Canadian oil tanker rules leave liability cap in place ___________________________________________  Galapagos emergency over stranded cargo ship ______________________________________________________  For First Time, TransCanada Says Tar Sands Flowing to Gulf in Keystone XL South _____________________  Jimmy Carter among Nobel Prize winners urging Keystone rejection____________________________________

149 149 151 154 155 157 160 162 165 170

 TEN THOUSAND gallons of crude oil covers half a mile of Los Angeles after pipe bursts amid fears of environmental disaster ______________________________________________________________________________ 172  Lynchburg, Va., train derails, sending up fireball as cars topple ________________________________________ 173  Lynchburg, Va., oil train derailment illustrates threat to rivers __________________________________________ 176  Quinault Nation Urges Opposition to Oil Trains and Shipping___________________________________________ 179  Train Derails Near La Salle In Weld County ____________________________________________________________ 182  State oil trains run into heavy opposition _____________________________________________________________ 183  Off the rails: B.C. train derailments jump 20 per cent to five-year high ___________________________________ 186       

Tank car fleet is inadequate for crude oil, rail industry says ____________________________________________ Oregon ill-prepared for oil train spill into waterways; containment booms spread sparsely _______________ Oil spill threatens SLC drinking water_________________________________________________________________ Grain cars derail in Aberdeen ________________________________________________________________________ Oil train terminal near Clatskanie to require safer tank cars June 1 __________________________________________ Fracking Well Leak Spills 1,600 Gallons Of Oil Drilling Lubricant Into An Ohio Tributary __________________ Unloading from Gazprom’s Prirazlomnoye ____________________________________________________________

189 191 195 197 199 200 202

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters  U.S. Ill-Prepared for an Arctic Oil Spill, Report Says ____________________________________________________ 205  Freighter runs aground – breaks up __________________________________________________________________ 208  Surging oil traffic puts region at risk __________________________________________________________________ 209  $3 million verdict for ‘first fracking trial’ _______________________________________________________________ 215  Alberta Moves to Strike Down Ernst's Fracking Lawsuit ________________________________________________ 216 Coal __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 220  Report: One fifth of China's soil contaminated_________________________________________________________ 221  The fuel of the future, unfortunately __________________________________________________________________ 223  Study: Mercury in Mount Rainier National Park Fish ___________________________________________________ 226  BC APPROVES 20 FOLD INCREASE OF COAL EXPORTS THROUGH TEXADA WITHOUT PUBLIC NOTICE ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 228  Coal Export Developer Challenges Tribal Claims To Fishing Sites On The Columbia _____________________ 231  Mercury in Fishes from 21 National Parks in the Western United States—Inter- and Intra-Park Variation in Concentrations and Ecological Risk ________________________________________________________________  Old-school coal is making a comeback _______________________________________________________________ Geothermal ___________________________________________________________________________________________  Canada’s high temperature geothermal reserves are in British Columbia ________________________________

234 236 239 239

 In Iceland, Magma Used To Create Geothermal Power For First Time ____________________________________ Hydropower ___________________________________________________________________________________________  “DamNation” _______________________________________________________________________________________  Crack In Wanapum Dam A Symptom Of Several Big Problems __________________________________________  Fish species and local climate to be altered by Site C dam’s reservoir: Joint Review Panel _______________  New economic data emerges in dams debate __________________________________________________________  Tear Down ‘Deadbeat’ Dams _________________________________________________________________________ Liquefied Natural Gas __________________________________________________________________________________  US Fracking Boom Creating Crisis of Illegal Toxic Dumping ____________________________________________  Politicians go on the attack after scientists call for more research into fracking __________________________  Stronger ‘Frackquakes’ Are On The Way, Scientists Warn ______________________________________________ Solar _________________________________________________________________________________________________

240 242 242 243 244 246 250 252 254 257 260 262

 World’s Largest Solar Array Set to Crank Out 290 Megawatts of Sunshine Power ________________________ 263  NETHERLANDS AIMING FOR 100,000 MORE SOLAR ROOFS IN 1 YEAR _________________________________ 266  Conservative heavyweights have solar industry in their sights _________________________________________ 268 Tidal __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 271 Wind__________________________________________________________________________________________________ 272  Offshore wind farm near Coos Bay will get $47 million grant from feds __________________________________ 274

Forest Management _____________________________________________________________________________ 275  State to scrutinize logging near risky hills_____________________________________________________________ 276  Dumping, Damage Leading To New Access Policy, Says Weyerhaeuser _________________________________ 278  Kilmer’s tour of Grays Harbor focuses on economic development ______________________________________ 283

Genetically Engineered Atlantic Salmon: aka FrankenSalmon ______________________________________ 285  FDA Asked to Monitor False Industry Claims About GMO Salmon_______________________________________ 286  The making of Atlantic salmon _______________________________________________________________________ 287

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Government action ______________________________________________________________________________ 291  Still in Bed Together: BC Salmon Farmers and Department of Fisheries and Oceans _____________________ 293  Canada, U.S. urged to unite efforts, focus on species at risk in Salish Sea _______________________________ 294  First Nation bans non-Native boat access in traditional territory ________________________________________ 297  New Fisheries Changes Give Ministers Power To Allow Pollution _______________________________________ 299  Ottawa paid multinational fish farms $4.1 million for diseased fish ______________________________________ 302  U.S. Officials Search For Answers On Bitumen Spills As Canada Eyes Enbridge, Kinder Morgan Oil Pipelines ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 304  B.C. questions Kinder Morgan on Trans Mountain spill prevention, response regime _____________________ 306  B.C. falling short on environmental monitoring, says ombudsperson report _____________________________ 309  Keystone XL pipeline not expected this year as U.S. continues to ignore Canadian government demands ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 311  Rail Safety Forum: Transportation of Crude Oil and Ethanol ____________________________________________ 313  Canada to phase out old rail tankers in 3 years in response to Quebec explosion that killed 47 ___________ 315  Governor discusses environmental issues with West End tribes during first North Olympic Peninsula visit ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 317  1,600 Trout Over the Limit ___________________________________________________________________________ 320     

Chehalis Basin Flood Strategy Meetings Planned This Month___________________________________________ BC's salmon farmers to be featured on 60 Minutes _____________________________________________________ Are we prepared for an oil spill? ______________________________________________________________________ Kinder Morgan says oil spills can be good for the economy ____________________________________________ Oil is coming so let's do it right, says Helin of pipeline proposal ________________________________________

322 324 325 328 331

Mining __________________________________________________________________________________________ 332  KSM Pt. 2: A river runs through it, and that's the problem ______________________________________________ 333

Wild fish management ___________________________________________________________________________ 340  Our Current Bad Practices Will Cripple The $100 Billion Fishing Industry ________________________________ 340  Alaska halts 2014 Chinook salmon fishing on Yukon River _____________________________________________ 343  Strait of Georgia Salmon Research Gets Financial Boost _______________________________________________ 344

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy Forward The June 2014 issue of Legacy marks thirty two consecutive months of our complimentary eMagazine; the no-holds-barred, watchdog journal published by Wild Game Fish Conservation International.

Legacy is published each month to expose risks to the future of wild game fish and their fragile ecosystems around planet earth to our growing audience. This unique magazine also introduces leading edge alternatives to today’s unsustainable practices.

Each month Legacy selects wildlife artists to feature, several conservationminded businesses to promote and several fishing photos from around planet Earth. New in this issue you’ll see “Fishing Tips and Tricks” as well as two hosted fishing adventures.

Our hope is that those who read Legacy will come to understand that what is good for wild game fish is also good for humans. Similarly, what is bad for our planet’s wild game fish is really bad for humans!

A growing number of recreational anglers and others around planet earth are passionate about conserving wild game fish and their continued availability for this and future generations to enjoy and appreciate. Additionally, growing numbers of consumers and retailers are paying close attention to the impacts each of us have on global resources through our daily activities and purchases.

We continue to urge our readers to speak out passionately and to demonstrate peacefully for wild game fish and their ecosystems; ecosystems that we are but one small component of.

As recreational fishermen, conservation of wild game fish is our passion. Publishing “Legacy” each month is our self imposed responsibility to help ensure the future of these precious gifts that have been entrusted for safekeeping to our generation.

Bruce Treichler

James E. Wilcox Wild Game Fish Conservation International

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

WGFCI Outreach via Legacy and Facebook

The May issue of Legacy has been read in these countries

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Honoring My Friend, Billy Frank Jr. Steve Robinson

TThhrroouugghh tthhee w wiinndd tthheerree ccoom meess aa vvooiiccee,, W Whhiissppeerreedd m meem moorriieess iinn m myy m miinndd;; R Reefflleeccttiioonnss ooff m maannyy bbyyggoonnee ddaayyss,, TTaasskkss aanndd ttrriiuum mpphhss lleefftt bbeehhiinndd..

V Viissiioonnss ooff m moom meennttss lliivveedd bbeeffoorree;; W Woorrddss hhee sshhaarreedd,, llaauugghhss aanndd ggrriinnddss;; S Sttoorriieess aanndd lleessssoonnss ooff hhiiss lliiffee,, TTaasskkss aanndd ttrriiuum mpphhss lleefftt bbeehhiinndd..

TThhee w woorrddss ooff tthhee m maann eecchhoo iinnssiiddee,, TToooo m maannyy ttoo rreeccaallll,, yyeett II nneeeedd m moorree;; JJuusstt oonnee m moorree ssm miillee,, oonnee m moorree eem mbbrraaccee FFoorreevveerr ggoonnee,, tthheessee bblleessssiinnggss bbeeffoorree..

S Shhoocckk nnuum mbbss m myy m miinndd,, iitt ssttiifflleess m myy ggaaiitt,, M Myy tthhoouugghhttss ttooggeetthheerr ccaannnnoott ccoonnnneecctt;; II hhaavvee ttoo ffoorrccee m myysseellff ttoo bbrreeaatthhee,, M Myy w wiittss II ffiinndd II ccaann’’tt ccoolllleecctt..

Y Yeett hhee ddiidd hhiiss jjoobb iinn pprreeppaarraattiioonn FFoorr tthhiiss ddaayy w whheenn hhee’’dd bbee ggoonnee;; IItt’’ss w wiitthh tthhee ssttrreennggtthh tthhaatt hhee iim mppaarrtteedd,, II w wiillll eevveennttuuaallllyy ccaarrrryy oonn..

H Hee ttoolldd hhiiss ssttoorryy ooff tthhee ssaallm moonn A Anndd aallll tthhee lliiffee tthhaatt tthheeyy ssuussttaaiinn;; TThhee rriivveerr,, tthhee llaanndd,, ggeenneerraattiioonnss ttoo bbee,, II w wiillll,, lliikkee tthheem m,, rreettuurrnn aaggaaiinn..

S Soo tthhaannkk yyoouu M Mrr.. B Biillllyy FFrraannkk FFoorr eevveerryy m moom meenntt yyoouu ggaavvee ttoo uuss;; TThhee m maannyy llaauugghhss,, tthhee lleessssoonnss ttaauugghhtt,, A Anndd eevveenn yyoouurr aabbiilliittyy ttoo ccuussss..

N Noo oonnee w wiillll eevveerr ffiillll yyoouurr sshhooeess,, B Buutt yyoouu sshhoow weedd uuss hhoow w ttoo lliivvee;; H Hoow w ttoo ssttaanndd ffoorr w whhaatt iiss rriigghhtt,, H Hoow w ttoo ffiigghhtt aanndd hhoow w ttoo ggiivvee..

W Wee w wiillll m miissss yyoouu B Biillllyy FFrraannkk,, B Buutt yyoouu nnoow w ssiitt w wiitthh tthhee ggrreeaatteesstt C Chhiieeffss;; A Anndd w wee w wiillll ddoo oouurr vveerryy bbeesstt TToo ccaarrrryy oonn w wiitthh yyoouurr bbeelliieeffss..

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Honoring Billy Frank Jr and the Fight Against Big Oil Editor’s note: On May 5th, Billy Frank Jr (Nisqually) began his journey to the spirit world. It is difficult to put into words the profound significance and role Billy Frank Jr played in asserting tribal sovereignty and in defense of Mother Earth and all her creation. As a young boy, in the 1940′s, was the first time Billy was arrested for salmon fishing a scene that would be repeated some 50 times between the 1940′s1970′s during the so-called “Fishing Wars” in Washington State. The actions at Frank’s Landing would later influence the pro-treaty ruling dubbed the Boldt decision of 1974, which affirmed the tribes’ treaty right to fish in “usual and accustomed” fishing areas.

Billy Frank Jr. Below is the last monthly article Billy wrote for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

“Every time we carry an eagle feather, that’s sovereignty. Every time we pick berries, that’s sovereignty. Every time we dig roots, that’s sovereignty.” ~Billy Frank Jr. Keep Big Oil Out of Grays Harbor by Billy Frank Jr Our environment, health, safety and communities are at risk from decisions being made now to transport and export trainloads of coal and oil through western Washington.

If coal export terminals proposed for Cherry Point near Bellingham, and Longview on the Columbia River are approved, hundreds of trains would run from Montana and Wyoming every day, spreading coal dust along the way. That same coal will continue to pollute our world when it is burned in China and other countries thousands of miles away.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Now that threat is joined by proposals to use mile-long crude oil trains to feed massive new oil terminals in Grays Harbor. Safety is a huge concern. Since 2008 nearly a dozen oil trains have been derailed in the U.S. In December, a fire burned for over 24 hours after a 106-car train carrying crude oil collided with a grain train in North Dakota. In July, an oil train accident killed 47 people and leaked an estimated 1.5 million gallons of oil in Quebec, Canada.

It’s clear that crude oil can be explosive and the tankers used to transport it by rail are simply unsafe.

These oil trains are an accident waiting to happen to any town along the route from the oil fields of the Midwest to the shores of western Washington.

Plans for shipping crude oil from Grays Harbor also include dredging the Chehalis River estuary, which will damage habitat needed by fish, shellfish and birds. Large numbers of huge tanker ships moving in and out of the harbor would interfere with Indian and non-Indian fisheries and other vessel traffic.

The few jobs that the transport and export of coal and oil offer would come at the cost of catastrophic damage to our environment for years. We would have to live with that damage for many years.

Everyone knows that oil and water don’t mix, and neither do oil and fish, oil and wildlife, or oil and just about everything else. It’s not a matter of whether spills will happen, it’s a matter of when.

Thankfully, the Quinault Indian Nation is taking a stand. “The history of oil spills provides ample, devastating evidence that there are no reasonable conditions under which these proposed terminal projects should proceed,” says my friend, Fawn Sharp, president of the Quinault Indian Nation. “We oppose oil in Grays Harbor. This is a fight we can’t afford to lose. We’re in it to win. Our fishing, hunting and gathering rights are being jeopardized by the immediate and future impacts of these proposed developments.”

Right now public hearings are being held and Environmental Impact Statements are being developed for these oil export schemes. You can send comments to Maia Bellon, Director of the Department of Ecology, 300 Desmond Drive, Lacey, WA 98503-1274.

I urge you to join the Quinault Indian Nation and the many others who are battling Big Oil on this issue. Email ProtectOurFuture@quinault.org for more information.

“We have a responsibility to protect the land and water for the generations to come. Together, we can build a sustainable economy without sacrificing our environment,” says Sharp.

She’s right.

Editorial Comment:

 We at Wild Game Fish Conservation International and the majestic fish we strive to conserve will sorely miss Billy Frank Jr.

 Wild

Game Fish Conservation International has joined the Quinault Indian Nation and others opposing increased crude by rail (weapons of mass destruction) in Washington state.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

A rotating visual presentation featuring photos of Nisqually tribal elder and chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Billy Frank Jr. are displayed at the Squaxin Island Event Center as part of a May 11th public memorial for the 83 year-old environmental and native fishing rights leader died on May 5th

 Thousands

pay tribute to Billy Frank Jr. — activist, environmental giant, leader, friend Watch, Listen, Learn HERE (4 hours) May 11, 2014

SHELTON — There were stories, prayers and songs.

And there were a few cuss words sprinkled in — largely for effect — because it’s hard to talk about the legacy and life of Billy Frank Jr. without mentioning his famous “Jesus Christ!” greeting, or “Who the hell is in charge here?”

Friends and family members recalled those quotes during the late Nisqually leader’s funeral service Sunday at the Little Creek Casino Resort’s Event Center near Shelton.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “We’re all going to miss this great man,” Squaxin Island tribal chairman David Lopeman said. “I always considered him chief — chief of all of us.”

Frank, longtime chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, died May 5 at age 83. He was a central figure in the Indian fish-ins during the 1960s and ’70s that led to the court ruling known as the Boldt decision. The case affirmed 20 coastal and Western Washington treaty tribes’ rights to 50 percent of harvestable salmon.

“His legacy is going to live on until the end of time,” Frank’s son Willie Frank told The Olympian just before the service. “He wouldn’t want the tears and all of that. He’d want us looking for the future.”

An estimated 6,000 people attended the service — the largest turnout for an event in the resort’s history, according to Little Creek spokesman Greg Fritz. In addition to filling the event center, crowds also watched the service on jumbo screens from a large tent and other areas of the resort.

The service featured traditional Indian Shaker Church prayers, a presentation of a folded U.S. flag for the family — Frank had served in the Marine Corps — and remarks from more than 20 tribal leaders and elected officials.

“I often said that no one cared more about salmon and the planet Earth than our friend Billy,” said former U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks.

Gov. Jay Inslee described Frank as a state and national leader. “When Billy Frank spoke, people listened,” he said.

Frank was born and raised on the Nisqually River.

“That river flowed through his veins and gave him strength,” said Swinomish tribal chairman Brian Cladoosby, who is president of the National Congress of American Indians.

Frank was arrested more than 50 times during the fish wars.

“He taught us that we have to take care of the salmon; they are a tribe too,” Lopeman said in an interview with The Olympian prior to the service. “Each run is a tribe. He taught a lot of us that.”

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said she’ll remember Frank being “full of fight, full of joy and full of life.”

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell described him as “a legend that has walked among us,” and she compared his legacy to those of Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.

Cantwell recalled inviting Frank to conduct a blessing ceremony of her office when she was newly elected. After learning the cleansing would involve burning ceremonial sage, she told him she was nervous about security issues on the nation’s capitol.

“He said, ‘Getting arrested? That’s something I know how to do well,’ ” Cantwell said with a laugh.

Cladoosby described Frank as a teacher, a truth teller and a rebel rouser.

He said Frank also was a mentor for many tribal leaders, and a family man who spent his life fighting to protect the Nisqually River.

“Billy treated everyone with respect, even when we failed to live up to his expectations,” Cladoosby said. “Billy also showed us how to cuss with class. You can’t really talk about Billy without mentioning cussing. He’s the only one who could swear and make it sound like a Hallmark card.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Quinault Indian Nation President Fawn Sharp referred to Frank as “a historic visionary.”

Over the years, they attended many meetings together. Frank knew the treaty language by heart and often said their work was about preserving the way of their ancestors while protecting tribal rights and natural resources for the next seven generations, she said.

When Frank spoke, “it was something that ignited your heart, and your mind,” Sharp said. “You wanted to go out to battle that day.”

Billy Frank Jr. – The man behind today’s wild Pacific Northwest salmon

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Conservationist Extraordinaire – Walking the Talk

 Jeannie Williams Wallen

Jeannie Williams Wallen

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Special Recognition

 Ta’kaiya Blaney honored during Swinomish Regalia Gifting Ceremony

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Featured Fishing Adventures, Photos, “Funnies” and Not so Funny:  Fish for Peacock Bass on Brazil’s Aqua Boa River with host Camille Egdorf Base camp: Aqua Boa Amazon Lodge Dates: December 18-27. 2014 Book your Peacock Bass fishing adventure with Fishing with Larry

Est. cost: $4,000

I'm hosting another group to the Amazon in December 2014!

Who wants to join me?

Camille You can land 30 to 100+ peacock bass per day. Some will be huge. The lodge has exclusive rights to over 100miles of the Agua Boa River so you literally have an entire river to yourself.

There is a giant reserve area – birds, wildlife, no people, no mosquitoes.

There is one guide per two anglers per boat.

Includes: airport reception, all transfers in Brazil, 240-mile deluxe roundtrip flight Manaus, Brazil to lodge, lodging, daily laundry service, meals, soft drinks, beer, wine, and local liquor, fishing license, free copy of Larry’s 40-page book Fly fishing for Peacock Bass. We also supply all flies, and fly patterns. Plus, courtesy of Agua Boa Amazon Lodge - Free 8-day Global Rescue Insurance, a $119.00 value.

Does not include: international airfare, Brazilian visa, satellite telephone calls, liquor, airport taxes, overnight hotel and meals in Manaus, and tackle. (Our hosted groups usually stay together at a nicer hotel in Manaus.)

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Fly Gal Ventures Hosted Travel: New Zealand – December 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Amber Serbin – Another amazing wild steelhead “Back from a wicked trip steelheading! Once we found them, we were on to them every day. Four full days drifting on the pontoons, four full days walk and wading... “

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Rock Wyrsta (GTPopping.com): Dinosaur Class Coral Trout Louisiades Archipelago, Papua New Guinea

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Jeannie Williams Wallen: Wild Steelhead - Russian River (California)

My beautiful Wild Russian River Steelhead that I caught fly fishing. I released her so she could go up river on her journey to lay her eggs. She really put up a great fight jumping many times!

About Jeannie California Huntress and "Fish On Ista" !! <*)):::::::>< Native Californian and a True Huntress and Fly Fisher Lady, Award winning Nature Photographer and Artist. I'm a Booking Agent/Hunting Consultant for Hunting Trips World Wide. Let me help you realize Your Dream Hunt! Contact me if you want to hunt in Africa, Alberta, and Europe.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Gašper Konkolič: Big wild rainbow from Tržiška Bistrica River – Slovenia Hidden Paths.com

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Chinook on a Fly Ben Trainer: Great River Fishing Adventures

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Vlasta Štefanič: rainbow trout - Sava Bohinjka River, Slovenia

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Young fisherman with a jumbo Black Rockfish Charterboat Slammer – Westport, Washington

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Natalia Noel Gomez – Golden Dorado – Secure River – Tsimane Asunta Lodge Bolivia, Brazil

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters Darren Bisson, Northern Pacific Fishing Adventures

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Rune Kringler – Wild Atlantic Salmon “Vänern, Sweden – Weight: 6.5 kg”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 April Vokey and her custom Wooldridge sled April Vokey – Fly Gal Ventures

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Jet boat jump stunt

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Conservation-minded businesses – please support these fine businesses

 Fishing Guide Arek Kotecki - Iceland

 APK Fishing Guide company offers one day fishing trips, but can be longer by request, what we think is an unforgettable Fishing adventure in Iceland.

 Our

tours are suitable for beginners as well as experienced anglers. Our goal is personal service and are able to customize the tours upon request.

 We arrange the licenses needed for the fishing tour in advance.  Our focus is mostly on fishing the East Iceland and the reasons for that are simple.  In East Iceland the country is not as densely populated as in the south making giving you a chance to fish rivers with a much lower fishing pressure than the rivers in South, North and South West Iceland.

 Amazing venues, including beautiful wild rivers and lakes well populated with native Brown Trout, Arctic Char, Sea Trout and of course the powerful Atlantic Salmon…

 With our help, we hope our guests can catch the fish of lifetime or at the very least a personal best!

 Above all we hope the adventure with us will be memorable and provide a lasting friendship with us and Iceland.

 We will do everything in our power to make it happen for you.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Darren Bisson’s Northern Pacific Fishing Adventures

Fishing Adventures in the Pacific Northwest by owner and guide Darren Bisson Spey Fishing Salmon Trolling Deep Sea Jigging Spirit Bear Viewing Camps

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Rhett Weber’s Charterboat “Slammer” Reserve your 2014 Pacific Ocean fishing adventures on Slammer through Deep Sea Charters – Westport, Washington

2014 Westport Salmon Seasons Set: May 31 to June 13: two hatchery Chinook (King).

June 14 to September 30: one wild or one hatchery Chinook (King) and one hatchery Coho (Silver) OR two hatchery Coho (Silvers).

This is the first year since 1983 that the season has been set to go 7 days a week for the whole year!

Large quotas of both species.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 April Vokey’s Fly Gal Ventures

Fly Gal Ventures is a guiding operation that was created in 2007 by British Columbian Steelhead angler/guide, April Vokey; a Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) certified casting instructor and dedicated conservationist.

Originally based around local fisheries and workshops geared primarily for women, the vision was to bring specialized courses and instruction to other female anglers and newcomers to the sport.

However, with the expansion of Fly Gal, it soon became apparent that it wasn’t just the ladies who were interested in experiencing the unique off road adventures of the West Coast, and it didn’t take long for the guys to jump on board the excitement of Fly Gal’s steelhead and salmon trips.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 TMkey Film/Research

TMkey Film/Research is dedicated to protecting our natural resources, using a modern technological approach for observational wildlife and habitat research.

   

High-definition, high-resolution, macro videography in low light conditions.

Robotic remotely controlled, waterborne GPS-enabled real-time underwater recording, in combination with sonar echo location and sidescan capability.

High-quality end product with both pre and post production processing.

Patents enhancing underwater photography and GPS mapping in both the United States and Canada.

With fully ADA-accessible equipment on our USCG inspected and approved boat, we proudly employ veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Riverman Guide Service – since 1969 Kim Malcom – Owner, Operator Licensed and Insured Guide Quality Float Trips – Western Washington Rivers – Steelhead, Salmon, Trout

K Kiim mM Maallccoom m’’ss

Riverman Guide Service ((336600)) 445566--88442244

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Learn to fish: experienced, conservation-minded professional instructors View our six-panel information brochure HERE

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Cabo Sails – Cabo San Lucas Sailing, Tours and Activities

Cabo Sails is a sailing charter company in sunny Cabo San Lucas Mexico offering:

 private Cabo sailing charters  whale watching tours  snorkeling tours  sunset cruises  sightseeing  special occasion celebrations Our private sailing charters accommodate all ages from 2-20 guests.

Kids under 10 enjoy sailing, snorkeling and whale watching for free.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Westcoast Fishing Adventures

We are a world class fishing destination with 17 years of guiding experience on the Skeena and nearly all the remote systems of the North extending our boundaries as far as the head waters of the Nass river.

Guests of Westcoast Fishing can expect a professional experience from the time you book your trip we are licensed to guide on over 30 rivers including area lakes and Ocean fishing for halibut & salmon. There are no extra rod days fees when fishing with our company we include them in the package. Guests will stay at our B&B Style Lodge nested in between the mountains and the Skeena River.

If you’re looking for a unique steelhead fly-fishing adventure — an expedition off the beaten path — this is your trip. By truck, by boat, by helicopter (if you’re feeling rich ), or walk and wade — whatever it takes — we’ll explore hidden valleys and fish where very few people have step foot before. Make your reservations today or visit our guided adventures page for more information.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Dave and Kim Egdorf's Western Alaska Sport Fishing Booking Now for 2014 Montana: (406) 665-3489 Alaska: (907) 842-5480

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Great River Fishing Adventures

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Fishing Tips and Tricks

 Hidden Paths Tips

Fly fishing for big trout in Slovenia - Gašper Konkolič April 22, 2014 I write this article to help people who still do not know very basic about common behavior of big brown trout and marble trout in Slovenia. There is a fact that big marble and big brownie gets more predator instinct, when reaching 50cm+ in lenght. So from that size they feed more on bigger prey, like bullheads, small fish. They can still take some insects, but it is rare. Espacialy the marble trout stay at one place, not moving at all. When it is feeding time they go searcing for prey. In that time they are pretty agressive. They take almost everythink (frogs, bullheads, fish…).

So when you flyfish for a big ones, you must adjust your tackle and technique for more likely predator fishing. Very important is that you place a streamer on the river bottom as soon as possible( it is like: 1, 2, 3 and boom …streamer is on the bottom). I do it with heavy jig stremaers(7cm , 10g) and this is far best technique for catching big ones. If you do not like this technique, you can do it your own way, but always remember: the whole thing is to reach the river bottom fast.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 HOW TO CURE SPAWN USING PAUTZKE'S BORAX O FIRE FOR STEELHEAD XXL Chrome Chasing 1. Scrape eggs out of the membrane so they're loose.

2. Wash eggs off thoroughly in a strainer with cold water and pick out any excess membrane chunks.

3. Let eggs air dry on paper towel for about an hour.

4. Take one or two standard size spoonfuls of cure and spread it gently across the eggs (It doesn't take a lot. You don't want to over use the cure. I'll generally like to use one spoonful of cure per skein or two spoonfuls of cure per fish) 5. Roll the eggs in the paper towel to mix them up. (I don't like to use a spoon to roll them because it will pop some of the eggs adding moisture to them which will make them messy. I just like to pick up both ends on the paper towel and roll them back and forth a few times) 6. Place eggs in a jar and let them cure for about 24 hours before tying bags!

Note 1: If the eggs you have are already loose, then I'll like to river cure them first before adding Borax o Fire. Simply place your eggs in a bag filled with cold water, let them sit in the cold water for 3-4 hours, then proceed to step 3 above. Make sure the water you use while river curing is as cold as possible or the eggs may turn white. I'll generally like to place the bag of eggs in the fridge while they're river curing. Always try to use river water if available as chemicals in tap water can ruin the eggs.

Note 2: I also like to bleed my fish out as it will make for a clean process and clean eggs.

Note 3: This process will also work for Fire Cure.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Wildlife Artists:

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Dan Wallace: “Raven”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Diane Michelin: FlyFishing Fine Art “Wading Deep" Original watercolor size: 11" x 15" now available

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Katy Karnes: “Loon Family” See more of Katy’s work at: ArtByKaty

Katy is well known for her uplifting, highly textured, nature inspired art. Katy sells her art in numerous galleries and retail stores in the Maritime provinces of Canada, and the United States. She has also shown her art in New York City. She paints for organizations such as The Atlantic Salmon Federation, The Miramichi Salmon Association.

Katy works closely with interior designers, to create art for both home and corporate environments.

Custom orders are available, any size.

For more information, please visit Katy's website: http://www.artbykaty.ca

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Paintings by J Peachy Gallery, carved Spring salmon by Martin Sparrow (Musqueam).

 J Peachy Gallery and Studio now open in Port Moody Visits by appointment only. www.jpeachygallery.com

Artist Statement: I am a contemporary outsider artist that believes in the healing properties of the natural environment.

I paint landscapes in abstract as an expression of my connection with nature and its ability to provide me peaceful inspiration.

As organisms on this earth I believe we are interconnected with nature and highly interdependent.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Commentary: Alexandra Morton DFO's Mandate is Not What You Think April 25, 2014

The people of Canada expect Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to be the government agency in charge of protecting wild fish. Well, you should know this is not DFO's mandate (see below) and the sooner we recognize this and respond, the better our hope for life continuing in the oceans that lap against the shores of Canada.

Not only is protection of wild fish nowhere on DFO's to-do list, they are actively hiding the information needed to keep wild salmon alive.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters This is not honest and does not benefit Canadians present or future. As I see it, there is a chronic problem - the erosion and diminishing of democracy in Canada and an acute problem - salmon farms as industrial disease breeding facilities placed in the heart of wild salmon habitat. Below I offer the evidence and what can be done, but I want to say up front, that unless you arm me with the resources to take this to the markets, we are not going to be able to stop the flood of disease pouring over wild salmon as they travel the coastline of BC. I hate asking for money, but unless we take this fight to the consumer we will continue to fall victim to the indifference of the governments in power.

This has to reach wide and far wherever people are buying the farmed salmon that use the BC coast as an industrial waste site. Fund the campaign to educate the public about what they are doing when they put farmed salmon in their mouths. It is going to be highly professional.

I continue the science, films and legal challenge, and but I can see we have to go straight to the consumer:

DFO's Mandate "Biotechnology" Who Knew?

At some point in the recent past protection of wild fish was removed from the stated purpose of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Instead they are protecting exports, trade, aquaculture and biotechnology.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Fisheries and Oceans Canada supports in this order: 1. economic growth and trade 2. aquaculture and biotechnology 3. and merely "contributes" to sustainable ecosystems.

How did "biotechnology" get on this list? Biotechnology is the manipulation of biological processes for industrial uses.

Editorial Comment: Sounds a lot like the manufacture FrankenSalmon – approved by Canada

of

The salmon farming industry is producing genetically modified salmon eggs, - biotechnology.

Apparently that is a high priority for DFO. While DFO has been clear and upfront that the "fish" in Fisheries Canada, are not wild fish, they go one step further. It would appear DFO is actually hiding the information required to protect wild salmon. When a federal agency changes its mandate, it is our responsibility to respond if we feel the new mandate is damaging to the country. But hiding information, that we paid to generate is a whole different category of government behaviour.

Is this really Canada?

Judge for yourself:





  

July 2011 A DFO scientist publishes ground-breaking results, finally a solid clue why millions of Fraser sockeye are dying - a virus suggesting salmon leukemia a farm salmon disease. The Privy Council Office stops this scientist from talking to international media attracted to this work and DFO cancels the funding for this research (Cohen Commission testimony).

December 2011- senior DFO scientist testifies 100% of the most endangered Fraser sockeye (Cultus) tested positive for ISA virus in 2004, the most lethal European salmon virus known, spreading wherever Atlantic salmon are farmed. He hid this information from the Cohen Commission, never returned to Cultus to learn more, never informed the Soowahlie Indian Band, and never even reported this highly - significant finding to the Cultus sockeye recovery team.

April 2013 - Documents stating 11 Fraser sockeye populations are in serious trouble were withheld from the Cohen Commission and the fisheries managers tasked with setting the 2013 catch limits. This meant these stocks were not protected in 2013.

October 2013 - The Minister of Fisheries, Gail Shea, announces she will not lift the moratorium on aquaculture development in B.C.'s Discovery Islands for the foreseeable future. But this promise did not last long.

November 2013 - Canada approves commercial production of genetically modified salmon eggs, (biotechnology splicing in Chinook salmon and eel genes to make a fast-growing Atlantic salmon). This is so controversial, the eggs were shipped into the mountains of Panama for hatching.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

  



 

 

December 2013 - Canada removes the Cohen Commission website from the internet. It housed thousands of exhibits, the technical reports, the recommendations and hundreds of hours of testimony. The site can still largely be found here.

January 2014 - DFO closes fisheries libraries discarding data collected by generations of Canadian scientists. By "culling" this information the changes occuring to Canada's river, lakes and ocean can no longer be reported.

January 2014 - DFO opens the BC coast to more salmon farms, completely ignoring the Cohen Commission recommendation to examine whether existing salmon farms are on the Fraser sockeye migration routes and remove them. The process of expanding and siting new farms is a shady business, giving the public 30 days to comment, but providing an email address that does not work.

February 25, 2014 - DFO informs Fisheries Senate Committee that Section 36 of the Fisheries Act needs to go because it is a "very critical impediment to further operation of the aquaculture industry" i.e. that releasing chemicals harmful to fish is essential to salmon farming. DFO implies they are working to remove this foundation of the Fisheries Act to accommodate the small number of salmon farmers operating Canada.

March 27, 2014 - Fisheries Senate Committee comes to BC to learn about salmon farming so they can decide whether to recommend an Aquaculture Act, but in a stunning show of bias openly promote salmon farming.

April 2014 - Salmon farmers begin using hydrogen peroxide bath treatments in BC to try and deal with their lice. All of the chemical used is released into the ocean even though there has been no assessment on whether this will kill the tiny juvenile wild salmon swimming past salmon farms on their migration routes at this time of year (see page 18).

April 16, 2014 - Canada slashes red tape to facilitate four-fold increase in salmon farms, even though the industry is not even operating at the capacity they are currently allowed. The industry has been shrinking, but tell government they need more and bigger sites.

April 18, 2014 - We learn that one of the highest offices in Canada, the Privy Council, hid a report written by DFO staff who mistakenly thought they were supposed to respond to the $26 million Cohen Commission recommendations to protect Fraser sockeye.

On one of their many web-pages, DFO claims, "the Department is guided by the principles of sound scientific knowledge and effective management."

However, in reality the evidence suggests they are destroying and hiding the information generated by their staff that could restore wild salmon.

See more at: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/alexandra_morton/2014/04/ottawa-what-they-do-not-what-theysay.html#sthash.2yMO6OqE.dpuf

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Special: Ocean-based salmon feedlots

 Nancy Greene Raine: Fish Farms? What About Wild BC Salmon?

April 19, 2014 I almost fell off my chair when I read that former Olympic ski champion and Canadian Senator Nancy Greene Raine wants to triple the size of fish farming in BC. Taking such a position is badly out of step with what British Columbians want.

We want fish farms out of our pristine ocean and put on land, or they can go back to Norway. More than 100,000 British Columbians have signed a petition urging Premier Clark to refuse any expansion leases in BC.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters I doubt Nancy Greene Raine knew this and probably needs time to gather independent information and think things over. As it is, she is out of step with the entire province. And I doubt she has considered how soiled her name will become if she gets on the fish farm side of this issue rather than standing with wild BC salmon.

Fish farms tied to wild salmon die-off There are only 50% of wild salmon left in BC since fish farms set up shop here. Does she want to be the name associated with the loss of wild salmon? I wouldn’t think so. This is the science.

In all fairness, I think she, and the other senators on the committee are just innocents and believe what DFO and fish farms tell them about jobs and revenue, rather than looking at the science themselves. See Gail Shea talk to the senators, Feb 25, 2014.

Jobs over science, environment In the senate video, the three DFO ADMs make the case that the only thing that stands in the way of expanding the fish farm industry, is that the regulations on sea lice drugs need to be rationalized. And the Senators agree there should be nothing in the way of new jobs and revenue.

It also came clear that Swerdfager/Beven/Gillis have little knowledge of BC salmon. They suggest salmon are milling about in the ocean in any old place and when it comes to spawning time, they go to any old river. Only someone in Ottawa could be so out of touch – too bad it is DFO. And they ignore the many problems with fish farms.

Thriving salmon run doesn’t pass by fish farms For the record, salmon have set out-travel routes, grid like precision in the open ocean where they feed and set return-routes, and they not only come back to the same river, but spawn within 100 yards of where they hatched. And so on with succeeding generations.

That is why, for instance, that the Harrison component of the 100 subcomponent Fraser sockeye run is coming back in record numbers. Historically they returned at about 38,000, but now are nearing 400,000. This is because, unlike other Fraser sub-components, they migrate out to sea through Juan de Fuca Strait where there are no fish farms, rather than Johnstone where there are. They don’t get killed by fish farm diseases, or lice and ocean survival has been good.

I took the bait too…until I read the science Now, back to Swerdfager et al. They suggest the only wrinkle is that lice chemical thing, and the senators agreed – it’s about jobs after all. But the ADMs didn’t let on that the Harper Government has already gutted the Fisheries Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and let go 200 scientists, many in BC. And they didn’t say what a huge problem that sea lice really are. The most recent example of many is Norway where lice are so resistant to pesticides, SLICE etc., that chemical use has gone up 80-fold in a decade. That’s how bad lice can be.

To be fair to Nancy Greene, in the beginning, I thought saving wild salmon in the ocean and feeding a hungry world sounded good, too. But then I started finding holes in the arguments. Instead of saving wild salmon, the science shows that fish farms kill them.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters And fish farm salmon will never feed a hungry world. That is because they cost too much, and can only be sold to first world consumers. In fact, in Chile, the industry destroyed the small fish in the ocean such as anchovies and jack mackerel, to feed their fish.

Farmed salmon gobble up other fish species The anchovy should have been the protein for the poor mouths of the world, say Chileans, but they were fed to fish farm fish. Today, fish farms say they are moving on to ‘improve’ their feed, but do not acknowledge their role as important contributors to the massive declines – in other words they have no choice but to move on from fish-based feed. Today, boats are scouring the Antarctica, and down the food chain to catch krill for fish feed, if you can believe it. And off Chile the Asian fish farms are still scooping up what wild fish remain and taking them to Asian fish farms, largely prawns – the only industry dirtier than Chile’s fish farms. Read global news onwww.thefishsite.com, for a while.

A deceptive industry I am a citizen of BC and make no money out of this, but I became aghast at the deceptiveness and intransigence of fish farms around the world. I realized how bad fish farm companies were when I read an article on how they neutralized an article by Albany, New York, scientists – Hites et al, in Science, January 9, 2004 – on the cancer causing chemicals in farmed salmon – PCBs, dioxins, POPs and so on.

The article reads like a Hollywood movie, and it came clear to me that every claim fish farms make has to be ground proofed. Read this Spinwatch article. It leaves you feeling you would not have believed corporate citizens could sink so low. See if they don’t remind you of tobacco CEOs. Farmed salmon and chemicals And just so that you know, the Hites group has gone on to publish many more articles on chemicals in farmed salmon in the decade since. It’s become world news. In fact, the biggest story out of Norway, where the BC industry is from, in the past year, is doctors and scientists repeatedly warning Norwegians not to eat farmed salmon, particularly women, pregnant women, and children, because of the chemicals in the fish.

For a collection of these articles, see here. Cancer causing PCBs, for example, take more than 50 years to be washed from the body.

So farmed fish is full of many kinds of chemicals, the cancer causing ones from feed, then SLICE, endosulfan and a host of other pesticides and antibiotics. The cancer causing chemical problem is currently causing big problems for the Scotland industry – they tried to maintain the fiction they were sustainable and organic. If they said it long enough perhaps people would believe it.

Closed-containment is the answer The solution to this and most other problems is and has always been taking the farms out of the water and growing the fish on land in closed containers, like the Namgis project on Vancouver Island.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters I don’t think Raine has much acquaintance with the real problems, so here is a list I will send to her.

You might want to contact her too: nancy.raine@sen.parl.gc.ca.

               

DFO is conflicted with fish farms.

The Cohen Commission told the Harper government to remove the conflict and make DFO get on with saving wild salmon.

Fish farms are not about jobs and revenue. They are a net negative to the economy.

Fish feed has cancer causing, and other chemicals in it.

Diseases kill one third to one half of all aquaculture products around the globe.

Wild salmon decline more than 50% where fish farms are introduced around the world.

Fish farms already have triple the capacity than what they use in BC. They do not need expansions.

On land fish farms solve virtually all problems of in-ocean open-net fish farms.

Fish farm sewage costs are astronomical and no one wants to pay for them.

Fish farms kill seals, sea lions and other animals around the globe.

Cohen Commission reconvened over fish farm diseases, when ISA was demonstrated in wild salmon.

Aquatic animal disease is part and parcel of aquaculture.

Scientists and doctors tell Norwegians not to eat farmed salmon because of the chemicals in them.

Public opposition to in-ocean fish farms is growing around the world.

Sea lice chemical use grows dramatically.

Governments and fish farms like to claim they operate under the strictest laws in the world, which is not true, and then fish farms push for weakening the laws.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Seafood consumption: Public health risks and benefits

 Enjoy seasonal wild salmon dinners at these fine restaurants:

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 The Risk of Consuming a Serving of Farmed Salmon Outweighs the Benefits Dr. Claudette Bethune, Feb. 9, 2014 While wild caught seafood is generally known to be a healthy food choice, and as the human population increases so does the demand for seafood. Due to the high level of toxins that transfer from feed to filet in farmed salmon, this product can no longer be considered a nutritious food source for consumers.

Consumers at highest risk from farmed salmon consumption are the most vulnerable in our population, our women and children.

As reported last year in the highly cited Journal of Nutrition, “Staggering" levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been found in farmed salmon 1. Prenatal exposure to PCBs has been linked to lower birth weights, smaller head circumferences, and abnormal reflex abilities in newborns and to mental impairment in older children1.

Direct research by the primary institute that examines the seafood safety of farmed Atlantic salmon, the Norwegian Institute for Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES) in Bergen, Norway, has documented in 2011 that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) found in fish feeds carry over into farmed salmon2. The carry-over of potentially hazardous POPs from feed to fillet was assessed in consumption sized Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Relative carry-over (defined as the fraction of a certain dietary POP retained in the fillet) was assessed in a controlled feeding trial, which provided fillet retention of dietary organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), dioxins (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Highest retention was found for OCPs, BFRs and PCBs (31-58%), and the lowest retentions were observed for PCDD/Fs congeners (1034%).

National monitoring data on commercial fish feed and farmed Atlantic salmon on the Norwegian market found levels of toxaphene above permissible levels. Commercially relevant feed-to-farm salmon fillet transfer factors (calculated as fillet POP level divided by feed POP level), ranged from 0.4 to 0.5, which is 5-10 times higher than reported for terrestrial meat products. Application of the model to the current EU upper limit for toxaphene in feed (50 μg kg(-1)) gave maximum fillet levels of 22 μg kg(-1), which exceeds the estimated permissible level (21 μg kg(-1)) for toxaphene in fish food samples in Norway2.

In 2004, NIFES, documented that the most toxic forms of dioxins accumulate in farmed salmon 3.

Adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) were fed on four diets containing polychlorinated dibenzo-pdioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for 30 weeks. Lipid-normalized concentrations showed that all congeners were equally partitioned between whole-fish and fillet samples. Skinned fillet accumulated approximately 30% of the total PCDD/F and PCB content in fish. Accumulation efficiencies in whole fish were 43% for 2,3,7,8chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, 83% for dioxin-like PCBs, and 78% for other PCB congeners. Among PCDD/Fs, tetra- and pentachlorinated congeners were preferentially accumulated in salmon, whereas hepta- and octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins were excreted in the feces. Substitution patterns that were associated with a preferential accumulation of PCBs in salmon included non-ortho substitution and tetrachlorination.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Accumulation efficiencies and lipid-normalized biomagnification factors (BMFs) were not influenced by the PCDD/F and PCB concentrations of the diets. Biomagnification (BMF > 1) of tetra- and pentachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and of all the PCBs was observed. Differences in the behavior of PCDD/F and PCB congeners resulted in a selective enrichment of the most toxic congeners in salmon.

Current national guidelines typically indicate consumption of 2 meals a week of fatty fish such as farmed salmon. Norway recommends that 200 grams comprise a serving size. Farmed salmon are typically 10% higher in fat than wild salmon, with mean values approximately 13-23% total fat in the filet (NIFES Database, 2010), that is 23-43 grams of fat (with 160 mg cholesterol, typically) consumed in a single 200-gram serving. This high fat content in farmed salmon is this reason that fat-soluble contaminants such as the POPs are found in such high concentrations in farmed salmon. The ratio of the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids to that of the detrimental omega-6 fatty acids is much lower in farmed compared to wild salmon, again discounting the potential benefits of consuming fatty farmed salmon3.

With regards dioxins and PCBs, on 30 May 2001, the EU Scientific Council for Food (SCF) adopted an opinion on dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in food, updating its 22 November 2000 opinion, fixing a tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of 14 picograms of the World Health Organization toxic equivalent (WHO-TEQ)/kg bw for dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs. The tolerable weekly intake is divided by seven to arrive at a tolerable daily intake of 2 picogram WHO-TEQ/kg bw for comparison to other national agencies dioxin exposure guidelines. The Joint United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA, 2001) established a provisional tolerable monthly intake of 70 pg/kg/month (equivalent to a tolerable daily intake of 2.3 picogram/kg bw/day).

More than 90% of human dioxin and dioxin-like PCB exposure derives from food; food of animal origin normally contributes to about 80% of the overall exposure. In most countries, young children have a higher dietary exposure to dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs per kg body weight than adults. On a body weight basis, the intake of breast-fed infants has been estimated to be one to two orders of magnitude higher than the average adult intake. The EU SCF found, in 2000, that the range covered by the fish distribution is between one and two orders of magnitude greater than those of the other foods.

Tolerable Daily intake: The WHO defines the upper range of the tolerable daily intake as 4 picograms TEQ/kg body weight, which should be considered a maximal tolerable intake on a provisional basis and that the ultimate goal is to reduce human intake levels below 1 pg WHO-TEQ/kg body weight per day.



(Source: Assessment of the health risk of dioxins: re-evaluation of the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) WHO Consultation, May 25-29 1998, Geneva, Switzerland. WHO European Centre for Environment and Health International Programme.)

Dioxin and Dioxin-like PCB concentrations in Norwegian farmed Atlantic salmon for the years 2005 to 2010 indicate an average concentration of 1.2 ng WHO-TEQ/kg of wet weight fish filet.

Concentrations ranged from a minimum of 0.4 ng WHO-TEQ/kg to 2.2 ng WHO-TEQ/kg of filet.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters



A single 200 gram serving provides 2-times greater dioxin and DL-PCBs than the EU tolerable daily intake for adults and 4-times the tolerable daily intake for children.

In December 2012, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) updated its scientific advice on mercury in food. The Authority established Tolerable Weekly Intakes (TWIs) for the main forms of mercury found in food: methylmercury and inorganic mercury. Methylmercury is the predominant form of mercury in fish and other seafood, and is particularly toxic to the developing nervous system including the brain.

The CONTAM Panel considered new scientific information regarding the toxicity of these forms of mercury and established a TWI for methylmercury of 1.3 µg/kg bw. Average exposure to methylmercury in food is unlikely to exceed the TWI, but the likelihood of reaching such a level increases for high and frequent fish consumers. This group may include pregnant women, resulting in exposure of the fetus at a critical period in brain development.

For heavy metals, a NIFES 2012 report indicates that the levels of methylmercury was detected at 0.37 mg/kg in farmed salmon. This level would result in nearly double the EU tolerable weekly intake of 1.3 ug/kg bw of a 60 kg individual with just the farmed salmon consumption if the recommended 2 meals (400 grams/week) are actually eaten.

Based on these documented findings and emerging data relating to the human toxicity to the contaminants listed above that are found in high levels in farmed salmon, health practitioners are now advising against consuming farmed salmon due to the established health risks from the pollutants it contains.

References: 1.

Sarah E Santiago, Grace H Park, Kelly J Huffman. Consumption habits of pregnant women and implications for developmental biology: a survey of predominantly Hispanic women in California. Nutrition Journal, 2013; 12 (1): 91 DOI: 10.1186/1475-2891-12-91 2.

Berntssen MH, Maage A, Julshamn K, Oeye BE, Lundebye AK. Carry-over of dietary organochlorine pesticides, PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and brominated flame retardants to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fillets.

Chemosphere.

2011 Mar;83(2):95-103. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.01.017. Epub 2011 Feb 1.

3.

Strobel C, Jahreis G, Kuhnt K. Survey of n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish and fish products. Department of Nutritional Physiology, Institute of Nutrition, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str, 24, Jena, Germany.Lipids Health Dis. 2012 Oct 30;11:144. doi: 10.1186/1476511X-11-144.

4.

NIFES, 2012 official report on farmed Atlantic Salmon (http://www.nifes.no/file.php?id=2097)

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Oxymoron: Responsibly Farmed

This product from Norway is a weapon of mass destruction: Risks to public health, ecosystem security, cultures, communities and economies

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Health Food Face-off: Wild Salmon vs Farmed Salmon

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Wild Salmon vs Farmed Salmon (cont’d)

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Investigators

find something fishy with classical evidence for dietary fish recommendations May 1, 2014

Oily fish are currently recommended as part of a heart healthy diet. This guideline is partially based on the landmark 1970s study from Bang and Dyerberg that connected the low incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) among the Inuit of Greenland to their diet, rich in whale and seal blubber.

Now, researchers have found that the Inuit actually suffered from CAD at the same rate as their Caucasian counterparts, meaning there is insufficient evidence to back Bang and Dyerberg's claims. Their findings are published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.

Using 40 years of new information and research, a team of investigators set out to reexamine Bang and Dyerberg's study of Greenland the Inuit and CAD. This study is still widely cited today when recommending the dietary addition of fish oil supplements (like omega-3 fatty acids) or oily fish to help avoid cardiovascular problems.

However, the new review of information has determined that Bang and Dyerberg failed to actually investigate the cardiovascular health of the Inuit population, meaning that the cardioprotective effects of their diet are unsubstantiated.

"Bang and Dyerberg's seminal studies from the 1970s are routinely invoked as 'proof' of low prevalence of CAD in Greenland the Inuit ignoring the fact that these two Danish investigators did not study the prevalence of CAD," notes lead investigator George Fodor, MD, PhD, FRCPC, FAHA. "Instead, their research focused on the dietary habits of the Inuit and offered only speculation that the high intake of marine fats exerted a protective effect on coronary arteries."

Bang and Dyerberg relied mainly on annual reports produced by the Chief Medical Officer of Greenland to ascertain CAD deaths in the region. The 2014 study has identified a number of reasons that those records were likely insufficient, mainly that the rural and inaccessible nature of Greenland made it difficult for accurate records to be kept and that many people had inadequate access to medical personnel to report cardiovascular problems or heart attacks. In fact, researchers have now found that concerns about the validity of Greenland's death certificates have been raised by a number of different reports and that at the time, more than 30% of the population lived in remote outposts where no medical officer was stationed. This meant that 20% of the death certificates were completed without a doctor having examined the body.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The data collected through this new investigation shows that the Inuit do have a similar prevalence of CAD to non-the Inuit populations, and in fact, they have very high rates of mortality due to cerebrovascular events (strokes). Overall, their life expectancy is approximately 10 years less than the typical Danish population and their overall mortality is twice as high as that of non-the Inuit populations.

"Considering the dismal health status of the Inuit, it is remarkable that instead of labeling their diet as dangerous to health, a hypothesis has been construed that dietary intake of marine fats prevents CAD and reduces atherosclerotic burden," remarks Dr. Fodor.

Many recent large and well-designed studies have shown ambiguous or negative results regarding the cardioprotective properties of omega-3 fatty acids and fish oil supplements, and yet partly based on the work of Bang and Dyerberg, they are still widely recommended as part of a heart healthy diet plan.

"Publications still referring to Bang and Dyerberg's nutritional studies as proof that the Inuit have low prevalence of CAD represent either misinterpretation of the original findings or an example of confirmation bias," concludes Dr. Fodor.

"To date, more than 5000 papers have been published studying the alleged beneficial properties of omega-3 fatty acids, not to mention the billion dollar industry producing and selling fish oil capsules based on a hypothesis that was questionable from the beginning."

Dr. Claudette Bethune  The whole premise that farmed salmon are 'heart

healthy" was built on a questionable hypothesis, leading a legacy of misinterpretation and marketing based on fallacy.  It is clear now, as more and more meta analyses

emerge, that the risks of consumption due to PCB and other pesticide intake outweigh any purported benefits.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Lawsuit:

Whole Foods suppliers pressured to lie about the origin, quality of

their fish May 4, 2014 That salmon you paid top dollar for at Whole Foods because you thought it had spent its youth frolicking in a Scottish fish farm might just be some fraud flown in from Chile.

The former head buyer for one of the nation’s biggest providers of Scottish smoked salmon claims in a federal lawsuit that her bosses pressured her to dupe major retailers into thinking they were buying prized Scottish salmon when they were instead getting a cheap Chilean catch.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Denise Chadwick of Clifton says she was fired by St. James Smokehouse on March 12, one day after she sent her boss an email warning of the potential for criminal charges if the feds got wind of what the company was up to, according to a whistleblower lawsuit she filed in U.S. District Court in Newark on Tuesday.

Chadwick, 60, said she’d become increasingly concerned that the Miami-based company could be violating U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations by labeling fish from Norway and Chile as “Product of Scotland,” the lawsuit says.

“I pointed out to you at the time that this is in direct violation of FDA rules and it is an imprisonable offense,” Chadwick wrote in an email to the company’s owner Brendan Maher. “I also said you would be the one going to prison as you owned the company.”

Brendan Maher, the owner of St. James, could not be reached for comment.

Chadwick’s lawyer, Aaron Freiwald, said Chadwick’s job was to gauge the price of salmon in the international market and to purchase bulk quantities for sale in the United States.

While the per-pound price varies, Scottish salmon typically sells for double the price of Chilean salmon, Freiwald said.

Often, buyers were unaware that they were getting what’s considered an inferior salmon, the lawsuit says.

“As chief buyer, Ms. Chadwick came under increasing pressure to buy cheaper Chilean salmon, often thousands of pounds at a time,” the lawsuit says. “Ms. Chadwick learned that the cheaper salmon was being sent to smoke houses in Miami and Scotland and then packaged and sold as more expensive Scottish salmon.”

Chadwick is a native of England who has worked in Scotland. She was hired by St. James as its principal buyer in August 2012, the lawsuit says.

She’s lived in New Jersey for the past 14 years and has spent the bulk of her career working in the fish industry, Freiwald said.

Chadwick made similar allegations against a Clifton-based salmon supplier in a 2012 lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in Passaic County. In that case, Chadwick alleged that she was slapped in the face by her boss after she questioned the business practices of managers at North Landing Ltd. Among Chadwick’s claims then were that North Landing passed off Chilean salmon as Scottish, according to a report by Courthouse News Service.

Freiwald said the case against North Landing was settled for undisclosed terms. A man who answered the phone at North Landing today declined to comment. “It’s settled,” he said without giving his name In interviews, Maher has touted St. James as one of the few authentic providers of salmon plucked from the waters of western Scotland to U.S. retailers and restaurants.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters He told one interviewer in 2012 that the company’s emergence in the American market owed to the fact that St. James was one of the few companies not trying to trick retailers into buying Chilean salmon.

“There’s a huge demand for smoked salmon there and a perception that anything Scottish is superior but what you had was U.S. domestic smokers buying it from Chile, smoking it and sticking it in a bag with a bit of tartan on it,” he was quoted as saying in an article posted on the company’s website.

Chadwick claims in the lawsuit that invoices to Whole Foods, Wegman’s and other retailers were purposefully mislabeled to suggest they were from Scotland. She said Maher told her to sell an unidentified Chicago customer salmon from Norway even though the customer only wanted farmraised salmon from Scotland, the lawsuit claims.

And, the lawsuit alleges that one of the few times in the last year when she purchased Scottish salmon was when regulators planned to visit a St. James factory in the village of Annan in Scotland.

“I think the last time I ordered a full truck from Scotland for smoking in Annan was in August last year and since then I have been buying Norwegian except for when I was instructed to buy Scottish when we had visitors – for example when the FDA came to inspect the factory in Scotland and I had to make sure there was only Scottish salmon on the premises,” she wrote in the March email to Maher.

Chadwick is suing the company as a whistleblower under the state’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act because, she claims, her bosses retaliated against her when she questioned practices that could be in violation of federal seafood safety and marketing rules .

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Preliminary

examination of contaminant loadings in farmed salmon, wild salmon and commercial salmon feed Chemosphere. 2002 Feb;46(7):1053-74.

Abstract This pilot study examined five commercial salmon feeds, four farmed salmon (one Atlantic, three chinooks) and four wild salmon one chinook, one chum, two sockeyes) from the Pacific Coast for PCBs (112 congeners), polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs - 41 congeners), 25 organochlorine pesticides (OPs), 20 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and methyl and inorganic mercury.

The farmed salmon showed consistently higher levels of PCBs, PBDEs, OPs (except toxaphene) than the wild salmon. The mean concentrations in pg/g were 51,216 vs 5302 for total PCBs; 2668 vs 178 for total PBDEs; 41,796 vs 12,164 for total OPs (except toxaphene).

The farmed salmon levels are likely a consequence of the elevated level of contamination found in the commercial salmon feed (mean concentrations in pg/g were 65,535 for total PCBs; 1889 for total BPDEs; 48,124 for total OPs except toxaphene).

Except for a single high wild chinook value, PAHs were highest in the feed samples followed by the farmed fish and the three other wild fish. The Bio-Oregon-1996 feed of hatchery origin showed a level of PAHs ten times higher than any other feed. The genotoxic implications of such a high PAH level are considered for juvenile chinook salmon.

Toxaphene and methyl mercury concentrations were not notably different between the wild and farmed salmon. There was no clear low contaminant brand of salmon feed.

The human health implications of eating farmed salmon are considered from the perspective of the current WHO and Health Canada (2000) tolerable daily intake (TDI) values for PCBs. Based on a TDI of 1 pg TEQ/kg bw/day, this analysis indicated a safety concern for individuals who on a regular weekly basis consume farmed salmon produced from contaminated feed.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Fish consumption advisories for expecting mothers fail to cover all types of contaminants April 17, 2014 "We have to be careful in saying fish advisories don't work at all because they can work very well for reducing exposure to quickly eliminated contaminants, such as mercury," says Binnington. "But for POPs we found that they are not very effective."

A new study suggests that fish consumption advisories for expecting mothers are ineffective in reducing infant exposure to long-lived contaminants like persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters The study, performed by a team of researchers including University of Toronto Scarborough PhD student Matt Binnington and Professor Frank Wania, looks at how different levels of environmental contamination, a mother's compliance with advisories and the behavior of chemicals in the body influenced exposure in her children.

Their model estimates that women who stop eating fish shortly before or during their pregnancy may only lower their child's exposure to POPs by 10 to 15 per cent.

"We have to be careful in saying fish advisories don't work at all because they can work very well for reducing exposure to quickly eliminated contaminants, such as mercury," says Binnington. "But for POPs we found that they are not very effective."

POPs are compounds that take a long time to break down and as a result can persist in the environment and begin to accumulate in humans by way of the food chain. While many POPs such as DDT and PCBs have long been banned from production, they still exist in the environment. Fish advisories have been developed for these chemicals because they are easily passed from mothers to their children during pregnancy and nursing, potentially impacting healthy infant neurodevelopment.

Binnington says consumption advisories for many POPs are ineffective because they can remain in the body for years or even decades due to properties that make it difficult for the human body to eliminate them. The same is not true for mercury-based advisories, as the time it remains in the body is much shorter compared to POPs. "Something like mercury stays in the body for only a few months and by temporarily adjusting your diet you can reduce exposure," says Binnington.

The limitation with consumption advisories is that while they inform people what not to eat, they do not offer much in the way of healthy alternatives, says Wania. In fact, substituting fish with meat such as beef may even end up doing more harm.

"Substituting fish with beef may actually result in higher exposure to other contaminants," he says, adding there is also a loss of nutritional benefits by not eating fish.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

ď ś Lots of salmon recalled due to listeria contamination Bonneterre brands, Fjord King Loste Nature Ocean and Safa, with lot numbers 1513, 1523 and 1593 are affected April 16, 2014 The French King smoking Sea Food recalled three batches of smoked salmon and pad mid-smoked salmon sold under five different brands, because of listeria contamination, he said in a statement Wednesday, April 16.

It is registered Bonneterre (bio), Fjord King Loste Nature Ocean (bio) and Safa, with lot numbers 1513, 1523 and 1593 with use-by date up to and including 30 April.

Pregnant women should be vigilant These products were sold between March 19 and April 14, including organic specialty stores, before being removed from the shelves.

Listeria is accompanied by fever and headache, disease that can be severe and that the incubation period can be up to eight weeks.

Pregnant women should be especially vigilant and immune compromised individuals and the elderly.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

WGFCI: protecting what needs protected

 Barak Obama: Keystone XL pipeline proposal President United States of America We at Wild Game Fish Conservation International were pleased to read today that your decision regarding the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline Project has been delayed at least one year.

We encourage you and your administration to never approve this project to transport diluted bitumen from Alberta, Canada across America's heartland via pressurized pipes.

This extremely hazardous heavy crude oil is widely known for being resource intensive as well as a direct risk to public health and wild ecosystem security when it is extracted, transported, refined and burned.

Barak Obama

The United States of America, under your leadership, has no option but to oppose any and all project proposals involving transportation of diluted bitumen across our lands and waters.

We and our colleagues urge you to stand strong on this irresponsible proposal, Mr. President.

 Tauna Christensen: Anti windfarm campaign Energy Integrity Project Idaho We've recently seen EIP billboards in Idaho. http://www.energyintegrityproject.org/EIP_Billboards.html As an organization striving to reduce the risks to wild game fish, we would very much like to offer EIP the opportunity to publish your science-based findings along with your benefit:cost analyses of available power generation alternatives in an upcoming issue of Legacy, the complimentary, monthly e-magazine produced by volunteers at Wild Game Fish Conservation International. Legacy is published the 20th of each month.

We look forward to better understanding the cost and environmental challenges associated with wind farms and other alternative energy technologies.

Tauna Christensen

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 John Kerry: Oppose Keystone XL project Secretary of State United States of America It was really good news yesterday that the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta, Canada into the United States has again been delayed.

Given the risks to public health and ecosystem security associated with the heavy diluted bitumen transported via pressurized pipelines, the proposed Keystone XL project should never be approved - the risks to public health and ecosystem security are far too great.

Similarly, the green house gasses generated while excavating, transporting, refining and burning dilbit will absolutely exacerbate ongoing climate changes.

John Kerry

It would be irresponsible for the Obama administration to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline or any energy generation projects associated with Alberta's tar sands fields.

 Christine Stewart: Humpback Whale listing Minister of Environment Canada I am writing on behalf of Wild Game Fish Conservation International in response to the notice published in the Canada Gazette on April 19, 2014, concerning the re-listing of Northern Pacific humpback whales from “threatened” to “species of concern.” We are gravely concerned that this decision represents a backward step in the recovery of these whales.

Christine Stewart

We understand that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans proposed only last October to designate critical habitat for the humpbacks and to undertake monitoring and studies to determine the extent of their actual recovery—particularly, to investigate the genetic diversity of two apparently distinct feeding groups using our northern and southern waters.

At the time, DFO scientists stated that more work needed to be done to determine whether or not these two groups were actually distinct breeding groups. I am advised that this work has not been completed and that the results will be informative as to whether or not the humpbacks have achieved population numbers adequate to allow them to continue to recover.

The decision to downgrade the listing of humpback whales proceeded with such uncharacteristic haste (for a decision under the Species at Risk Act) that we can only conclude that the government’s stated intention to approve the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline is the driving force behind it. We are deeply disturbed to discover that the government would deliberately expose these whales to the known harm of tanker traffic without even waiting to complete the studies its own scientists consider necessary to determine the health of the population.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters We respectfully urge that the re-listing of this species be put on hold until such time as the DFO has completed its work and can provide a realistic recovery target for B.C.’s humpback whales.

To do otherwise makes a mockery of the Species at Risk Act and places Canada in contempt of its international commitments to the protection of biodiversity.

 Public comment: Crude by rail – export via Grays Harbor Department of Ecology Washington State Reliance on petrochemical products (foreign and domestic markets) comes with significant risks to public health and safety and to ecosystem security.

Some of the scoping-related concerns by Wild Game Fish Conservation International surrounding petrochemical product transportation, storage and export include, but are not limited to:

       

Existing infrastructure (pipelines, rails, tank cars, bridges, storage facilities, port facilities) Petrochemical product spill recovery/mitigation effectiveness Flood related damage to pipelines, rails, storage and port infrastructure Stability of lands - mudslides Climate change mitigation - flooding, sea level increases Seismic activity / tsunami mitigation Terrorism mitigation Other impacts to public health and safety and to wild ecosystem security

 Christopher Hart: DOT-111 tank car ban Acting Chairman National Transportation Safety Bord United States of America I'm writing on behalf of Wild Game Fish Conservation International to respectfully request that the National Transportation Safety Board immediately impose a ban on the use of DOT-111 rail tank cars used to transport hazardous material including petrochemical products.

Some rightfully refer to these shells as bombs rolling through our communities - others refer to them as weapons of mass destruction - both are accurate as evidenced by the increased number of catastrophic incidents they have been involved in.

Christopher Hart

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Joseph C. Szabo: DOT-111 tank car ban Administrator Federal Railroad Administration US Department of Transportation I'm writing on behalf of Wild Game Fish Conservation International to respectfully request that the Federal Railroad Administration immediately impose a ban on the use of DOT-111 rail tank cars used to transport hazardous material including petrochemical products.

Some rightfully refer to these shells as bombs rolling through our communities - others refer to them as weapons of mass destruction - both are accurate as evidenced by the increased number of catastrophic incidents they have been involved in.

Joseph C. Szabo

America's railways have been an awesome asset for over 100 years. Accidents are a part of transporting people and freight via rail. We can ill afford the increased risk of transporting highly toxic, flammable products in rail cars that industry and government have identified to be easily ruptured in the event of a derailments and collisions Like you, we know full well that:

    

hazardous materials when spilled/ignited are often deadly spilled hazardous material is often difficult (if not impossible) to fully recover/mitigate America's aging rail system was never intended for the proposed number, length and weight of trains carrying petrochemical products many of America's railroads are in river valleys where petrochemical spills are ecological nightmares.

American community spill response professionals are ill equipped (if at all) to effectively address petrochemical spills, explosions and resulting fires

The responsible FRA action as America plans to greatly increase crude by rail is to ensure American's safety and well being by immediately banning DOT-111 rail cars for the purpose of transporting any and all hazardous material.

 Jack Durney: Oil export expansion Mayor Hoquiam, Washington I'm writing on behalf of wild Game Fish Conservation International with all due respect to you and other City of Hoquiam elected officials to urge you to not permit proposed oil storage and export expansion.

Jack Durney

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The risks to public health and safety and to ecosystem security far outweigh any purported, short term, economic gains.

The scoping-related concerns delivered by Wild Game Fish Conservation International to the Washington Department of Ecology surrounding the proposed petrochemical product transportation, storage and export expansion in Grays Harbor include, but are not limited to:

       

Existing infrastructure (pipelines, rails, tank cars, bridges, storage facilities, port facilities) Petrochemical product spill recovery/mitigation effectiveness Flood related damage to pipelines, rails, storage and port infrastructure Stability of lands - mudslides Climate change mitigation - flooding, sea level increases Seismic activity / tsunami mitigation Terrorism mitigation Other impacts to public health and safety and to wild ecosystem security

You know better than most that:

    

Hoquiam is ill equipped to respond effectively to significant oil spills, fires and explosions on land or water DOT-111 rail tank cars used to transport these hazardous materials have been identified as dangerous by industry and government These proposed terminals and storage facilities are in harm's way in the event of tsunamis, major floods and terrorist actions These oil handling facilities will be in harm's way in the event of expected significant seismic activity Export of fossil fuels to Asian markets exacerbates the impacts associated with increased greenhouse gasses including ocean acidification, acid rain and more

Your courageous leadership regarding the safety and health of your constituents and of Grays Harbor's uniquely productive ecosystem has never been more urgent.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Responses to Wild Game Fish Conservation International

ď ś Gail Shea: Ocean-based salmon feedlots Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada I understand your concerns and assure you that the Government of Canada is committed to protecting the health of Canada's wild and farmed fish. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) takes very seriously its responsibility for the sustainability, conservation and protection of marine ecosystems and the aquatic species they support.

As you may be aware, from July 2011 to November 2013, DFO put on hold all reviews of British Columbia marine finfish aquaculture applications for new sites and amendments to existing licences that would result in a significantly increased environmental footprint.

Gail Shea

This moratorium was put in place as a precautionary measure while the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River undertook its work.

Consistent with the recommendations of Justice Cohen, and in recognition of the area's important location along the Pacific sockeye migration route, the moratorium for aquaculture development in the Discovery Islands area (fish health zone 3-2) will remain in effect until 2020. However, after having considered the Commissioner's findings, the Department has resumed the review of applications for new finfish sites and amendments to existing sites outside that area. I stress that all applications received will continue to be evaluated through the lens of environmental sustainability.

During the review of aquaculture licensing applications, the Department considers a range of factors related to a prospective site, including potential impacts on fish, fish habitat and other fisheries. DFO also works with the Province of British Columbia, which is responsible for decisions regarding land use and the placement of aquaculture sites, including authorizing the occupation of Provincial Crown land associated with aquaculture operations.

This process includes an opportunity for public comment on proposed land tenure applications for aquaculture purposes via the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations website at < arfd.gov.bc.ca/ApplicationPosting/index.jsp >, as well as via email to < authorizingagency.nanaimo@gov.bc.ca >. Please quote the land file number (found on the website) of the application on which you wish to comment.

The aquaculture management approach, combined with DFO's planned science and research activities, has considered the Cohen Commission's recommendations and is designed to mitigate and/or address potential risks to wild salmon resulting from aquaculture, consistent with the Commission's recommendations.

With respect to DFO's mandate and to the regulation of salmon farms, the courts in British Columbia have confirmed that the constitutional jurisdiction over the management of fisheries, including fish farms, resides with the federal government.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Under the Fisheries Act, DFO is the lead federal agency responsible for managing aquatic resources.

Consistent with how the Department regulates other sectors, DFO is committed to ensuring the responsible and sustainable development of the aquaculture industry in Canada. The Department also has a responsibility to ensure Canadians and international markets have confidence in its aquaculture management regime.

To discuss aquaculture matters in further detail, you may wish to contact Ms. Diana Trager, Director, Aquaculture Management Division, Pacific Region, by telephone at 604 666 7009, or by email at < diana.trager@dfo mpo.gc.ca >. Additional information on the aquaculture industry is available online at < www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/aquaculture/index-eng.htm >. I have also attached an appendix about landbased fish farms for your information.

The Government of Canada recognizes the cultural, ecological and economic importance of salmon in British Columbia. The Department will continue to work to conserve and protect salmon stocks for current and future generations.

 Dorothy Caldwell: Ocean-based salmon feedlots Executive Assistant Senator Nancy Greene Raine In undergoing their study on the potential of fin and shellfish aquaculture in BC, the Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans is experiencing firsthand the polarizing emotions on both sides of the issue. On one hand, fish farming proponents are confident of their field being not only a source of employment opportunities, but also helping to conserve the wild oceanic resources through providing alternative sources of fish. On the other hand, opponents say that the potential risk isn’t worth it, and farms will pollute BC’s waters and put our salmon stocks in danger.

Nancy Greene Raine

The Senator wants you to know that the study has just started and they will be receiving input from a variety of stakeholders. They welcome everyone’s views and information through this process and it is appreciated when information is submitted with credible and objective evidence and/or references when possible. Please contact the clerk of the committee if you wish to make a submission.

The aquaculture issue is extremely important to our country’s coastal ecosystems and economy. The Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans is endeavouring to objectively examine all the facts and make informed recommendations for the regulation of aquaculture, and they recognize that it must be sustainable with regards to wild ocean species.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Community Activism, Education, Litigation and Outreach:

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Salmon Confidential – Historic State Theater – Olympia, Washington Single Show: October 5, 2014 at 7:30 PM – Entry by donation (suggested $10.00) Sponsored by friends of Wild Game Fish Conservation International This shocking documentary by Twyla Roscovich tells the behind-the-scenes story of the biggest environmental government cover-up ever perpetrated on British Columbians. When biologist Alexandra Morton discovers BC’s wild salmon are testing positive for dangerous European salmon viruses associated with salmon farming worldwide, a chain of events is set off by the government’s efforts to suppress the findings. Tracking viruses, Morton moves from courtrooms, into British Columbia’s most remote rivers, Vancouver grocery stores and sushi restaurants.

The film documents Morton’s journey as she attempts to overcome government and industry roadblocks thrown in her path while working to bring critical information to the public in time to save BC’s wild salmon. We gain surprising insight into the inner workings of government agencies, and share rare footage of the bureaucrats tasked with managing our fish and the safety of our food supply.

Salmon Confidential

State Theater 202 4th Ave E Olympia, Washington

October 5, 2014 Doors open: 7:00 PM 2013 Vancouver International Film Festival Most Popular Environmental Documentary Film award

“For years, Alexandra Morton has soldiered on providing evidence of, and calling for action on, the catastrophic state of wild salmon. Government and industries have thwarted her over and over again.

This film clearly documents that governments do not put protection of wild salmon at the top of their priorities and Canadians should be outraged. I am.” David Suzuki "EVEN IF YOU’VE read the news coverage about the effects of farmed salmon on B.C. wild salmon stocks, the strength of Twyla Roscovich’s documentary is not only how it amalgamates information about this contentious subject but also how it showcases biologist Alexandra Morton’s incredible tenacity and devotion. It’s as disturbing to see the visual evidence of dead and dying salmon—the keystone species essential to West Coast ecosystems—as much as it is to hear about attempts by federal government officials (who declined interviews) to muzzle and punish scientists (thereby also affecting journalists) who are trying to prove what is killing them. Also, if you chow down on salmon sashimi, this is one you’ll want to see before you take your next bite." Craig Takeuchi, Georgia Straight "This feisty and provocative film is spoiling-for-a-fight cinema… Let the debate begin." Ian Bailey, The Globe and Mail

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

ď ś CBS 60 Minutes: Saving the Wild Salmon Watch, Listen, Learn HERE

Editorial Comment: We at Wild Game Fish Conservation International oppose ocean-based salmon feedlots sited in wild salmon migration routes - wild salmon and their fragile ecosystems cannot and will never coexist.

The information shared by Ms. Morton, a distinguished marine biologist and author of nearly 20 peer-reviewed scientific papers, is spot on and current. The concerns she presented are conservative as the impacts associated with ocean based salmon feedlots will result in unnecessary and often irreversible risks to public health, wild ecosystems, cultures, communities and economies up and down North America's coasts and beyond.

The simple matter of feeding these carnivorous salmon is unsustainable as their feed includes pelletized forage fish that are being over harvested to support the rapidly expanding ocean-based salmon feedlot industry around planet earth. These same forage fish are also relied on by a diverse population of marine life as well as for human nutrition in many countries.

The insanity of government-enabled ocean-based salmon feedlot industries must end.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Ocean-based salmon feedlots: Boycott alive and well

 Celebrating a successful Farmed Atlantic Salmon Boycott Rally at Costco Eddie Gardner May 17, 2018 People who carry great joy in doing something meaningful! We will continue to seek a way to cooperate with Costco so that we can share information with members of Costco. Here we are on the old Rona property doing a photo op with the Costco sign in the background. We will be back and everytime we will bring useful information to their customers so they can protect their health!

Protect Wild Salmon - Boycott Net-Pen Farmed Salmon!

Eddie Gardner: Check out our new T-Shirts!

There are white ones and blue ones like this one T'it'elem Spath is wearing!

Only $20 too!

Interested?

Contact me at singingbear@shaw.ca.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Terry Wilkinson Nothing like an impromptu farmed fish boycott when passing by a Sushi Store!

Especially exciting is when the construction workers next door stop their work, so they can hear Eddie's drumming!

Proof that you can have fun while educating the public! Go Salmon Warriors!

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Are drug resistant sea lice here in BC? Watch, Listen, Learn HERE

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Don Stanford: Five Fundamental Flaws of Sea Cage Salmon Farming European Economic & Social Committee in Brussels - Entire presentation HERE February 14, 2014

Dr. Claudette Bethune: “To those studying the issue, which is over 10 years in my case, the answer is clear. Salmon farms:

 hurt us with a toxic product  hurt the environment (which includes wild salmon) with diseases and pollution  take forage fish from a limited ocean source to feed a carnivorous fish so that mass balance ("sustainability") can never be achieved with this species.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

ď ś Miawpukek Band to monitor aquaculture escapees Will monitor escapees in Little River The Miawpukek First Nation Band in Conne River was one of seven Newfoundland groups that received funding recently aimed at protecting wild salmon stocks in the province.

The grant of $45,691 was from the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation and is aimed at conserving rivers and strengthening wild Atlantic salmon in the province.

Ross Hinks is an official with the Miawpukek Band.

Hinks said that "Miawpukek Aquaculture Escapee Monitoring" program has two main aims.

One of these aims is to determine the numbers of escaped farmed salmon that may be entering the river.

According to Hinks, the Band knows that escaped salmon have been in the river in the past.

"We have been enhancing Little River for about 20 years, and people have been telling us for years that escaped salmon were in the river. However, it wasn't until one of our own officers actually caught an escaped salmon in the river in late fall that we knew for certain that escaped salmon were actually there.

So, in this project we'll be trying to determine the number of escaped fish actually entering the river.

We will be placing a counting fence on the river early this year. We will take scale samples from all salmon going through to determine if they are wild salmon or not. Any salmon determined to be escaped fish will be removed.

"If we can't determine a fish is wild or farmed from a scale sample we will take biological samples to make a determination."

Hinks said that it's important to know the numbers of escaped salmon, if any, are entering the river today.

"This issue is a serious concern to us," Hinks said. "In other parts of the world wild salmon have interbred with farmed salmon which has led to the destruction of some rivers in terms of salmon runs."

Hinks said that the belief that farmed salmon cannot interbreed with wild salmon is false.

"We did an experiment in Conne River with Department of Fisheries and Oceans officials which determined that sperm from farmed salmon is viable for interbreeding with wild stocks.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters "This hasn't been proven in Newfoundland but it has been proven to have happened in other districts around the world."

"Our second goal in this project is to check out possible interbreeding in Little River by sending off biological samples to determine if this has happened or not. This is possible in farmed salmon who escaped in an early age and entered rivers with wild fish."

Hinks said that the Miawpukek Band hopes that Little River will become a 'designated river' for the province. He said that many areas have these designated rivers which are monitored to determine if escaped salmon have entered the river and if they may be interbreeding.

Little River had seen returns of up to 800 salmon years ago, but the numbers have dropped drastically in recent years. Apparently, only 200 salmon returned to the river in 2013.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Anglers to fight green light for fish farm after council U-turn May 2, 2014 FISHERMEN in Orkney are determined to carry on their fight against a controversial fish farm after being bitterly disappointed that the islands' councillors reversed their position and approved the development.

They claim that the local authority should now develop a planning policy that better protects island fishermen.

The application from Scottish Sea Farms, which is owned by Salmar AS and the Leroy Seafood Group of Norway, is for a fish farm in Gairsay Sound between the island of Wyre and the north-east of the Orkney mainland.

Fishermen objected because of the impact on the fishing grounds of scallop divers and creel fishermen.

When it was considered on March 26 the vote was tied four each and the deciding vote against was cast by the planning committee's vice chairman, as the chairman had already declared an interest in the matter.

However last month council officials said the decision had been partly based on planning policy from 2004 that specifically related to land-based, not marine, fish farm developments. The council's planning jurisdiction for sea-based fish farms came into effect in 2007.

They took legal advice and the planning committee was recalled on Wednesday when councillors were given a presentation from the applicants on the economic benefits to Orkney of the development. They also heard objections from Fiona Matheson, secretary of the Orkney Fisheries Association (OFA).

After councillors voted six to three to approve the fish farm, she said: "OFA are very disappointed that procedural inexperience has led to a U-turn.

"They have politically aligned themselves with big business against their indigenous fishermen."

She said that OFA would be objecting to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, over the decision.

The agency awards the licence for such developments.

A spokesman for the local authority said the decision by the Planning Committee was made after careful consideration of arguments put forward by the applicant and objectors, and of planning advice provided by officers.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Sportsmen push for constitutional hunting and fishing rights

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nine-year-old Brent Steele carried an unloaded gun when he first stalked quail in the southern Indiana woods with his father. Before the boy was given ammunition, Brent was taught how to handle a gun safely and to respect the forest and wildlife.

Decades later, 66-year-old Brent Steele, now a Republican state senator in Indiana, worries that forces are aligning that would deprive future generations of the same experience. He is the author of legislation, approved by both houses of the Indiana legislature this year, that would enshrine the right to hunt and fish in the state constitution. If lawmakers approve it a second time next year, Indiana voters can take the final step with a ballot measure in 2016.

Indiana is one of eight states — Alabama, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are the others — considering constitutional amendments to protect hunting and fishing rights. (Alabama’s constitution already includes such a provision, but the state is considering replacing it with a more expansive one.)

Vermont included hunting and fishing rights in its original 1777 constitution. But the remaining 16 states with constitutional amendments all approved them within the past two decades, and seven did so in the past five years. That is no coincidence: Fearing that anti-hunting groups were gaining traction in some states, the National Rifle Association in the early 2000s asked a group of constitutional scholars to draft model language that might be added to state constitutions. Then the NRA recruited allies in state capitols to lead the charge.

“Groups like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the Humane Society were going after these laws, sort of in an incremental way,” said NRA spokesperson Catherine Mortensen, who described the effort as a high priority for the organization.

“Hunting and fishing and harvesting of wildlife are part of the American fabric,” she said. “We do feel it’s increasingly under attack by well-organized, well-funded anti-hunting groups.”

Steele, an NRA member who won the group’s “Defender of Freedom Award” in 1996, didn’t need much convincing. Hunting “is a part of our heritage and it’s been a rite of passage and a way for our youth to learn an appreciation for the out-of-doors, firearm safety and the preservation of wildlife,” he said. “I don’t think we’re under so much of a direct attack now, but you’ve got to look 30, 40 years down the road, and a lot of the stuff our kids read in school is very anti-hunting.”

Like many others, Steele also touts hunting and fishing as an important economic issue for his state.

Revenue from hunting and fishing licenses, sales taxes from sporting goods stores and taxes levied on hotel and motel visitors create jobs and add millions of dollars to state coffers, Steele said.

According to the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, which is conducted every five years, in 2011 people spent $672 million on fishing and $222 million on hunting in Indiana. Nationwide, spending reached $89.8 billion.

But Indiana state Rep. Matt Pierce, a leading opponent, said the amendment aims to solve a problem that doesn’t exist — and likely never will.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “What you tend to hear from proponents is that they’ve heard of some nefarious conspiracy in which the Humane Society of the United States, in league with some multibillionaire, will wash so much money into the political system that it will convince members of the legislature to outlaw hunting and fishing,” said Pierce, a Democrat. “It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

Nicole Paquette, the Humane Society’s vice president of wildlife protection, asserted that “no one is trying to eliminate hunting and fishing.” Rather, Paquette said, her group is focused on “trying to end some of the most egregious hunting practices.” Paquette said these include the use of bait to lure bears into the open, making them easy targets for hidden hunters; using packs of dogs, sometimes fitted with radio collars, to pursue bears, cougars or other wildlife; and captive hunts that confine the hunted animals to enclosed areas.

The Humane Society opposes all the amendments. But it concentrates on fighting those, such as the one under consideration in Missouri that are worded so broadly it would be difficult for lawmakers or voters to approve any hunting restrictions. In March, for example, Republican Gov. Dave Heineman of Nebraska vetoed a bill outlawing cougar and mountain lion hunting, arguing it conflicted with a 2012 constitutional amendment stating that “hunting, fishing, and harvesting of wildlife shall be a preferred means of managing and controlling wildlife.”

In 2010, Arizona voters handily defeated a ballot measure that would have added hunting and fishing rights to that state’s constitution. The Humane Society played an active role in that election because the measure would have prevented any future hunting restrictions.

Hunters argue they are conservationists because the destruction of habitat, or the eradication of species, would mean the demise of their sport. They note that President Theodore Roosevelt, one of America’s first conservationists and the father of the U.S. Forest Service and five national parks, was an avid hunter. As a young man, Roosevelt was greatly affected by the time he spent in the West, where he saw that bison herds had been decimated by overhunting and grasslands destroyed through overgrazing.

Thirty years later, hunters urged Theodore’s cousin, President Franklin Roosevelt, to sign the Pittman-Robertson Act, which levies an 11 percent federal tax on firearms, ammunition and bows and arrows. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hands the money over to state wildlife departments, which decide how to spend it. The law has raised $8.4 billion for wildlife management, helping to restore populations of bighorn sheep, bobwhite quail, ruffled grouse and wild turkeys, among many other species.

The 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation noted that hunting participation was up 9 percent compared with the last survey in 2006, while angling participation grew by 11 percent. In 2011, 37.4 million U.S. residents 16 years old and older went fishing and/or hunting.

That number includes 33.1 million who fished, 13.7 million who hunted and 9.4 million who did both.

However, over the last 40 years the number of certified paid hunting license holders in the U.S. has declined, even as the country’s population has grown dramatically.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there were about 14.6 million paid hunting license holders in 2013, compared with 15.6 million in 1993 and more than 16 million in the mid-1970s.

A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO HUNT AND FISH Vermont included hunting and fishing rights in its original 1777 constitution. The remaining 16 states with constitutional amendments approved them within the past two decades.

(State: Year of Adoption) Alabama: 1996 Arkansas: 2010 Georgia: 2006 Idaho: 2012 Kentucky: 2012 Louisiana: 2004 Minnesota: 1998 Montana: 2004 Nebraska: 2012 North Dakota: 2000 Oklahoma: 2008 South Carolina: 2010 Tennessee: 2010 Vermont: 1777 Virginia: 2000 Wisconsin: 2003 Wyoming: 2012 Source: National Conference of State Legislatures

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 "Anatomy of an Oil Spill" The Mary Hatch Story Burnaby, British Columbia April 12, 2014 Watch, Listen, Learn HERE

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Tsleil-Waututh

Nation Press Conference on Kinder Morgan Pipeline and

Tankers Project

Watch HERE

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Legal challenges could stall decision on Kinder Morgan pipeline: experts $5.4-billion project faces constitutional, aboriginal and procedural actions May 11, 2014 The federal government’s efforts to speed up decisions on oil pipelines are at risk of backfiring, according to legal and policy observers.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters In the first real test of the National Energy Board’s new review rules, Kinder Morgan’s $5.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline is being assailed with legal action and a flurry of motions calling for a more open and lengthy public process.

The federal review of the pipeline expansion — which will nearly triple oil output and bring another 400 tankers each year to the Burrard Inlet — is set to begin in August and supposed to be complete in 15 months.

But the challenges — particularly those from First Nations — have the potential to be successful and delay a decision on the project, says University of B.C. law professor Gordon Christie.

“It’s kind of ironic because the (Conservative federal government’s) stated aims for doing this (changing laws) to streamline the process may come back and bite them,” Christie said.

“Changing things this way creates more kinds of arguments for lawyers to dig their teeth into,” said Christie. “If the legal process plays out the way it is supposed to, this will delay things.”

In 2012, the Conservatives introduced amendments to laws to tighten federal review timelines after they said Canada’s regulatory review process was being hijacked by “radical” environmentalists, unnecessarily delaying decisions on important industrial projects such as oil pipelines.

A week ago, environmental group ForestEthics and several Lower Mainland residents filed a constitutional challenge to the NEB that alleges its process unduly restricts participation, which is a Charter violation of freedom of speech.

Days earlier, the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation launched legal action at the Federal Court of Appeal arguing the federal government and the NEB failed to properly consult it before setting up the review.

And the Paceedaht, Katzie and Cowichan First Nations have asked for the hearing of their traditional knowledge scheduled this summer to be moved because it conflicts with their annual salmon harvest.

The month before, economist Robyn Allan, a former ICBC CEO, filed a motion to the NEB to reinstitute oral cross-examination as fundamental to a proper review. The NEB says the written crossexamination is an adequate method and interveners still have “the opportunity to make their case.”

Allan’s motion is supported by a coterie of B.C. municipalities, including Vancouver, Burnaby, West Vancouver and tiny Valemount in northern B.C. Also last month, Marc Elieson, a former BC Hydro CEO and longtime provincial and federal bureaucrat mostly under NDP governments, filed a motion with the NEB alleging bias of the review panel’s chair.

Both Elieson and Allan say they will appeal the NEB’s rejection of their motions.

Several motions, including from the City of Vancouver, have called for more time to scrutinize documents and file questions.

Simon Fraser University professor Doug McArthur said he believes the federal government has been “a little bit careless” in opening itself to legal challenges with its legislative changes to speed up reviews of major industrial projects.

While the law has been moving toward more open regulatory processes, including full opportunity for participation for those who have an interest and expertise, the federal government seems to be pushing in the opposite direction, observed McArthur.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Canada’s threats, whining and naiveté botched Keystone XL April 25, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters WASHINGTON – Jane Kleeb was about as blunt as you can get.

“TransCanada fumbled things from the beginning,” the Nebraskan activist said. “If they would have listened to the majority of Nebraskans they would have had that pipeline in the ground. Now no route is a good route for us.”

Sept. 17, 2008, when TransCanada filed its first application for a presidential permit for the 1,900kilometre Keystone XL pipeline, it looked like a no-brainer. In a country obsessed with energy security, Keystone offered a dependable supply of Canadian heavy oil for decades to come.

Keystone One had been approved without a glitch. So why not Keystone XL? Six years later that pipeline remains a dream and the words of Jane Kleeb echo through the hallways of Washington power brokers. Conventional wisdom says TransCanada botched the deal by failing to respond quickly to a fast-changing political environment while at the same time refusing to make any concessions to Nebraska, Montana and Dakota landowners and officials.

“If you’re going to bring Canadian oil through the backyards of American farmers you better be able to give something in return,” said one energy lobbyist, who didn’t want to be named. “They said, ‘We have buy-in from everybody we need and we’re not going to change.’ They have just been hammered ever since. So they sowed the seeds of this whole problem long ago.”

Washington insiders claim both TransCanada and the Canadian government have essentially displayed a shocking ignorance of and insensitivity to U.S. governance and politics.

Then, as the company bulldozed its way through America’s heartland, it gifted a flagging environmental movement with a new climate change icon upon which they could fatten their treasuries and raise public outrage.

TransCanada rejects that narrative. It blames the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Michigan pipeline spill, both happening within a month of each other in 2010, for changing the dynamics of the game.

“Keystone XL’s first presidential permit application had almost completed the process when those two events happened,” TransCanada spokesperson Shawn Howard said. “That was the point when these professional multimillion-dollar campaigns and these organizations began to organize against our project. An ad ran in DC right after that … where they showed a picture of an oil spill and they said ‘Mr. President you couldn’t stop this one, but you can stop the next one. Stop Keystone XL.’ That was the start point of the last three-plus years of campaigns against our project.”

Washington experts, however, claim opposition in the heartland states had galvanized long before the major oil spills occurred. They say TransCanada lost its first attempt at a presidential permit when it refused to agree to demands from the governors of Montana and the Dakotas to commit to a connector pipeline to the Bakken oil fields. It then compounded the problem when it ignored pleas from Nebraska politicians to change its original route, which ran directly over the Ogallala Aquifer upon which high plains ranchers and farmers depend for their water.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Choose Your Skeena River Salmon Future

Vote HERE

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 No Enbridge Pipeline Rally - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada May 10, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 UNFRACKTURED: JOINING TOGETHER TO FIGHT FRACKING What do you do when the oil and gas industry forces its way into your community, threatening your health, your way of life, your future? Join together. Fight back.

Watch, Listen, Learn HERE Fracking: Using millions of gallons of water and secret chemicals, oil and gas companies crack open underground rock formations, forcing deposits of oil and gas tucked deep within the earth up to the surface. This controversial process, combined with industry deregulation, has landed our country smack in the middle of an ill-timed oil and gas rush.

Seemingly determined to get every last drop of oil and pocket of gas, the industry has worked itself into a 31-state frenzy, drilling next to homes, schools, even in the middle of cemeteries. They’re polluting air and water, making people sick, hurting communities and delaying our transition to clean, safe, renewable energy.

NOW, PEOPLE ARE JOINING TOGETHER TO FIGHT BACK

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 CASTING A VOICE - Full Length Film Watch, Listen, Learn HERE According to longtime angler Rob Brown the Skeena River drainage is "the last bastion of wild steelhead."

This film examines the value of the Skeena River and its fish, and the steadily growing risks it faces to development and energy transportation proposals.

The energy industry is vital to Canada's economic strength, and the Northern Gateway Pipeline project would use parts of the Skeena as a corridor to reach new global markets.

This said, there is also immense value in the diverse ecosystems and wilderness that make up the Skeena. (ed. Major understatement!)

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Long Live the King Watch, Listen, Learn HERE Long Live the King is a story of hope and resurgence for Alaska's great King Salmon fishery.

Returning numbers of the fish have been dropping steadily, and both 2012 and 2013 hit especially hard - with multiple rivers and regions across the state seeing some of the lowest returns ever, forcing Alaska Fish and Game officials to close or severely limit salmon fishing around the state, including on some of Alaska's most iconic rivers. In addition, what is starting to seem like an all out war on salmon – mining, dams, hatcheries and the state government are all marching forward in opposition of Alaska's cherished salmon resource. For many, this is an attack on religion, not just a fish.

King Salmon are an icon for Alaska, and a treasured sport fish for the entire world. Long Live the King celebrates the great homecoming of salmon to the Last Frontier, while promoting a re-energized culture of sustainability among salmon fishermen and women worldwide. Through inspiring imagery, explosive fishing, emotional testimony and a tone of sustainability, respect and stewardship, the film breathes new life into the hearts of anglers. One goal of this film is to boost the grassroots efforts of our conservation partners to defend the land, waters, cultural heritage and invaluable resources of Alaska, including the mighty King Salmon of the Last Frontier.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Energy Integrity Project - Idaho

Energy Integrity Project HOME PAGE SWINDLE NEWS ARTICLES MISSION STATEMENT NOT CLEAN NOT GREEN NOT CHEAP TAXPAYER COSTS FOREIGN OIL???

IDAHO POWER AD 1 IDAHO POWER AD 2 EIP BILLBOARDS MORE INFORMATION

IDAHO-SPECIFIC INFO SIGN UP CONTACT US

EIP Billboards

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Wild Salmon Warrior Radio with Jay Peachy – Tuesday Mornings “Streaming like wild Pacific salmon”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Wild Salmon Warrior Radio – Recent Archives April 22, 2014: Transborder mining risks April 29, 2014: (1) Ocean-based salmon feedlot impacts on forage fish, wild salmon, steelhead, wild ecosystems and more (2) Benefits of closed containment salmon feedlots (3) Navigating Douglas Channel May 6, 2014: GMO salmon, trucking California salmon May 13, 2014: Marine life conservation via direct action – Sea Sheppard

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Ocean-based salmon feedlots (aka: weapons of mass destruction)

Some say that the ocean-based salmon feedlot industry is analogous with the parasites in the industry’s open pens The industry and its parasites suck every bit of life out of their unsuspecting hosts

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Salmon farms ‘killing off wild stock’ A GOVERNMENT review of wild fisheries in Scotland is failing to take into account the threat posed by farmed salmon, experts have claimed.

The review, launched in January by Alex Salmond at the start of the River Tay fishing season, is looking at how best to manage wild fish stocks and maintain their sustainability in the years to come.

But yesterday experts, including Jenny Scobie, director of Protect Wild Scotland, Orri Vigfússon, chairman of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund, and Richard Shelton, former head of the Scottish Government’s Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory, claimed the review is being conducted “behind closed doors” and ignoring the adverse impact of farmed salmon on wild populations.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “The review reeks of a private gentlemen’s club dictating the fate of Scotland’s wild fisheries behind closed doors,” said Scobie.“The lack of transparency, lack of wider public engagement and lack of coverage of salmon farming concerns completely undermines the integrity of the Wild Fisheries Review.

“Salmond ignores the growing salmon farming problem at Scotland’s peril. The policy of Scottish ministers to increase salmon farming production by 50 per cent by 2020 is that last nail in the coffin of wild salmon in Scotland. Salmond cannot continue to hide the truth about Scotland’s polluting salmon farming industry.”

Vigfússon said efforts to save wild Atlantic salmon needed immediate action. He added: “The Wild Fisheries Review stops where the major problems for wild salmon start – namely in the estuaries, sea lochs and out at sea.

“For all Salmond’s posturing, the Scottish Government does not have a sustainable salmon policy.

The Scottish Government want salmon independence via a free ride in the high seas, but then greedily wants to net them back at home. Such a selfish policy represents a slap in the face to Greenland, Iceland and everybody who is fighting to protect wild salmon.”

Shelton said: “There is one very serious problem which is crying out to be addressed.

“My colleagues and I at the Freshwater Laboratory and our opposite numbers in the Irish Republic have known since 1989 that the collapse of sea trout populations in West Highland Scotland was being driven by the large numbers of sea lice associated with the cage rearing of salmon.

“It is a problem which continues to get worse and also greatly depletes salmon populations in fjordic systems.

“Efforts to reduce sea louse numbers to levels which do not threaten the wild fish have failed dismally, despite the large-scale use of dangerous chemicals which ultimately threaten the valuable lobster, prawn and crab fisheries of the Highlands and Islands.

“Add to this assault on sea trout and salmon populations the effects of bacterial and virus disease and the widely reported problem of genetic introgression. Healthy wild sea trout and salmon populations cannot exist in the presence of the cage-reared salmon.”

Campaigners have now called for a moratorium on the development of any further salmon farms.

And they have objected to a series of “roundtable discussions” in Perth, Caithness, Wester Ross and Lochaber, organised by the review team, because they are “invitation only”.

A formal call for written submissions is expected to be issued later this month before a final report scheduled for October.

Last night a Scottish Government spokesman said: “This review of wild fisheries will focus on what is needed to ensure the management system is fit for purpose in the 21st century.

He added: “Ministers will then consider the review’s report and recommendations when they come in and are committed to consulting on proposals for any new management system thereafter.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Escaped farmed salmon invading Canada’s rivers May 12, 2014 SOINTULA, B.C.—Farmed Atlantic salmon were estimated to be present in over half of surveyed rivers and streams according to modeling conducted for an article recently published online in the journal Biological Invasions. Living Oceans is calling on Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea to stop approving new net-cage salmon farms until she can provide the public with clear evidence that Canada’s rivers are not being colonized by invasive species.

The study, Occupancy dynamics of escaped farmed Atlantic salmon in Canadian Pacific coastal salmon streams: implications for sustained invasions, cited previous research indicating that the number of escaped fish reported by the B.C. salmon farming industry is greatly underestimated.

“There is simply no way to verify the industry’s data,” said Will Soltau, Salmon Farming Campaign Manager for Living Oceans. “Salmon farmers self-report escapes and at the same time, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) does not publicly share data from the Atlantic Salmon Watch Program it operates to receive reports from fishermen, field researchers and hatchery workers.”

“We are quite concerned about the implications of what we found,” said Alina Fisher, the report’s lead author. “The fact that Atlantic salmon invasion was stable between years either implies that Atlantics have effectively naturalized or that chronic net-cage leakage is significantly and consistently high.

Either case has significant implications for Pacific salmon.”

Atlantic salmon are farmed on Canada’s east and west coasts and escaped fish pose a number of risks to wild salmon, including the transmission of diseases and competition for food and habitat. Last fall on the East Coast—where escaped farmed Atlantic salmon can also interbreed, polluting the wild gene pool—91 escapees were counted in a single fish trap monitored by the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) on the Magaguadavic River in New Brunswick. The significant number of escapees indicates that a large escape in the Bay of Fundy had gone unreported by the salmon farming industry.

Editorial Comment: The risks of ocean-based salmon feedlots to wild salmon is far more worrisome than this article reports:

 Wild US origin salmon and steelhead are impacted by these feedlots’ diseases, lice, chemicals and more

 Canada’s

escaped feedlot salmon also interact with US origin wild salmon

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “In its Assessment and Status Report on Atlantic Salmon in 2010, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) noted that the growth of the salmon aquaculture industry has coincided with a severe decline in wild populations in the nearby rivers in the Bay of Fundy,” said Sue Scott, VP of Communications for ASF. “COSEWIC also noted that in North America, farm-origin salmon have been reported in 87 percent of the rivers investigated within 300 km of aquaculture sites.”

The Occupancy dynamics report also found that escaped Atlantics on the B.C. coast show a marked preference for rivers with the highest diversity of native salmonid species: 97 percent of the surveyed rivers with high salmon diversity were occupied by Atlantics.

Impacts may accordingly be affecting all five species of Pacific salmon as well as steelhead and trout.

“When salmon farming was introduced in Canada, fishermen and environmentalists protested that fish escaping from the net-cages posed a threat to wild stock,” said Soltau. “First DFO said escaped Atlantics couldn’t survive. Then they said they wouldn’t enter river systems. Then they said they wouldn’t spawn, but they found feral juveniles. Since then, DFO has done nothing to ease public concerns about escaped farmed Atlantics’ impact on wild salmon in Canadian rivers.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 David

Suzuki: After a decade of controversy, has anything changed at B.C. salmon farms?

April 29, 2013

THE DAVID SUZUKI Foundation and others have run ads over the past decade decrying British Columbia’s open net-cage salmon farm industry. With significant expansion planned for the West Coast, the question remains: has B.C.’s salmon farm industry improved?

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Salmon farming threatens some of the planet’s last remaining viable wild salmon—a keystone species that touches all our coastal ecosystems. The issues in dispute include feed ingredients, disease transmission between farms and wild salmon, bird and marine mammal deaths, pesticide and antibiotic use, and the effects of multiple farms in concentrated areas.

Editorial Comment: Other impacts include:

  

Escaped salmon – competition with wild stocks: food, habitat, genetic pollution Untreated pollution: feces, excess feed, chemicals Public health, wild ecosystems, cultures, communities, economies

The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program recently released science-based ranking reports on open net-cage farmed salmon in B.C., Norway, Chile, and Scotland. All received a “red” or “avoid buying” designation. Canada’s SeaChoice followed suit.

More than 90 percent of migrating juvenile salmon die before returning to freshwater to spawn, most in the first months after entering the ocean. Pathogens may be a significant factor, although not all specifics about diseases are fully known.

Justice Bruce Cohen’s Commission of Inquiry investigating the decline of Fraser River sockeye included pathogen risk—along with habitat loss, predation and contaminant exposure—as a factor in the 2009 sockeye collapse. Disease from salmon farms is one risk to wild salmon that can be controlled.

Salmon farming shouldn’t be done at the expense of wild salmon. Both wild- and farmed-salmon industries provide fish and create economic activity, but the province’s sports and commercial wild salmon fisheries and marine tourism contribute more to B.C.’s economy and quality of life than salmon farming.

Employment, revenue generation, and food creation are important, but so are preserving wild salmon and protecting the environment for our children and grandchildren.

Aquaculture must stop using the ocean as a free waste-treatment system. Closed-containment—in the ocean or on land—is better at controlling water and removing feces and chemicals like antibiotics and pesticides used for sea lice.

One B.C. open net-cage company lost over $200 million in one year because of disease, enough to build 10 closed-containment farms. Yet the industry claims closed alternatives cost too much.

Although the salmon farm industry has decreased pesticide use, improved parasite management, and reduced feed waste and wild fish used for feed, it hasn’t eliminated the problems.

Editorial Comment:

 

Salmon parasite management is an oxymoron as parasites have mutated beyond management Forage fish have been partially replaced with animal byproducts in fish meal.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Continuing threats to wild salmon and the environment prevent us from supporting expansion of the industry or advising people to eat ocean-farmed salmon.

Despite the risks, last year the federal government quietly opened the door to expand B.C.’s aquaculture industry. Thirteen applications for new or larger farms along the coast have been submitted. Fish farm expansion avoids the bigger question: what kind of economic development is best for our coastal ecosystems?

As Justice Cohen said, more federal research into the effects of fish farms on wild salmon stocks is critical. We need to address this research gap, along with the lack of availability and transparency of data from farming operations, before allowing the industry to expand.

A promising partnership between Genome British Columbia, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to discover the microbes that may cause disease in B.C.’s wild salmon and hinder their ability to reproduce could provide answers. But those answers don’t yet exist.

The fish farming industry is making efforts. In 2013, a farm in Norway was the first to be certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. Although certification doesn’t fully address the risk to wild salmon, it indicates which farms are best operated and includes requirements to consider cumulative impacts. It is not a signal that the entire industry is free to expand.

Closed-containment systems, which have fewer impacts on the environment and wild fish, are also growing. The Namgis First Nation on northeastern Vancouver Island recently starting shipping its first closed-containment “Kuterra” Atlantic salmon to Safeway stores in B.C. and Alberta.

Buyer Beware…

Not All Salmon Certification Standards Are Equal

The aquaculture industry could also improve environmental performance by producing food such as scallops, mussels, tilapia, and seaweed that are a lower risk to the environment and use less feed and chemicals.

Our coastal waters are rich in opportunity. They can contribute to food security and community resilience without open net-cage salmon farms. Unless we chart a sound course, salmon will lose—but so will we and the bears, eagles, and magnificent coastal forests that support so much life.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 The Cost of Salmon in Senegal April 23, 2014 Senegal — almost on the opposite side of the planet from British Columbia — is a coastal country where the continent of Africa bulges westward into the Atlantic Ocean. It is a poor place, with most of its animal protein coming from the sustainable 200 tonnes of mostly sardinella that its many small pirogues harvest daily from its rich coastal waters. About 600,000 people in the country are employed in catching, drying, distributing and marketing this fresh and dried fish.

This critically important source of food and employment is now at risk because of the arrival of factories from Korea, China and Russia. As of 2013, 11 huge factories have been built on Senegal’s coast to process the local marine bounty into fishmeal for salmon farming and livestock rearing.

Foreign trawlers will be providing most of the raw material to the factories — just one Russian plant, Flash Africa, will need 460 tonnes per day to produce its 46 tonnes of fishmeal for the global market.

For the Senegalese, their stocks are collapsing, local fishers are returning with nearly empty nets, and the cost of fish is escalating beyond affordability (Guardian Weekly, Feb. 21/14).

This scenario is being repeated in Chile where the country’s loss of fish stocks is being described as “catastrophic”.

Chile’s 85,000 “artisan” fishers now have to go further and further offshore for fewer and fewer fish.

Their traditional catch of 4.5 million tonnes per year in the 1990s has dwindled to 300,000 tonnes.

Populations of the iconic jack mackerel — its rich, oily protein is valued as a staple food in Chile and Africa — have collapsed by as much as 90 percent. Hake, sea bass and anchovy are also in crisis.

The collapse is attributed to fleets of foreign trawler factory ships, largely unencumbered by regulations or weather, that are emptying the South Pacific of fish.

This is part of the looting of the southern oceans by wealthy countries that is sending poor countries into economic and nutritional distress.

As with the sardinella of Senegal, much of the industrial harvest of Chile’s jack mackerel is reduced to fishmeal for growing cattle, pigs and salmon — more than 5 kilos of jack mackerel are required to raise 1 kilo of farmed salmon. The South Pacific’s catch of 30 million tonnes of jack mackerel has fallen to 3 million in two decades.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters While local fishers and Chileans are left without fish, the response of the trawler fleets is simply to move farther south toward the edge of Antarctica to catch and process what’s left. Daniel Pauly, the eminent University of British Columbia oceanographer, considers the falling numbers of jack mackerel in the southern Pacific Ocean to be an alarming indicator. “This is the last of the buffaloes,” he told the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist. “When they’re gone, everything will be gone… . This is the closing of the frontier” (Center for Public Integrity, Jan. 25/12).

One of the largest ships targeting jack mackerel is owned by Pacific Andes International Holdings, known as PacAndes. Based in Hong Kong, the company spent $100 million in 2008 to rebuild a 750foot, 50,000-ton oil tanker into a floating factory named the Lafayette. This Russian-flagged vessel collects fish from attendant trawlers and has a processing capacity of 547,000 tonnes per year — the sustainable catch limit for South Pacific jack mackerel is calculated at 520,000 tonnes. Sadly, the fate of this humble little fish is indicative of the progressive collapse of stocks in all oceans.

This industrial pillaging of the oceans would be tragic enough if all the fish were being used efficiently to feed the world’s burgeoning human population. But much of the catch is processed into fishmeal.

And the salmon farming industry is a dependent partner in this inefficient and unsustainable use of marine fish.

The industry has been fastidious in promoting its pride and image as a producer of quality food — although this claim seems to be at odds with the health advisory warnings and escalating parasite problems coming out of Norway.

Unfortunately, salmon farming grows a carnivorous product that sells beyond the affordability of most of the world’s poor consumers — including those in Senegal and Chile.

But this is characteristic of the destructive distortion that has occurred in industrial farming. Cattle, pigs, fowl and other domestic animals are herbivores that were never fish eaters. Fish resources have better and wiser uses.

As a strategy, salmon farming is similarly unsustainable because feeding fish to grow another fish as a edible product is a highly inefficient way of making food — farming has never grown sheep to feed to tigers so we can eat tiger meat. If we must eat meat, the long history of farming has found that the only viable strategy is to eat herbivores.

Salmon farming is an anomaly in history and aquaculture, only supported today by the fleets from an industrial fishing industry that strain the oceans of perfectly edible fish that then get rendered into fishmeal. Farmed salmon is a product for rich people, paid for by the loss of sustenance fish for poor people. Such salmon are not going to feed the world’s population; growing them is simply going to accelerate the pillaging of oceans so that no one has fish.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters So the recent announcement by the BC Salmon Farmers Association that they intend a 100,000 tonne increase in net-pen farmed salmon production by 2020, with a further increase to 150,000 tonnes by 2025 is simply bad news.

This ostensibly doubles the production of BC’s farmed salmon, disregards the cautionary recommendations of the Canadian government’s $26 million Cohen Commission Report, and forebodes even more fish shortages for the poor people of Chile, Senegal and elsewhere. Filling more net-pens with more farmed salmon is a means to emptying the oceans of all fish.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Ocea Bremnes Seashore double team on sea lice solution April 22, 2014 OCEA and Bremnes Seashore recently signed an agreement on the further development of the Ocea Thermolicer.

At the same time the parties also signed a contract for a new 400-tonne feed barge and various other products to a total value of NOK 28 million.

‘Ocea Chile has for already supplied the Chilean market with delousing services for a select group of costumers, the method is now ready to be scaled to Norwegian conditions’, says Karl Petter Myklebust of Ocea.

‘We have had very good delousing results; we have also had low mortality rates 3 days after treatments, and after 60 days.

‘In collaboration with Bremnes, we plan to further develop the process, focusing on animal welfare and increased capacity.

‘We have also engaged the Norwegian veterinary institute to ensure third party documentation of the method in Norway.

‘The first commercial Thermolicer is already being built, and we will test the machine together with Bremnes this autumn.’

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters ‘We at Bremnes Seashore are excited about the Thermolicer’, says Geir Magne Knutsen, Head of farming at Bremnes Seashore.

‘We want early access to the machine to ensure that we have the right tools in our toolkit. Resistance towards treatments is an increasing issue, and we want to participate in the development of the tools of the future.

‘We are amongst other things working with cleaner fish to keep the number of lice as low as possible, but when we need to actively delouse the fish, we will use the Thermolicer, starting this autumn.

‘The results from Chile are very promising. It is also an important factor that the method is not using any chemicals harmful to the environment in our fjords.

‘Together with Ocea, we will use the next months to test the Thermolicer; this will provide us with important experience so that we can be fully prepared for when the delousing period starts.’

Karl Petter Myklebust of Ocea, explains that they are working with a select group of customers about delivering a few additional Thermolicers. ‘The industry is clearly very interested in our patented Thermolicer; we have had inquiries from a number of farmers in Norway and abroad.

‘We know that the machine and the method does work, but we want a controlled approach to the Norwegian conditions. The handling of fish is something we take seriously, and we are going to ensure that the machine and method is as gentle as possible, while also increasing capacity.’

Ocea has been working on a thermic delouser since 2007. The start of the project was a lucky coincidence.

Ocea was working on the use of low voltage as a delousing method, an observed that the lice seemed to die instantly when cleaning some tubs used for tests with lukewarm water.

This started a 7-year development process and resulted in a patented method commercialised in Chile.

The Thermolicer is about to be commercialised in Norway and the North Sea area. In Chile the machine has produced very good delousing results, and proved to be gentle on the fish.

The fish is pumped into a lukewarm bath that last about 30 seconds. The lice die from the sudden temperature change, and the fish is pumped back to the cage lice-free. The lice are collected and destroyed.

Editorial Comment:

  

Thermolicer technology appears to be safer for wild ecosystems than current salmon lice treatments (including hydrogen peroxide) Thermolicer does not resolve other risks of ocean-based salmon feedlots – public health, escapes, forage fish, antibiotics and other chemical use, excess feed, feces, navigational hazards…

Moving salmon feedlots to land-based facilities is the only reasonable option for this industry – even then, there will be significant risks to public health and wild ecosystems

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Atlantic salmon can be farmed on land, B.C. project shows Namgis First Nation is discussing its unique closed-containment system Watch, Listen, Learn HERE April 30, 2014 A British Columbia First Nation is using a workshop this week in St. Andrews to explain how it is growing Atlantic salmon without the fish ever seeing the ocean.

The Namgis closed-containment facility on Vancouver Island is the first salmon farm in North America to grow Atlantic salmon on a commercial scale in a completely land-based aquaculture system.

Salmon aquaculture has had its share of problems in the past, such as disease, sea lice, shock from sudden temperature changes and escapes into the wild.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters But Namgis First Nation Chief Bill Cranmer said his innovative closed-containment facility erase these problems.

"It's completely isolated, you know we don't have to shoot any seals or sea lions that are trying to get at our fish. We don't put any contamination into the water, we don't have sea lice,” Cranmer said.

The fish are raised in fresh water which is recirculated. Fish waste is captured and can be composted.

Editorial Comment: We at Wild Game Fish Conservation International enthusiastically applaud this pilot project to determine the commercial viability of growing feedlot salmon in land based facilities.

When new water is added the old water is treated in a manner similar to sewage.

From what we understand, these fish grow to commercial size faster than those in ocean-based salmon feedlots, thus reducing the demand for fish meal by approximately 30%.

The Canadian aquaculture industry has been around for a little over 30 years. The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance estimates the industry generates more than $2 billion annually and employs nearly 15,000 people from coastal and rural communities.

Unfortunately, it’s been reported in Green Around the Gills (April 29) that this first crop (sourced from Marine Harvest) is diseased like so many others in ocean-based salmon feedlots.

The Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries said aquaculture sales were worth $192 million in 2012 and the sector created about 1,150 jobs. Salmon represents 96.5 per cent of the province’s aquaculture sales.

We wish all involved with the Namgis closed containment facility tremendous success as this could be a significant step in removing oceanbased salmon feedlots from wild salmon migration routes.

‘We can produce fish anywhere’ Steven Summerfelt, the director of aquaculture systems research at the Freshwater Institute in West Virginia and an adviser on the Namgis project, said they are raising and selling Atlantic Salmon 100 kilometres from the ocean.

"We think we can produce fish anywhere,” he said.

“We have ideal conditions year round, we have ideal temperature, oxygen, the water quality is excellent, they get all the feed they want, there's no predators, no diseases."

Aquaculture sales were worth $192 million in 2012 and the sector created about 1,150 jobs, according to the provincial government. (CBC) Summerfelt said the big seafood corporations are now looking hard at what they are doing.

The infrastructure, water and electricity costs are generally thought to be too high to make fish farming on land a financially viable possibility.

While there are large upfront costs to these operations, the salmon raised in the land-based facility are sought after by consumers.

Cranmer said the salmon from his facility are fetching a 30-per-cent premium on the price because it is raised in a way that is environmentally sustainable.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Net pen float from overseas aquaculture Recovered by Charterboat Slammer – Westport, Washington

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Climate Change

 National Climate Assessment Climate Change Impacts in the United States

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Park, British Columbia. An American state-of-the-union report on climate change has singled out the rapid melt in British Columbia and Alaska as a major climate change issue.

 Unprecedented melt of B.C. glaciers seeps into U.S. climate change concerns May 18, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters VANCOUVER - The mountains of British Columbia cradle glaciers that have scored the landscape over millennia, shaping the rugged West Coast since long before it was the West Coast.

But they're in rapid retreat, and an American state-of-the-union report on climate change has singled out the rapid melt in British Columbia and Alaska as a major climate change issue.

"Most glaciers in Alaska and British Columbia are shrinking substantially," said the U.S. National Climate Assessment, released last week to much fanfare south of the border.

"This trend is expected to continue and has implications for hydropower production, ocean circulation patterns, fisheries, and global sea level rise."

According to the report, glaciers in the region are losing 20 to 30 per cent of what is melting annually from the Greenland Ice Sheet, which has received far more worldwide attention.

That amounts to about 40 to 70 gigatons per year, or about 10 per cent of the annual discharge of the Mississippi River.

"The global decline in glacial and ice-sheet volume is predicted to be one of the largest contributors to global sea-level rise during this century," the report said.

It is some of the fastest glacial loss on Earth. The cause: rising temperatures due to climate change.

"We've seen an acceleration of the melt from the glaciers," said Brian Menounos, a geography professor at the University of Northern British Columbia and one of the scientists involved in crossborder, multi-agency research into glacial loss.

There are 200,000 glaciers on Earth, 17,000 of them in British Columbia. Another 800 are in Alberta.

In B.C., researchers are keeping a close eye on the Lloyd George Icefield west of Fort Nelson, the Castle Creek Glacier near McBride, the Klinaklini and Tiedemann glaciers in the Coast Mountains, and glaciers in the Columbia River Basin.

Early results suggest these glaciers are shedding 22 cubic kilometres of ice annually, or about 22 billion cubic metres of water. For comparison, an Olympic swimming pool contains about 2,500 cubic metres of water.

"When we start to look at some of these individual mountain ranges, we're seeing some rates that are truly exceptional," Menounos said.

Similar loss is happening worldwide, and it is accelerating.

"Collectively start putting all of those numbers together, then there is the potential to raise sea level by something on the order of 30 to 40 centimetres from that ice," he said.

The U.S. Geological Service estimates that the glacier namesakes of Glacier National Park in their portion of the Rocky Mountains will disappear by 2030.

Menounos predicts that the smaller glaciers in B.C. — in the Rocky Mountains and the Interior — will be mostly gone by the end of this century.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters The effects will be far-reaching, research suggests.

Glacial water is a thermal regulator in mountain headwater streams, Menounos said. Their loss will affect water temperatures, fish and the annual snow pack. That will affect the water supply and agriculture.

There could be greater potential for flooding in wet seasons and drought in dry, a particular problem in B.C., which relies on hydroelectricity to meet its energy needs.

The glacial decline in western Canada and Alaska significantly contributes to sea level rise, said the U.S. report. That's happening around the world and will only get worse, Menounos said.

"Even 40 centimetres of sea level rise will cause annual flooding for 100 million people on the planet," he said.

Glacial loss can be slowed, Menounos said. The biggest issue is human consumption of fossil fuels.

"We know what we need to do," he said. "It's not an easy decision, but we have to start, I would argue, thinking about changing our reliance on fossil fuels."

PhD student Matt Beedle (left) and professor Brian Menounos measure changes in glacier thickness using GPS in this undated handout photo.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Why

climate deniers are winning: The twisted psychology that overwhelms scientific consensus There's a reason why overwhelming evidence hasn't spurred public action against global warming

In the run-up to Earth Day this year, two major reports were released by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the largest such body in the world. On March 31, Working Group II released its report, Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, and on April 13, Working Group III released its report, Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Both reports cited substantially more evidence of substantially more global warming and related impacts than past reports have, and they did so more lucidly than in past iterations.

As climate scientist and communicator Katharine Hayhoe told Salon, “This time around, to its credit, the IPCC has gotten a lot more serious about improving its ability to communicate the report’s message, through graphics and other ancillary products.” There was also a greater sophistication in how to conceptualize, measure and compare things, even where substantial uncertainties are involved. And there was a substantial list of more than 90 major impacts already recorded on every part of the planet.

Yet, one of the most disturbing stories to emerge around the reports was the New York Times report that language about the need for $100 billion in crisis funds to aid poor nations was removed from the Working Group III executive summary for policymakers during the final round of editing. The action neatly encapsulated the yawning gap between the growing danger of climate change — and growing maturity of climate scientists — on the one hand, and the utter lack of political will on the other.

But the growing sophistication of the scientific community is a cause for continued hope — if they can accelerate their learning curve, and follow the right path. They no longer mistakenly assume that the facts can “speak for themselves,” and they’ve gotten much better at developing ways to communicate lucidly about complex challenges and uncertainty.

But the entrenched denialist, do-nothing opposition is still winning when it comes to writing the checks. If that’s to change, Australian psychologist Stephan Lewandowsky will almost certainty be part of the reason why.

READ ENTIRE SALON ARTICLE HERE

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Salish Sea Orca Whales Not Mating, Socializing in Polluted Soundscape May 3, 2014 Vessel noise is already hindering endangered southern resident killer whales from communicating and finding fish and the noise bombardment will get worse if proposals for coal terminals and pipelines in B.C and Washington State are approved, said scientists and environmentalists at a conference looking at the health of the Salish Sea.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “Ships dominate the soundscape of Puget Sound,” said Scott Veirs, Beam Reach Marine Sciences and Sustainability School program coordinator and professor, speaking at the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference.

Veirs and his students take underwater sound recordings off Lime Kiln Park on San Juan Island, an area where the killer whales are known to spend time, and then model the echo-location and communication consequences for the resident killer whales. The resident killer whale population has dropped this year to 80 animals in three pods, the lowest number in more than a decade.

Sounds of swooshes, rattles and bangs echoed through the room as Veirs demonstrated noises surrounding the whales every day and audience members covered their ears as he played the screeching and metallic grindings made by a ship with a damaged propeller.

“At least one ship is present about 40 per cent of the time and when that ship is going through it reduces the range that whales can communicate by 68 per cent,” Veirs said.

That means the whales miss about 37 per cent of calls and, if traffic doubles – as it could with increases in oil tankers from twinning the Kinder Morgan pipeline from Alberta to Burnaby and with 21 per cent more carriers and barges from proposed coal terminal expansions in B.C. and Washington – it is estimated the whales will miss 44 per cent of the calls, he said.

Current noise levels mean whales are already finding almost 50 per cent less fish than they would otherwise and a doubling of traffic would increase that to 58 per cent, Veirs said.

The noise is having a significant impact as chinook salmon is already scarce, Veirs said.

Canadian and U.S. government studies have pinpointed lack of salmon – and particularly the whales' preferred diet of chinook – noise and pollution as the major threats faced by the resident killer whales.

Juvenile chinook salmon

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Ship owners should be offered incentives to properly maintain their vessels and the noise could be mitigated by ships slowing down or rerouting through Rosario instead of Haro Strait, Veirs suggested.

Editorial Comment: Ship owners should be severely fined when reckless endangerment of this region’s Orcas’ well being is linked to poor ship maintenance.

“Every knot you slow down, you come down about one noise level,” he said.

However, that would mean more time in the vicinity of the whales, which would increase the possibility of oil spills, he said.

Concerns about shipping noise changing the whales' behaviour was echoed by Marla Holt, research wildlife biologist with the U.S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Vessel noise affects acoustic signals that are important for foraging, Holt said.

“The behavioural changes in response to vessels is quite concerning as one of them is decreased foraging,” she said.

NOAA used digital acoustic recording tags, temporarily attached to whales with suction cups, to estimate noise levels.

The minimum noise level recorded, with two stationary and one slow boat in the vicinity, was 88 decibels and the maximum, with a large ferry less than 300 metres away, was 141 decibels, Holt said. Sound charts equate 140 decibels with the sounds of a jet engine at 100 feet.

Editorial Comment: The noise pollution associated with increased shipping of fossil fuels not addressed in this article is SONAR, used in safe navigation of these ships and their support vessels.

Last year, the behaviour of the whales was different than in previous years, said Jenny Atkinson, executive director of The Whale Museum in Friday Harbour, Washington.

The Whale Museum documented sightings in the Salish Sea and found that, especially during the summer, when the whales typically spend their time around Juan de Fuca Strait, Haro Strait and the Strait of Georgia, the animals spent more time off the west coast of Vancouver Island and did not get together to socialize in their traditional areas.

It is not known whether the behaviour changes are connected to salmon runs or noise, but the result is that no one is observing the greeting ceremonies or the three pods coming together in a superpod, Atkinson said.

“They're not spending too much time socializing and making babies,” she said.

The only calf born in 2013 washed up dead and no births have yet been reported this year.

An additional problem is that southern residents reproduce more slowly than northern residents, possibly because of lack of prey availability or contamination, said Dawn Noren of NOAA. But other whale populations are doing well, with increases in the northern resident and transient killer whale populations and a resurgence of humpback populations, Atkinson said.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “So what is going on with the southern residents?” she asked.

Howard Garrett of Orca Network has watched the changing behaviour and believes prey availability is the most likely cause.

“It may be that it's not just lack of food on the inside, but an abundance on the outside,” he said.

The whales appear to like the protection of inland waters as it allows them to congregate, but that will likely start happening again once they are well fed, Garrett said.

Superpods are important for mating as there are strict rules within the pods that do not permit mating with family members, Garrett said.

“Maybe they're having superpods off the west coast, but the chance of that seems slighter because of the rougher water,” he said.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked  Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen Watch video HERE

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Pipelines and Oil Tankers, Economic Cost and Environmental Risk Watch, Listen, Learn HERE

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Pipelines and Oil Tankers – Economic Cost and Environmental Risk Watch, Listen, Learn HERE This video presentation addresses the impact of the Federal (Canada) government’s energy policy. It exposes how a handful of multinational corporations and state-owned national oil companies from foreign countries plan to exploit our energy resources. It reveals how heavy oil pipeline projects— along with the tanker traffic they trigger—promise economic, social, cultural and environmental harm.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 The Best Intro to Tar Sands in 3 Minutes Watch, Listen, Learn HERE

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

An oil pipeline crossing the Tanana River in Alaska

 Spill liability changes could be paving way for Enbridge approval May 15, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters VANCOUVER – The federal government announced new measures Wednesday to ensure pipeline companies pick up the tab for any spills, as cabinet prepares to announce its decision on the contentious Northern Gateway pipeline project.

Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford said the new rules are not tied to any particular project but put in place an unmatched regime for pipeline safety.

“Even in the most extreme, rare or unlikely circumstances, the government will ensure that the environment, landowners and taxpayers are protected and the polluter pays,” he said in Vancouver.

“There is no country in the world that transports oil and gas as safely as Canada.”

Editorial Comment:  Public safety and ecosystem security are irreversibly and permanently impacted when pipelines carrying diluted bitumen and condensate fail  Oil and gas cannot be transported safely  Continued reliance on fossil fuels is madness

“Absolute” liability Under the new rules, pipeline companies will have absolute liability in the event of a spill. It means they will have to pay all costs and damages related to oil spills, without needing to be proven negligent or at fault.

Pipeline operators will also be required to have a minimum amount of cash available for cleanup costs. The National Energy Board will have the power to order reimbursement of spill costs and to take over spill response should the pipeline company be unable or unwilling to do so.

The federal government will cover any spillrelated costs a company cannot pay, and the national energy regulator would recoup the money from industry.

Editorial Comment: Who is fooling who?  Public health and ecosystem security impacts associated with dilbit and condensate pipeline failures are irreversible – no matter how much money is spent to pacify citizens  Companies will file for bankruptcy leaving their messes for taxpayers to deal with  Planned trade agreements with international investors guarantee profit.

Changes come amid pipeline debates B.C. is in the midst of a divisive debate about two major pipeline proposals — Enbridge’s Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan’s expansion of its Trans Mountain line — both of which would traverse the province with diluted bitumen from Alberta.

The changes, which have yet to be tabled in Parliament, are the latest in a slew of amendments aimed at appeasing public concerns over the two proposals.

Rickford said the federal government will also develop a strategy to increase First Nations’ participation in pipeline safety planning, monitoring and spill response.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “Working in full partnership with aboriginal communities, with our provincial and territorial counterparts and industry, Canada will become a supplier of energy to the world,” Rickford said.

A day earlier, the federal government announced changes to marine safety regulations affecting oil tankers.

Rickford was joined Wednesday by B.C. Transport Minister Todd Stone.

Provincial governments support changes The B.C. government has set out five conditions for supporting any oil pipeline project, including an undefined “world-leading” oil-spill response and prevention on land and at sea.

Stone wouldn’t say whether the measures meet that criteria but called them “a step in the right direction.”

“Are we all the way there? I think there’s always more that can be done, but what I think is demonstrated by the federal government here today is a very strong commitment towards ensuring that the standards here in Canada will be world-leading,” he said.

Alberta Premier Dave Hancock said the new rules “strengthen the responsible development of energy resources.”

“Every Canadian, no matter what province or territory they call home, expects that energy development is done with a high degree of environmental safeguards,” he said in a statement.

Government claims companies “responsive” to spills Natural Resources officials said there are 825,000 kilometres of pipelines throughout Canada — 73,000 of them are cross-border pipelines regulated by the National Energy Board.

There has never been an incident in Canada where a pipeline company was not responsive to a spill, they said.

And there has only ever been one pipeline spill that exceeded $1 billion to cleanup. That was a 2010 spill from an Enbridge pipeline into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, which is still being cleaned up.

Ziad Saad, vice-president of safety for the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, welcomed the changes. There are measures in place now for extreme circumstances, he said.

“We are clarifying and strengthening those provisions to ensure the public that they won’t be on the hook in case of a pipeline incident,” he said.

The federal government is expected to announce its final decision on the contentious Northern Gateway pipeline next month.

READ: Oil transport engineers say Enbridge tanker plan unsafe

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Tougher Canadian oil tanker rules leave liability cap in place May 12, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters SAINT JOHN, N.B. – The federal government says it is aiming to make polluters pay as it makes changes to legislation and regulations on oil tanker safety.

But under proposed changes announced today by Transport Minister Lisa Raitt in Saint John, N.B., Ottawa stops short of following a recommendation from an expert panel to remove the current $161million liability limit for a spill in favour of unlimited liability for polluters.

The report on tanker safety done last year by a three-member panel of experts made 45 recommendations for improving Canada’s preparedness for oil spills from tankers and barges.

Raitt says the government is removing the existing liability limit of $161 million under Ship-Source Oil Pollution Fund.

Editorial Comment: Instead, the full amount for a single accident  $400 million will not be enough to mitigate a will be made available from the fund, which the single spill let alone the expected multiple government says currently stands at about major spills of dilbit and other petrochemicals $400 million.

Raitt says if all domestic and international pollution funds are exhausted, the government will ensure compensation is provided and recover those costs from the industry through a levy.

She says with ship owners’ insurance, and international and domestic pollution funds, about $1.6 billion will be available to cover damages from oil spills.

Marine ecosystems still impacted after 25 years It will be longer with dilbit spills from larger ships

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

The ship's cargo has been emptied, but it is feared that pollutants could spill over

 Galapagos emergency over stranded cargo ship May 15, 2014 Ecuador has declared an emergency in the Galapagos Islands, saying that a cargo ship which ran aground last week still poses a threat to the archipelago's fragile ecosystem.

The ship's cargo has been offloaded, but the authorities said pollutants, like motor oil, inside the vessel could spill and cause environmental damage.

They were working to remove the ship.

The Galapagos are home to unique animal species such as the giant tortoise, marine iguana and flightless cormorant.

In 1978, the chain of volcanic islands were declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters The Ecuadorean freighter, the Galapaface I, became stranded off the rocky coast of the island of San Cristobal last Friday.

It was carrying more than 70,000 litres (15,400 gallons) of diesel fuel.

'Environmental risk' The governor of the Galapagos said that, despite having emptied all the fuel, some pollutants remained inside.

"The ship is stranded and continues to present an environmental risk for the Galapagos Marine Reserve and must leave the area," Jorge Torres told the Efe news agency.

The Galapagos are home to unique animal species such as the giant tortoise In a statement, the Ecuadorian government said the emergency measure would free up resources to remove the vessel.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters "As a result of the emergency declaration the Risk Management Secretariat will be able to directly carry out the purchase of goods, the procurement of services and the work that are required to overcome this emergency."

It did not say how long it would take to complete the removal of the vessel.

Darwin's finches This is not the first ship accident in the Galapagos.

In 2001, an oil tanker also became stranded off the coast of San Cristobal, spilling fuel and decimating the marine iguana population.

In 2001, an oil tanker became stranded, spilling fuel and killing marine wildlife The archipelago, about 1,000 kilometres (625 miles) off the South American continent, is a major tourist attraction in Ecuador.

It first became known for its endemic finches, which were studied by the British scientist Charles Darwin in the 1830s.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 For First Time, TransCanada Says Tar Sands Flowing to Gulf in Keystone XL South May 5, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters TransCanada admitted for the first time that tar sands oil is now flowing through Keystone XL's southern leg, now rebranded the Gulf Coast Pipeline Project. The company confirmed the pipeline activity in its 2014 quarter one earnings call.

Asked by Argus Media reporter Iris Kuo how much of the current 530,000 barrels per day of oil flowing from the Cushing, Oklahoma to Port Arthur, Texas pipeline is tar sands (“heavy crude,” in industry lingo), TransCanada CEO Russ Girling confirmed what many had already suspected.

“I don’t have that exact mix, but it does have the ability to take the domestic lights as well as any heavies that find a way down to the Cushing market, so it is a combination of the heavies and the lights,” said Girling. “I just don’t know what the percentage is.”

The Keystone Pipeline System — of which Keystone XL's northern leg is phase four of four phases — is and always has been slated to carry Alberta's tar sands to targeted markets. So the announcement is far from a shocker.

More perplexing is why it took so long for the company to tell the public that tar sands oil now flows through the half of the pipeline approved via a March 2012 Executive Order by President Barack Obama.

“Oil is Oil” When DeSmogBlog reported TransCanada had begun injecting oil into the pipeline's southern leg in December, the company would not reveal what type of oil it was.

“As you’ve likely seen me quoted before, oil is oil and this pipeline is designed to handle both light and heavy blends of oil, in accordance with all U.S. regulatory standards,” TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard told DeSmogblog at the time.

Editorial Comment: Extraction, transportation and burning of diluted bitumen, given its extraordinary risks to public health and ecosystem security, require far more caution than traditional crude.

“I am not able to provide you the specific blend or breakdown as we are not permitted (by our customers) from disclosing that information to the media. There are very strict confidentiality clauses in the commercial contracts we enter into with our customers, and that precludes us from providing that.”

Now, though, it appears the company has let the proverbial cat out of the bag.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “Texas Bound and Flyin'” In the first quarter of 2014, Keystone XL's southern half has opened up the floodgates for what was once a glut of oil in Cushing to reach Gulf Coast refineries at record levels.

To borrow the title of Jerry Reed's 1980 country song classic, it's “Texas Bound and Flyin.'” An April 17 Energy Information Agency communiqué lays out the dirty details.

“The main driver of the recent crude oil inventory builds on the [Gulf Coast] is start-up of TransCanada's [Gulf Coast Pipeline] which runs from the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub to the Houston area,” explained the EIA. “In late January, TransCanada completed the first delivery of crude oil via [Gulf Coast Pipeline] to [Gulf Coast] refineries.”

Chart Credit: U.S. Energy Information Agency

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters In short, the glut of oil has teleported from Cushing to Texas in the aftermath of Keystone XL's southern leg opening for business in January, as explained in another EIA March 27 update.

“Crude oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the primary crude oil storage location in the United States, decreased 13 million barrels (32%) over the past two months,” the EIA wrote. “On March 21, Cushing inventories were less than 29 million barrels, more than 20 million barrels lower than a year ago.”

Chart Credit: U.S. Energy Information Agency

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Northern Leg and Rail Keystone XL's northern leg, or what many know simply as Keystone XL, also came up on the earnings call.

Girling voiced frustration with how long the process has taken and with President Obama's April 18 announcement to delay a decision on the northern leg until after the 2014 mid-term elections.

“In our view this delay is inexplicable. The first leg of our Keystone system took just over 600 days to review and approve,” said Girling. “Now after more than 2,000 days, five exhaustive environmental reviews and over 17,000 cases of scientific data, the review process continues to be delayed.”

The prospect of moving tar sands oil by rail to Cushing was also discussed on the call.

“Our customers have asked us to look at a rail bridge between Alberta and U.S. points,” Bill Taylor, TransCanada's Executive Vice-President and President of Energy, said on the call. “I’d say that since the delays, the intensity of those calls has gone up quite substantially.”

Girling echoed Taylor in discussing his company's tar sands oil-by-rail chess move.

“It is something…that we can move on relatively quickly,” Girling stated. “We’ve done a pretty substantial amount of work at the terminal end and mostly at the receipt and delivery points and that’s really what our key role in here would be.

“You know a lot of the tankage is already in place so it’s a matter of building rail sidings and those kinds of things which aren’t overly complicated and we have spent some time engineering those things.”

Debate Continues, TransCanada Forges Ahead The debate over TransCanada's Phase Four (Keystone XL's northern leg) continues apace.

But, TransCanada's quarter one earning's call makes one thing clear: the company is firing ammo from many angles to move tar sands to market with or without the oft-discussed pipeline.

As Oil Change International executive director Steve Kretzmann put it in a press release after President Obama punted on the pipeline decision until after the 2014 elections, “While the oil industry and their paid Representatives in Congress are likely to scream, it's worth keeping in mind that…crude oil inventories on the Gulf Coast are at record levels.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Jimmy Carter among Nobel Prize winners urging Keystone rejection Jimmy Carter has become first former US president to speak out against the controversial Keystone XL project, which would see tar sands oil flow from Canada to the US. Carter joined a group of nine other Nobel Prize winners who signed a letter to President Obama, urging him not to endorse the plan.

“You stand on the brink of making a choice that will define your legacy on one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced - climate change,” the letter reads.

The Nobel laureates argue that “the tar sands are among the world’s most polluting oil” and say that they have the support of 2 million people “who submitted their comments in the national interest determination process rejecting the pipeline."

The letter describes the Keystone XL decision as one of the most crucial for the Obama administration and one that will go down in history.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “A rejection would signal a new course for the world’s largest economy,” the appeal to the US President reads. “You know as well as we do the powerful precedent that this would set. This leadership by example would usher in a new era where climate change and pollution is given the urgent attention and focus it deserves in a world where the climate crisis is already a daily struggle for so many.”

The letter sparked immediate reaction from the Canadian government, who are campaigning for the approval of the project. The statement by the Prime Minister’s office reiterated the economic benefits Keystone entails.

"Our government’s position on the Keystone XL project is clear: the project will create tens of thousands of jobs for workers on both sides of the border, which will create tremendous economic benefits for both countries," the statement said.

It also recalled Carter’s own experience as president, when the Iranian revolution crippled supplies from the Middle East and oil prices soared in the US. "In addition, Mr. Carter knows from his time as president during the 1979 energy crisis, there are benefits to having access to oil from stable, secure partners like Canada”.

By having signed the anti-Keystone letter, Carter has become the first ex-president to urge the rejection of the project.

Previously, George W. Bush described the plan for the pipeline as a “no-brainer.”

“The clear goal ought to be how to get the private sector to grow,” Bush said in March 2012 as cited

by Bloomberg. “If you say that, then an issue like the Keystone pipeline becomes an easy issue.”

Bill Clinton objected to the pipeline going through Nebraska's Sandhills region, but said at a 2012 summit of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) that if the route was changed “we should embrace” the project.

Editorial Comment: Keystone XL is a $7 billion oil pipeline Bitumen from Alberta’s infamous tar sands fields is designed to carry tar sands oil from far from crude oil – It’s so viscous that it must be Alberta's oil sands in Canada to diluted with condensate, a kerosene-like material refineries on the US Gulf Coast. Up to mixed with sand and undisclosed chemicals, to 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day are enable it to flow through pipes under high pressure. expected to move along the pipeline.

The project has raised much controversy in the US, with environmentalists staging regular protests citing the potential negative environmental impact.

A decision on Keystone is expected to be made before the summer.

A survey, released by the US State Department in January, raised few objections regarding the environmental impact of the project, paving the way for its potential approval.

Alternative reports speak of high risks. A study by the University of Toronto-Scarborough, published in February, warned that tar sands oil production was associated with much greater emissions of harmful carcinogens than previously thought.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 TEN THOUSAND gallons of crude oil covers half a mile of Los Angeles after pipe bursts amid fears of environmental disaster

   

Oil covers a huge area near the Atwater Village suburb and is said to be knee-high in many places Leak occurred after a 20-inch above-ground pipe burst outside The Gentleman's Club strip bar Flow to pipe was shut off remotely just after midnight local time - but leak continued for 45 minutes Two workers at nearby industrial plant were taken to hospital to be treated for 'respiratory concerns'

May 15, 2014 The Los Angeles Fire Department says a ruptured oil pipe has caused about 10,000 gallons of crude oil to spill on to the city's streets.

The oil - which covers a half-mile area and is knee-high in some places - escaped after a break in an aboveground pipeline outside 5175 West San Fernando Road in the Atwater Village suburb.

According to Los Angeles Fire Department, oil was spurting 15 to 20 feet into the air from a burst 20-inch pipe, with the leak reported shortly after midnight local time.

Entire article with photos and video HERE

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

ď ś Lynchburg, Va., train derails, sending up fireball as cars topple April 30, 2014 Flames and thick black smoke rose into the air after a train derailed Wednesday afternoon along a river in downtown Lynchburg, Va., toppling more than a dozen oil tanker cars and plunging several into the water.

At least three of the oil tankers were punctured, spilling crude oil, city spokeswoman Heather Childress told the Los Angeles Times. No injuries were reported. The train is operated by CSX, city officials said, but the rail company did not immediately respond for comment.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Authorities said the fire had been contained, though they were not using any extinguishing agents to tamp it down. Instead, they were letting it burn out because of concerns about what other materials the train might be carrying.

Lynchburg police advised motorists to keep away from the area and for nearby businesses to evacuate. Photos from the scene showed several black tanker cars on their side alongside the railroad tracks, but authorities did not immediately say what was inside the containers.

The derailment was along the James River near the Depot Grille restaurant, according to witness accounts on social media.

Philip Wilmarth felt the heat from the fire on the sixth floor of a building a couple of hundred yards away. He told the Los Angeles Times that he didn’t hear an explosion, but he saw at least a handful of train cars off the tracks.

“The train had completely come off the tracks, and the fireball, it’s very large,” Wilmarth said. “They evacuated us out pretty quickly. My guess is something ruptured in the tanks, and they got sparks from cars hitting together.”

He said he couldn’t see the end of the train, but all of the cars he saw were exactly the same – black cylinders.

While he waited on the street before being told to leave the area completely, other witnesses told Wilmarth that the explosion had blown the windows off Depot Grille.

One witness told WSET-TV that the train was traveling along as usual when the earth appeared to collapse below the middle of it, suggesting a possible sinkhole after heavy rains in recent days.

Other people in the downtown district said they heard a roar, like a jet passing by, which led them to check outside their windows.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said he had sent state-level emergency responders to the scene of the derailment.

“Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Adam Thiel has been dispatched to the scene and will provide my team and me with constant updates as this situation unfolds,” the governor said in a statement. “I have also spoken with Lynchburg Mayor Michael Gillette and offered him any and all resources he needs to respond to this incident and keep Virginians safe.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Lynchburg, Va., oil train derailment illustrates threat to rivers May 6, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters LYNCHBURG, Va. — As Pat Calvert steers a small motorboat over the James River, it’s impossible not to notice the smell of motor oil, and it’s not coming from the boat.

Two days after a CSX train derailed and put three tank cars full of crude oil into the river, Calvert, who keeps tabs on the Upper James River for the James River Association, is only beginning to survey the spill’s impact. Wednesday’s derailment spared the town from catastrophe, but not the river.

Much of the spilled crude burned in a spectacular fire on Wednesday, and the river, flooded from recent rains, washed the rest downstream toward Virginia’s capital, Richmond, and the Chesapeake Bay. Floating orange barriers called boom had been placed in the water surrounding the derailment site to capture spilled oil, but it might have been too late to make a difference. Calvert said his organization had measured an oil slick 17 miles long.

Closer to the shoreline, a sticky black film coats low-hanging tree leaves. The river is home to bald eagle nests, and smaller birds scavenge for insects along its banks.

“I’ve been trying to shoo them,” Calvert said. “I wish they would go somewhere else to eat.”

Wednesday’s accident highlights a growing anxiety among river conservationists across the country about a rising volume of crude oil shipments in tank cars long known to be vulnerable in derailments.

The nation’s primary rail routes were constructed along waterways because of the favorable grades for heavy trains. Those characteristics make them well-suited for transporting entire trains of crude oil, because it takes fewer locomotives and less fuel.

The James River in Virginia, the Hudson River in New York and the Columbia River, which serves as the border between Washington and Oregon, are all along the path of regular rail shipments of crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken shale region, where the oil is unlocked by hydraulic fracturing.

While helping drive a historic shift away from imported oil, the shipments are also bringing new spill risks to states and communities that aren’t prepared for them.

The trains along the James River, bound for a rail-to-barge terminal in Yorktown, Va., had barely gained notice since they began operating in December. But along the Hudson and Columbia rivers, resistance has been building to similar operations.

Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper, an environmental and clean water watchdog group, has been concerned as state and local governments have signed off on several rail terminals, all served by a rail line that follows the river and its tributaries.

“The sight of those flaming cars in the river in Lynchburg really struck home,” he said. “It might be in our future.”

Even the relatively small amount of oil that spilled Wednesday — less than 30,000 gallons, according to revised state estimates — can have a long-lasting impact on waterways and the people and wildlife that depend on them, VandenHeuvel said.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The James River supplies Virginia cities, including Lynchburg and Richmond, with drinking water.

The Columbia River is prime fishing ground for Native Americans and irrigates the fertile but arid farmland of central Washington and Oregon.

Along the Hudson, trainloads of crude oil are transferred to barges within blocks of state government offices in Albany, New York’s capital.

“The crossroads for a lot of this oil is Albany,” said Phillip Musegaas, Hudson River program director for Riverkeeper. “These trains are right in the middle of downtown.”

After the derailment in Lynchburg, the U.S. Department of Transportation sent a package of tougher proposed standards for tank cars to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review.

But that process could take months.

“That’s simply not good enough when you have this kind of risk,” Musegaas said. He called on Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to immediately ban puncture-prone tank cars from transporting Bakken crude oil. Last week, the Canadian government ordered a three-year phase-out of the cars, called DOT-111s, from crude oil shipping.

These cars are the same type that punctured and ruptured on trains carrying crude oil that derailed in Quebec, Alabama, North Dakota and New Brunswick in the past year. All of the derailments resulted in large fires and spills. In Lac-Megantic, Quebec, 47 people were killed.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the Lynchburg derailment, said Friday that 14 of the 17 cars that derailed were built to a higher standard voluntarily adopted by the industry in 2011. The NTSB and the railroad industry have said that even these cars are not robust enough for crude oil.

Though the federal government regulates rail transportation, state and local governments have some power to check the expansion of crude oil shipments by rail facilities, which often require permits to begin operating.

Albany County, N.Y., last month placed a moratorium on the growth of such facilities until a study of their health impacts is completed.

VandenHeuvel’s group is calling on the governors of Oregon and Washington to make a similar move. Several crude-by-rail terminals are planned in the Pacific Northwest in addition to the ones already in operation. Others are planned in Northern California.

VandenHeuvel said that officials should take a hard look at what happened in Lynchburg and other towns before allowing any more terminals to go forward. “I think we’re beyond calling for investigations,” he said. “Prevention is a much better approach.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Quinault Nation Urges Opposition to Oil Trains and Shipping TAHOLAH, WA (4/22/14)— The Quinault Indian Nation (QIN) is adamantly opposed to increased oil train traffic in Grays Harbor County, the construction of new oil terminals, increased oil shipping from the port of Grays Harbor and dredging of the Chehalis River estuary. “We oppose all of these for both economic and environmental reasons,” said Fawn Sharp, QIN President. “We ask the citizens, businesses and agencies from within the county and beyond to stand with us in opposing the intrusion of Big Oil into our region,” she said. “The small number of jobs this dirty industry brings with it are vastly outnumbered by the number of jobs connected with a healthy natural resources and a clean environment,” she said.

“It is time for people from all walks of life to stand up for their quality of life, their children and their grandchildren. It makes no sense whatsoever to allow Big Oil to invade our region, especially with the volume they are proposing. We all have too much at stake to place ourselves square in the path of this onrushing deluge of pollution, to allow mile-long trains to divide our communities and jeopardize our air, land and waters,” she said.

“Consider the number of jobs that are dependent on health fish and wildlife. The birdlife in Grays Harbor alone attracts thousands of tourists every year. Fishing and clamming attract thousands more. And anyone who listens to Big Oil or their pawns when they tell us how safe the oil trains are, or the ships or even the oil terminals that are being proposed needs to pay closer attention. We have already had large quantities of fish and shellfish stolen from us through development of and damage to Grays Harbor and its tributaries and we are not accepting any more losses. We want restoration, not further damage,” she said.

“Derailments, crashes, spills and explosions are extremely dangerous and they happen with frightening regularity. The fact is that there will be accidents and there will be spills, and they will do extensive damage,” said Sharp.

Sharp said there is another fact of which people must be aware: “If we stand together, speak up and demand to be heard, we can make a difference. Our collective voice empowers us.”

U.S. Development Group is currently seeking permits to build an oil terminal on the Washington coast that could handle about 45,000 barrels of crude oil a day. The $80 million proposal at the Port of Grays Harbor is one of several in Washington that together would bring millions of barrels of oil by train from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana. About 17 million barrels of oil were shipped across Washington State last. That number is expected to triple this year. Grays Harbor is facing three separate crude-by-rail proposals. Westway Terminal Company, Imperium Terminal Services, and U.S. Development Group have each proposed projects that would ship tens of millions of barrels of crude oil through Grays Harbor each year.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Daily trains more than a mile long would bring crude oil from North Dakota or tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada along the Chehalis River and into the port, where it would be stored in huge shoreline tanks. The crude would then be pumped onto oil tankers and barges, increasing at least four-fold the large vessel traffic in and out of the harbor.

Editorial Comment: Bitumen, the asphalt-like material from Alberta, Canada’s tar sands fields is mixed with condensate (kerosene-like material, sand, unspecified chemicals) in order for the thick, heavy bitumen to flow through pressurized pipelines.

Westway Terminal Company proposes five new storage tanks of 200,000 barrels each. Westway estimates it will receive 1.25 unit trains per day or 458 trains trips (loaded and unloaded) a year. The company estimates it will add 198-238 oil barge transits of Grays Harbor per year. “The chances are even those counts are very conservative,” said Sharp.

Imperium Terminal Services proposes nine new storage tanks of 80,000 barrels each. With a capacity to receive 78,000 barrels per day, Imperium may ship almost 28.5 million barrels of crude oil per year. Imperium estimates that the terminal would add 730 train trips annually, equaling two, 105car trains (one loaded with oil on the way in, one empty on the way out) per day. The company estimates 400 ship/barge transits through Grays Harbor per year.

U.S. Development Group submitted its application in this crude-by-rail race early this month. It proposes eight storage tanks each capable of holding over 123,000 barrels of crude oil. The company anticipates receiving one loaded 120 tank car train every two days, and adding 90-120 Panamax-sized vessel transits through Grays Harbor per year.

“We are targeted by Big Oil,” said Sharp. “We will not allow them to turn our region into the greasy mess they have created in other regions. We care about our land and our water. We realize how important our natural resources are to our future and we’re not going to sit by and let them destroy what we have,” said Sharp.

Deborah Hersman, outgoing chair of the National Transportation Safety Board said on April 21 that U.S. communities are not prepared to respond to worst-case accidents involving trains carrying crude oil and ethanol.

In her farewell address in Washington DC, she said regulators are behind the curve in addressing the transport of hazardous liquids by rail and that Federal regulations have not been revised to address the 440 percent increase in rail transport of crude oil and other flammables we have experienced since 2005. Hersman, who is leaving her post at NTSB April 25 to serve as president of the National Safety Council, said the petroleum industry and first responders don't have provisions in place to address a worst-case scenario event involving a train carrying crude oil or ethanol.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Hersman added in her comments that the DOT-111 rail tank cars used to carry crude oil are not safe to carry hazardous liquids. She also said that NTSB is overwhelmed by the number of oil train accidents. At present, she said the NTSB is involved in more than 20 rail accident investigations but only has about 10 rail investigators.

Editorial Comment:

 “DOT-111 rail tank cars used to carry crude oil are not safe to carry hazardous liquids”

 DOT-111 rail tank cars should never be used to carry hazardous fossil fuels: light crude oil, heavy bitumen or diluted bitumen (dilbit)

“It makes absolutely no sense for us to allow our communities to be exposed to the same dangers that killed 47 people in Quebec this past summer. That tragedy was not an isolated incident. It could happen here, and there is absolutely no doubt that this increased oil traffic will cost us all in terms of both environmental and long term economic damage,” said Sharp.

“For the sake of our public safety, our long term economy, our streams, wetlands, fishing areas, shellfish beds, and migratory bird habitats, we will stand up to them. The Quinault Nation encourages everyone who cares about the future of our region to participate in the public hearings regarding the Westway and Imperium proposals being conducted at 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday, April 24 at Hoquiam High School and Tuesday, April 29 at Centralia High School.

We further encourage letters and calls to the Department of Ecology, to local government and to the Governor. Now is the time for to speak out in support of the future of Grays Harbor and the Pacific Northwest!”

“We strongly encourage people to show up and make comments and submit written testimony at these hearings,” said Sharp. “A good turnout is a must,” she said. Following the hearing, written comments can be sent to Maia Bellon, Director of the Department of Ecology, at 300 Desmond Drive, Lacey, WA 98503-1274.

To join QIN in this effort, please email ProtectOurFuture@Quinault.org. “Together, we can protect the land and the water for our children, and rebuild a sustainable economy,” said Sharp.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Train Derails Near La Salle In Weld County May 9, 2014 LA SALLE, Colo. – Crews have been working on cleaning up after six cars of a train derailed.

The train was carrying crude oil when six cars went off the track causing the oil to spill into a ditch.

No one was hurt in the accident but one tanker lost its entire payload spilling all over the ground near water.

“Fortunately it was self contained in the area and now they are able just to vacuum that out,” said a crew member.

Union Pacific says inspectors from the Environmental Protection Agency and Parks and Wildlife determined there is no risk to the environment.

The train was only going 10 mph at the time of the accident traveling from Windsor to a destination on the east coast.

It was the only train scheduled for that branch of railroad which cannot be reopened until the heavy tankers are turned over.

“We’ll take some time and we don’t know when it will be compete, removing the oil from the tank cars. Crews will be working through that the rest of the night,” said a crew member.

While considered small the derailment did get some attention from Washington.

Sen. Mark Udall says the accident is a sign that safety standards need to be updated on the rails.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Weapon of Mass Destruction

Weapon of Mass Destruction Weapon of Mass Destruction

Oil train cars stacked in Tacoma

 State oil trains run into heavy opposition Recent hearings in Centralia and Hoquiam give voice to widespread worries about safety May 4, 2014 As Washington environmental regulators start wrestling with the safety of new and larger fuel terminals along the Pacific Coast, some residents in southwest Washington communities are getting restless — with worries about the safety of crude oil shipped by rail to refineries and shipping docks.

Oil-by-rail traffic is growing in Washington by leaps and bounds, altering the way oil is fed to refineries and challenging a state that has a good record of oil safety on marine waters.

Editorial Comment: As published in this issue of Legacy, Wild Game Fish Conservation International supplied formal opposition to increased oil by rail via Washington state to the Washington Department of Ecology and to the US Department of Transportation – Federal Railroad Administration.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Traffic went from zero barrels by rail in 2011 to 12.1 million barrels in 2012 and 17 million last year, state environmental authorities say. The amounts are expected to rise in 2014 and eventually go far higher as up to 10 new or expanded facilities are finished in Vancouver, Grays Harbor and at the state’s five existing refineries from Tacoma to Ferndale.

Last week, a crowd of about 150 people turned out for a hearing in Centralia that was designed to measure how widely to study the environmental effects of two of the three oil terminal projects proposed for Hoquiam’s ocean port at Grays Harbor.

That hearing followed another large crowd at a meeting the previous week in Hoquiam.

In both cases, the sentiment against the projects — and especially the onrush of oil-train traffic into Washington — was overwhelming.

“Being born on the wrong side of the track takes on new meaning now,” said Larry Kerschner, a Centralia resident who testified about what the additional 120-car trains might do to auto and truck traffic. “I hope that no one dies while waiting for an ambulance to get across the tracks. I hope that no one’s houses burn down while waiting for the firetruck to come across the tracks.”

Others called for better emergency responses to spills, increased inspections once terminals are expanded, and safeguards including one man’s call for a $50 million surety bond against damages.

Some wanted a broad look that includes oil-by-rail effects along the Columbia River, which is the main entry point for oil trains. The state League of Women Voters called for a broad examination that takes into account the effect of burning more oil on climate change.

Some who spoke noted the deadly explosions of a train carrying volatile oil in Lac-Mergantic, Quebec, which killed 47 last year. And just one day after the hearing, an oil train went off the tracks in downtown Lynchburg, Virginia, catching fire near the James River.

The public meetings — dubbed “scoping hearings” — were sponsored by the Department of Ecology and the city of Hoquiam, which are jointly leading the environmental review process. Although some speakers at hearings want the state simply to halt the oil industry’s quick expansion in Washington, DOE doesn’t have the power to issue a moratorium, agency spokeswoman Linda Kent said.

“We’re trying to find out what people think should be studied in the environmental review,’’ Kent said, describing the agency as being in a “listening mode” with its hearings.

Paula Ehlers, who oversees the environmental review for Ecology on the two Hoquiam projects, said the agency expects to evaluate environmental effects along the short-line rail from Grays Harbor to Centralia. But the question of how much further the agency needs to go — such as considering Columbia River Gorge effects — won’t be determined until the public comment period ends May 27.

GAUGING CLIMATE CHANGE The agency similarly hasn’t decided how to weigh the effects of oil shipping on climate change.

Sponsors of the projects are Westway Terminals, a Louisiana firm whose Hoquiam terminal handles methanol for industrial processes, and Imperium Renewables, a Seattle-based biofuels company, both of which began operating facilities at Grays Harbor in the past decade.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Each is expanding storage and shipping facilities for its coastal market and each expects to significantly boost rail traffic to feed its facilities that transport fuels by barge and ship.

Both companies bring in crude oil from North Dakota, and national transportation officials say this oil is more volatile and explosive than conventional crude oil.

Imperium is projecting its expanded facility would be served by an additional 730 trains and 200 barges or ships a year, while Westway says the two phases of its project would add 458 rail trains and 200 barge or vessel shipments yearly. The rail estimates include return or empty trips, meaning an average of three to four new trains each day.

“Our existing and expanded operations are required to follow very stringent federal and state guidelines that have been established over the last four decades,” wrote John Plaza, president of Imperium, in a letter this year to DOE. He went on to say the company has been receiving and shipping rail cars of fuels as well as loading and unloading vessels on the site without incident since 2007.

Imperium says its project would add to the local tax base and provide about 60 jobs during construction with about 20 permanent jobs once the project is finished.

In documents filed with the state, Westway estimated its $60 million project would require about 123 trains a year — each with roughly 120 cars or 78,000 barrels of oil. This would allow the site to move more than 17.8 million barrels a year. The company also expects to ship about 53 to 64 barges of fuel, and site construction would mostly overlap slips built years ago.

Both firms are deferring to Hoquiam and Ecology to decide what scope of review is needed, according to Paul Queary of Strategies 360, a Seattle-based public affairs company handling media queries for the projects.

Queary said the public has obvious concerns but the firms are confident they can operate in an “environmentally sensitive way.”

“We think there is broad support in the community for the economic (gains) and jobs that the projects will bring. The port has been the engine of economic development in Grays Harbor in recent years and we’re happy to be part of that,’’ Queary said.

A sense that a lot is happening fast — and that people and governments aren’t prepared — was driving a lot of the worry of people who showed up to talk in Centralia on the terminals.

Arthur Grunbaum, president of Friends of Grays Harbor, said the scoping period that ends May 27 is “inadequate” for the problems posed by rail and vessel shipments to and from the terminals. He said people, including tribes, and many animal species along the coast are put at risk.

Patricia Owen, a grief counselor, said her family had seen three major train derailments near its farm between Winlock and Castle Rock over 30 years, and she warned what might have happened if any of those mangled trains had carried crude oil.

The Quinault Indian Nation also is on record against the projects because of risks to fisheries that are part of the tribe’s treaty rights to harvest.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

A Canadian National Railway official stands on the tracks after seven Canadian Pacific Railway train cars derailed on the CN Rail tracks spilling coal from three of the cars in Burnaby on January 11, 2014.

 Off the rails: B.C. train derailments jump 20 per cent to five-year high A total of 110 incidents in 2013 marked a five-year high, according to the Transportation Safety Board April 25, 2014 Train derailments increased 20 per cent to 110 incidents in B.C. in 2013 — the highest level in five years — according to federal Transportation Safety Board documents provided to The Vancouver Sun. The two biggest derailments involved CN trains — 12 sulphur-carrying cars near Chetwynd on May 15, and 15 ore-carrying cars near Tumbler Ridge on Aug. 1 — and the largest liquid spill Jan. 30 involved more than 3,000 litres from the punctured fuel tank of a CN locomotive in Prince George yard.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters Map below shows railway accidents in B.C. for 2013 reported to the Transportation Safety Board.

Collision with People/Vehicles

Train on Train Collision

Derailment

Fire

Other

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Please click here to access the interactive map On Aug 12, 2013, near Spences Bridge, a loaded CP coal train reported a car was found derailed upright along with “track damage and fires along the right of way between Mile 76 and Mile 81.”

And on Dec. 21 in Metro Vancouver, a CP Rail train crew “while lifting cars from track ... at the Chevron facility” reported derailing a tank car over the end of track. No dangerous goods were involved, and no one was injured.

The vast majority of derailments occur in rail yards or remote stretches of track far from the public eye and go largely unreported by the news media. But the railways are required to report such occurrences to federal authorities.

The increase in derailments in B.C. in 2013 occurred during a year in which railway safety — especially involving the movement of oil products — captured the headlines and gained the attention of the federal government.

The most serious national accident occurred July 6, 2013, when a runaway train of 72 tank cars loaded with crude oil crashed in Lac-Mégantic, Que., killing 47 people and destroying half the downtown area. The train was owned by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway.

On Wednesday, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt in Ottawa announced regulations tightening safety on Canada’s railways, including the removal of older tank cars considered at greater risk of exploding in an accident as well as new rules covering speed limits, route assessments and emergency response plans. About 5,000 of the most dangerous DOT-111 tankers are to be removed from Canadian railways within 30 days. Another 65,000 must be removed or retrofitted within three years.

Belcarra Mayor Ralph Drew is a member of Metro Vancouver’s transportation committee and an intervener at the forthcoming National Energy Board hearings into the Kinder Morgan plan to twin its pipeline, which would result in a seven-fold increase in tanker traffic through Burrard Inlet.

Drew said Thursday the increase in derailments is worrying, especially given a spike in shipments of oil by rail through B.C.’s mountainous geography. Transport Canada has estimated almost 1,200 carloads of crude oil and petroleum products were sent to B.C. in 2012, up from fewer than 50 in 2011, but has so far not released 2013 figures.

While not backing Kinder Morgan — “I have to be convinced they’re doing it right” — Drew said he believes pipelines are a safer way to ship oil than rail. “A derailment of oil tank cars in the Fraser Canyon would be catastrophic. It would move down the whole length; mind-boggling, actually. It makes a tanker spill at sea minor in comparison with the linear damage along the river, and it would ultimately end up in the Fraser River estuary, which is critical salmon rearing grounds.”

Of the federal changes, Drew said: “It’s good news but long overdue. It should have happened years ago.”

Other B.C. derailments last year involved shipments as diverse as wood chips, lumber, sulphur, sulphur dioxide, sulphuric acid, sodium and grain.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Tank car fleet is inadequate for crude oil, rail industry says WASHINGTON, D.C. — None of the tank cars currently in service carrying Bakken crude oil are adequate for carrying that product, a rail industry representative testified, but until new federal regulations are completed, the use of inadequate cars will continue.

That includes tank cars built to higher standards adopted by the industry since 2011. Such cars have failed in at least two recent derailments. Yet in the absence of the new rules, crude oil shippers and refiners continue to rely on them to meet the demands of North America’s energy resurgence.

In testimony opening a two-day hearing at the National Transportation Safety Board, rail companies and rail car makers agreed that crude-by-rail shipments would continue to grow.

“We don’t see crude oil transportation slowing down or stopping anytime soon,” testified Robert Fronczak, assistant vice president for environment and hazardous materials at the Association of American Railroads, an industry group.

The NTSB long ago recommended improvements to the industry’s workhorse DOT-111 model tank car, which has proved vulnerable to punctures and ruptures in numerous accidents over the years involving hazardous materials.

Expert witnesses testified that the industry knew it needed better cars before a deadly accident last summer in Quebec. The industry asked the Department of Transportation for tougher standards in March 2011, but rather than wait years for new regulations, it made voluntary improvements.

Manufacturers began building cars to a new industry standard, called CPC-1232, later that year. But the production of crude oil in North Dakota’s Bakken shale region surged so fast in 2012 and 2013 that tens of thousands of older cars were pressed into service.

The NTSB already had warned that the DOT-111 cars were poorly suited to transport ethanol when they began hauling large volumes of equally flammable Bakken crude.

“How did it get missed for the last 10 years?” asked NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman. “Did it take body counts and derailments for us to understand that there’s an issue?”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters In Lac-Megantic, Quebec, 47 people were killed when a train loaded with Bakken crude crashed into the town center and burned with such intensity that some victims were never found. More than 1.2 million gallons of Bakken crude were spilled in derailments in Alabama and North Dakota, and though no one was injured or killed, the derailments ignited massive fires that overwhelmed the capabilities of local emergency responders.

January derailments in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, and New Augusta, Miss., revealed the post2011 tank cars could sustain punctures, too. Last month, NTSB Vice Chairman Christopher Hart told a Senate committee that the newer cars were “still not adequate.”

William Finn, vice chairman of the tank car committee at the Railway Supply Institute, said that 95,000 DOT-111 cars would need to be retrofitted to comply with the coming regulations, including 55,000 newer cars.

“This is going to be a huge undertaking,” Finn said. “Historically there has never been a bigger retrofit program than this.”

Major refiners, including Tesoro, Irving Oil and PBF Energy, have committed to shipping crude only in upgraded cars. Valero Energy and Phillips 66 are buying their own fleets, or 4,000 cars combined.

But even those cars may not be robust enough to account for Bakken oil’s volatility. Finn testified that Bakken contains high levels of flammable gases, which if transported on their own would require pressurized tank cars designed for it.

For the most part, railroads don’t own tank cars, which are leased to the companies that use them.

But in February, BNSF Railway, the largest hauler of crude oil in trains, took the unusual step of buying its own fleet of 5,000 cars. The cars will be built to a higher standard than the current, industry-adopted one.

Tuesday’s testimony showed harmony between railroads and tank car manufacturers on major improvements, including the need for full-height shields to protect the ends of cars from punctures and thermal insulation to make them more fire resistant.

Railroads want thicker tank walls of 9/16ths of an inch to provide extra protection for the cargo, but tank car makers and petroleum producers are concerned that the extra weight would mean that less product could be transported in a single car. They prefer walls of 7/16th of an inch thick.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration could settle the dispute with its new regulation, but the agency did not testify Tuesday on when it might be finished. Any new regulation will have to be reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget, a process that could add months to the wait.

One tank car manufacturer, meantime, embraces the thicker wall.

“Engineers deal with uncertainty by adding a margin of safety,” said Greg Saxton, senior vice president and chief engineer at the Greenbrier Companies.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

A reader saw this oil train moving along the Deschutes River on April 17. Though oil trains have introduced the risks of catastrophic spills along the river and others, planning has lagged.

 Oregon

ill-prepared for oil train spill into waterways; containment booms spread sparsely May 8, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters When a CSX oil train derailed and caught fire April 30 in Lynchburg, Virginia, dumping more than 20,000 gallons of crude into the James River, the spill wasn’t controlled for hours.

If a similar accident happened on an Oregon waterway, the response could be just as slow.

Like Virginia, Oregon doesn’t have any state law requiring railroads to plan for oil spills.

Readiness has lagged.

Almost 500 million gallons of crude oil moved alongside Oregon waterways last year: the Columbia River, the Deschutes, the Willamette and Upper Klamath Lake. It’s a new phenomenon, one that has introduced the risks of potentially catastrophic spills to some of the state’s most iconic rivers, best-known salmon runs and world-renowned fishing destinations.

But despite months of nationwide public scrutiny of crude-by-rail safety, concern from Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and efforts by state regulators, spill planning is still a mess.

“It’s moving very slow,” said Scott Knutson, a U.S. Coast Guard oil spill official. “There’s a lot of equipment. It may not yet all be in the right place for the changing transportation picture in the Northwest.”

Editorial Comment:

 

 





After the Virginia accident, an oil sheen spread 12 miles downriver. Containment booms, floating plastic barriers used to corral spills, weren’t deployed for several hours, Virginia regulators say.

Getting booms around the submerged oil tankers took even longer. Regulators worried that motorboats would reignite the highly flammable North Dakota oil that had already set the river on fire once that day.

Virginia got lucky. Just one tank car that fell into the river punctured.



Oil spills are never contained – at best, 10% of light crude oil (Alaska, Texas, Gulf of Mexico) is recovered Some light crude spills are partially burned off while others are chemically dispersed.

Remaining oil ends up on shorelines, wetlands, estuaries – forever (ie Exxon Valdez, Deep Water Horizon, etc) Fracked Bakken shale oil is extremely flammable and is left to burn itself out given intense heat and hazardous petrochemicals Heavy diluted bitumen from Alberta, Canada’s infamous tarsands is a thick, tar-like material that must be diluted with a kerosene-like material (condensate) and other chemicals in order for it to flow through aging, problematic, high-pressure pipelines.

Dilbit, as this sticky, corrosive, hazardous mixture is dubbed, is impossible to clean up following a spill – its odors are intolerable, it gets into everything and it sinks in water where it can never be recovered.

Many of the rail cars carrying the above hazardous products are recognized by industry and government as unsafe for transporting petroleum products. DOT-111 rail cars like those in the above photo are easily punctured during wrecks and derailments.

Upgrades to the DOT-111’s are also inadequate for transporting these hazardous products.

Jurisdictions along Pacific Northwest rail lines are under resourced to respond effectively to expected spills of this very dangerous material being transported in inadequate rail cars on tracks that were never intended for this number and length of trains caring this volume / weight of shifting fluid.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters But an environmental advocate there said the slow response was a missed opportunity that could’ve prevented the spill from spreading and threatening drinking water supplies downstream.

“It could not have hurt to have booms ready to go at some strategic locations,” said Pat Calvert with the James River Association. “They could’ve been more effective than they were.”

Federal laws preempt state authority to regulate railroad companies’ oil spill planning. But federal law doesn’t require them to plan for worst-case accidents. Railroads don’t have to share information with state officials who make sure Oregon is ready for an oil spill. Railroads have instead promised to volunteer information, then failed to do it.

“It’d be better if we had a legal way to tell them to do it, but we don’t,” said Don Pettit, an emergency response planner at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. “A lot of it ends up being voluntary. Often we’re told, ‘We’ll get that to you,’ or ‘We’ll check into it,’ but we don’t get it.”

BNSF Railway Co., a major Pacific Northwest oil train hauler, has reported the locations of some of its boom equipment to a regional database that state oil spill planners use to track caches. But the company hasn’t disclosed the sites of all its boom equipment.

When asked why its information was incomplete, a BNSF spokeswoman noted that the company’s participation in the database was voluntary.

A spokesman for Union Pacific, which also moves oil around Oregon, said his company would consider participating in the database, which it doesn’t today. The company has been slow to tell state spill planners where it keeps its booms.

Editorial Comment:





 

An unrealistic reliance and false sense of security are associated with oil recovery booms that are “managed” in unknown locations by diverse entities .

Fast, Pacific Northwest rivers such as the Columbia, Chehalis, Deschutes and others have large volumes of water flowing down them.

A major petroleum spill in these rivers would be carried downstream several miles in a heartbeat.

One in-river petrochemical spill will wipe out billions of dollars of unparalleled wild salmon and steelhead recovery effort!

WHO WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE?

Not big oil and Not railroads – guaranteed!

Communication has been so lacking that The Oregonian was able to relay new information from the railroad to state oil spill planners.

The Union Pacific spokesman, Aaron Hunt, told The Oregonian that the company bought 800 feet of floating boom for a Klamath Falls fire station, which fire officials confirmed. State spill planners didn’t know it was there until The Oregonian told them.

The Columbia River is better prepared than some Oregon waterways. Because barges have long moved petroleum products on the river, spill containment caches are kept in strategic places by nonprofit cooperatives.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Ships moving oil on waterways are more strictly regulated than railroads moving oil next to them.

State law requires ships moving through Oregon to have emergency equipment at the ready. Within two hours of an accident, containment booms have to be on scene.

But railroads companies are exempt. Their caches are sparse. And their response capabilities are unclear.

Union Pacific keeps 15,000 feet of boom in Portland. But its rail lines run from Portland to Idaho and south to California.

Hunt, the company spokesman, said in an accident, it could call on help from the Army Corps of Engineers, which stores boom equipment at its dams and reservoirs throughout the state.

But the Army Corps said it wouldn’t be much help. It couldn’t respond to an oil train accident unless it had been declared a federal emergency under the authority of Oregon’s governor. That would not happen quickly after a derailment.

“We have limited to no authority to respond off site,” said Scott Clemans, an Army Corps spokesman.

“Off our own project sites, our capability and authority are both very limited.”

A spokeswoman for Kitzhaber said the governor's office has asked railroads for more information about their response capabilities. And environmental advocates say coordination must improve.

Oil train terminals shouldn’t be able to expand or open until the region is ready for spills along railroads, said Brett VandenHuevel, director of Columbia Riverkeeper, a local environmental group.

“Oregon and the Pacific Northwest are being subjected to a grand experiment right now, moving explosive oil through communities and along our waterways with no preparation, no forethought, no planning,” VandenHuevel said. “It’s a huge problem.”

According to the Association of American Railroad (AAR), of the 228,000 DOT-111 (non-pressurized) tank cars, 92,000 are being used to move flammable liquids. (ed. doesn’t include 10’s of thousands in service in Canada.)

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Oil spill threatens SLC drinking water April 30, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters LAMB’S CANYON — A crash involving a pair of semis is threatening the drinking water for Salt Lake City.

Oil booms have been set up across a portion of Parley’s Creek to prevent crude oil that spilled in the wreck from reaching Mountain Dell Reservoir, a source of drinking water.

“We’ve had staff at the site since early in the incident, working with containing and working with some initial sampling,” said Gary Edwards, the director of the Salt Lake County Health Department.

Health officials said they did not believe Salt Lake City’s drinking water was contaminated.

More than 4,000 gallons of crude oil spilled in the crash early Wednesday on westbound I-80 near Lamb’s Canyon. Utah Highway Patrol troopers said a box truck rear-ended the tanker truck.

“It caused the trailer that was carrying crude oil to move into the right lane and it completely compromised the rear pup of the trailer,” said Sgt. Steven Manful. “We lost approximately 105 barrels of crude oil on the roadway this morning.”

Manful told FOX 13 it appeared speed was a factor, though the accident was under investigation.

The people in both trucks suffered minor injuries, troopers said.

Along the side of I-80, crude oil coated the road and went into a drainage culvert. Oil booms were set up on the creek to prevent it from further harming the watershed. Kevin Okelberry, an environmental scientist with the Salt Lake County Health Department, said they caught a lucky break with the cold.

“Thankfully, because it’s a heavy waxy type of crude, it froze in place and did not spread very far,” he told FOX 13.

Cleanup of the mess could take days. Testing continues in Parley’s Creek to ensure the drinking water is safe.

At a late afternoon news conference, Salt Lake City leaders noted that hundreds of tankers travel I-80 every day bringing crude oil to refineries.

Jeff Niermeyer, the director of public works for Salt Lake City, wondered if the refinery issue needed to be addressed.

“Now might be the right time to look at, ‘Is it the right choice for where Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County is, to maybe look at refining this elsewhere?’ There’s air quality issues that come with refining it here,” he said.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Two AGP grain cars tipped over during a train derailment early Tuesday morning, spilling out some of their cargo at the South Washington Street crossing just south of State Street on Tuesday afternoon

 Grain cars derail in Aberdeen Two AGP grain cars tipped over, the grain spilling out Tuesday morning after several grain cars went off the tracks at the South Washington Street crossing just south of State Street and near the Port of Grays Harbor in Aberdeen early Tuesday morning.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters More than five cars had been separated from a longer train in the industrial area near the banks of the Chehalis River, their wheels off the tracks and dug into the dirt beside the rails. Several of the adjoining cars tipped toward a toppled car, while another car rested on its belly on South Washington Street, its wheels off the tracks as well.

Crews were surveying the scene Tuesday morning.

Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad General Manager Larry Sorensen said the cause is being investigated. ” … Men and equipment are still en route,” he said Tuesday. “A lot depends on getting everything assembled … there doesn’t appear to be (much of) a loss of product and very little damage to the cars themselves.”

Asked about obvious comparisons to proposed and controversial shipment of crude-by-rail, Sorensen replied: “This was a grain car, you know. In regard to crude, I have no comment, it’s not even on the radar right now.”

Editorial Comment: This incident is further evidence that: 

Rail infrastructure in Washington state is unsafe for transportation of hazardous petrochemical cargo including light crude oil, heavy tar sands bitumen, diluted bitumen, Bakken shale oil and more.



Public health and safety and ecosystem security will be impacted by petrochemical spills in Washington state.



Effective petrochemical spill response is a pipedream.

He added: “Historically, rail transportation is very safe … we pride ourselves on maintaining a very safe railroad.”

Train speed is less than 10 mph in that area, he said. The company will review a computer record of train speed as part of the investigation. The grain “hopper” cars are part of a “relatively new fleet” with estimated ages between 10 and 15 years, he said.

The track should be cleared by Wednesday morning, Sorensen said. He did not yet have an estimate for the cost.

The single track is inspected once a week per Federal Railroad Administration guidelines, Sorensen wasn’t sure what day the last inspection took place.

Use of the single main track on the Harbor is very efficient and isn’t even close to maximum capacity in terms of use, he said. He would not put a percentage on how much capacity the railroad currently uses.

The railroad transports grain, automobiles and canola oil used for biodiesel, among other commodities and products, he said.

Read about a similar derailment in Aberdeen two weeks later HERE And another one nearby HERE Tracks closed during investigation HERE Saturated ties, inadequate maintenance probable - Sabotage / ecoterrorism suspected

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Oil train terminal near Clatskanie to require safer tank cars June 1 May 1, 2014 The owner of the oil train terminal near Clatskanie announced Wednesday that it would begin requiring safer tank cars to deliver oil to the facility starting June 1, a safety step lauded by Gov. John Kitzhaber.

The announcement from Massachusetts-based Global Partners came within minutes of the latest in a string of oil train accidents, a derailment in downtown Lynchburg, Virginia that spilled flaming oil into the James River and underscored the risks posed by the rapid rise in crude moving by rail.

Global’s terminal handled more than 319 million gallons of oil in 2013 and drove the 250 percent increase in crude moving by rail in Oregon last year.

Global said it voluntarily was requiring a stronger type of tank car known as the CPC-1232 to deliver oil to its facility on the Columbia River, the Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery. The CPC-1232 cars are built with safety features including puncture-resistant steel shields that aren’t found on older, outdated tank cars known as DOT-111s.

The National Transportation Safety Board first identified DOT-111s as a safety risk in 1991, saying their shells were prone to puncture in accidents. Though industry standards were voluntarily tightened in 2011, the majority of tank cars moving oil today don’t meet them. The NTSB has warned that safety risks exist as long as old rail cars are intermingled with the newer CPC-1232 model.

“Global is committed to safety, and as part of that commitment we have made the proactive decision to begin only accepting crude oil unit trains consisting entirely of CPC 1232-compliant cars,” said Eric Slifka, Global’s CEO. “This initiative pertains to all crude oil rail cars received at the terminal, regardless of whether they are operated by a third party or leased by Global.”

Kitzhaber praised Global’s move.

“I appreciate the commitment to safety Global Partners is showing to its neighbors in northwest Oregon,” the governor said. “Rail operators, shippers and facility owners have an obligation to take every measure possible to ensure hazardous materials they transport and receive are shipped as safely as possible.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Fracking Well Leak Spills 1,600 Gallons Of Oil Drilling Lubricant Into An Ohio Tributary May 9, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters About 1,600 gallons of oil-based lubricant leaked into an Ohio river tributary this week, after an equipment failure at an oil and gas well.

The rig site is located in southeastern Ohio near the town of Beverly, and is owned by PDC Energy Inc. One of the company’s contractors is handling the cleanup, under the supervision of Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency. A spokesperson for PDC told the Associated Press that workers at the site noticed a build up in high pressure in the well, but were unable to contain it thanks to malfunctioning equipment at the well head.

That released the oil based fluid, called “mud,” which is used to lubricate the equipment in the well bore during drilling. The mud reached a creek that serves as a tributary to the Muskingum River, and cleanup crews are using containment dams to prevent the fluid from spreading any further.

Both the sheriff and fire departments for Morgan County were called in following the leak, and PDC paid to relocate several nearby residents to ensure no one would be harmed if leaking natural gas led to an explosion. Officials said the spill was contained by Wednesday, though also added it could be harmful to marine life.

The well had been intended for hydraulic fracturing, but the franking process hadn’t yet begun when the leak occurred. PDC Energy has 15 active wells in Ohio and permits for 18 more, but this is the only reported spill the company has in the state. It did suffer a spill of franking fluid at a Colorado well in February of 2013.

Other areas of the country have not been so fortunate. Two oil field workers were killed and nine others injured in an explosion at a well in Texas last week. The oil and gas industry actually has a fatality rate that’s almost eight times the average rate for most industries. A total of 545 people were killed in oil and gas industry accidents between 2008 and 2012, and 18,000 suffered amputations, broken bones, burns, or other injuries.

Back in April, a BP-owned pipeline spewed a mist of crude oil and natural gas over 20 football-fieldsworth of Alaska; in March, an oil barge collision near Texas City spilled up to 168,000 gallons of oil; in February, a tugboat crashed into another oil barge, spilling about 31,500 gallons, and forcing 65 miles of the Mississippi River to shut down; back in Ohio, 20,000 gallons of oil spilled from a pipeline in March; and two separate train derailments, one in Pennsylvania and the other in Virginia, spilled 3,000 to 4,000 gallons and about 50,000 gallons of oil, respectively.

Overall, more than 120,353 barrels of hazardous liquids, including crude oil and other forms of petroleum, spilled in 2013 in 622 different incidents. That’s more than double the 45,934 barrels spilled in 570 incidents in 2012.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is in charge of handling and monitoring gas and oil drilling permits in the state, and will investigate this latest spill.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

The super ice-class (Arc6) double- hulled tanker Mikhail Ulyanov arrived last week at the Prirazlomnaye arctic production platform to take on a 70,000 ton load of crude oil. The order to load oil was given directly to Gazprom via Russian president Vladimir Putin.

 Unloading from Gazprom’s Prirazlomnoye April 22, 2014 This platform is located approximately 60 kilometers offshore in the Pechora Sea and was the scene of an ugly and highly public confrontation last year between Gazprom and Greenpeace activists.

Gazprom is steadfast in their claim that this platform is safe to operate in arctic conditions however.

The company notes: The produced oil is stored in the caisson with three-meter-high concrete walls covered with two-layer corrosion- and wear-proof clad steel plate. The caisson is able to store some 94 thousand tons of oil.

Its safety margin greatly exceeds the actual loads.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters In addition, a wet method of oil storage is used at the platform. The method eliminates the possibility of oxygen getting inside the tanks and thus prevents the creation of an explosive environment.

In order to pump the end products into oil vessels, special equipment was developed for direct oil loading. To avoid accidental oil spills, the loading block system goes off in seven seconds at most.

The platform is equipped with two special complexes of such a kind, placed diagonally on the opposite boards – southwestern and northeastern.

Unlike the conical-shaped drilling vessel Kulluk or large production units in the Gulf of Mexico, the Prirazlomnaye is gravity-based, meaning it is resting on the bottom of the ocean.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters The following image shows the Prirazlomnaye being towed out into the Pechora Sea in January 2011, via Gazprom:

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 U.S. Ill-Prepared for an Arctic Oil Spill, Report Says April 25, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The United States is ill prepared to tackle oil spills in the Arctic, whether from drilling or from cargo and cruise ships traveling through newly passable waterways once clogged with ice, the National Research Council reported Wednesday.

Extreme weather conditions and sparse infrastructure in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas — more than 1,000 miles from the nearest deep-water port — would complicate any broad emergency response.

Ice in those remote oceans can trap pockets of oil, locking it beyond the reach of conventional cleanup equipment and preventing it from naturally breaking down over time.

"The lack of infrastructure in the Arctic would be a significant liability in the event of a large oil spill," scientists said in a 198-page National Research Council report requested by the American Petroleum Institute, the Coast Guard, the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and five other entities. "It is unlikely that responders could quickly react to an oil spill unless there were improved port and air access, stronger supply chains and increased capacity to handle equipment, supplies and personnel."

The report offers more than a dozen recommendations for what regulators, the oil industry and other stakeholders need to do to boost their ability to tackle a crude oil or fuel spill at the top of the globe, as retreating sea ice spurs new energy development and ship traffic there.

A chief recommendation: More research across the board, from meteorological studies to investigations of how oil spill cleanup methods would work in the Arctic.

The National Research Council — an arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering — insisted the United States needs "a comprehensive, collaborative, longterm Arctic oil spill research and development program."

The council encouraged controlled releases of oil in Arctic waters — a practice generally barred under U.S. environmental laws — to evaluate response strategies. Although the federal government and oil industry are conducting lab studies that attempt to replicate Arctic conditions, the report suggests there is no substitute for the real thing and said the studies could be done without environmental harm.

Warmer waters Most information on responding to oil spills has been developed in temperate conditions, such as in the Gulf of Mexico, so it may not translate to the Arctic, where cold water and sea ice may limit the amount of oil that naturally disperses and evaporates.

Because no response methods are completely effective or risk-free, the industry and government need a broad "oil spill response toolbox," the report said. Pre-tested and pre-positioned equipment — along with plans for using it — would be critical to ensuring a swift response in an oil spill, the group said.

When Shell was drilling for oil in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort seas in 2012, it stashed containment booms and other equipment along Alaska's northern coast and had a fleet of spill response vessels floating nearby.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Shell since has suspended operations there following a series of marine mishaps before and after the drilling projects.

Cold-weather effects Arctic cleanup options include chemical dispersants that can break down oil, either applied at the surface or near a wellhead, but the researchers said more work is needed to understand their effectiveness and long-term effects in the Arctic.

While burning thick patches of floating oil is a viable spill countermeasure in the Arctic — potentially aided by ice that helps corral the crude — that approach fails when ice drifts apart and oil spreads too thin to ignite.

Using booms, vessels and skimmers to concentrate oil slicks also may be difficult in the region, where there are few disposal sites for the contaminated equipment, sparse port facilities for the vessels and limited airlift capabilities. The National Research Council says this kind of mechanical recovery is probably best for small spills in pack ice, but it would likely be inefficient for a large offshore spill in the U.S. Arctic.

Coast Guard presence The group also suggested the U.S. Coast Guard's relatively small presence in the U.S. Arctic is not sufficient, and that it needs icebreaking capability, more vessels for responding to emergency situations, and eventually aircraft support facilities that can work year-round.

The report cited other resources now lacking in the Arctic, including equipment to detect, monitor and model the flow of oil on and under ice, and real-time monitoring of vessel traffic in the U.S. Arctic.

A politically tricky recommendation is for the Coast Guard to expand an existing bilateral pact with Russia to allow joint Arctic spill exercises.

Chris Krenz, a Juneau, Alaska-based senior scientist with the conservation group Oceana, said the report offers "a sobering look at our lack of preparedness" and suggests that the U.S. should reconsider whether to allow offshore drilling in the region.

But oil industry representatives said the council rightly calls for more research and resources to combat spills there.

The American Petroleum Institute was "encouraged by the report's emphasis on the need for a full toolbox of spill response technologies," spokesman Carlton Carroll said.

The report was the product of a 14-member committee of the National Research Council, organized by the National Academy of Sciences, with representatives drawn from academia, the oil industry and Alaska.

Editorial Comment: This article rightly points out that: 

As in all other regions around planet earth, emergency response to oil spills in the Arctic is woefully ineffective (ie. impossible)



Spending additional taxpayer money to upgrade spill response infrastructure in support of multi-billion dollar private corporations selling oil to foreign markets while destroying unique ecosystems is madness



Most effectiveness oil spill response – leave the oil in the ground

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Freighter runs aground – breaks up Watch HERE

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Surging oil traffic puts region at risk The amount of oil leaving Prince William Sound is a quarter of what it was when the Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude in Alaska. But as the energy industry transforms the Pacific Northwest into a fossil-fuel gateway, tanker traffic could explode.

Efforts to transform the Northwest into a fossil-fuel hub for North Dakota’s crude, Alberta’s oil sands and coal from the Rocky Mountains mean the risks of major spills and explosions in and around Washington state are rising and poised to skyrocket.

Millions of gallons of oil are suddenly transiting our region by train. Barges now haul petroleum across the treacherous mouth of the Columbia River and on to Puget Sound. Oil-tanker traffic through tricky channels north of Puget Sound may well increase dramatically in coming years.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “People who are paying attention are rightfully nervous about all of this,” said Martha Kongsgaard, chairwoman of the leadership council for the Puget Sound Partnership, the state agency leading cleanup of the Sound. “It’s just scarier than heck. It makes you want to put your hands over your ears.”

The scale and pace of the change can be hard to comprehend.

In the 25 years since the Exxon Valdez dumped 11 million gallons of Alaskan crude, the risk of major oil spills in Prince William Sound has plummeted. Oil tankers are safer and now escorted by tugboats. Oil-laden vessels are closely tracked when traveling through bays near reefs and rocks.

And the amount of petroleum hauled south from the Valdez oil port in Alaska is a mere fraction of what it once was.

But while a smaller number of tankers offload crude here from Alaska, the odds of a serious accident in this region just keep going up.

Consider: • Companies are using new routes to bring in explosive and harder-to-clean-up petroleum by rail — with little of the advanced spill-prevention planning we’ve used for years to protect us from oil in tankers, and little clarity about what precisely is being transported or when.

• A proposed pipeline expansion in Vancouver, B.C., would bring nearly seven times more oil tankers through a narrow strait west of San Juan Island, just as new studies suggest Canada is less prepared for spills than Washington.

• Even plans to export coal through proposed Northwest ports contribute to oil-spill risks, new research suggests. Proposed coal terminals would dramatically increase ship traffic in northern Puget Sound, boosting the odds that oil tankers and barges could collide with other vessels.

“These are really significant changes,” said Dale Jensen, with the state Department of Ecology’s spills program. “It requires a huge shift in our thinking.”

Certainly Washington has a strong oil-spill record; even critics say the state is among the country’s most prepared for a major accident. Vessel-traffic monitoring and ship navigation have improved here, too, and tankers and most oil barges plying state waters now have protective double hulls.

But if several proposed export and pipeline-expansion projects are approved, so much more ship traffic and fuel would be moving about that the odds of a major spill would be substantially higher than they are today, according to a new study.

The odds of a very big spill in Haro Strait — an area heavily used by killer whales hunting for food — would rise even more dramatically.

“Not since the Alaska pipeline first came online in the 1970s has there been a greater increase in the risk of an oil spill in our waters,” said activist Fred Felleman, with Friends of the Earth, who has tracked tanker safety since before the Exxon Valdez spill.

25 years later When Exxon’s oil tanker veered off course and hit Bligh Reef 25 years ago last month, it carried 53 million gallons from Alaska’s North Slope.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters With no extra hull to contain or slow the spread of oil, black goo gushed into the sea, smothering billions of salmon and herring eggs. It coated and killed a quarter-million seabirds, several thousand otters, hundreds of harbor seals and bald eagles and 22 or more killer whales. It matted 1,300 miles of shoreline.

In the decades since, risks of spills near Valdez declined as the state stepped up vigilance and crude sent through the Trans Alaska Pipeline dropped from 2 million barrels a day to just above 500,000.

“There used to be three or four tankers in Valdez a day,” said Steve Rothchild, spokesman for the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council. “Now we get maybe 20 a month.”

Washington state, too, made improvements, and the number of those tankers calling on Puget Sound’s five refineries dropped from 285 in 1992 (the earliest records readily available) to 123 in 2013.

But with planned expansion in production from Canada’s massive oil sands, and the proposed 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline through the American Midwest still in limbo, energy giant Kinder Morgan in December sought permission to expand its pipeline from Alberta to Vancouver.

Editorial Comment:

 This increase in fossil fuel tankers does not reflect the hundreds of dilbit, condensate and LNG tankers proposed for new BC terminals.

 These

additional tankers will utilize the Strait of Juan de Fuca when foul weather or other variables force route changes.

 Dilbit

(diluted heavy bitumen), a highly toxic, hazardous material sinks in water – it is impossible to recover. – Light crude oil from the Exxon Valdez spill still covers many beaches 25 years and billions of dollars later.

 The

close proximity of Puget Sound to these shipping routes puts Puget Sound and Hood Canal ecosystems in harm’s way when expected tanker spills occur.

 SONAR utilized on these tankers and their support vessels will directly impact marine mammals’ ability to navigate, communicate and hunt.

That would increase (triple) the pipeline’s capacity by a third, to 890,000 barrels a day. In turn, that would increase oil-tanker traffic from its pipeline in Burnaby, Canada, and out the Strait of Juan de Fuca from about 60 tanker trips a year to more than 400, essentially doubling the total tanker traffic through the Strait.

The presence of that much more oil puts the Strait at a “very high” risk of spills, according to one study by Canadian authorities. Another showed that in six of seven simulated spill-response drills by B.C. officials, more than half the oil during a major spill would have remained in the water five days after a hypothetical accident.

“We haven’t felt that in the past the standards and capability across the border were as strong as they are on the U.S. side,” said Jensen, with the Department of Ecology.

In addition, oil-sands petroleum has in previous accidents proved more difficult to clean up than North Slope crude. A former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) chemist has argued that oil from Alberta could sink if left on the surface too long, making cleanup virtually impossible.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “We don’t really know how to clean a spill of that stuff up,” said Kongsgaard, of the Puget Sound Partnership. “You’re not going to hear from the cleanup people that we really understand how it behaves at all.”

Frank Holmes, with the Western States Petroleum Association, acknowledged that more traffic could add more risk. But he said the companies, the state and federal agencies on both sides of the border are coordinating right now to make sure spill-responders would be thoroughly prepared before any pipeline expansion is completed.

He also pointed out that Canadian bitumen, some of which is piped currently to Puget Sound refineries, is often mixed with other petroleum products here, making it less likely to sink.

And Kinder Morgan has recommended “additional risk-reducing measures in its facilities application, including increasing the use of escort tugs to cover the entire tanker route and the implementation of moving exclusion zones to safeguard tankers from other traffic,” Bikramjit Kanjilal, who oversees the marine development side of the company’s expansion proposal, said in a statement.

But the fact that Haro Strait and Boundary Pass just to the northeast are the most likely place for any serious accident poses a special kind of concern for many officials.

The region’s endangered killer whales concentrate in those areas, and “We’ve seen that they don’t move around to avoid spilled oil,” said Brad Hanson, a marine-mammal expert with NOAA. Oil trains on move Meanwhile, a dramatic increase in shipping by rail is boosting spill risks — and presenting more safety hazards as well.

As new technology made it easier to tap North Dakota’s buried light-shale oil, energy companies eager to reach markets began loading it on trains. About 17 million gallons of this petroleum already works its way by rail to refineries in Anacortes, Ferndale in Whatcom County, and Clatskanie, Ore., near the mouth of the Columbia. That number is expected to more than triple by the end of 2014 — and that doesn’t take into account projects yet to be approved.

The city of Hoquiam and the Department of Ecology approved two more oil-train projects in Grays Harbor County. While the Shoreline Hearings Board revoked both approvals last fall, arguing the state’s review was too insubstantial, more rigorous reviews are now in the works and a third company there also is expected to seek oil-train permits.

Meanwhile, the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council is considering another proposal along the Columbia in Vancouver, Wash., for a 360,000-barrel-per-day crude-by-rail project, and at least one more oil-train facility is proposed to deliver to a Puget Sound refinery.

“It’s a big-deal change,” said Guy Caruso, an energy adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., and a former head of the federal Energy Information Agency. “When I left government in 2008, North Dakota was producing 150,000 barrels a day. Now it’s almost 1 million.”

In that time, the amount of oil moved by rail nationwide has jumped from less than 10,000 train carloads a year in 2008 to a projected 400,000 carloads last year.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters And this lighter fuel is so much more combustible than others that the growth has sparked significant accidents and close calls.

Last summer, an unattended oil train in Quebec rolled free and derailed, sparking fires that killed 47 people. Another oil train spilled 21 carloads of oil in fragile wetlands in Alabama, sparking fires.

Another oil train exploded in North Dakota in December.

“I think we’re taking bombs through our cities,” Ben Stuckert, the Spokane City Council president, told another legislative panel in Olympia after expressing his worry about elevated tracks bringing dangerous oil trains through his community.

Similar trains already transit populated areas of Seattle susceptible to landslides and earthquakes.

Tesoro, which has trains coming to its Anacortes refineries and wants to build the proposed facility in Vancouver, said last month that it would replace its outdated oil cars with newer, safer models this year.

Still, accidents just since January have prompted congressional hearings, emergency-safety orders from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, and a call by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for tougher standards and an overhaul of rules governing oiltrain design.

For the moment, officials concede the change has come so fast that they and the industry remain ill-equipped to deal with some types of oil-train-related accidents or spills.

“The safety regime did not prepare in advance, nor have they responded quickly enough to address the risks,” NTSB chair Deborah Hersman told a U.S. Senate panel last week.

The state often has not evaluated spill risks where oil trains are traveling. While Puget Sound has been a focus for decades, the state has not conducted years of spill drills in areas around Grays Harbor and near the churning waters of the Columbia River’s mouth, where oil barges only recently started ferrying oil.

“We’re looking at changing risks to the environment and to communities and first-responders,” said David Byers, with Ecology, told legislators last fall.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx told members of Congress that the oil industry has been slow to cooperate with his agency’s attempts to better understand how explosive the fuel is. And he and Hersman agreed the rail industry isn’t required to have nearly the rigorous spill training and spill-response preparedness expected of oil tankers and pipelines.

“It makes absolutely no sense that we don’t have a similar expectation when we have, in essence, a moving pipeline,” Hersman said.

Partisan divide Certainly, many applaud the arrival of these new North American oil resources.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “This is a really good thing — it’s true energy independence,” said state Sen. Doug Ericksen, RFerndale, who authored one of several failed state legislative bills this year to tackle oil-spill issues.

“We’re creating some unique safety challenges with the new modes of transportation, but I think it’s (the overall change in the energy picture) great.”

Oil-industry officials say government and industry are moving to adjust to the challenges.

“The re-emphasis on more crude oil has definitely raised some concerns, and we need to take care of those,” said Holmes, with the Western States Petroleum group. “But I think there’s a lot of effort, not only on our part but across the nation, to address those concerns.”

Others object to the transition, in part because this fossil-fuel explosion could help boost climatechanging carbon-dioxide emissions.

“It’s a legitimate concern,” said Caruso, the energy adviser. “These developments — the resurgence of U.S. and Canadian oil and gas — clearly are pushing the fossil-fuel era out decades longer.

There’s no question.”

Environmental activists in the U.S. have joined with tribal leaders and Canadian First Nation’s groups to try and halt the spread of fossil-fuel projects in the Northwest, though some analysts think the tide is too strong to be stopped.

Few dispute that the change comes with risks. The Port of Portland this month announced it would not consider any oil-by-rail proposals until more is known about spill and accident safety. The Seattle City Council asked for a moratorium on new oil-by-rail projects and urged rail companies to restrict oil-train traffic in highly populated areas.

And lawmakers of both parties this year attempted to pass competing bills giving the state a better handle on marine and rail oil-spill risks.

The efforts collapsed over partisan differences about precisely how much information energy companies should have to disclose about operations.

For now, a task force of state and federal emergency managers is trying to evaluate and prepare for the risks.

“We’ve got to get a handle on this,” Kongsgaard said. “What we need to ask is, ‘What’s good for Washington?’ ”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 $3 million verdict for ‘first fracking trial’ April 23, 2014 A Texas family has won a $2.925 million judgment against an energy corporation over damage to health and property caused by fracking operations.

Bob and Lisa Parr sued Aruba Petroleum in 2011 for damages to their 40-acre ranch and for a host of health problems they and their daughter Emma have suffered from. Aruba Petroleum operate 22 wells within two miles of the Parr’s property.

“They’re vindicated,” attorney David Matthews said in a blog post on his firm’s site.

“I’m really proud of the family that went through what they went through and said, ‘I’m not going to take it anymore.’

It takes guts to say, ‘I’m going to stand here and protect my family from an invasion of our right to enjoy our property.’ It’s not easy to go through a lawsuit and have your personal life uncovered and exposed to the extent this family went through.”

The messy business of fracking Attorneys for the Parrs said this suit was the first fracking trial in the United States. Hydraulic fracking is a process used to extract natural gas from underground. It pumps millions of gallons of water and toxic chemicals into well drilled deep into shale deposits and pushes natural gas out through cracks that form. At least 15 million people lived within a mile of a well drilled since 2000.

During the trial, Robert Parr testified that his family could no longer drink the water from their well and that his daughter sometimes woke up covered in blood thanks to debilitating nose bleeds.

While this is not the first lawsuit against an energy company for damages related to fracking, it is common for plaintiffs to settle. Those settlements sometimes include strict gag orders, such as one 2013 settlement that barred two young children from talking about fracking for their entire lives.

Aruba Petroleum plans to appeal the jury’s decision. At the trial, the company’s lawyers argued that since there are dozens of other drilling operations in the area, it was not possible to prove that it was its wells that caused harm to the Parr family. Most of the other companies sued by the Parrs have settled.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Alberta Moves to Strike Down Ernst's Fracking Lawsuit Landmark case could spark a flood of litigation against the province, lawyer argues.

April 18, 2014 An Alberta government lawyer argued in court this week that Jessica Ernst's lawsuit on hydraulic fracturing and groundwater contamination should be struck down on the grounds that it would open a floodgate of litigation against the province.

"There could be millions or billions of dollars worth of damages," argued Crown counsel Neil Boyle.

Seven years ago, oil patch consultant Ernst sued Alberta Environment, the Energy Resources Conservation Board and Encana, one of Canada's largest shale gas drillers, over the contamination of her well water and the failure of government authorities to properly investigate the contamination.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters The $33-million lawsuit alleges that Encana was negligent in the fracking of shallow coal seams; that the ERCB breached Ernst's freedoms under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that Alberta Environment performed a problem-plagued investigation in bad faith.

The case, which effectively puts the performance of the province's oil and gas regulators on trial, has drawn international attention.

The Alberta government made the application to strike the entire claim after Chief Justice Neil Wittman ruled last fall that that lawsuit against Encana and Alberta Environment could proceed, but that the ERCB (now Alberta Energy Regulator) was exempt from civil action due to an immunity clause.

In Jan. 2013, Alberta Environment tried unsuccessfully to delete the word "contamination" as well as several clauses from the lawsuit that specifically mentioned other polluted water wells in central Alberta.

Courtroom drama Justice Wittman had trouble following the coherence of the government argument to strike the claim in the crowded Drumheller courtroom.

He noted that Boyle's line of reasoning, which argued that the Crown owed no private duty of care to landowners, suggested that Alberta Environment would have to be negligent all the time before it could ever be found liable.

Boyle also argued that immunity clauses in the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and the Water Act shielded the province from any civil action. But questions from Wittman made it clear that these immunity clauses were not strong and only included actions taken "in good faith."

Justice Wittman also questioned Ernst's lawyer Murray Klippenstein about the government's filing of a report by the Alberta Research Council that dismissed Ernst's water well case as insignificant. The government claimed the report was an independent review that proved there was no merit in the Ernst case.

Klippenstein argued that such a filing of evidence was inappropriate at this time. He also submitted a collection of Alberta Environment emails obtained through freedom of information legislation that he argued show the Alberta Research Council report was edited by Alberta Environment and not an independent review.

Justice Wittman allowed the submissions in the event of an appeal.

Move to strike down suit 'an abuse of process': lawyer Lawyers for Ernst argued that her case is about alleged "bad faith" or reckless actions by the government that resulted in methane and hydrocarbon contamination of her water well.

A legal brief prepared by Klippenstein and Cory Wanless for the court alleges that Alberta Environment's investigation "was ad hoc, irrational and beset by serious errors."

The brief details a list of alleged incompetencies: "There was no sampling protocol. Samples were contaminated. Alberta Environment lost or destroyed data its investigators had collected.

Investigators entirely failed to investigate specifically identified EnCana gas wells that had been fracked either directly into or near the Rosebud Aquifer.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters Investigators failed to obtain from EnCana a list of chemicals used in its fraccing operations, and correspondingly failed to test the water for possible 'red flag' contaminants that would help identify the source of the water contamination."

Klippenstein, a Toronto lawyer who spearheaded the 12-year-long Ipperwash lawsuit in Ontario (resulting in a public inquiry), argued that Alberta Environment's application to strike the entire lawsuit constituted "an abuse of process" designed to cause unnecessary delays and to exhaust the resources of Ernst. "This behaviour should not be condoned and should have cost consequences," he said.

Cory Wanless, also part of the Ernst team, argued that governments can and do owe private duties of care to individuals, as well as wider public obligations.

Police, for example, owe a private duty of care to an individual while investigating a crime. So, too, do provincial inspectors checking possible contaminants in water wells drawing from aquifers that sustain a third of Alberta's population, he argued.

Ernst's complaint refers to alleged faulty conduct of investigators while carrying out specific duties and cannot "extend to a situation where Alberta Environment is unable to foresee or control its potential liability," he said.

In its brief to the court, the Alberta government explained that the spirit of provincial environmental legislation did not protect landowners from harm or injury and that all litigation should be directed against companies.

"The overall tenor of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act does not create a responsibility owed by the Province to those who suffer the consequences of escape [of air or water pollution], but rather to try and ascertain who caused escape, and where it can be shown that an entity or person caused escape, to ensure that the person or entity responsible for the cause of the escape remediates the effects of that escape."

Judge Wittman told lawyers that he thought the case against Encana should now proceed with the production of documents.

He said he expects to rule on the government's application to strike the claim after Ernst's Court of Appeal hearing on May 8, where her lawyers will contest the striking of the ERCB (now the Alberta Energy Regulator) from the case.

'Ernst refuses to be bought out': supporter In recent years the lawsuit, largely ignored by the traditional media, has made Ernst well known throughout North American, Ireland and the United Kingdom. At a recent event in Newfoundland, more than 400 citizens came out to hear the oil patch consultant talk about the social and environmental implications of hydraulic fracturing.

"Jessica Ernst refuses to be bought out," said Glenn Norman, a farmer from Bowden, Alberta who drove to the court to show his support. "She has been wronged and she wants rightful justice. That's why her case has caught so much public attention."

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters Dough Hart, a landowner from Ponoka, added that "rural Albertans are tired of being colonized by industry and government who take and take and take." Another citizen outside of the courthouse explained that "industry just pissed in the wrong bowl of cornflakes."

Hydraulic fracturing, a brute force technology that consumes large amounts of freshwater and energy, has been the subject of extensive litigation in Pennsylvania, Texas and Colorado.

A rapid increase in the number of multi-stage high volume fracks in Alberta for tight oil has sparked protests, lawsuits and concerns throughout the province, including the City of Lethbridge, where industry wants to frack under a housing subdivision and a school.

Ernst's case goes to court again on May 8, where the Court of Appeal will hear arguments that the ERCB owes a duty of care to landowners and that its immunity clause does not shield the regulator from Charter of Freedom claims.

The minister of justice and solicitor general of Alberta have served notice to intervene in the appeal against the ERCB.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Coal

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Report: One fifth of China's soil contaminated April 18, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Almost a fifth of China's soil is contaminated, an official study released by the government has shown.

Conducted between 2005-2013, it found that 16.1% of China's soil and 19.4% of its arable land showed contamination.

The report, by the Environmental Protection Ministry, named cadmium, nickel and arsenic as top pollutants.

Editorial Comment:





Government-enabled corporations are raping and pillaging North America’s natural resources at an ever increasing rate in order to export our chemical-laden fossil fuels to Asian markets.

The emissions from burning these fuels will be carried east and deposited in the Pacific Ocean and on North American land and water bodies.

There is growing concern, both from the government and the public, that China's rapid industrialisation is causing irreparable damage to its environment.

The study took samples across an area of 6.3 million square kilometres, two-thirds of China's land area.

"The survey showed that it is hard to be optimistic about the state of soil nationwide," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

"Due to long periods of extensive industrial development and high pollutant emissions, some regions have suffered deteriorating land quality and serious soil pollution."

Because of the "grim situation", the state would implement measures including a "soil pollution plan" and better legislation.

Levels of pollution ranged from slight to severe.

About 82.8% of the polluted land was contaminated by inorganic materials, with levels noticeably higher than the previous survey between 1986 and 1990, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying.

"Pollution is severe in three major industrial zones, the Yangtze River Delta in east China, the Pearl River Delta in south China and the northeast corner that used to be a heavy industrial hub," the agency said.

The report had previously been classified as a state secret because of its sensitivity.

There is growing fear in China over the effect that modernisation has had on the country's air, water and soil.

The central government has promised to make tackling the issue a top priority - but vested interests and lax enforcement of regulations at local level make this challenging.

The public, meanwhile, have become increasingly vocal - both on the issue of smog and, in several cases, by taking to the streets to protest against the proposed construction of chemical plants in their cities.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 The fuel of the future, unfortunately A cheap, ubiquitous and flexible fuel, with just one problem April 15, 2014 WHAT more could one want? It is cheap and simple to extract, ship and burn. It is abundant: proven reserves amount to 109 years of current consumption, reckons BP, a British energy giant. They are mostly in politically stable places. There is a wide choice of dependable sellers, such as BHP Billiton (Anglo-Australian), Glencore (Anglo-Swiss), Peabody Energy and Arch Coal (both American).

Other fuels are beset by state interference and cartels, but in this industry consumers—in heating, power generation and metallurgy—are firmly in charge, keeping prices low. Just as this wonder-fuel once powered the industrial revolution, it now offers the best chance for poor countries wanting to get rich.

Such arguments are the basis of a new PR campaign launched by Peabody, the world’s largest private coal company (which unlike some rivals is profitable, thanks to its low-cost Australian mines).

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters And coal would indeed be a boon, were it not for one small problem: it is devastatingly dirty. Mining, transport, storage and burning are fraught with mess, as well as danger. Deep mines put workers in intolerably filthy and dangerous conditions. But opencast mining, now the source of much of the world’s coal, rips away topsoil and gobbles water. Transporting coal brings a host of environmental problems.

The increased emissions of carbon dioxide from soaring coal consumption threaten to fry the planet, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reminded everyone in a new report this week (see article). The CO2makes the oceans acid; burning coal also produces sulphur dioxide, which makes buildings crumble and lungs sting, and other toxic chemicals. By some counts, coal-fired power stations emit more radioactivity than nuclear ones. They release tiny, lethal particulates. Per unit generated, coal-fired stations cause far more deaths than nuclear ones, and more even than oilfired ones.

But poverty kills people too, and slow growth can cost politicians their jobs. Two decades of environmental worries are proving only a marginal constraint on the global coal industry. Some are trying to get out: in America Consol Energy is selling five mines in West Virginia to concentrate on shale gas. Big coal-burners such as American Electric Power and Duke Energy are shutting coalfired plants. Yet despite America’s shale-gas boom, the federal Energy Information Administration reckons that by 2040 the country will still be generating 32% of its electricity from coal (compared with nearly 42% now).* The International Energy Agency has even predicted that, barring policy changes, coal may rival oil in importance by 2017. As countries get richer they tend to look for alternatives—China is scrambling to curb its rising consumption. But others, such as India and Africa, are set to take up the slack (see chart).

America’s gas boom has prompted its coal miners to seek new export markets, sending prices plunging on world markets. So long as consumers do not pay for coal’s horrible side-effects, that makes it irresistibly cheap. In Germany power from coal now costs half the price of watts from a gasfired power station. It is a paradox that coal is booming in a country that in other respects is the greenest in Europe. Its production of power from cheap, dirty brown coal (lignite) is now at 162 billion kilowatt hours, the highest since the days of the decrepit East Germany.

Japan, too, is turning to coal in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. On April 11th the government approved a new energy plan entrenching its role as a long-term electricity source.

International coal companies face two worries. One is that governments may eventually impose punitive levies, tariffs and restrictions on their mucky product. The other is the global glut. Prices for thermal coal (the kind used for power and heating) are at $80-85 a tonne, which barely covers the cost of capital. Some Australian producers are even mining at a loss, having signed freight contracts with railways and ports that make them pay for capacity whether they use it or not.

One answer to that is cost-cutting and efficiency, much stressed by companies such as BHP Billiton.

Unlike oil and gas, coal is geologically simple and does not require a costly array of drills, platforms and pipes. If the price is too low, companies can decide to stop production and await better times.

But thriftiness with capital has its limits: the cost of mining is going up, as the easiest coal seams are worked out.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Some companies have tried to switch efforts to “met” (metallurgical) coal, which fuels smelters. This was thought to be scarcer and more profitable. But that theory has suffered. Supplies of met coal have proved more abundant than expected.

Perhaps the biggest hope for all involved in the coal industry is technology. Mining and transporting coal will always be messy, but this could be overlooked were it burned cheaply and cleanly.

Promising technologies abound: pulverizing coal, extracting gas from it, scrubbing emissions and capturing the CO2. But none of these seems scalable in the way needed to dent the colossal damage done by coal. And all require large subsidies—from consumers, shareholders or taxpayers.

A $5.2 billion taxpayer-supported clean-coal plant in Mississippi incorporates all the latest technology. But at $6,800 per kilowatt, it will be the costliest power plant yet built (a gas-fired power station in America costs $1,000 per kW). At those prices, coal is going to stay dirty.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Study: Mercury in Mount Rainier National Park Fish May 2, 2014 Scientists recently discovered that mercury pollution has spread much further than previously thought.

A four-year study sampled nearly 1,500 fish of 16 different varieties, mainly from 86 typically highaltitude lakes and rivers in 21 different national parks in the Western United States and Alaska.

Mercury was found in all of them.

“This mean that the national parks, these protected places, are just as vulnerable as other places,” said Colleen Flanagan, a National Park Service ecologist. “While we can protect them within their boundaries, we can’t put them in a dome to protect them from the atmosphere.”

According to Flanagan, the mercury found in the national parks was originally burned into the sky via polluters, such as coal-fired power plants in the Pacific Northwest and as far away as China.

It is dropped into the parks by rain or snow. The study, however, didn’t pinpoint specific pollution sources, nor did it suggest any cleanup methods.

“It’s not practical for us to consider methods to remove mercury from parks,” Flanagan said. “But we can continue to work with other agencies to support regulating mercury pollution from point sources like power plants.”

Mount Rainier was one of the most heavily sampled parks in the study. It also showed some of highest variations in mercury contamination of any of the parks studied by the United States Geological Survey and the National Park Service. That suggested to the researchers that hyperlocal factors, such as precipitation patterns, play an important role in figuring how mercury is going to affect the park the in the future.

Editorial Comment: North Cascade National Park and Olympic Mount Rainier National Park has the highest and National Park showed mercury contamination most varied mercury contamination due to its: as well, but not as high or varied as Mount Rainier.  downwind proximity to TransAlta’s coalDave McBride, of the Washington Department fired Chehalis steam plant of Health, said the state is concerned by the  14,000+ feet elevation (significant findings, but not to a degree that it will put out precipitation every month) any new advisories against fishing waterways fed by streams and snowpack in the park.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “I wouldn’t hesitate on fishing or letting my kids fish in Mount Rainier,” McBride said.

Fish from every park contained mercury, but only about 4 percent of sampled fish contained enough of it to be toxic to humans.

The distribution of size and species varied greatly among the parks and lakes, but not every kind of fish sampled is considered a game fish.

Mercury is naturally occurring and one of the most common contaminants in the world. It’s usually found in predatory fish that are high on the food chain, such as tuna or bass.

In high concentrations it can damage kidneys, hearts, lungs and brains.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 BC APPROVES 20 FOLD INCREASE OF COAL EXPORTS THROUGH TEXADA WITHOUT PUBLIC NOTICE Coal contamination on beach confirmed by citizen lab test, suggests terminal violating existing export permit April 17, 2014 Vancouver — An email sent April 10th by the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) to a concerned citizen revealed that the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) quietly approved up to a 20 fold expansion in coal exports from Texada Island one month earlier.

Editorial Comment: This is in addition to the proposed increase in shipping of highly toxic material including diluted bitumen, liquefied natural gas and condensate along British Columbia’s sensitive coast.

An international marine nightmare in the making

The Lafarge Canada facility on Texada currently handles up to 400,000 tonnes of coal each year from Quinsam Mine on Vancouver Island, but the permit amendment now means that it could handle up to 8 million tonnes of US thermal coal each year, delivered by barge from Fraser Surrey Docks, if the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority approves that company’s proposal to build a coal terminal. A decision by the Port is expected in June.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Long delayed public notice of a contentious decision The April 10 email, sent by the EAO to a BC resident who had expressed opposition to coal export expansion, states

“On March 12, 2014, the Ministry of Energy and Mines issued a Mines Act amendment with conditions to Texada Quarrying Ltd [Lafarge]. I suggest that you follow up directly with the Ministry of Energy and Mines if you have any questions regarding the amendment.”

Follow up with MEM staff on April 10th 2014 confirmed that the permit had been issued a month earlier, but staff would not release the permit until First Nations and Regional Districts were notified — which still had not happened as of this week. The Sechelt First Nation, Sunshine Coast Regional District and the Islands Trust, and the MLA for Texada Island, Nicholas Simons, were all notified of the permit approval by BC residents.

Chief Calvin Craigan of the shíshálh (Sechelt) Nation issued the following statement on learning of the decision:

“The provincial government is making it clear that they intend to try to push their agenda through at all costs. They are amending laws, ignoring coastal communities, ignoring First Nations, and ignoring the impacts of this project on resources in our traditional territory. This project is not in the best interests of any coastal community. The Sechelt First Nation, local governments and coastal residents will stand together to stop this project.

We have no choice.”

Dozens of documented communications took place between MLA’s, ministers and government staff, and BC residents and representatives of NGO’s working on the coal export issue in the period since March 12 2014. As recently as April 11th a constituent spoke with her MLA, Environment Minister Mary Polak, by telephone about the issue. At no point — outside of the April 10th email — did any government representative, including the Minister, indicate that the Texada Island coal export permit had already been issued.

“Was it only an inadvertent slip that the EAO email mentioned the permit had been issued? Was government intentionally trying to keeping this quiet, or had staff simply not bothered to inform the public, our Ministers and MLA’s that the permit had been issued?” asks Donald Gordon, spokesperson for Coal Dust Free Salish Sea and Voters Taking Action on Climate Change director.

“Either way, it’s outrageous that First Nations, Regional Districts and residents were not promptly notified of a government decision on a highly contentious issue. Is it likely that Lafarge has been kept in the dark about this approval for the past four weeks?”

Residents and landowners from Lasqueti and Texada Islands repeatedly asked to review a revised storm water management plan that government requested from Lafarge Canada prior to the permitting decision. However, MEM failed to respond to residents’ queries and issued the permit without providing the revised plan for their review and comment.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Citizens from the surrounding area are now reviewing all their options for challenging the decision.

Local residents and land owners have made 4 visits to the Texada Island coal handling facility since summer 2013, each time documenting coal on the beach that is presumably being lost into the water during coal handling.

The existing Lafarge permit explicitly prohibits release of coal into the “water or foreshore” at the coal loading facility.

MEM and the Ministry of Environment (MOE) were notified twice in 2013 that coal was found on the beach. MEM responded by sending a technician to the site on February 17 2014, and reported that no coal contamination was present in the area. However, at their own expense, residents and land owners geo-referenced, photographed and collected coal samples for testing by an independent lab.

Lab results show a chemical signature consistent with coal. In addition, the samples showed extremely high levels of arsenic, suggesting Quinsam coal mine on Vancouver Island as the source of the coal. Earlier studies have indicated elevated levels of arsenic in coal mined at Quinsam.

Environmental specialist Dr André Sobolewski reviewed the lab results and found the elevated level of arsenic in the samples troubling, given its potential to leach into the environment and accumulate in shellfish harvested by local First Nations. He urges MOE to conduct immediate follow up studies to determine if arsenic contaminates local shellfish.

“We have clear evidence that Lafarge is already allowing coal to escape from its current small stockpiles into the surrounding beaches and foreshore. We’ve brought that evidence to the Ministry of Mines, but they have dismissed it and are doing nothing to address what appears to be a significant breach of Lafarge’s existing permit. We’ve had to collect donations to have coal samples tested in the lab because government is not doing its job.” said Donald Gordon. “Why should we expect that Lafarge and the Ministry of Mines will do a better job when they are handling 8 million tonnes of coal a year?”

Is it legal to authorize an 8 million tonne coal port through a Mines Act Quarry Permit?

Concerned residents also question why the province proposes to regulate an 8 million tonne/year coal port by amending a permit issued to Lafarge for operation of their limestone quarry on the island.

Bulk coal shipping facilities fall under the Environmental Management Act, and given the existing pollution concerns with the Lafarge site citizens think an environmental permit, not a mines permit, should be required.

However so far MOE is sitting on the sidelines and letting MEM pretend that a massive coal export operation is really a mining operation that falls under the Mines Act. Lawyers are currently reviewing the legality of this scheme.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

The Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission says the white dots in the water are tribal fishing buoys and the wooden stake marks the beginning of the proposed Morrow Pacific coal export project site at the Port of Morrow in Boardman.

 Coal

Export Developer Challenges Tribal Claims To Fishing Sites On The Columbia May 2, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The Confederated Tribes of The Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation have submitted letters and affidavits to the Oregon Department of State Lands indicating they have tribal fishing sites in the area where Morrow Pacific has proposed to build a dock in Boardman, Oregon for coal barges.

The Morrow Pacific project would transport around 9 million tons of coal per year from Wyoming and Montana to Asia. The coal would be delivered by train to the dock site in Boardman, where it would be transferred to barges on the Columbia River. The barges would carry the coal to another dock site downstream near Clatskanie, Oregon where the coal would be transferred onto ocean-going ships.

Morrow Pacific needs a permit from the DSL to build a dock at the Port of Morrow in Boardman. DSL rules say the state can issue the permit as long as the action would not “unreasonably interfere” with preservation of water for navigation, fishing and public recreation.

The company submitted a letter to the state Thursday arguing that its dock will not “unreasonably interfere” with fishing. It also argues that considering fishing impacts from the dock is outside the DSL’s authority for this permit.

Brian Gard, a spokesman for Morrow Pacific, says the company disagrees that tribes have proven their members fish at the dock site.

Editorial Comment: Racist corporate bullies are shamefully attempting to bypass treaty rights and state regulations in order to gain financially at the expense of others and our shared natural resources by exporting dirty coal to Asian markets.via the Columbia River.

He says the affidavits submitted to the state either misidentify the site geographically or they fail to show that tribal fishing has taken place in the dock location.

“We do not believe they establish tribal fishing or tribal fishing sites at the Port of Morrow industrial Dock 7 site,” Gard said. “Understanding the site context is important here. The proposed dock site is in a heavily industrial area. It’s on port of Morrow property. It’s situated between two other docks. It’s an area designated by the state as an area where docks are to go.”

The company submitted declarations from local community members, the port director and tugboat operators who say they haven’t seen tribal fishing taking place at the dock site. It also consulted a fishery biologist who says the dock area does not support a healthy fishery.

Sara Thompson, spokeswoman for the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, which includes the Umatilla and Yakama, released a photo (above) she says shows a set of tribal fishing buoys in the water next to the proposed Morrow Pacific project site.

“Not only have we been fishing there since time immemorial, but we continue to fish there at the present time,” said Chuck Sams, communications director for the Umatilla tribes. “We have provided affidavits to the Corps of Engineers and Oregon Department of State Lands, and we’ve spoken directly with Ambre Energy and Morrow Pacific explaining that we have fishing sites, usual and accustomed, at their proposed facility.”

In a recent speech, Gov. John Kitzhaber noted the conflicts flagged by the tribes shortly after declaring his opposition to coal exports in the Northwest. The governor said he will do all that he can “under existing Oregon law to ensure that we do not commit ourselves to a coal-dependent future.”

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

The MV Pasha Bulker is a Panamax bulk carrier of 76,741 metric tons of deadweight operated by the Lauritzen Bulkers Shipping Company and owned by Japanese Disponent Owners. While waiting in the open ocean outside the harbour to load coal the Pasha Bulker ran aground during a major storm on 8 June 2007 on Nobbys Beach in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It was refloated and moved to a safe location offshore on 2 July 2007, before being towed to Japan for major repairs on 26 July 2007. Source: http://www.artificialowl.net/2008/05/pasha-bulker-beachedon-shore-of-new.html

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Mercury in Fishes from 21 National Parks in the Western United States—Interand Intra-Park Variation in Concentrations and Ecological Risk Read report HERE Abstract Mercury (Hg) is a global contaminant and human activities have increased atmospheric Hg concentrations 3- to 5-fold during the past 150 years. This increased release into the atmosphere has resulted in elevated loadings to aquatic habitats where biogeochemical processes promote the microbial conversion of inorganic Hg to methylmercury, the bioavailable form of Hg. The physicochemical properties of Hg and its complex environmental cycle have resulted in some of the most remote and protected areas of the world becoming contaminated with Hg concentrations that threaten ecosystem and human health.

The national park network in the United States is comprised of some of the most pristine and sensitive wilderness in North America.

There is concern that via global distribution, Hg contamination could threaten the ecological integrity of aquatic communities in the parks and the wildlife that depends on them.

In this study, we examined Hg concentrations in non-migratory freshwater fish in 86 sites across 21 national parks in the Western United States. We report Hg concentrations of more than 1,400 fish collected in waters extending over a 4,000 kilometer distance, from Alaska to the arid Southwest.

Across all parks, sites, and species, fish total Hg (THg) concentrations ranged from 9.9 to 1,109 nanograms per gram wet weight (ng/g ww) with a mean of 77.7 ng/g ww.

We found substantial variation in fish THg concentrations among and within parks, suggesting that patterns of Hg risk are driven by processes occurring at a combination of scales. Additionally, variation (up to 20-fold) in site-specific fish THg concentrations within individual parks suggests that more intensive sampling in some parks will be required to effectively characterize Hg contamination in western national parks.

Across all fish sampled, only 5 percent had THg concentrations exceeding a benchmark (200 ng/g ww) associated with toxic responses within the fish themselves.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters However, Hg concentrations in 35 percent of fish sampled were above a benchmark for risk to highly sensitive avian consumers (90 ng/g ww), and THg concentrations in 68 percent of fish sampled were above exposure levels recommended by the Great Lakes Advisory Group (50 ng/g ww) for unlimited consumption by humans.

Of the fish assessed for risk to human consumers (that is, species that are large enough to be consumed by recreational or subsistence anglers), only one individual fish from Yosemite National Park had a muscle Hg concentration exceeding the benchmark (950 ng/g ww) at which no human consumption is advised.

Zion, Capital Reef, Wrangell-St. Elias, and Lake Clark National Parks all contained sites in which most fish exceeded benchmarks for the protection of human and wildlife health. This finding is particularly concerning in Zion and Capitol Reef National Parks because the fish from these parks were speckled dace, a small, invertebrate-feeding species, yet their Hg concentrations were as high or higher than those in the largest, long-lived predatory species, such as lake trout.

Future targeted research and monitoring across park habitats would help identify patterns of Hg distribution across the landscape and facilitate management decisions aimed at reducing the ecological risk posed by Hg contamination in sensitive ecosystems protected by the National Park Service.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Old-school coal is making a comeback April 17, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters WASHINGTON — Coal, the former king of American energy, is making a comeback after being left for dead in favor of cleaner-burning natural gas.

For years coal has been losing market share as the American fracking boom created a flood of cheap and abundant natural gas. But natural gas prices have edged upward, and the frigid winter created unprecedented energy demands. Power plants have increasingly been turning to coal as the solution.

There’s serious doubt whether the resurgence in coal can last in America with stricter environmental rules coming. But the global outlook for coal is bright, and U.S. coal producers hope to take advantage by increasing exports to other countries hungry for cheap energy. The International Energy Agency believes coal will be the No. 1 fuel for meeting the worldwide increase in energy demand.

“Like it or not, coal is here to stay for a long time to come,” IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said in the agency’s most recent coal market report. “Coal is abundant and geopolitically secure, and coal-fired plants are easily integrated into existing power systems.”

Van der Hoeven added, though, that she wanted to emphasize that coal burning in its current form is “simply unsustainable” for the world’s climate.

In a blow to President Barack Obama’s pledge to be a leader in the fight against global warming, American carbon dioxide emissions rose an estimated 2 percent last year _ after falling by 12 percent over the previous seven years. The federal Energy Information Administration attributes the rise in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions largely to the country using more coal than it used to.

Coal burning increased in the United States nearly 4 percent last year, and this year should see an even bigger spike, according to the Energy Information Administration.

“There is a resurgence, and it is quite a strong one,” said James Stevenson, the director of North American coal analysis for the global energy consulting firm IHS. Coal’s renewed popularity is a result of natural gas prices more than doubling over the past two years in response to a tighter market.

Those prices allow cheap coal to compete. The use of natural gas for power generation dropped in 2013 for the first time in five years as a result.

The Arctic blasts of this year’s winter also pushed power plants to turn to coal in order to meet the nation’s record-setting heating requirements.

“The main benefactor of this extreme cold and extreme low in natural gas inventory is coal,” said Bob Yu, an analyst for Bentek Energy.

Coal is set for more growth this year because of the price of natural gas and the ramp-up of coal generation, according to Yu and other analysts.

Coal from western Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana is on the rise, with 50 percent more production than a decade ago, according to the energy pricing and information service Platts. Coal from Montana and Wyoming is also managing to make more inroads in the market.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters But the hard times continue in the economically depressed Central Appalachian coal field, which includes the century-old industry in eastern Kentucky. Mines have closed and thousands have lost their jobs. Coal from that region remains at a serious disadvantage because of its high mining costs.

Platts’ figures show Central Appalachian coal production dropped nearly 40 percent in the past decade.

“Much of the coal from the region is mined from increasingly smaller seams, sometimes only a few feet thick, in mostly deep underground mines,” said Andrew Moore, a Platts editor who tracks the coal industry.

The rest of the U.S. coal basins could run into problems soon as well, with federal mercury and air toxics standards scheduled to begin in 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency also is working on greenhouse gas emission rules that are squarely aimed at coal.

IHS analyst Stevenson is skeptical that coal’s comeback in America can last, and he expects a slow decline in U.S. consumption to take hold.

Other nations will hunger for American coal, though. Coal use has been growing in Europe, where natural gas prices are far higher than in the United States.

The United States is exporting nearly twice as much coal as it did four years ago, with big costumers in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany.

Stevenson said there is also potential for a growth in U.S. coal in South Korea, with its fast-growing economy, and in Japan, which wants to move away from nuclear power in the wake of the 2011 leak of radioactive material from Fukushima.

He expects coal terminals to be built in the Pacific Northwest to ship coal mined from the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming to Asia.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Geothermal

 Canada’s high temperature geothermal reserves are in British Columbia

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 In Iceland, Magma Used To Create Geothermal Power For First Time February 4, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters After accidentally drilling into a chamber of molten lava more than a mile underground in 2009, researchers in Iceland have now found a way to use the magma to create geothermal energy. This new method of producing geothermal energy could be especially valuable in Iceland, where geothermal power already makes up about two-thirds of the energy use and around 90 percent of homes are heated using geothermal.

Researchers from the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) used the magma to generate high-pressure steam at temperatures over 450 degrees Celsius, beating the world record for hottest geothermal heat. According to the measured output, the magma generated about 36 megawatts of electricity.

Normal geothermal energy is generated by pumping water into heated ground, boiling it and then using the steam to generate electricity. This experiment in Iceland is the first time molten magma instead of solid rock has been used to create the steam.

“This could lead to a revolution in the energy efficiency of high-temperature geothermal projects in the future,” Wilfred Elders, professor emeritus of geology at the University of California, Riverside, who’s written about the Icelandic innovation, told The Conversation.

Geothermal power is both renewable and sustainable. According to the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) “Geothermal plants emit about five percent of the carbon dioxide, one percent of the sulfur dioxide, and less than one percent of the nitrous oxide emitted by a coal-fired plant of equal size, and certain types of geothermal plants produce near-zero emissions.”

The global geothermal market was expected to reach 12,000 megawatts of operating capacity by the end of last year, according to the GEA. As of 2012, there was about 3,187 megawatts of installed geothermal capacity in the United States. Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $3 million to spur geothermal energy development, stating that “the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 30 gigawatts of undiscovered hydrothermal energy potential exist untapped beneath the Earth’s surface.”

2013 saw some of the first Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) demonstration projects. EGS inject water down into underground hot rocks via wells where it is then circulated and the heat is extracted to generate electricity. The water can then be recirculated.

Traditional geothermal energy production requires natural steam or hot water reservoirs in order to function. EGS uses water pumps to emulate the natural process and in doing so would allow for geothermal development at many more locations and for longer-lasting sites where natural underground resources can’t be depleted.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Hydropower

 “DamNation” Watch movie trailer HERE 2014 DamNation Screening Schedule HERE

Sam Mace Inland Northwest Director Save Our Wild Salmon “Congratulations. I am so excited for this film!”

Editorial Comment: “Congratulations. Thanks to Patagonia and project partners for DamNation”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Wanapum Dam in Central Washington's Grant County

 Crack In Wanapum Dam A Symptom Of Several Big Problems May 13, 2014 An extensive investigation by the Grant County utility district revealed Tuesday that a host of problems caused the massive crack in Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River in central Washington.

A team of over 100 engineers poured through old records for 11 weeks. They found three major problems.

First, the dam’s 800-foot-long spillway section isn’t anchored to bedrock with steel. Second, they miscalculated that the concrete mass of the dam could hold the water behind it with its sheer weight.

And finally, when crews poured the concrete on that part of the dam on a hot July day in 1960, they may have got that wrong too.

“We don’t just pour massive sections of concrete at once,” explains Grant County utility district’s Thomas Stredwick. “There’s large cubes poured. So one of those cubes, in this specific section it might not have cured properly.”

The $61 million fix involves stitching the dam to the bedrock with steel cabling and rods. And even with 20-hour shifts, seven days a week, Stredwick says all these repairs may stretch out to the end of the year.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Fish species and local climate to be altered by Site C dam’s reservoir: Joint Review Panel May 9, 2014 The impact of BC Hydro’s $7.9-billion, 1,100-megawatt Site C dam and reservoir on the Peace River is so wide reaching it is predicted to turn fish diversity upside down, impact stream temperatures and ice flows, and change the local climate to the point of increasing the risk of traffic accidents.

A Joint Review Panel report on the megaproject for the provincial and federal governments observes that:

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

  



Three populations of fish — Moberly River Arctic grayling, mountain whitefish, and Halfway River bull trout — may be wiped out, while species such as lake trout and introduced Kokanee may flourish.

The reservoir would influence water temperatures and the movement of ice up to 550 kilometres downstream. Water drawn from the deep reservoir would be warmer than normal downstream in winter, colder than normal in summer.

The project would alter the local climate, generating enough fog to pose a hazard to motorists in the area. One model predicted a potential annual increase of eight hours of normal fog and 118 hours of heavy fog at the Taylor Bridge over the Peace River on Highway 37. Aviation would not be significantly affected.

BC Hydro has proposed to monitor fog during construction and the first four years of operation and to install enhanced lighting in the area and changeable message boards.

Hydro says the change from a river to lake ecosystem would result in almost twice the amount of fish, with species such as kokanee, lake whitefish, lake trout, burbot, peamouth and rainbow trout best able to adapt.

Problem is, the overall fish density would actually be reduced in a water body of that size — 83 kilometres long by two to three kilometres wide — making them more difficult to catch, a concern especially of First Nations.

Overall, the dam would have “significant adverse cumulative effects on fish,” much of which cannot be mitigated through measures such as habitat compensation, the panel finds. The negative impacts on fish “would be probable, negative, large, irreversible and permanent so long as the project is in place,” it added.

BC Hydro reports 32 fish species in the Peace River at Site C, several of which are considered at risk, including bull trout, spottail shiner, goldeye, and pearl dace.

Flooding for the dam would result in the direct loss of 2,800 hectares of main channel fish habitat and 163 hectares of tributary fish habitat.

The dam and generating station would create a complete blockage to upstream fish movement. Sediments stirred up in construction of the dam could all wreak havoc on fish.

The federal fisheries department concluded the reservoir “would be a very unproductive ... low nutrient system” but concurred with BC Hydro’s predictions of fish abundance and its overall finding that the larger volume of water in the reservoir would likely result in a higher overall biomass.

BC Hydro intends to create a fisheries and aquatic habitat management plan that would include fish salvage and relocation, and an environmental monitoring program during construction to reduce sediment problems and fish strandings.

Senior governments have six months to make their decisions on the panel report’s 50 recommendations.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 New economic data emerges in dams debate Former corps employee says breaching some Lower Snake dams now makes sense April 30, 2014

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters Jim Waddell thinks the film "DamNation" can be a catalyst for people like him - a veteran of the federal bureaucracy - to step up and speak out about dams and fish.

Waddell was the top civilian at the Walla Walla District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2001 when the agency was wrapping up a five-year, $20 million study to determine if the four Lower Snake River dams should be modified but kept or breached to save threatened and endangered salmon runs.

In the film, which will be shown tonight at Moscow's Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre, Waddell reveals that he advised his higher-ups to seek congressional authorization to breach the dams.

"I recommended breaching based on me, at the time, not being comfortable with the economics," he said in an interview.

There were too many inconsistencies with the economic portion of the study that showed breaching the dams would cost about $246 million a year, while making them more fish friendly would produce a modest annual benefit. Waddell said he found problems with some of the numbers and some of the assumptions that were used to produce the economic analysis. But he wasn't able to pull the study back to fix the problems.

In recent months, he has revisited the study, made his own corrections and determined keeping the dams in place and breaching them should have penciled out as a wash. If the numbers are updated to account for recent conditions such as court-mandated spill at the dams that cuts power production, Waddell said breaching would cost about $94 million less per year than keeping them in place.

"At the time, I didn't have the benefit of what I've done over the last three months," he said. "Now I'm even more convinced."

What's more, Waddell, who is now retired and living in Port Angeles, Wash., thinks decision makers would have come to a different conclusion if they had better information. He hopes the film's focus on the way dams have not only altered fish runs and riverine ecosystems but also the lives, culture and livelihoods of tribal and non-tribal people can make that happen.

"It's a really wonderful kick in the a** for some of us to get off our butts and get out there and do something," he said.

That is high praise in the eyes of Ben Knight, who along with Travis Rummel spent three years making the film that was produced by Yvon Chouinard - founder of the outdoor gear and clothing company Patagonia - and biologist and photographer Matt Stoecker. The film spends a fair amount of time on the Snake River and its dams, but also explores recent dam removals on the White Salmon and Elwha rivers in Washington. In addition, Knight and Rummel visit massive structures like Glenn Canyon Dam on the Colorado River and Hetch Hetchy Dam on the Tuolumne River that flooded magnificent canyons on par with the scenic beauty found in Grand Canyon and Yosemite national parks. "DamNation" includes emotional interviews with people who still mourn the loss of those canyons.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters "It's been incredible touring with the film," Knight said. "Almost every screening somebody comes up to me and can barely talk they are so emotional. I feel like the film is serving that purpose, which is simply just to help people think a little bit differently about the river in their backyards and people to think about dams in just a little different light."

Rebecca Miles said the film accomplishes that goal. Miles, executive director of the Nez Perce Tribe and a former chairwoman of the tribe's executive committee, is featured in the movie along with Elmer Crow, a tribal elder and salmon and lamprey advocate who died last July. Miles said Knight and Rummel brought a fresh set of eyes to the issue of dams and fish, and presented complex issues in an entertaining, emotional and easy-to-understand format.

"It really provides a platform for people to understand the issue," she said. "It really is the perfect time to rethink and get a discussion going about what is possible."

It's likely to be a heated discussion. As the film highlights, some people think the country, which has more than 70,000 large and small dams, went overboard in its zeal to harness rivers. But dams and the hydroelectric power, flood control and inland transportation they provide are cherished by many people who have trouble fathoming removing the structures. A recent survey by Northwest River Partners showed three out of four residents of the Pacific Northwest identified hydropower "as a clean, renewable energy resource." More than half of the survey respondents said hydropower is the region's "most practical energy source right now."

While "DamNation" takes a stand against dams, Knight said he doesn't think they should all be breached.

"I worry people think we are advocating to take out every dam, and we absolutely are not," he said.

"We are trying to encourage people to think differently about them and try to realize some of these older ones, maybe it's time for them to go. Maybe the salmon run up the Snake River might be a little more important than the amount of power that these dams are generating."

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Sam Mace – Save Our Wild Salmon The future of grain shipping in the Inland Northwest: Rail has many benefits over barging down the lower Snake River. For one, you can get your goods to Puget Sound ports. And with well-sited spur lines and unit train loaders, growers wouldn't have to haul grain large distances to Snake River ports on narrow highways and county roads. The lower Snake River dams are costing taxpayers more and more, while their relevancy to our future is in free fall. To further bring the point home, a wind farm is just a few miles from this rail facility.

Let's remove the four dams and invest those taxpayer dollars in rail and highway infrastructure that can benefit growers, manufacturers and small businesses in our region.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Tear Down ‘Deadbeat’ Dams May 7, 2014 VENTURA, Calif. — OF the more than 80,000 dams listed by the federal government, more than 26,000 pose high or significant safety hazards. Many no longer serve any real purpose. All have limited life spans. Only about 1,750 produce hydropower, according to the National Hydropower Association.

In many cases, the benefits that dams have historically provided — for water use, flood control and electricity — can now be met more effectively without continuing to choke entire watersheds.

Dams degrade water quality, block the movement of nutrients and sediment, destroy fish and wildlife habitats, damage coastal estuaries and in some cases rob surrounding forests of nitrogen. Reservoirs can also be significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

Put simply, many dams have high environmental costs that outweigh their value.

Removing them is the only sensible answer. And taking them down can often make economic sense as well. The River Alliance of Wisconsin estimates that removing dams in that state is three to five times less expensive than repairing them.

The message has been slowly spreading around the country. More and more communities and states have reclaimed rivers lost to jackhammers and concrete. Last year, 51 dams in 18 states were taken down, restoring more than 500 miles of streams, according to the group American Rivers.

Nearly 850 have been removed in the last 20 years, and nearly 1,150 since 1912.

But the work is far from done. I was disappointed to see the Energy Department release a report last week on the potential to develop new “sustainable” hydroelectric dams on rivers and streams across the country. The report follows President Obama’s signing of two laws last year to encourage small hydro projects and revive nonproducing dams.

New dams are a bad idea. We’ve glorified them for decades, but our pride in building these engineering marvels has often blinded us to the environmental damage they cause. The consequences run the length of the river and beyond. Our many complex attempts to work around these obstacles would make Rube Goldberg proud. Interventions like fish elevators and trap-and-haul programs that truck fish around impoundments don’t lead to true recovery for wild fish populations or reverse the other environmental problems caused by blocking a river’s flow.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters But we do know that removing dams brings streams and rivers back to life and replenishes our degraded aquifers.

A case in point is the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, where two hydroelectric dams built early in the last century exacted huge environmental costs but were no longer important as power generators. Salmon runs that once reached about 400,000 fish a year dropped to fewer than 3,000. A year after the Elwha Dam was removed, Chinook salmon returned to the river in numbers not seen in decades, with three-quarters of them observed spawning upstream of the former dam site. Today, the river runs free from its headwaters in Olympic National Park to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and a terrible wrong imposed on the salmon-dependent Lower Elwha Klallam tribe has been righted.

President Obama should learn from that example. Most urgently, he should turn his attention to the Snake River in eastern Washington, where four dams along its lower reaches provide marginal (and replaceable) electricity generation that is outweighed by the opportunities for the revival of endangered salmon populations, plus the jobs and communities a healthy salmon fishery would support.

Those deadbeat dams should be taken down and added to the list of dams in the process of being removed along the White Salmon River in Washington, the Penobscot in Maine and the Klamath in southern Oregon.

I’ve been working to take down dams for most of my life. The idea, once considered crazy, is gaining momentum. We should seize it and push for the removal of the many dams with high costs and low or zero value. The environmental impacts are too enormous.

Time and again, I’ve witnessed the celebration that comes with the removal of an unnecessary dam.

After a river is restored and the fish have returned you never hear a single person say, “Gee, I wish we had our dam back.”

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Liquefied Natural Gas

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Hundreds of irradiated “filter socks” dumped in an abandoned building found by North Dakota officials on Feb. 28

 US Fracking Boom Creating Crisis of Illegal Toxic Dumping Toxic materials from gas drilling industry creating 'legacy of radioactivity' Industrial waste from fracking sites is leaving a "legacy of radioactivity" across the country as the drilling boom churns out more and more toxic byproducts with little to no oversight of the disposal process, critics warn.

According to a new report in Bloomberg Wednesday, the controversial oil and gas drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing is "spinning off thousands of tons of low-level radioactive trash," which has spawned a "surge" in illegal dumping at hundreds of sites in the U.S. "We have many more wells, producing at an accelerating rate, and for each of them there’s a higher volume of waste,” Avner Vengosh, a professor of geochemistry at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, told Bloomberg. Without proper handling, “we are actually building up a legacy of radioactivity in hundreds of points where people have had leaks or spills around the country.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Bloomberg reports: Some states allow the contaminated material to be buried at the drill site. Some is hauled away, with varying requirements for tracking the waste. Some ends up in roadside ditches, garbage dumpsters or is taken to landfills in violation of local rules, said Scott Radig, director of the North Dakota Health Department’s Division of Waste Management.

In that state’s Bakken oilfields, “it’s a wink-and-a-nod situation,” said Darrell Dorgan, a spokesman for the North Dakota Energy Industry Waste Coalition, a group lobbying for stricter rules. “There’s hundreds of thousands of square miles in northwestern North Dakota and a lot of it is isolated. Nobody’s looking at where all of it is going.”

In one recent example piles of garbage bags filled with radioactive debris from a nearby site — including radioactive filter socks that are used to strain wastewater from wells—were found in an abandoned building in North Dakota.

Fracking for oil and gas is particularly radioactive because of shale rock, "the dense formations found to hold immense reserves of gas and oil," Bloomberg reports. "Shale often contains higher levels of radium—a chemical element used in industrial X-ray diagnostics and cancer treatments—than traditional oil fields."

Those radioactive elements often mix with wastewater and a list of undisclosed chemicals used in the process. Past reports have shown that water treatment does little to clean this toxic water. In one recent case, wastewater from a hydraulic fracturing site in Pennsylvania, which is treated and released into local streams, was found to have elevated levels of radioactivity in the public water supply.

When radioactive fracking waste is not dumped illegally or buried on site, it is brought with other waste to landfills, but the skyrocketing amounts of fracking waste are pushing those sites to their limits.

"West Virginia landfills accepted 721,000 tons of drilling debris in 2013, a figure that doesn’t include loads rejected because they topped radiation limits," reports Bloomberg. And in Pennsylvania the industry sent 1.3 million tons to landfills last year, including 16,000 tons of radioactive material.

While some states such as North Dakota scramble to deal with the growing problem, the list of reasons to halt the fracking industry altogether may become more enticing.

A report released on Monday found fracking sites are emitting up to 1000 times the amount of methane than federal regulators previously reported.

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is up to 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Politicians

go on the attack after scientists call for more research into

fracking Deputy premier claims no well has ever leaked in B.C. and hints scientists are biased May 1, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters OTTAWA — Deputy Premier Rich Coleman challenged Thursday the conclusions of a scientific panel into the environmental effect of shale gas development using fracking.

The group of Canadian and U.S. scientists, appointed in 2011 by former federal environment minister Peter Kent to examine the sector’s potential and risks across Canada, urge a cautionary, go-slow approach until more research is done on a relatively new sector.

Coleman, responsible for an industry that Victoria considers an economic linchpin for decades, said the B.C. industry is advanced and a model for the world.

“I don’t agree with them,” he told reporters. “The reality is we’ve been doing this for over 50 years, we’ve never had a contamination from a drill, we’ve never had a drill stem leak or fail.

“We do it as well or better than anybody else in the world.”

One of the scientists on the panel, fracking expert Maurice Dusseault, challenged Coleman’s glowing portrayal of the B.C. industry “Every regulatory jurisdiction in Canada has issues related to longterm wellbore integrity with respect to slow seepage of gas, usually intermediate-depth gas … seeping upward along the outside of the exterior casing. B.C. is not excluded,” he said in an email exchange with The Vancouver Sun. Coleman also appeared to challenge the objectivity of Dusseault and the 13 other Canadian and U.S. scientists from a variety of disciplines who wrote the report.

“Sometimes when you read a study and somebody says they want more studies, sometimes I wonder if they are writing themselves back into the deal themselves.”

Dusseault, of the University of Waterloo’s department of earth and environmental sciences, noted that more than 400,000 wells will be needed over several generations to fully exploit one of the biggest plays, the Montney field near Dawson Creek.

“That is not much less than all the wells previously drilled in the Western Canada sedimentary basin.

What are the environmental impacts of development at a scale so vast?” said Dusseault. “That is an absolutely legitimate question, and assurances from industry and government alone are insufficient.”

The scientists’ 292-page report says not enough is known about the potential impact of fracking on people and the environment.

“The rapid expansion of shale gas development in Canada over the past decade has occurred without a corresponding investment in monitoring and research addressing the impacts on the environment, public health, and communities,” the report states.

Key concerns include the degradation of surface water and groundwater, potential adverse effects on health, disruption of communities and land, and potential conflict with First Nations Rights.

Both Kent and his successor, Leona Aglukkaq, argued Thursday that the industry’s safety and environmental record is strong.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “Hydraulic fracturing has been used safely in Western Canada for decades with no incidents of contamination to drinking water,” Aglukkaq said in a statement that cited recent federal moves to toughen penalties for pollution. “Shale gas deposits can be developed safely, responsibly, and in compliance with the strict rules in place to protect Canadians.”

Environmentalists, meanwhile, said the report vindicates their warnings about the potential effect of fracking on ground and surface water, air pollution, and aboriginal rights.

“The government does not know enough to adequately protect Canadians from the potential environmental, health and socioeconomic impacts,” said the Sierra Club of Canada Foundation.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the increasingly popular and controversial process of drilling deep into the earth, and then pumping in a high-pressure mixture of water, chemicals and sand to release the gas to flow up to the well’s head.

The technology is being exploited on every continent except Antarctica. In Canada, B.C. is by far the industry leader, with 1,354 producing shale gas wells by the end of 2011, compared to just 150 in the rest of country.

The report does not provide region-specific recommendations, and in one section praises the northeastern B.C. community of Dawson Creek for being a “pioneer in watershed management” in dealing with the industry’s heavy water demands.

And the panel, established by the independent and non-profit Council of Canadian Academies, described shale gas as a potential global “game-changer.”

The report also said research isn’t clear on the overall impact on global greenhouse gas emissions, because while natural gas is a cleaner-burning fuel than coal it could also displace nuclear and hydroelectric power. And the flooding of global markets with cheap natural gas could discourage alternative energy development.

That conclusion runs counter to the position of Premier Christy Clark’s government, which says on its website that natural gas exports will make B.C. both rich and a global leader “in the transition to a low-carbon global economy.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Stronger ‘Frackquakes’ Are On The Way, Scientists Warn May 2, 2014 The man-made earthquakes that have been shaking up the southern United States only stand to get stronger and more dangerous as the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, increases, scientists warned at a Thursday conference.

According to multiple reports, scientists attending the Seismological Society of America annual meeting agreed that fracking can change the state of stress on existing faults to the point of failure, causing earthquakes. That stress is generally not caused by fuel extraction itself, but by a process called “wastewater injection,” where companies take the leftover water used to frack wells and inject it deep into the ground.

Though it was previously believed that the man-made earthquakes could not exceed a 5.0 magnitude, many now say that larger quakes could become the norm as more and more water is stored underground.

“I think ultimately, as fluids propagate and cover a larger space, the likelihood that it could find a larger fault and generate larger seismic events goes up,” Western University earth sciences professor Gail Atkinson reportedly said at the meeting.

Because of this and other warnings, the U.S. government also announced on Thursday that it would begin to track the risks that these so-called “frackquakes” pose, and start including them on official maps that help influence building codes.

Though the U.S. Geological Survey is known for mapping regular earthquakes and alerting local governments about their risks, it has never taken man-made quakes into account. It made the decision to do so, however, after finding that two strong earthquakes in heavily-drilled areas of Colorado and Oklahoma in 2011 were likely the result of wastewater injection from fracking.

Wastewater injection is not the only thing connected to what the USGS is now calling “induced” earthquakes, however. Gail Atkinson, an earthquake scientist at Western University in Ontario, told the Christian Science Monitor on Thursday that the actual process of extraction from fracking could be causing the quakes as well. Fracking is uniquely characterized by its process — injecting highpressure streams of water, chemicals, and sand into underground rock formations, “fracturing” the rock to release oil and gas. This could also trigger the quakes, Atkinson said.

“Waste water is the dominant cause,” she said. “But what we are seeing as time goes on is that there are also events being induced from hydraulic fracture operations.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Thursday’s warning is just one more bullet on a list of scientific papers warning of fracking-induced quakes. Researchers at Southern Methodist University, for example, recently linked a string of 2009 and 2010 earthquakes in Texas to the injection of fracking wastewater into the ground. In early 2013, fracking wastewater disposal was also linked to the 109 earthquakes that shook Youngstown, Ohio in 2011 — an area that hadn’t ever experienced an earthquake before an injection well came online in December 2010.

Despite the research, many involved in bringing fracking operations to fruition in some of the more earthquake-ridden places don’t believe a link exists. After experiencing more than 30 small earthquakes in three months, residents of the north Texas town of Azle in January traveled three hours to a Texas Railroad Commission meeting in Austin, urging commissioners to halt the use of the wells.

Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman, however, refused to acknowledge a connection.

“It’s not linked to fracking,” he said at the time. “If we find a link then we need to take a hard look at all these injection wells in this area. Reexamine them … Perhaps there something that we’re not aware of underground.”

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Solar

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 World’s

Largest Solar Array Set to Crank Out 290 Megawatts of Sunshine

Power Megaplants like Agua Caliente in Arizona herald a new efficiency in solar-sourced electricity May 9, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Global climate change is here, and it’s only going to get worse, according to a White House report released on Tuesday. To combat rising sea levels and blistering summers, the Obama administration has been pushing for clean, renewable energy sources that cut down on carbon emissions. Now one of its projects is poised to pan out: Agua Caliente, the largest photovoltaic solar power facility in the world, was completed last week in Arizona.

The plant comprises more than five million solar panels that span the equivalent of two Central Parks in the desert between Yuma and Phoenix. It generates 290 megawatts of power—enough electricity to fuel 230,000 homes in neighboring California at peak capacity.

The Agua Caliente Solar Project represents a significant advance in the technology compared with just four years ago, when the largest solar facility in the U.S. generated only 20 megawatts. “Solar has completely arrived as a competitive energy resource,” says Peter Davidson, executive director of the Loan Programs Office at the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE).

The project, which cost a total of $1.8 billion to construct, received a million-dollar loan from the DoE as a part of its “SunShot” initiative (so-named in the spirit of president John F. Kennedy’s “moon shot” program). SunShot provides guaranteed loans to unproved ventures in solar power in the hopes of promoting innovation and making the technology more cost-effective. Although Agua Caliente (owned

by U.S. energy giant NRG Energy and partner MidAmerican Solar) is now the largest photovoltaic solar facility in the world, it probably will not hold that distinction for long. Other massive solar panel facilities, such as Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One in California’s Mojave Desert, are rapidly springing up across the Southwest. “This series of large plants that are being built really mark the transition from the technology being something experimental to real energy on the grid,” agrees Robert Margolis, a senior analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Solar power currently accounts for 1 percent of U.S. energy production, but it is the fastest-growing sector of the energy landscape. Margolis says that Agua Caliente proves that investing in solar power on a large scale is an effective way to make it more viable in the current market.

The energy contained in just one hour of sunlight could power the world for a year, if only it could be harnessed. Traditional solar panels made from silicon—the gold standard of semiconducting material—are expensive, however, particularly in comparison with cheap but dirty coal and natural gas. Agua Caliente, which is operated and maintained for NRG by Tempe, Ariz.–based First Solar, uses newer, thin-film panels that that absorb the same amount of sunlight with a fraction of the material, boosting the array’s efficiency.

NRG has a deal with utility company Pacific Gas & Electric to sell them the energy generated by the plant for 25 years. California law mandates that utilities get 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

The massive scale of facilities like Agua Caliente enables energy companies to buy the construction materials in bulk, which reduces costs. But there are downsides to this arrangement. The sheer magnitude of such complexes makes them difficult to maintain, and some environmental groups argue that the immense structures displace local wildlife. Many California legislators therefore prefer small-scale plants that can be built closer to the places they supply.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters And as with traditional solar power plants, there is still the issue of what to do when the sky is overcast. One of the most interesting things about Agua Caliente, says John Karam, senior director of asset management at NRG Solar (an NRG subsidiary), is how it deals with cloudy days. There are extra panels built into the site, so “when the plant is partially covered by clouds, the control system can actually call upon the portion of the panels that is not impacted” and recruit the extras there to make up the difference.

“The systems are getting smarter,” NREL’s Margolis notes. “One of the next frontiers in research and development is integrating very large quantities of solar into the system by having smarter controls, and also improving the ability to forecast when clouds will come and what the behavior of the system will be so that utilities can prepare.”

Consumers won’t notice much of a difference right away, as utility companies typically draw from a wide array of energy sources, DoE’s Davidson says. “Its like pouring water into a pool: It all gets blended in and then patched out.”

But as solar power becomes cheaper, Davidson predicts that utilities will pass those savings on to consumers. And as the technological advancements emerging from megaplants like Agua Caliente become more widely available, individual solar power adopters may eventually see savings as well.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 NETHERLANDS AIMING FOR 100,000 MORE SOLAR ROOFS IN 1 YEAR April 8, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

The Dutch solar market saw good growth, approximately doubling from about 100,000 solar roofs to about 200,000 solar roofs. In 2014, the aim is to reach about 300,000.

To be exact, 101,326 new installations were registered in 2013, mostly on private homes. That compares well to 140,000 installations in the US in 2013. The US, of course, has a much larger population — approximately 19 times larger.

The 101,326 new Dutch solar installations come to approximately 300 megawatts (MW) of power capacity. They increased the Netherlands’ solar power capacity from 365 MW to 665 MW. “In the Netherlands it is currently more profitable to invest on your roof than to put it in a bank account,” says Edwin Koot, CEO of Solarplaza. That’s the same story for millions of people in the US. Of course, all of this growth creates jobs. “The Netherlands now has more than 1,100 suppliers of solar systems, some 300 more than the 800 that were reported last May,” The Solar Future Netherlands writes.

The Solar Future NL is actually a solar conference that will be hosted by Solarplaza on May 27 in the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. This is the 6th edition of the conference. Here are some more details on the upcoming event: During the conference, leading scientists, entrepreneurs and experts in the field of solar energy from home and abroad, gather to present the main developments in the market and new strategic insights. Among them are household names such as international energy guru Jeremy Leggett from the United Kingdom, the president of the French Solaire Direct; Thierry Lepercq, a world leader in solar energy project development, and Professor Wim Sinke; Holland’s most experienced and greatest solar energy expert.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

ď ś Conservative heavyweights have solar industry in their sights April 20, 2014 WASHINGTON - The political attack ad that ran recently in Arizona had some familiar hallmarks of the genre, including a greedy villain who hogged sweets for himself and made children cry.

But the bad guy, in this case, wasn't a fat-cat lobbyist or someone's political opponent.

He was a solar-energy consumer.

Solar, once almost universally regarded as a virtuous, if perhaps over-hyped, energy alternative, has now grown big enough to have enemies.

The Koch brothers, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist and some of the nation's largest power companies have backed efforts in recent months to roll back state policies that favor green energy.

The conservative luminaries have pushed campaigns so far in Kansas, North Carolina and Arizona, with the battle rapidly spreading to other states.

Alarmed environmentalists and their allies in the solar industry have fought back, battling the other side to a draw so far. Both sides say the fight is growing more intense as new states, including Ohio, South Carolina and Washington, enter the fray.

At the nub of the dispute are two policies found in dozens of states. One requires utilities to get a certain share of power from renewable sources. The other, known as net metering, guarantees homeowners or businesses with solar panels on their roofs the right to sell any excess electricity back into the power grid at attractive rates.

Net metering forms the linchpin of the solar-energy business model. Without it, companies say, solar power would be prohibitively expensive.

The power industry argues that net metering provides an unfair advantage to solar consumers, who don't pay to maintain the power grid although they draw money from it and rely on it for backup on cloudy days. The more people produce their own electricity through solar, the fewer are left being billed for the transmission lines, substations and computer systems that make up the grid, industry officials say.

"If you are using the grid and benefiting from the grid, you should pay for it," said David Owens, executive vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, the advocacy arm for the industry. "If you don't, other customers have to absorb those costs."

The institute has warned power companies that profits could erode catastrophically if current policies and market trends continue. If electricity companies delay in taking political action, the group warned in a report, "it may be too late to repair the utility business model."

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a membership group for conservative state lawmakers, recently drafted model legislation that targeted net metering. The group also helped launch efforts by conservative lawmakers in more than half a dozen states to repeal green energy mandates.

"State governments are starting to wake up," Christine Harbin Hanson, a spokeswoman for Americans for Prosperity, the advocacy group backed by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, said in an e-mail. The organization has led the effort to overturn the mandate in Kansas, which requires that 20 percent of the state's electricity come from renewable sources.

"These green energy mandates are bad policy," said Hanson, adding that the group was hopeful Kansas would be the first of many dominoes to fall.

The group's campaign in that state compared the green energy mandate to Obamacare, featuring ominous images of Kathleen Sebelius, the outgoing secretary of Health and Human Services, who was Kansas' governor when the state adopted the requirement.

The Kansas Senate voted late last month to repeal the mandate, but solar industry allies in the state House blocked the move.

Environmentalists were unnerved. "The want to roll it back here so they can start picking off other states," said Dorothy Barnett, director of the Climate and Energy Project, a Kansas advocacy group.

The arguments over who benefits from net metering, meanwhile, are hotly disputed. Some studies, including one published recently by regulators in Vermont, conclude that solar customers bring enough benefits to a regional power supply to fully defray the cost of the incentive.

Utilities deny that and are spending large sums to greatly scale back the policy.

In Arizona, a major utility and a tangle of secret donors and operatives with ties to ALEC and the Kochs invested millions to persuade state regulators to impose a monthly fee of $50 to $100 on netmetering customers.

Two pro-business groups, at least one of which had previously reported receiving millions of dollars from the Koch brothers, formed the campaign's public face. Their activities were coordinated by GOP consultant Sean Noble and former Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams, two early architects of the Koch network of nonprofits.

In October, California ethics officials levied a $1-million fine after accusing groups the two men ran during the 2012 election of violating state campaign finance laws in an effort to hide the identities of donors.

The Arizona Public Service Co., the state's utility, also had Noble on its payroll. As a key vote at the Arizona Corporation Commission approached late last year, one of the commissioners expressed frustration that anonymous donors had bankrolled the heated campaign. He demanded APS reveal its involvement. The utility reported it had spent $3.7 million.

"Politically oriented nonprofits are a fact of life today and provide a vehicle for individuals and organizations with a common point of view to express themselves," company officials said in a statement in response to questions about their campaign.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters The solar companies, seeking to sway the corporation commission, an elected panel made up entirely of Republicans, formed an organization aimed at building support among conservatives. The group, Tell Utilities Solar won't be Killed, is led by former California congressman Barry Goldwater Jr., a Republican Party stalwart.

"These solar companies are becoming popular, and utilities don't like competition," Goldwater said. "I believe people ought to have a choice."

The commission ultimately voted to impose a monthly fee on solar consumers - of $5.

The solar companies declared victory. But utility industry officials and activists at ALEC and Americans for Prosperity say the battles are just getting underway. They note the Kansas legislation will soon be up for reconsideration, and fights elsewhere have barely begun.

In North Carolina, executives at Duke Energy, the country's largest electric utility, have made clear the state's net metering law is in their sights. The company's lobbying effort is just beginning. But already, Goldwater's group has begun working in the state, launching a social media and video campaign accusing Duke of deceit.

"The intention of these proposals is to eliminate the rooftop solar industry," said Bryan Miller, president of the Alliance for Solar Choice, an industry group.

"They have picked some of the most conservative states in the country," he added. "But rooftop solar customers are voters, and policymakers ultimately have to listen to the public."

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Tidal

“The oceans contain a huge amount of energy so logic dictates that we need to learn to extract energy where possible bearing in mind that future use of fossil fuel is going to be inhibited both by the effects of pollution induced climate change and by resource depletion,” he said. “So my message is that although extracting energy from the oceans is more difficult and perhaps less successful so far than some people might have wished, it has been shown to be possible and will no doubt become increasingly important in future.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Wind

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Offshore wind farm near Coos Bay will get $47 million grant from feds An offshore wind farm demonstration project proposed in Oregon is one of three nationwide that will each receive up to $47 million in grants during the next four years from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Seattle-based Principle Power, Inc. received $4 million in Department of Energy funding for the project in 2012, and got the go ahead from the Department of Interior in February to develop its plans to deploy five floating wind turbines in federal waters 18 miles off of Coos Bay by 2017. The 30 megawatt project would be the West Coast’s first offshore wind farm, and would be connected to the mainland through underwater electrical cables.

Several offshore wind farms are under construction on the Atlantic Coast, though those turbines are anchored to the sea floor. West Coast waters are deeper, so the technology needs are considerably different.

Principle Power plans to install five 6-megawatt direct-drive wind turbines atop its WindFloat semi submersible floating foundation, designed to simplify installation and eliminate the need for highly specialized ships. Principle installed a prototype of its floating turbine platform off the coast of Portugal in 2012.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Forest Management

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 State to scrutinize logging near risky hills New standards from the Department of Natural Resources will require timber companies to produce a geotechnical report when logging near potentially dangerous landslide areas.

Timber companies that want to harvest near potentially dangerous landslide areas will now have to conduct geologic reviews before getting a logging permit from the state, officials said Friday.

Under the new standards announced by Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark, the state will require a geotechnical report when there’s a potential risk to public safety — even if the harvest area itself doesn’t include unstable territory.

“This added scrutiny provides more information to help properly identify potential hazards and avoid impacts,” Goldmark said in a statement.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which Goldmark has led since 2009, approved logging in 2004 above the hill near Oso that collapsed in March.

The Seattle Times reported in the wake of the mudslide that state officials had been relying on an outdated map to determine where loggers could harvest trees above the slide hill. A clear-cut can increase groundwater flows and destabilize landslide-prone slopes.

Had state officials utilized a newer map at the landslide hill, regulators likely would have restricted most of the 7.5 acres that were clear-cut in 2004.

The Times also reported that the harvest by logging company Grandy Lake appears to have strayed into the restricted boundaries the state was using at the time.

Goldmark’s office said officials are still investigating the March landslide to determine if logging had any contributing role.

State rules have required timber companies to conduct geotechnical reports when harvesting on potentially unstable slopes. Under the new procedures, DNR will examine sites to determine whether there are potential public-safety risks due to unstable slopes outside of a harvest area.

DNR said sites will be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, and the state would require the geotechnical reports if it feels public safety could be an issue.

Peter Goldman, a former Goldmark supporter now critical of the commissioner’s work on landslides, said he’s glad the agency is starting to take landslides seriously but doesn’t think it’s nearly enough.

Goldman, an environmental lawyer, would like to see a moratorium on logging around slide-prone hills so the state can properly identify deep-seated landslide areas like the one that collapsed in Snohomish County. He wants the state to then develop enforceable standards identifying where logging can occur.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The geotechnical reports that Goldmark will now require won’t fully address the problem of logging near landslides because they will rely on the opinion of one person and not strict guidelines enacted by the state, Goldman said.

“It’s a lot of flag-waving, meaningless,” Goldman said.

but

unfortunately

it’s

just

kind

of

DNR maintains a landslide inventory that has flagged more than 45,000 distinct areas in Washington state, but the state acknowledges that some information may be missing from the map and other pieces may be inaccurate. The process of examining a potential landslide area on the ground can be time-consuming and costly.

Even though the Snohomish County landslide had been extensively researched by scientists and was long recognized as a deep-seated landslide, the DNR system didn’t label it as such. The inventory shows 9,571 separate areas listed as some type of deep-seated landslide, although many of those are uncertain or dormant.

On Monday, the state Forest Practices Board is scheduled to hold a special meeting to examine the latest science on the Snohomish County landslide and state regulations that protect public safety.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Dumping, Damage Leading To New Access Policy, Says Weyerhaeuser April 23, 2014 This past weekend some joker decided that the construction area outside my fence would be a good spot to dump their old truck canopy.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters For awhile it blended in with all the equipment that crews are using to update the main sewer line up and down our street. But as I looked up from the fencing Amy and I were putting around our blueberries, all the stickers on the back window and blue tape around a broken side frame gave it away.

Lazy bastard, I thought, does your mamma still clean up your room too?

Now, imagine illegal dumping on a much wider scale, and then add in vandalized gates and equipment, unauthorized off-road trails through the trees, theft and the rise of exploding targets, and you have the public reasons behind Weyerhaeuser’s decision this spring to restrict entry to most of its timberlands in Southwest Washington and Western Oregon.

“The cost to fix runs well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars — it’s not insignificant,” says Anthony Chavez, a local spokesman for the massive international company.

Editorial Comment:

 Wild

Game Fish Conservation International adamantly opposes Weyerhaeuser Company’s action to block Washington State visitors from accessing public managed waters, fish and wildlife.

 Charging excessive user fees to a limited number of outdoor enthusiasts is no less than regressive bullying.

 Washington legislators had better straighten this out if they want to continue selling WDFW fishing and hunting licenses.

 The vast majority of Washington hunters and fishers that can afford a $500 user fee will likely hunt and fish where we, our love of nature and our money are truly appreciated and valued accordingly!

Even if the true motives are along the lines of maximizing every last cent from the land by squeezing hunters, anglers and other forest users for trespassing fees — a model that’s been successful in Weyerhaeuser’s Southern lands and increasingly used by other landowners in the Northwest– Chavez claims that limiting entry last hunting season to two tree farms on either side of I-5 in Lewis and Thurston Counties did see immediate results.

“Pe Ell and Vail had a significant decline in vandalism and dumping last year,” he says.

Only 1,300 permit holders who paid $150 to $200 for their six-month passes (and which sold out in a day) were allowed onto those tree farms.

When we spoke last spring Chavez described the change as a “pilot,” and during a conversation yesterday, he termed it a “success,” which is why this year Weyerhaeuser has expanded recreational access programs to its Longview, Aberdeen, Coos Bay, North Valley, South Valley and Springfield operations starting Aug. 1.

No longer will the public be able to walk, ride a bicycle or horse onto most of those lands or drive designated roads during hunting season without those permits, which will run from $75 all the way up to $500 for a single month.

Chavez says that each farm’s manager decided how much of their forest would be permit-only access, lease or free, but by one observer’s take, it will mean that one quarter of all private industrial timberland in Western Washington — some 1 million acres of the area’s best deer and elk hunting grounds — will cost sportsmen to access this fall.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “I don’t think we’re done seeing companies going into fee access,” worries the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s hunting manager Dave Ware.

While permits have been around since at least the early 2000s when Weyerhaeuser required them to drive around on the Snoqualmie Tree Farm, and his agency itself requires non-hunters and nonanglers to pay to park at its boat ramps and wildlife areas, Ware says the additional cost could impact the number of hunters willing to go out now and in the future.

“The best deer and elk habitat is industrial timberlands,” he points out.

Despite being sprayed with herbicides to knock down plants that compete with valuable Doug fir (and which feed blacktails and Roosevelts), the heavy logging creates an ever-changing patchwork of cover and forage for the critters.

State and lower-elevation federal forest lands are also being logged, but not at the same pace as those on the west sides of both states.

And fewer hunters translates into fewer licenses and dollars for WDFW. Following Weyerhaeuser’s move with Pe Ell and Vail — the latter a longtime favorite for blacktail hunters who’ve been allowed free, drive-in access during October and November general-season weekends — Ware went to lawmakers this past winter with some ideas to try and stem the tide.

One bill never made it out of committee, but HB 2150 would have encouraged the companies to keep properties open to folks willing to pay a $25 fee, and provided immunity from liability claims for accidents on those lands. It passed out of the House and nearly through the Senate, but stalled before the session ended.

“There were so many things swirling in the legislature that the bill didn’t get through,” Ware says.

He rues the lost chance to talk with Weyerhaeuser and others back in the late 1990s before the companies began reorganizing as real estate investment trusts and timber management organizations. REITs have certain tax benefits as well as burdens to produce dividends for shareholders. One way to increase the latter is to monetize things like a property’s hunting and recreational access values.

“It’s frustrating,” says Ware. “We’d been gearing up to work with them before REITs and TIMOs.” If there’s some good news, it’s that Congress recently funded a recreational access program to the tune of $40 million, for all 50 states, he says.

“We need to get with timber companies hesitant to get into fee programs but interested in money,” Ware says.

Port Blakely bucked the trend, dumping their recreational access program last year.

“While the program helped offset some of the expenses associated with public recreational access, we realized that excluding the public did not align with our long history of partnering with our neighbors and friends, trusting them to respect our forests and access policy,” the Seattle-based company said on its website.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Elsewhere in the state, WDFW has been working with farmers and ranchers for access, and on the south side of the Columbia, so too has Oregon.

“While recognizing that private landowners are in charge of who to allow on their property, ODFW is strongly committed to developing and maintaining public access onto private lands for hunters and anglers,” says ODFW spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy. “We have been successful in opening millions of acres of private land to access through hunter funded programs like Upland Cooperative Access Program and Access and Habitat. Our strong commitment to these programs will continue.”

As the editor of a hunting magazine, I know that access to managed lands is the future for most hunters. I wholeheartedly appreciate the guys and gals who bushwhack into Cascades wildernesses for a shot at those rare trophy bucks and bulls, but the real harvest is much lower down the mountain now that the high-elevation clearcuts have grown back in.

But I also have mixed personal feelings about Weyerhaeuser’s new recreational program.

On the one hand, it’s their land and I wouldn’t appreciate someone telling me what I can do on mine.

They’re also an important local employer.

On the other, the company owns so much land — literally 2 percent of Washington — that policies for and activities on that vast a swath have much, much larger and far-reaching impacts.

I wonder if there’s not some breaching of the social contract here too. In essence, through the legislature, we tacitly allow industrial timber owners to rape the holy hell out of their land, spray it with god knows what, and where does all the runoff in a rainy region go but into our salmon and steelhead streams. And now they’re bending us over for more? No, thanks.

But what about the flip side, embodied by the jackass who saw the construction stuff outside my fence and decided it would be a perfect place to dump his old canopy rather than take it to the transfer station less than 2 damn miles away — where do we get off trashing land that isn’t our own?

I could go on, but alas, I’ve got other stuff to do today.

What follows is a brief overview of the new access policies for Weyerhaeuser’s tree farms in Washington and Oregon, as stated by Chavez and online scripts for each: LONGVIEW 15,000 permits ($150) for 340,000 acres, and valid Aug. 1-Jan. 31. 12 lease areas, from 550 acres to 1,160 acres Continued free access along corridors leading to state lands Continued free access to 55,000 acres in the Yacolt, Ryderwood and Mosquito areas of the tree farm ABERDEEN/COASTAL 8,000 permits ($75) for the “bulk of the tree farm,” and valid year-round One lease area, 1,200 acres in the North River area Three “special permit” areas: Donavan: 45 permits ($200) for 8,600 acres; Satsop: 175 permits ($200) for 35,000 acres; Arctic: 90 permits ($250) for 16,500 acres, and all valid Aug. 1-Jan. 31 Continued year-round, free non-motorized access to Elma and Lower Donavan areas encompassing 17,000 acres NORTH VALLEY

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Two permit areas: Molalla: 40 permits ($550 a month); Jewell (Clatsop Co.): 125 permits ($150), both valid Aug. 1-Jan. 31 14 lease areas, from 163 to 2,400 acres Continued free walk-in access to 35,000 acres of the Trask Tree Farm SOUTH VALLEY 100 permits ($300) for two areas, Row River and Castle Rock, roughly 33,000 acres, valid Aug. 1Jan. 31 Six lease areas from 500 to 2,000 acres Continued free walk-in access to 20,000 acres west of Cottage Grove SPRINGFIELD 300 permits ($300) for Booth Kelly area, on the south side of the McKenzie, valid Aug. 1-Jan. 31 Two lease areas, from 840 to 1,440 acres Continued free access into the Wendling Travel Management Area COOS BAY 1,000 permits ($350), good year-round for 157,000 acres Five lease areas, from 1,400 to 6,200 acres Continued free walk-in access to four areas totaling 16,000 acres This isn’t a full accounting of all the changes. Weyerhaeuser says that it plans to have details on its access programs online at wy.com/accesswa and wy.com/accesswa by mid-May. In some cases the permits will allow camping, which was not allowed before.

According to Chavez, the company will issue gate keys good for the fall hunting seasons and then change the locks at the end of the period rather than try to collect all the keys.

He says folks wandering the woods will be checked two ways.

“We’ll actually have folks at the gates checking permits against photo IDs. And there’ll be some sort of spot checks. That’s what we did last year (at Pe Ell and Vail),” he says.

Chavez says that there was a “high compliance rate” with less than five entrants there with someone else’s permit (they’re only good for spouses and their kids under 18) or who had forgotten theirs at home.

He says those abusing their privileges will have their permits revoked At this point, the 650,000 acres of land Weyerhaeuser bought from Longview Fibre in the North Cascades, Chelan County, Southwest Washington and scattered throughout Northwest Oregon remain open for limited public use without a permit.

How long that continues is a good question.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Kilmer’s tour of Grays Harbor focuses on economic development With unemployment a chronic problem on Grays Harbor, Congressman Derek Kilmer has largely focused on economic development during his most recent tour of the 6th Congressional District.

Much of his current trip has consisted of stops at local businesses and Rotary clubs — in addition to an event at Montesano High School and a visit to Grays Harbor Community Hospital.

Kilmer, a Democrat from Gig Harbor, says it’s possible to have a strong natural resources-based segment of the economy and protect the environment. In December he formed the Olympic Peninsula Collaborative and introduced the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild, and Scenic Rivers Act in January.

But Kilmer told The Daily World editorial board Wednesday that economic recovery in Grays Harbor County won’t depend on timber jobs alone — the region must also focus on Port of Grays Harbor growth and small businesses.

“Everyone I talk to agrees that a one-legged stool can’t stand, so we have to focus on the other legs of the economy,” Kilmer said.

Asked to compare the northern and southern Olympic Peninsula segments of his district, he said, both have identified some of the strongest assets and used them well. The Port Angeles area, he said, has done a good job making its “front porch” attractive and that’s enhanced tourism. The Grays Harbor portion of the district has emphasized its port facilities and shipping has become a “juggernaut” in the local economy, he said.

While on the Harbor, Kilmer talked to City of Aberdeen officials about plans for downtown revitalization efforts. The city recently hired Cary Bozeman as an economic development consultant.

Bozeman oversaw similar revitalization efforts as the mayor of Bremerton from 2001 to 2009. Former U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks aided Bozeman’s efforts by securing federal funding in the form of earmarks.

However, finding funding for Aberdeen’s projects may be a little more difficult, Kilmer said. Dicks was a long-time representative who was the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Congress largely eliminated earmarks in 2012.

If Aberdeen seeks federal revitalization funds, it will likely come in the form of competitive grants and low-interest loans, he said.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “The process of pursuing federal funds is certainly a lot different than it was five, 10 years ago,” Kilmer said.

At the editorial board session, Kilmer also discussed one of Grays Harbor’s more divisive subjects: Wild Olympics, which hasn’t received a hearing in the House Committee on Natural Resources. The committee is chaired by fellow Washingtonian U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, a Republican from Pasco.

“There simply aren’t any wilderness bills moving through that committee right now,” Kilmer said.

While he doesn’t expect the bill to move forward this year, Kilmer said Wild Olympics is gaining favorable public opinion on Olympic Peninsula communities.

The newest iteration of the bill would designate fewer acres of land as wilderness, protect some existing roads and trails from closure and eliminate the “willing seller” provision that could have paved the way for expansion of Olympic National Park in the future.

“I had to feel comfortable that there wouldn’t be any negative economic impacts or impacts to private property,” Kilmer said.

With the Olympic Peninsula Collaborative — a group consisting of 16 conservation and recreation groups, timber representatives and timber-related companies — Kilmer has been working to expedite the logging on Forest Service lands.

The collaborative is still in its infancy, but Kilmer said the various stakeholders plan to tour the region and learn about various forestry treatments in coming months. He said he also hopes to continue open and non-combative conversation between collaborative members.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Genetically Engineered Atlantic Salmon: aka FrankenSalmon

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 FDA Asked to Monitor False Industry Claims About GMO Salmon Food & Water Watch and Center for Food Safety asked FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to stop erroneous statements by AquaBounty Technologies. The company’s vice present Henry Clifford told the press that the government will let the company sell its GMO salmon without a label to inform consumers.

Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch said in a statement, “FDA’s failure to take action on AquaBounty’s blatant misrepresentation of the facts typifies the agency’s entire handsoff regulatory review of GMO salmon.

It also illustrates the dangerous level of miscommunication between FDA and AquaBounty that, historically, has caused the agency to overlook critical risks associated with GMO salmon.”

Environmental experts are concerned that the genetically engineered fish will be able to escape into the wild, where it could breed with wild fish, outcompete wild salmon for food, and eventually cause the extinction of wild salmon. In addition, Consumer Reports has stated that the engineered fish may have different nutritional properties, especially since testing found that wild salmon has 189% more omega-3 fatty acids than engineered fish. And studies have found that engineered salmon have a higher tolerance for environmental pollutants, which means more toxins can accumulate in the fish, posing a risk to human health.

The letter, sent to the government last week, is the third time that Food & Water Watch has asked the FDA to address false statements made by AquaBounty. FDA has said it would not make a decision about labeling the engineered salmon until it makes a decision about regulatory approval.

And this is not the first time AquaBounty has made false statements. The company did not inform the FDA about a major biosecurity lapse in 2009, when the company’s Canadian facility on Prince Edward Island was infected with a disease that killed many fish. FDA said the facility was “disease free” in its 2010 Environmental Assessment. A public interest group discovered and publicized the truth about the disease outbreak in December 2011.

Hauter said, “the company’s behavior does not instill confidence that AquaBounty can raise the riskiest fish in the world.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

The EAC’s Joanne Cook says “the problem is we don’t know” what the government knows

 The making of Atlantic salmon The Canadian government recently approved, without fanfare, the world’s first genetically modified fish to be produced in PEI. The Ecology Action Centre has a problem with that.

April 14, 2014 Canada quietly made history last November when officials at Environment Canada gave the goahead on production of the world's first genetically modified food fish: the AquAdvantage® salmon.

Created by micro-injecting genetic materials from a chinook salmon and an ocean pout into the egg of an Atlantic salmon, the new GM fish grows about twice as fast as regular Atlantic salmon, shaving about 18 months off the time it takes for a salmon fillet to make it to your table.

Under the November approval, AquaBounty Technologies Inc., a US company with an ACOA-funded facility in Prince Edward Island, can manufacture GM salmon eggs in PEI, with permission to grow out some fish within the contained facility.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters But the bulk of the eggs are destined for a landbased aquaculture farm in Panama, where they will grow into fish, and then, pending approvals by the FDA and Health Canada, be sold as food in North American grocery stores.

Editorial Comment:

 Adequate

research has not been conducted to identify risks of GE salmon to public health and wild ecosystems.

 Panama

grow out facilities are not permitted and GE salmon will escape into local wild ecosystems.

 Existing and proposed ocean-based salmon feedlots will likely be converted to raise GE salmon

The global precedent of a GM food fish has not been lost on the Ecology Action Centre. Along with west coast partner group the Living Oceans Society, the EAC is hoping to give the historic approval a little more scrutiny. And so with help from the lawyers at Ecojustice, the centre is taking the federal government to court.

Its legal case focuses on the idea that Environment Canada and Health Canada failed to get the information they needed to figure out if GM salmon eggs in production in PEI are "toxic or capable of becoming toxic" under section 108 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Potential toxicity in the case of GM salmon comes from risk of escapes, and the effect that the new hybrid species would have on its originator, the wild Atlantic Salmon, which is endangered in many parts of the Atlantic coast.

"In the case of GM salmon eggs or salmon," says Susanna Fuller, the EAC's marine conservation coordinator, "would they get out into the wild? What would happen if they did? Could they interbreed?

We don't know any information [the government] might have used to make the decision and ensure it's not toxic."

This move for a judicial review is a big deal for the EAC, which has reason to shy away from courtroom encounters.

In the early '90s the EAC took the federal government to court over the Point Aconi power plant (a coal-fired plant that promised, but failed, to sustain the coal mining industry in Cape Breton). The Centre lost its legal battle and was ordered to pay court costs, which nearly bankrupted it.

"It gutted the entire organization," says Susanna Fuller, marine conservation coordinator. "When I started volunteering at the EAC in '95, they were still recovering," she says.

So the decision to pursue legal action this time wasn't taken lightly. "We had a lot of discussions internally," says Fuller. Even with environmental law charity Ecojustice providing lawyers, the case will draw heavily on the EAC's resources, requiring fundraising of tens of thousands of dollars to cover staff and spending needed to prepare for the case.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters "We decided it was worth it because it's the first approval of a genetically modified animal for human consumption in the world," says Fuller. "At the very least, we had to raise the issue and engage Canadians in a conversation. And the way to do this in a meaningful way was to take the decision to court."

Even before a single court date has been set, the EAC's legal action seems to be bearing fruit, of a sort. A little over a month after serving papers, EAC staffers noticed something pop up via Canada Gazette(the official newspaper of the federal government): On February 8, Environment Canada published a long list of waivers, including one for Aquabounty, exempting the company from providing "data from a test conducted to determine its pathogenicity, toxicity or invasiveness."

This caused concern at the EAC office. In the process of deciding whether or not to approve AquaBounty to produce AquAdvantage® fish and eggs, the government had exempted them from providing information about potential problems the modified fish may cause in the environment.

"It means they're making the decision in the absence of information," says Fuller.

With no dates attached to the waiver, and no details about the nature of the information that was waived, EAC staff started to look into the issue. "When we went back," says EAC marine toxics coordinator Joanne Cook, "we discovered Environment Canada had published no information waivers at all since 2008."

Environment Canada spokesperson Danny Kingsbury says the notices couldn't be published for so long because Environment Canada staff were too busy implementing a new chemicals management plan, one that had come into effect in 2006, over a year before the notification spigot got turned off.

It's worth noting that the Environment Ministers during this time–John Baird, Jim Prentice, Peter Kent and now Leona Aglukkaq–did find the resources to grant the waivers. It's just the final bit of paperwork– a single line of text listed below a standard excerpt of legalese–that was too much work.

Then on February 8, despite years of staff cuts at Environment Canada, the department was able to find the resources to publish six years' worth of notices in a single day.

In all, 163 waivers were listed on the February 8 notice, exempting almost 500 different sets of data from "antibiotic susceptibility" to "acute mammalian toxicity" to "boiling point tests."

"There are rigourous information requirements under CEPA," says Cook, "and hundreds of those requirements have been waived and kept secret. Some of them might be perfectly legitimate. The problem is we don't know. We as the public have no idea what the minister of environment has told these companies they don't have to provide.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters "We want to see a very firm commitment that this won't happen again," says Cook, who'd like waivers published as they are approved. "This is not an onerous process," she adds. "Somebody needs to hit send on an email to the Canada Gazette."

Environment Canada doesn't seem concerned about the six-year delay in publishing notices. "There is no time requirement in CEPA 1999 for the publication of waivers," said Danny Kingsbury in an email response to a question over the department's potential violation of its own legislation. As Kingsbury sees it, there may not be a point anyway. "The publication of the waivers notices does not impact the approval of these waivers."

"I know it sounds like arcane administrative back and forthing," says Cook, "but we're dealing with new biochemicals, new petrochemicals, new antibiotics, and new genetically modified plants, animals and fish. The government has not published waivers of information requirements that shape their assessment, in a timely fashion. And when it finally publishes them, they're so vague as to be useless."

AquaBounty's waiver of the data regarding the toxicity of AquAdvantage® eggs was granted in August 2013 on the condition that its PEI facility was sufficiently contained so that none of the eggs could make it out and find their way into a river or stream. Presumably, if they don't get out, then who cares what they may or may not do to the environment?

In an advisory report dated from November 2013, the department of fisheries and oceans agreed that the risk of GM eggs or fish making it into the Canadian environment was "negligible, with reasonable certainty."

However, in the unlikely event of a fish spill, the department concluded that the likelihood of the survival and spread of GM salmon was high.

And here seems to be a dividing point between GM fish proponents and opponents. Some look at the data and say, no problem–a low risk of a high risk is still a low risk. Others look at the same information and conclude when the stakes are high, no risk is low enough.

"This kind of public battle over genetically modified foods–it's happening because there's no public consultation," says Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network. "Everything happens in secret. There's no agreement in our society about do we want this new technology, and if we want to use it, how do we want to use it, how do we want to evaluate it?"

The EAC agrees, and that's one of the reasons it's decided to throw caution to the wind and engage the federal government in court, again. "This is an important issue globally," says Fuller, "and we should be concerned that the decision is being made in Canada. How these things get approved, what the public consultation process is, what the legal regime for how you would even manage them is.

If we don't challenge that in Canada, then we have abdicated our civic duties."

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Government action

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Still

in Bed Together: BC Salmon Farmers and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Nearly twenty months since $26 million Cohen Inquiry recommended actions Beyond Corruption!

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

A humpback whale is seen just outside of Hartley Bay on the north coast of B.C. near the proposed route of oil tankers associated with Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline project, on Sept, 17, 2013.

The number of species at risk has doubled over the past decade in the Salish Sea, generating calls for a special international body to co-ordinate research and conservation issues in the 17,000-squarekilometre area that includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound.

 Canada, U.S. urged to unite efforts, focus on species at risk in Salish Sea Numbers have doubled since 2002, according to report that also suggests Salish Sea is suffering from ' ecosystem decay' May 1, 2014

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters The number of species at risk has doubled over the past decade in the Salish Sea, generating calls for a special international body to co-ordinate research and conservation issues in the 17,000square-kilometre area that includes the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound.

Joe Gaydos, a wildlife veterinarian with the SeaDoc Society based in the San Juan Islands, said the latest scientific snapshot of species at risk in the Salish Sea should be a wake-up call to Canada and the U. S. to better co-ordinate their efforts. SeaDoc is a program of the University of California Davis Wildlife Health Center.

He noted as an example that the International Joint Commission already oversees transboundary waterways such as the Skagit River, Columbia River, and the Great Lakes.

Editorial Comment: Wild Game Fish Conservation International embraces effective Salish Sea protection and enhancement coordination involving Canada, British Columbia, United States, Washington, First Nations and Tribes.

This coordination is especially important given increased import and export of hazardous materials including condensate, light crude oil, diluted bitumen, liquefied natural gas, coal and more.

"It's time to set something up," Gaydos asserted in an interview.

"We need to be looking on both sides to do a better job."

From 2011 to 2013, five new species in decline were added to the list: American shad, North Pacific spiny dogfish, Pacific Ocean perch, buff-breasted sandpiper, and Baird's beaked whale. Another 10 species were added simply because it was determined their range included the Salish Sea. A total of 119 species are considered at risk in the Salish Sea as of November 2013, up from 60 species when scientists produced their first report on the issue in 2002, finds a SeaDoc report released Thursday at a Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in Seattle.

Currently, 35 per cent of mammal species, 32 per cent of bird species, 17 per cent of fish species, 100 per cent of reptile species, and less than one per cent of larger invertebrate species are listed as at risk by one or more of four jurisdictions - Canada, U.S., B.C. or Washington state.

Canada listed 61 per cent of the 119 species (including sub-species, distinct populations, and candidates for listing), B.C. 58 per cent, Washington 44 per cent and the U.S. government 22 per cent.

"I think it's a good sign that Canada and B. C. are ahead of the game on listing," said Gaydos. "Most of these species are seeing a decline on both sides of the border."

On the other hand, when a species is listed under the U. S. Endangered Species Act it receives stronger protection than under Canada's Species At Risk Act, he said.

The report suggested the Salish Sea is suffering from "ecosystem decay" and that the region should be considered an "ecosystem of concern." More funding is needed to study the problem and reverse the "insidious loss" of species, it concluded.

Since 2002, "every jurisdiction has underestimated the total number of species of concern within the Salish Sea," the report continued.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters "Combining all listed species within the ecosystem is needed to portray a comprehensive view of the actual species of concern."

The Salish Sea is an officially recognized term that describes the shared waters of Strait of Georgia, Juan de Fuca Strait and Puget Sound.

Protection measures can vary widely on both sides of the border. On the U.S. side, whale watchers must keep 200 yards from endangered resident killer whales, and non-profit Soundwatch is on the water in summer to educate boaters. On the Canadian side, federal law prohibits disturbance of the whales, and boaters are urged to maintain a distance of 100 metres. Federal funding for Straitwatch has been axed, leaving no similar watchdog in Canadian waters.

The listing and delisting of species is an ongoing process, as scientific information suggests the fate of a species is worsening or improving. In some cases, an animal may be added to the list or its severity of threat increased, say, from threatened to endangered.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 First Nation bans non-Native boat access in traditional territory May 5, 2014 The Stz’uminus (Chemainus) First Nation has pledged to prohibit boat traffic in a large chunk of coastal Cowichan waters.

The area affected includes everything north of Maple Bay, from Sansum Narrows right up to Dodds Narrows south of Nanaimo.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “Until further notice, Stz’uminus First Nation will prohibit access to its core territory in the Salish Sea by all vessels, including but not limited to, commercial fishing vessels, Fisheries and Oceans Canada vessels, and any non-Native civilians and government officials,” John Elliott, chief of the Ladysmith-area band said in a statement released Friday.

It is not clear at this time what steps the band may take in an attempt to enforce its declaration.

But it is clear the move stems from deep dissatisfaction about the way the federal government has dealt with fishing rights within the territory in question.

“The ongoing actions of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have failed to follow federal Aboriginal consultation and accommodation laws, failed to appropriately manage or allow for comanagement of fisheries within our territory and, ultimately, have failed to recognize Aboriginal Rights and Title,” Elliott writes.

“The DFO continues to favour existing commercial monopolies and continues to inadequately consult with Aboriginal groups when enacting policy,” he wrote. “Due to its gross mismanagement and failure to follow government mandates, we can no longer allow the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to manage fisheries within our territory. We cannot stand by while fish stocks within our territory continue to be depleted and our rights ignored.”

Elliott also sent a letter to B.C. fisheries sectoral groups, such as the Underwater Harvesters Association and the BC Shellfish Farmers.

“We understand that this [action] will create challenges for all parties, and we would like to firmly state that our fight is not with the commercial harvesters. Our fight is with the DFO alone, and our hope is to compel them to follow Canadian law when enacting new policy and change their existing policies surrounding aboriginal access accordingly.”

Ray Gauthier, CEO of Stz’uminus First Nation’s Coast Salish Development Corporation, says they have been trying to work with DFO for five years, particularly around geoduck harvesting.

“We’ve tried to work with them,” he said. “We don’t like sending out the kind of messages we sent out on Friday, but at the end of the day, we’re tired of being ignored.”

Like Elliott, Gauthier emphasizes that they aren’t taking this position because they want to hurt commercial fisheries — they’re doing this because they feel their community must take action.

“We’re concerned about safety,” said Gauthier. “It’s not like we like to do this. We don’t know what else to do. We’re frustrated … We know this is a David and Goliath thing, but if we don’t do anything, nothing’s going to happen.”

Fisheries and Ocean Minister Gail Shea issued a written statement in response to Elliott’s letter.

“Fisheries and Oceans Canada manages fisheries resources to allow for sustainable fishing opportunities,” it reads.

“Officials are engaged in ongoing discussions with the Stz’uminus to understand their concerns and interest. When needed, DFO and the RCMP work with fishermen and members of the First Nations to ensure the safety of everyone on the water.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 New Fisheries Changes Give Ministers Power To Allow Pollution April 29, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters New regulations under the Fisheries Act allow Canada's fisheries and environment ministers to give blanket authorization to cause pollution in fish habitat in a range of circumstances, including pollution from fish farm companies seeking to control "pests" or invasive species.

These regulations are the latest in a series of changes to Canada’s fish protection laws the government has made in the name of providing “certainty” to industry.

In 2012, the omnibus “budget” bills C-38 and C-45 made a host changes to Canada’s environmental laws, from a shiny, new and much weakened environmental assessment law, to a new Navigation Protection Act that removed protection from 99 per cent of Canada’s navigable waters.

Many of the most troubling changes were amendments to Canada’s Fisheries Act that replaced a blanket rule against harming fish habitat with a vague, and difficult to enforce, prohibition on causing “serious harm to fish.” Defined as including “permanent alteration and destruction” of fish habitat, this change has been widely criticized by scientists, lawyers and even former fisheries ministers for the lower standard of protection it provides.

Bill C-38 has also enabled the federal cabinet to allow the fisheries and environment ministers (who share responsibility for regulating pollution in fish-bearing waters) to give blanket approval to certain types of pollution.

For example, the ministers could exempt entire water bodies or species of fish from the protection of the Fisheries Act, or allow certain pollutants to be discharged, or certain polluters to pollute, without impediment by those pesky permitting processes or other forms of federal oversight.

As we feared, cabinet has taken the first step towards exempting certain polluters from federal laws regulating pollution in waters where fish occur. On April 11, it passed regulations that allow the ministers to develop rules authorizing the discharge of pollutants in fish-bearing waters, where that pollution is related to:







Open net fish farms, where the toxins are intended to control aquatic invasive species or species that are considered pests to a fishery. This power could be used to remove the requirement that aquaculture facilities obtain prior approval to use drugs, aquatic pesticides and biochemical oxygen-demanding matter in waters where fish occur; Research. In the first draft of the regulations, this term wasn't defined, raising concerns that "research" could include industrial activities like tailings pond monitoring. Fortunately, in response to public complaints cabinet amended the regulations, specifying that such pollution must be for done for the purposes of the development of scientific knowledge -- a small but important victory for public input; and Pollution covered by other federal or provincial laws or guidelines. Essentially, this provision could allow the ministers to say that the Fisheries Act provisions governing pollution in fishbearing waters do not apply where other laws or even non-binding guidelines cover the same types of pollution, whether or not they actually protect fish. At this stage it's not clear which industries, laws or guidelines might be covered.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters These regulations raise a number of questions, largely about what DFO means by "certainty." What about fisheries laws that would provide certainty to Canadians that their wild fish and natural environment will be there for future generations?

In our view, these regulations allow the ministers to authorize a broad range of pollution with few limits or checks and balances. It is natural to fear that the federal government is preparing to abdicate its responsibilities to protect fish from pollution.

Also, when the federal government says that these regulations are intended to bring certainty to industry, which industry does it mean? Clearly, they are not talking about the wild fishing industry, which stands to lose out to fish farmers under these new rules.

It has been 18 months since the federal government-appointed Cohen Commission expressed strong reservations about the conflict between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ mandate to protect wild salmon and their mandate to promote aquaculture: As long as DFO has a mandate to promote salmon farming, there is a risk that DFO will act in a manner that favours the interests of the salmon farming industry over the health of wild fish stocks.

Since then DFO has lifted the moratorium on fish farms in B.C. without addressing the fundamental concerns raised by Cohen. As fisheries biologist Alexandra Morton points out, the department’s mandate to expand fish farming seems to be alive and well. As DFO staff recently testified to a Senate Committee, rules that prevent fish farms from depositing toxic substances into fish bearing waters are a “very critical impediment to further operation of the aquaculture industry.”

And what about DFO’s mandate to protect wild fish? Just what do the regulations mean for fish?

Right now? Not much. The new regulations do not themselves permit pollution, but they do pave the way for new rules allowing it.

To be fair, the ministers could develop strong rules that impose stringent standards on the deposit of aquaculture drugs and pesticides, with stringent requirements for monitoring and only after environmental impact analyses have demonstrated that there would be no direct or cumulative harms to the receiving environment. But the minister’s new rules could also be a disaster for Canada’s wild fish populations, allowing the fish farms to dump toxins into salmon habitat without prior assessment, monitoring or consideration of how many other farms are dumping the same substances into the same waters.

Unfortunately, the government has sometimes shown itself only too willing to reduce environmental protection at the behest of industries.

Time will tell whether any rules developed under these new ministerial powers provide for strong protection for wild fish. But at the present time we are very concerned.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Ottawa paid multinational fish farms $4.1 million for diseased fish Payments for outbreak in B.C. defended as way to ensure prompt reporting of diseases April 29, 2014 OTTAWA — The federal government quietly paid $4.1 million in compensation to two Norway-headquartered aquaculture companies operating in B.C. that had to destroy fish hit by a deadly virus in 2012.

The payments came from a program that has paid out $94 million since 2011 — mostly to East Coast fish farmers — to cover losses from exposure to disease.

The payments of $2.8 million to Cermaq Canada and $1.3 million to Grieg Seafoods are outlined in federal documents about the culls after fish farm exposure to infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus, also known as IHNv. A government critic said Friday the disease outbreak, and the payments, should ring an alarm about the Harper government’s recently-announced steps to expand the B.C. industry after years of stalled growth due to environmental concerns.

“It’s another reason why expansion of the industry is reckless. If there are (more farms) Canadians can expect to pay more in compensations, too,” said Stan Proboszcz, a fisheries biologist at Watershed Watch.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Industry officials said the outbreaks were limited to three farms, of which two were compensated, and were isolated incidents involving a virus that is no danger to humans.

The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association said the industry has a legitimate claim to compensation.

“These funds are designed to help cushion all farmers (fish, chicken, pig, produce etc.) from that difficult impact, to encourage responsible management choices for the broader farming community, and to help provide security to the country’s food supply,” executive director Jeremy Dunn stated in an email.

The compensation is intended to cover the investment in the salmon up to the point of the cull, and not the full market value, he said.

It was the first outbreak of the disease in B.C. in nine years and there hasn’t been one since, according to the association.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said compensation is intended to be an incentive to ensure farmers in all sectors report disease outbreaks.

“Immediate disease reporting is critical for disease control and market access,” said Lisa Murphy.

“The compensation program encourages producers to promptly report animal diseases by mitigating the economic impact when animals are ordered destroyed.”

The industry announced in the summer of 2012 that viral outbreaks at Cermaq’s (then known as Mainstream Canada) farm at Millar Point, north of Tofino, and Grieg’s Culloden Point farm at Jervis Inlet.

Editorial Comment: An earlier outbreak in May of that year, at Cermaq’s Dixon Bay farm on the west coast of  How were these fish destroyed?

Vancouver Island, wasn’t compensated  Where were these fish disposed because the company emptied its site without  How were the cages and equipment receiving a Food Inspection Agency disinfected? destruction order.

The virus, according to the federal Fisheries department, is present in Europe, Japan and along the B.C. and Alaskan coasts.

While the virus “occurs naturally” among wild Pacific salmon and rarely leads to disease among adult fish, it can lead to “acute outbreaks” affecting fry and juvenile fish under certain conditions.

“In addition, Atlantic salmon are also particularly susceptible to the virus and, since the introduction of farming Atlantic salmon in B.C. and Washington state, several outbreaks have occurred in the marine open-net pen farms,” the department says on its website.

The federal government’s Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo is studying the virus, which got scant attention in the 2012 federal inquiry by Justice Bruce Cohen into the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye fishery.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 U.S.

Officials Search For Answers On Bitumen Spills As Canada Eyes Enbridge, Kinder Morgan Oil Pipelines May 2, 2014

U.S officials are struggling to figure out how bitumen from the Alberta oilsands will behave if there is a spill either from a pipeline or into the Salish Sea, the fragile ocean environment between Canada and the U.S. As the U.S. debates the future of the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport Alberta oil to the Gulf Coast, and Canada looks at Kinder Morgan's proposed twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline and the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway project, there is a growing urgency to find out how diluted bitumen behaves if there is a spill, said scientists, policy makers and environmentalists gathered in Seattle for the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference this week.

“Does it float or not float? That's the question,” said Gary Shigenaka, marine biologist with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hazardous materials response division, flashing a picture of thick, black bitumen extracted from the oilsands.

NOAA is studying the behaviour of bitumen and the diluent with which it is mixed to make the peanut-butter like substance flow through pipelines, but, so far, there are few concrete answers, Shigenaka said.

Editorial Comment:











Mixing highly toxic condensate and unspecified chemicals with Alberta tar sands’ cancer causing bitumen for export to Asian markets only benefits a few multinational corporations while risking public health and ecosystem security around planet earth.

Investing in dilbit transportation infrastructure (pipelines, tank cars, terminals, ships and more) takes us further down the path away from investing in effective, safe, renewable energy sources.

The risks and costs associated with extracting, transporting, refining and burning Canada’s bitumen and it’s byproducts far outweigh all purported benefits to Asian markets.

Of course citizens in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon will oppose the madness of transporting dilbit across our lifesustaining lands and waterways.

Of course, indigenous peoples throughout this region will continue to stand united in opposition to this insanity

Studies show that although diluted bitumen — dilbit — initially floats in water, it sinks when it is mixed with sediment, which would happen in high turbulence or in areas such as a river estuary, Shigenaka said.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Fears about the behaviour of bitumen in water have been growing since the 2010 spill of about 3.2 million litres (843,000 gallons) of thick crude into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. It was the first spill of diluted bitumen from Alberta into a waterway, and agencies struggled to cope with a substance that released toxic fumes from the diluent and then sank as the bitumen mixed with river sediment.

Conventional cleanup equipment proved useless and, four years later, the cleanup continues.

“We are not very good about finding or recovering oil we can't see,” Shigenaka said.

Additional problems with bitumen are the difficulty of rehabilitating oiled animals and little legislation regulating what goes into diluents, he said.

“That's a big hurdle for us.”

More legislation is needed to control what is contained in diluents, speakers said.

“And we need to advocate for legislation that defines diluted bitumen as an oil, subject to oil spill regulations and crude oil taxes,” said Stephanie Buffum, executive director of Friends of the San Juans.

In the U.S. Pacific Northwest, the debate is centered more on expansion of coal terminals around Puget Sound and the emerging question of transporting oil by rail, especially oil from the Bakken shale oil fields in North Dakota, which is believed to be highly flammable, said Eric de Place, policy director for the Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based think tank.

But pipelines carrying dilbit are a vital issue, he said.

Editorial Comment: Additional legislation directed toward dilbit and its transportation is most likely not necessary given existing pollution-related legislation.

What is needed is to wake up to the facts that:

   

Canada and the United States must enforce existing hazardous material handling legislation Energy via fossil fuels is not sustainable – we must invest in effective alternatives Reliance on fossil fuels results in risks to public health and to ecosystem security Neither Canada nor the United States is capable of safely transporting fossil fuels or recovering them after spills

“There's a pipeline boom,” de Place said.

“Enbridge Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan in the south would add dramatically more oil to coastal markets than Keystone XL, but the American audience knows little about it.”

The good news may be the history of environmental action in B.C., Washington and Oregon, de Place said.

“I think there's a good chance we could be the place that can say no to tar sands expansion,” he said.

“In some ways it could be the most important global contribution this region can make.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Kinder Morgan’s Westridge Marine Terminal, the terminus of the oil pipeline from Alberta that it wants to rebuild to triple its capacity.

 B.C. questions Kinder Morgan on Trans Mountain spill prevention, response regime May 12, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters VANCOUVER — The British Columbia government has questions for Kinder Morgan about the proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline through the province.

After reviewing the company's application to the National Energy Board, the province submitted 70 requests Monday for more information on oil spill prevention and response plans on land and at sea.

"Our staff have reviewed the overall application from Kinder Morgan," Environment Minister Mary Polak said at the legislature.

"What they have done is identified any gaps in information, places where they don't believe the information from Kinder Morgan is complete or gives us sufficient information to determine whether or not we can support the project."

Under revised federal rules, the province and hundreds of other interveners will not be allowed to directly cross-examine company experts on their testimony at the review hearings. Instead, they must submit information requests in advance.

Andrew Weaver, a climate scientist and Green MLA, submitted close to 500 questions to the panel.

He's worried about marine oil spills.

"I am very concerned about the evidence used to justify Kinder Morgan's assertion that it can deal with a heavy oil spill," Weaver said.

"As we saw with the Northern Gateway hearings there simply has not been adequate research on how heavy oil behaves in a marine environment, or if it is even possible to clean it up."

The province officially opposed the Northern Gateway pipeline at federal review hearings. The panel later recommended approval, with 209 conditions.

The $5-billion expansion of the Trans Mountain line would almost triple the capacity of the pipeline linking the Alberta oil sands to Port Metro Vancouver.

Like the Northern Gateway proposal, the province said the Trans Mountain pipeline must meet five conditions, including an undefined "world-leading" oil-spill regime.

Also like the Northern Gateway, the project faces staunch opposition from environmental groups and several First Nations.

But Polak said B.C. residents are not opposed to pipelines "just point blank."

"I think if they feel that if there are sufficient safeguards in place, then that opinion could change," she said, adding those safeguards are part of the province's five conditions.

Editorial Comment: Many B.C. residents and conservationists around planet Earth are opposed to oil and gas pipelines due to many, often-irreversible risks to public safety and health and to ecosystem security:

 Climate change  Air, water, land and food pollution  Catastrophic ruptures, spills, explosions  Ineffective spill response  No accountability  More

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters The two pipelines were among a handful of proposals singled out Monday in a report by the United Nations' special rapporteur on indigenous rights.

James Anaya's report said he heard repeatedly from aboriginal leaders about "an atmosphere of contentiousness and mistrust" around resource development.

The federal government relies on the regulatory assessment process to consult First Nations, yet has rewritten regulations so that fewer projects require a now much-abbreviated review, he said.

First Nations are bombarded with proposals and the onus is on them to carry out their studies and develop evidence to support their concerns.

It all creates an atmosphere "that is conducive neither to beneficial economic development nor social peace," he said.

Of 16 Canadian projects mentioned in the report, eight are in B.C., including the New Prosperity gold and copper mine near Williams Lake and the province's hoped-for trillion-dollar liquefied natural gas industry.

The B.C. and other provincial governments have encouraged resource sharing between companies and First Nations, Anaya said. The province itself has revenue-sharing deals for mining royalties, stumpage fees and oil and gas revenues.

Among his 99 recommendations, Anaya urged the federal government to pursue "less adversarial" treaty negotiations and aboriginal consent on resource development.

Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline rupture: Burnaby, British Columbia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Burrard Inlet, Fraser River

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 B.C. falling short on environmental monitoring, says ombudsperson report VICTORIA - The B.C. government lacks oversight of an environmental regulation meant to protect the areas that border rivers, lakes and streams, says the provincial ombudsman.

Kim Carter's latest report looks at the Riparian Areas Regulation, which applies to 15 regional districts in populated areas from Vancouver Island to the Interior.

"One of the important and recurring roles of government in modern society is to find an appropriate balance between two sometimes competing public interests such as development and environmental protection," Carter said in the report released Wednesday.

The flaws in monitoring and enforcement of the rules for riparian zones are "an example of what can occur when there is shared federal, provincial and local government responsibility for environmental protection."

The report pointed out that the ministry relies on proponents of a development that hires their own professionals to conduct assessments of environmental effects. Those reports are then submitted to the ministry for review.

"The underlying philosophy is that with (qualified professionals) doing the work on the ground, government resources focus on oversight activities — monitoring, reporting and enforcement," the report said.

"Our investigation highlights the challenges of implementing this model in the RAR (Riparian Areas Regulation) context."

The ministry was not meeting its own goals for reviewing those reports or conducting site visits, Carter found, and therefore didn't have enough information to confirm compliance.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources took over administration of the regulation from the Environment Ministry in 2010.

That ministry used to review all reports submitted but decided five years ago that only one in five in each region needed review.

"Having established this audit goal, though, the ministry did not meet it," the report said.

Carter made 25 recommendations, 24 of which have already been accepted by the province.

Those recommendations include changes to the regulation and the "professional reliance" system.

Carter also recommended that ministry staff review all assessment reports. That was the one recommendation not accepted by the province, though the ministry has agreed to review all reports for at least the next two years.

New Democrat environment critic Spencer Chandra Herbert said the report shows the inadequacies in environmental protections in B.C.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters "The government has not been minding the store," he said.

"There really hasn't been good oversight over protecting our riparian areas at all from the Minister of Forests, Land and Natural Resources, despite warnings," he said.

Chandra Herbert said there have been major cuts to ministry staff.

"That's led to big hold-ups on the industry side as they're waiting for reports to be read or action to be taken, and also on the environmental protection side because ... they just don't have the people to do it," he said.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Keystone

XL pipeline not expected this year as U.S. continues to ignore Canadian government demands April 18, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters WASHINGTON - The Keystone XL pipeline will not be completed this year.

The United States administration appears set to ignore the Canadian government's demand to make a decision soon on the controversial pipeline, so that construction could begin this summer.

Sources say the administration will announce Friday another delay in a project already beset by political complications.

They say congressional staffers have been informed, via conference call, that U.S. federal agencies will be given more time to weigh in on the project, while a legal dispute plays out in Nebraska over the proposed route.

The case is not expected to be resolved until the end of this year, at the earliest.

There had been speculation about whether the Obama administration might try to punt the politically sensitive decision until after this year's midterm elections.

While the project appears to have support from the general public, it has divided Barack Obama's Democratic party — pitting big-money environmentalist donors against red-state conservative Democrats afraid of losing their congressional seats this fall.

Editorial Comment: The general public is not adequately equipped to support or oppose the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project. The vast majority of US citizens are not aware of the:

    

public health and ecosystem security risks associated with the product (diluted bitumen) transported in these pressurized pipelines. inability to recover dilbit when pressurized pipelines rupture. irreversible risks associated with extracting bitumen from below sensitive ecosystems irreversible risks associated with condensate (kerosene-like material combined with unspecified chemicals and sand) and dilbit spills from the very large tankers used to transport these hazardous materials, impacts of extracting, transporting and burning bitumen in climate change

In an attempt to push the process along, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird spent several days in Washington recently pleading for a decision soon — arguing that it would be unfair to keep construction workers and the industry hanging as the building season approached.

But the project was tossed into further disarray by a recent Nebraska court ruling that the state government there broke the law in its attempt to unilaterally dictate a route.

The case is being appealed to the state supreme court. Until then, even a presidential permit to allow the pipeline to cross the border would slam into uncertainty given the confusion over the route.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Robert Fronczak (Association of American Railroads) gives a presentation during day one at the NTSB forum, Rail Safety: Transportation of Crude Oil and Ethanol.

 Rail Safety Forum: Transportation of Crude Oil and Ethanol

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters On Tuesday and Wednesday, April 22 and 23, 2014 the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will convene a forum titled, "Rail Safety: Transportation of Crude Oil and Ethanol." The forum is free and open to the public. No registration is required. The forum is scheduled to run from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm each day.

The forum will address rail safety, specific to the transportation of crude oil and ethanol. Crude oil and ethanol transportation by rail has seen phenomenal growth in North America over the last decade, altering the way these flammable liquids are transported. Trains made up predominately, if not entirely, of crude oil and ethanol cars, consisting of DOT-111 general-purpose tank cars and many thousands of barrels of liquid, have become increasingly common. A number of rail accidents, both in the United States and Canada, involving dedicated trains or large blocks of flammable liquid tank cars, have highlighted the vulnerabilities of the DOT-111 tank car and the need for comprehensive risk mitigation and emergency response strategies. The severe consequences resulting from the release of flammable liquids have underscored areas of concern identified in recent NTSB safety recommendations. The NTSB has invited researchers, crude oil and ethanol shippers, tank car builders, railroad carriers, emergency responders, and federal regulatory agencies to discuss the safety of crude oil and ethanol transportation by railroad. The invited panelists will provide presentations about current and proposed initiatives affecting these issues. Panelists will also discuss ways to reduce the consequences from accidents involving flammable liquids through tank car design, railroad operations, and emergency preparedness.

"While the soaring volumes of crude oil and ethanol traveling by rail has been good for business, there is a corresponding obligation to protect our communities and our environment," said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. "This forum will explore both the risks and opportunities that exist to improve the safety of transporting these important commodities."

The forum panels will include:  Tank Car Design, Construction and Crashworthiness  Rail Operations and Approaches to Risk Management  Emergency Response to Tank Car Releases of Crude Oil and Ethanol  Federal Oversight and Industry Initiatives Related to Crude Oil and Ethanol The forum will open with a brief review of past crude oil and ethanol railroad accidents, including those investigated by the NTSB and Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

The forum will be held in the NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, located at 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W. Washington, D.C. It will be free and open to the public. No registration is necessary. For those who are unable to attend in person, the forum can be viewed via webcast at www.ntsb.gov.

Organizations and/or individuals can submit input for consideration as part of the forum's archived materials. Submissions should directly address one or more of the forum's topic areas (identified by the panel titles) and should be submitted electronically as an attached document to: railsafetyforum@ntsb.gov. Input received will be entered into the public docket for this forum.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Weapon of Mass Destruction

Weapon of Mass Destruction

 Canada

to phase out old rail tankers in 3 years in response to Quebec explosion that killed 47 April 23, 2014

TORONTO - Canada will require a three-year phase out or retrofit of the type of rail tankers involved in last summer's massive explosion of an oil train that incinerated much of a Quebec town and killed 47 people, Canada's transport minister announced Wednesday.

Last July, a runaway oil train derailed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, near the Maine border. About 30 buildings were destroyed.

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said the DOT-111 tank cars carrying crude oil and ethanol must be phased out or retrofitted within three years. She also said the least crash-resistant of the older DOT111 tank cars, about 5,000 of them, must be removed from the rails immediately.

"Three years is the amount of time that we thought was the best saw off between what industry said that they could do and what is wanted by the Transportation Safety Board," Raitt said.

She said the three-year phase out will affect about 65,000 tank cars in North America, including a third or a quarter in Canada. Raitt said industry thinks the three year phase out is "ambitious."

Raitt announced the changes in response to recommendations by Canada's Transportation Safety Board in the aftermath of the tragedy. U.S. officials will be watching closely as the rail industry is deeply integrated across North America and both nations' accident investigators implored their governments earlier this year to impose new safety rules.

Raitt said she didn't have a sense of what the U.S. would do but said they are working with U.S. officials.

The DOT-111 tank car is considered the workhorse of the North American fleet and makes up about 70 per cent of all tankers on the rails. But they are prone to rupture. The U.S. NTSB has been urging replacing or retrofitting the tank cars since 1991.

Canada's safety board has said a long phase-out would not be good enough.

Safety experts have said the soda-can shaped car has a tendency to split open during derailments and other major accidents.

There's been intense political and public pressure to make oil trains safer since a runaway train with 72 tank cars of North Dakota oil derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic. The train was left unattended by its lone crew member while parked near the town. The train came loose and sped downhill into Lac-Megantic. More than 60 tank cars derailed and caught fire, and several exploded, destroying much of the downtown.

Oil trains also have exploded and burned in Alabama, North Dakota and New Brunswick in recent months.

Raitt also announced that rail carriers will also be required to prepare emergency response assistance plans for shipments of all petroleum products, including everything for crude oil to diesel.

The oil industry has rapidly moved to using trains to transport oil in part because of oil booms in the Bakken region in North Dakota and in the oil sands in Alberta and because of a lack of pipelines.

U.S. freight railroads transported about 415,000 carloads of crude in 2013, up from just 9,500 in 2008, according to government and industry figures.

The oil trains, some of which are 100 cars long, pass through or near scores of cities and towns.

Some companies have said they will voluntarily take the DOT-111 tank cars offline. Irving Oil Ltd., a large Canadian refiner, has said it will stop using the older DOT-111s by April 30. Canada's two largest railways, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, have already said they would move away from the DOT-111. But it is the oil companies or shippers that own or lease many of the cars.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Governor

discusses environmental issues with West End tribes during first North Olympic Peninsula visit April 20, 2014

NEAH BAY –– Environmental issues dominated discussion as Gov. Jay Inslee met with leaders of West End Native American tribes in his first visit to the North Olympic Peninsula as the state’s chief executive.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Inslee spoke Friday with Quileute and Hoh tribal officials about their efforts to move out of tsunami zones and with the Makah about the need for a multi-agency committee for oversight of oil and coal freight ships in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

“I’m impressed with these three tribes because they seem to be very cohesive, very well-led and very forward-thinking,” Inslee told the Peninsula Daily News on Friday evening.

“We’re having changes. The climate is changing. And there’s leadership here in all the tribes that realizes you have to be dynamic, you have to think ahead.”

Inslee flew into Sekiu Airport on Friday morning and drove with a State Patrol escort to the Hoh and Quileute reservations before returning north to speak with the Makah.

“Marine resources are for us, as a tribe, our most important resource,” Makah Chairman T.J. Greene told Inslee.

Chad Bowechamp, Makah marine affairs manager, told the governor of efforts the tribe has led to get support from tribal, state, national and Canadian authorities to put together spill response programs for the expected increase of oil from Canadian tar sand fields out of Vancouver, B.C., and U.S. oil shipments out of Cherry Point near Bellingham.

Bowechamp said he already had begun working on the issue with state Department of Ecology Director Maia Bellon, who accompanied Inslee on Friday’s trip. She is married to Bill Kallapa, a Makah tribal member.

The efforts, Bowechamp said, are driven by the “religious reverence we [the tribe] hold for the ocean.”

Inslee said the state has a limited role in what it can do for the tribes but that it was important to cultivate “government-to-government” relationships The primary discussion topic with the Hoh and Quileute tribes was their efforts to move their reservations out of tsunami zones, Inslee told the PDN. “We saw with the Quileutes this really visionary way to move up to higher ground,” Inslee said.

He noted that as a congressman representing the 1st Congressional District, he had helped pass bills to allow the tribes higher ground.

In February 2012, President Barack Obama signed into law the bill that gave the tribe 785 nearby acres of Olympic National Park, including 275 acres where the tribal headquarters, school day care center and elder center can move, and 510 acres of ceremonial land to resolve a decades-long boundary dispute with the park.

In 2010, legislation was passed that transferred 37 acres of park to the Hoh tribe and placed another 425 acres it bought over the past three years into trust.

Inslee represented the state’s 4th Congressional District from 1993 to 1995 and the 1st Congressional District from 1999 to 2012.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Noting that most efforts are driven by federal agencies, he said he would lend whatever support the state could to both tribes.

“We don’t have anything right now that we can say,” he said. “But we’re definitely going to be looking when there’s something we might be able to do.”

All three tribes, located on the remote end of the Peninsula, asked for the governor’s help in bringing high-speed broadband to their communities.

“It’s so important. These kids are so ambitious. They want — and they have to — compete on an international basis,” Inslee said.

“And educationally, that’s really tough without a good, solid infrastructure” He may pursue help from the state’s Community Economic and Revitalization Board to bring broadband to the West End tribes but said a provider and business are needed.

“I almost hesitate to even mention it because I don’t know if it will happen or not,” he said.

Inslee said his office would try to bring together members of the West End tribes with the Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam and Port Gamble S’Klallam to resolve a dispute over access to hunting grounds.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife in October determined the eastern tribes should have access to hunt in off-reservation areas of the Sol Duc, Pysht and Dickey game management units under the 1855 Point No Point Treaty.

The Quileute objected to the decision.

“There’s some questions. There’s some ambiguity between the tribes as to hunting rights issues that we want to resolve,” Inslee said.

“What we need to do is encourage talks between tribes and between the tribes and the state to get a resolution with that” Inslee spoke to a crowd of dozens at the first Drexler Doherty All-Native Basketball Tournament, which had 16 teams from tribes as far away as Montana competing over the weekend.

The tournament was organized to pay tribute to Doherty, who starred for the Neah Bay High School basketball team before dying unexpectedly last October at the age of 21.

“We’ve come to pay tribute to a great basketball player and a great young man,” Inslee said of Doherty.

“And I know he’s still here in our hearts today.”

Doherty was Kallapa’s nephew.

Inslee, noted for his high school athleticism, was expected to play — Makah officials even offered to make him a member of their tribe for the game — but his meeting before the tournament ran long, and the cowboy-boot-wearing governor did not pick up a ball.

He spoke with Doherty’s family at the tournament before leaving.

“That’s pretty awesome to have a guest like that,” said Kenrick Doherty, Drexler’s father.

“I think Drexler would have scored on him.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

More than 1,600 trout were seized at a Clovis, New Mexico, home on May 12, 2014. That’s 160 times the legal possession limit. Image courtesy of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

 1,600 Trout Over the Limit May 15, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters A poacher in New Mexico has taken illegal harvest to staggering new depths. After getting an anonymous tip, Department of Game and Fish Conservation Officers found more than 1,600 rainbow trout in the home of Bounchanh Bounsombath of Clovis, New Mexico. That’s more than 160 times the legal possession limit.

Bounsombath, 62, was arrested Monday, May 12, and admitted to catching all the fish at Green Acres Lake and Denis Chaves Pond in northwest Clovis.

“Never in my whole career have I encountered this before,” Col. Robert Griego said. “The extreme excess of this case is aggravating. The department stocks these fish for all sportsmen and women, young and old, with the desire that everyone will have the opportunity to enjoy the fish.”

Department hatchery workers released approximately 10,000 rainbow trout into Green Acres and Denis Chaves between November 2013 and March 2014. Licensed anglers may catch and keep up to five rainbow trout per day and may possess up to 10 rainbow trout at their residence.

Bounsombath was booked into the Curry County Detention Center with a bond set at $2,500. The department will seek $8,000 in civil restitution for the state to recover the loss of the trout.

There is no Justification for this Public Resource Theft!

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Chehalis Basin Flood Strategy Meetings Planned This Month Public Welcome to Four Meetings About Flood Damage Reduction, Aquatic Species Enhancement May 8, 2014 Lewis County area residents will have four opportunities this month to learn more about the latest work being done for flood reduction and aquatic species enhancement in the Chehalis River Basin.

The Chehalis Basin Strategy “Reducing Flood Damage and Enhancing Aquatic Species” Policy Workshop — organized by the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority and the Governor’s Chehalis Basin Work Group — will be held at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, May 22, and from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, May 23.

Additionally, the Chehalis Basin strategy will be presented at two community meetings from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, at the Veterans Museum in Chehalis and from 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 29, at Montesano City Hall.

“This is really looking at the conclusion, the cost and benefits and potential impacts of water retention,” Jim Kramer, Chehalis Basin project manager, said. “This is really for the first time some pretty detailed estimates. Ultimately, our next step is to do a comparison of different options.”

A final workshop will be held Sept. 25 and Sept. 26.

The purpose of the policy workshops is to present studies to the Governor’s Work Group, Flood Authority, tribal officials, state agency managers and the public who will provide input regarding the policy implications, organizers said.

The Governor’s Work Group will use input from the upcoming meetings to form its recommendations to the governor and state Legislature by November.

The public meetings will specifically cover the benefits and impacts of a potential dam on the Chehalis River, alternatives to protect Interstate 5, aquatic species enhancement plans and local floodplain management programs.

Kramer said the two community meetings were scheduled later in the evening to accommodate work schedules. Kramer will host a formal presentation each evening on May 28 and 29 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., including time for questions and answers.

Informational stations will also be set up from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. for attendees.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Greenwashing (aka: Pure Bovine Excrement)

GREENWASHING

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 BC's salmon farmers to be featured on 60 Minutes May 6, 2014 CAMPBELL RIVER – Vancouver Island and BC’s beautiful coast will get international attention this weekend as the province’s top agricultural export, farm-raised salmon, is featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes.

Editorial Comment:

 

The show is scheduled to air May 11, 2014 “It’s great that 60 Minutes came to the area to learn first-hand the value and integrity of the BC salmon farming industry,” said Vic Goodman, CEO of the Campbell River Economic Development Corp.



Ocean based salmon feedlots will never be sustainable Ocean based salmon feedlots have no relation to agricultural (cultivating land) practices We look forward to the 60 Minutes report further exposing public health and safety risks as well as ecosystem security risks associated with ocean based salmon feedlots.

“This kind of show is great exposure for Vancouver Island. It’s a chance to showcase our beautiful coast and with tourism season fast approaching the timing couldn’t be better."

The crew from 60 Minutes spent several days filming on Vancouver Island in October 2013, including a tour of a salmon aquaculture hatchery and spending a day out on a farm site.

“It was really interesting to host the crew for the day,” said Ian Roberts, Communications Manager for Marine Harvest Canada – who was interviewed for the segment. “We answered a lot of questions and shot a lot of footage – including some great shots of the area and the beautiful scenery. I’m very excited to see how it will all be put together in the final piece so people around the continent can see what a wonderful area we live in.”

The BCSFA has compiled a summary document of all the topics discussed on the day, both on and off camera. That document is available on the BCSFA website: CBS 60 Minutes Backgrounder “We were really pleased to be able to showcase both our sector and Vancouver Island, especially on a program with the audience reach of 60 Minutes,” said Jeremy Dunn, Executive Director of the BCSFA. The BCSFA represents salmon farm companies and those who supply services and supplies to the industry. Salmon-farming provides for 6,000 direct and indirect jobs while contributing $800-million to the provincial economy each year.

For more information visit www.salmonfarmers.org

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Are we prepared for an oil spill?

April 16, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters No oil was released. No animals were affected.

No water was contaminated.

But the emergency response drill conducted last Friday by pipeline company, Kinder Morgan at the Cheam First Nation beach on the Fraser River was a stark reminder of what could happen one day.

“It’s a bit scary, the thought of a spill,” newly elected Cheam band councillor Darwin Douglas told the Times. “It would be devastating for our community, but all the more reason that exercises like Thursday’s are important.”

Douglas, like many Cheam band members, spends a good portion of his summer fishing in the Fraser River. Four years ago approximately 30 million sockeye returned to the river and even more are expected this year. A spill of crude oil into the Fraser could prove disastrous for the nutritional and cultural mainstay of his and other Sto:lo bands.

“We live down there during the summer,” Douglas said of the spot on the river where Kinder Morgan set up for the drill. “We camp out there. It definitely raises a lot of concern and even after the exercise yesterday, community members started asking questions.

“There is a lot at stake here.”

The exercise on the beach involved local First Nations, police, Kent/Harrison Search and Rescue, the SPCA, CP Rail, wildlife recovery people and spill response experts.

The Kinder Morgan employees were led by trainer Michael Locke from Western Canadian Spill Services, an Alberta company that specializes in oil spill cleanup. Thursday’s oil response practice was one of about 15 such training sessions Kinder Morgan conducts annually to ensure it’s ready in the unlikely worst-case scenario of an oil spill.

Editorial Comment: Kinder Morgan is providing local residents and business owners with a false sense of security with these oil spill drills.





    



 

The diluted bitumen (dilbit) in these pipelines is terribly hazardous and its risks to public health and wild ecosystems are long-lasting.

Dilbit is a combination of extremely viscous bitumen (sandy tar-like material) combined with condensate (kerosene-like material, unidentified chemicals and sand).

Condensate is added to bitumen in order for the heavy bitumen to flow through pipelines under high pressure.

Kinder Morgan’s existing Trans Mountain pipeline is over 60 years old and has experienced many ruptures.

Kinder Morgan’s proposed “twinning” project will triple this project’s daily dilbit volume to nearly 900,000 barrels per day.

Dilbit sinks in water – it is impossible to clean-up a dilbit spill/leak.

The hazards of dilbit require response crews to wear HazMat clothing and breathing apparatus – none is being worn in this drill.

This crew, bless their hearts, and the equipment they are using will be woefully ineffective in dealing with a dilbit spill of any significance.

Fish and wildlife in this area will be wiped out when a nearby dilbit pipeline under high pressure ruptures.

People in the area deserve to know the real risks – long and short term

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “It is a possibility and we want to be ready for all eventualities,” said Rob Hadden, Western region director for Kinder Morgan.

“We are confident that we are going to respond and rescue the oil in the event of an incident.”

Crews at the beach Thursday set up booms in the water that would direct oil on the surface of the river where it would be removed into tanks or trucks using a skimmer.

As part of the training exercise, Locke talked to the Kinder Morgan employees about how to deal with wildlife in the event of an oil spill. He demonstrated a number of tools used to scare off birds and other animals from the scene of a spill, ranging from propane cannons to aluminum pie plates.

But BC SPCA chief scientific officer Sara Dubois, who was at the exercise on Thursday, said the demonstration of “hazing” equipment is only useful for first responders who get to an oil spill before the wildlife does.

Who would rehabilitate affected birds if there was a rupture in Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline somewhere in the Lower Mainland?

“We are completely unprepared for a wildlife response,” Dubois told the Times this week.

“There is no designated oiled wildlife facility in B.C.” The only wildlife facilities in B.C. are run by non-profits or are small, home-based operations.

“None of those have the capacity to provide services for wildlife response on a large scale.”

Dubois said the reason there are no facilities and, to compare, there are 10 in California alone, is that in the United States pipeline companies have to say what they will do to rehabilitate wildlife in the event of an oil spill.

In Canada, it’s optional.

“If you want to pick up the wildlife, you can. If you want to walk away, you can.”

The BC SPCA is a member of the Oiled Wildlife Trust, a consortium of provincial wildlife organizations that issued a damning report regarding wildlife recovery capacity in 2011 in response to the Enbridge Northern Gateway project. Dubois said the message of that report still stands with respect to Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline currently being considered by the National Energy Board (NEB).

While concerned about the capacity to respond, both Dubois and Douglas said they were grateful to be asked to be included in Kinder Morgan’s emergency exercise.

“We have to face the fact there is a line there and we need to do whatever we can to build up our preparedness,” Douglas said. “The other fact of the matter is if there was an incident, our people would be one of the first on the scene.”

NEB hearings into Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion are expected to start early in 2015.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Kinder Morgan says oil spills can be good for the economy April 30, 2014 “Public safety at risk by oil train shipments” - Watch, Listen, Learn HERE (22 min) Kinder Morgan has managed to find a silver lining in oil slicks: they could create jobs.

That's according to a 15,000 page application Kinder Morgan has submitted to the National Energy Board for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (a document so large that it "stands over two metres tall and fills 37 binders").

In a section of the application dedicated to the risks and effects associated with oil tanker traffic and the possibility of oil spills, Kinder Morgan finds that "spills can have both positive and negative effects."

In particular, "spill response and clean-up creates business and employment opportunities for affected communities, regions, and clean-up service providers."

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters While it is true that a massive oil spill in the Strait of Georgia likely would create a demand for "clean-up service providers," an oil company leading off their analysis of the socioeconomic effects of oil spills by pointing to all the jobs that would be created is as absurd as leading off an analysis of the effects of a recession by pointing out it will lead to a boom in demand for repossession service providers.

The report goes on to list a dozen negative effects of oil tanker spills, notably the devastation of fishing stocks, tourist industries, widespread property damage, cultural heritage sites, the "traditional lifestyles" of aboriginal communities and, of course, a significant impact on human health. But far as the economy is concerned, Kinder Morgan wants you to know an oil spill also has a positive side.

Since the filing of this application in December, the NEB has rejected 27 climate experts from delivering testimony and quietly dropped oral hearings from the Trans Mountain pipeline review, reducing the approval process to a "mere paperwork exercise."

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

In 2007, Kinder Morgan's TransMountain pipeline ruptured in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, sending (234,000litres ) toxic oil (diluted bitumen) into streets and homes.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Oil is coming so let's do it right, says Helin of pipeline proposal May 9, 2014 Eagle Spirit Energy Holding Ltd. feels oil shipping in British Columbia is imminent, so citizens should support a project that vows to do it safely.

The Haida Nation recently publicized its opposition to Eagle Spirit Energy's proposed oil project, which would have oil refined in either northeastern B.C. or Alberta and moved via pipeline to one of three shipping points being considered.

President and chairman Calvin Helin said the company respects the Haida Nation's right to come to any decision, but said oil is already being shipped off of B.C.'s coast.

"Coming from Alaska, there are 300 tankers transiting right by Haida Gwaii every year, within about 70 miles of the island. They're carrying the heavier forms of crude ... Kinder Morgan is also shipping bitumen right out of Vancouver harbour. If it's going to Asia it goes right by Haida Gwaii, as well," Helin said.

Helin said by accepting the fact that oil will be shipped from B.C.'s coast, First Nations can have a say about how it is done and can prevent bitumen from being shipped.

Editorial Comment: With all due respect: 

What profit-driven corporations “feel” is irrelevant.



Comparing ongoing shipping 70 miles off the coast with navigating narrow, treacherous, island-dotted channels and inlets is like comparing apples and oranges.



The proposed increase of hundreds of ships (including Very Large Crude Carrier class tankers), and their multiple support vessels, transporting condensate, dilbit, liquefied natural gas and coal along British Columbia’s rugged coastline is nothing short of madness.



First Nation peoples in British Columbia, British Columbia citizens and conservationists around the globe will not tolerate likely destruction of British Columbia’s marine and fresh water ecosystems to further enrich governmentenabled corporate executives.

Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever!

"One of the reasons we are involved in looking for an alternative is because oil is so important to the Canadian economy. It's going to be shipped at some point. To bury our head in the sand and pretend it's not going to happen is to exclude yourself from shaping what is going to happen," he said.

"It's incumbent upon us to have a sensible and realistic attitude about it and also to ensure that citizens of the northwest coast and, particularly, First Nations are fairly compensated for the risk that is ultimately going to be there."

Legacy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Honoring Sacred Waters

Mining

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 KSM Pt. 2: A river runs through it, and that's the problem Seabridge's KSM mine will be as deep as any the world has seen with the potential to critically damage Alaska's downstream resources April 3, 2014

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters If built, the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell mine near the British Columbian border could produce more than 10 billion pounds of copper, 133 million ounces of silver, 38 million ounces of gold and 200 million pounds of molybdenum.

It would also produce more than 2 billion tons of tailings, and one of its three open pit mines would be about as deep as the deepest open pit mine in the world today. Water treatment facilities filtering water from the mine site and into the Unuk River, which flows into Alaska’s Misty Fjords National Monument, may need to operate 200 years or more to prevent acid from draining into Southeast Alaska waters.

British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Office, which is reviewing Seabridge Gold’s 33,000page mining application, says review and oversight — as well as Seabridge’s efforts to date — will ensure the mine, if permitted, is environmentally safe.

But others in Alaska and BC worry about the mine’s vast scope and effect on fish. They say should anything go wrong with this or other mines proposed in BC during or after their operation, acid mine drainage could contaminate important salmon producing rivers and Southeast Alaska’s waters, and Southeast Alaska and Yakutat’s more than 5,000 annual fishing jobs — and its fish — could be in jeopardy.

A THREAT TO FISH? Kevin Koch, a fish and wildlife biologist with the Gitanyow Fisheries Authority, said the KSM project represents “the biggest threat to the Gitanyow way of life to date.”

The Gitanyow have for thousands of years used the Nass River, located in the same watershed as the tailings facility, as their primary source of salmon. The Nass River empties into the ocean just south of Alaska’s border.

In a report prepared in January for the Gitanyow Fisheries Authority and submitted to British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Office as public comment, Michael H.H. Price, a biologist with the University of Victoria, wrote that salmonids (fish in the salmon family) in waters downstream from the tailings facility “will undoubtedly be subject to sub-lethal metal toxicity. In some circumstances … the effect most probable is secondary death.”

Seabridge Gold’s data suggests otherwise; the company’s six years of studies, asphalt-core earthen dams for the tailings pond, mitigation strategies, water treatment facilities and consistent monitoring will minimize negative impacts to fish in the Nass and Unuk rivers, they say.

In a fact sheet, the company declared, “the proposed tailing management facility will be located at a watershed divide between Teigen and Treaty Creeks (which leads, eventually, to the Nass River) but there will be no impacts on water or salmon because no acid-generating contact water will be released into the environment and water-flow disturbance will be minimized — as confirmed by extensive scientific studies.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Seabridge Vice President of Environmental Affairs Brent Murphy said crushed rock is being deposited into the tailings management facility, and “potentially acid-generating material” will be separated and put in a lined cell, maintained under a water cover. The facility will also be constructed and used in phases, allowing for “reclamation.”

“This (lined cell) is one of the main aspects of accommodation and was built into the design to address the concerns of the local Aboriginal people,” he said.

In the executive summary to its application, the company says that in the two watersheds the project is expected to have “minor” effects on Dolly Varden, pacific salmon, bull trout, cutthroat trout and rainbow trout, steelhead and fish habitat, most of which will be mitigated through good monitoring and management.

Despite the additional measures taken, many Alaskans and British Columbians are not reassured, citing seismic activity and the potential for other disasters, worries about monitoring, the massive and perpetual need to treat the water flowing over the site and into the Unuk River, and, most of all, the decades or centuries of required maintenance after the closure of the mine as reasons to worry about acid mine contamination in Alaska’s waters and its fish.

Post-closure, due to naturally occurring mineralized rock, water treatment will be needed at the mine site, which flows to the Unuk River, “for the foreseeable future,” Murphy said.

Not all nearby First Nations oppose the project: the Gitxsan Treaty Society supports it, in part due to Seabridge Gold representatives’ “open, honest and transparent dealings.”

The Tahltan Central Council requested more information about many aspects of the project, saying that they need more information on the impact on water quality and fish in the same creeks Koch is concerned about. The KSM project also has support in some nearby towns; the company has donated $200,000 to a trades training program at a nearby college and says it will provide around 6,500 jobs in British Columbia over the course of the project.

Seabridge Gold has made an effort to address some other environmental concerns. The state of Alaska was concerned that the water treatment facility was not adequately mimicking the natural ebb and flow of water quantities in a natural coastal, glacial system; Seabridge revised its plans to mimic natural flow more accurately, with the highest amount of water released in the summer months.

“Contrary to belief, this process is rigorous,” Murphy said of environmental assessment and permitting. “It is a very thorough and time-consuming process.”

Some First Nations representatives recently attempted to attend a recent transboundary mining summit in Craig, hosted by the Organized Village of Kasaan, but were turned back by weather.

Eleven of Southeast Alaska’s 19 federally recognized tribes attended, formed a working group and unified in opposition to the mine.

“That’s just the first of many meetings that are going to come,” Rob Sanderson, 2nd Vice President of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, said. “Right now we’re trying to … slow or stop that permitting process … (KSM is) very real and it sits above the most pristine waters in Southeast Alaska.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters A delegation including Dale Kelley, executive director of the Alaska Trollers Association; Brian Lynch, executive director of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association; Bruce Wallace, a purse seiner from Juneau; and Raymond Paddock, environmental coordinator for the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, recently flew to Washington, D.C. to meet with federal and elected officials, express their concerns and give them a letter signed by more than 40 different Southeast Alaska businesses, organizations and tribes.

On Wednesday, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich and Rep. Don Young asked the U.S. State Department to raise the delegation’s concerns about water quality worries rising from mining in the Unuk, Stikine and Taku river watersheds with the governments of Canada and British Columbia.

A BIG MINE? Some basic descriptions of the mine are debated.

“The complexity of this project is unprecedented for a gold mine in B.C., Canada, or indeed, the world,” the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs wrote in a Nov. 2013 letter to Canada’s Minister of the Environment.

“It’s amazing one of the biggest mines in the world is basically going unnoticed,” Koch said.

Rivers Without Borders calls the project a “giant.”

Sanderson said “the scale of the KSM mine is above comprehension.”

Multiple other sources call it one of the largest undeveloped gold and copper resources in the world.

Seabridge’s own website states, “the KSM Project is one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in the world.”

In one of its fact sheets, however, Seabridge contradicts that statement saying it is a misconception that KSM is big and that it is in fact an average size.

“The KSM mine, including its open pit, is only average in size compared to other mines around the world,” it says.

Seabridge plans to mill around 43.8 million tons of mineral ore annually. Daily, it would handle 130,000 tons of ore and produce about 820 tons of gold-copper and molybdenum concentrate.

More than 2 billion tons of tailings would be transported through twin tunnels 23 kilometers long to facilities constructed in the Bell-Irving River Watershed, which flows to the Nass River.

Two dams constructed for the tailings facility, which is 7.5 miles long by 1.8 miles wide, would be about as high, and much wider, than the Hoover Dam. Those dams will “become a part of the landscape after reclamation,” Murphy said.

The water treatment facility would have the capacity to treat 119,000 gallons of water per minute. Any water that comes in contact with the mine site would also need to be treated for 200 years or longer.

One of the three open pits in the project, located in the Unuk River watershed, would be threequarters of a mile deep, reduced from an initial proposed depth of a mile. After it reaches that depth, it would be mined using underground methods.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The difference may be a matter of how “big” is defined; for example, Kennecott Copper mine in Utah, also known as Bingham Canyon Mine, is largely agreed to be the deepest open pit mine in the world.

Mitchell Pit, one of the three open pits at KSM — originally proposed to be a mile deep, something the pre-assessment contractor called “unprecedented” — will be almost exactly the depth of Kennecott.

In other words, KSM will be as deep as the deepest open pit mine in the world.

IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG ...

“In our opinion, the likelihood of a catastrophic event or failure of mitigation is very high and possibly greater for this proposal than for other mines and should be addressed in the application,” the Petersburg Vessel Association wrote in its public comments.

In its public comments, Rivers Without Borders cited mining engineer Dave Chambers: “The (EA) should be considered inadequate for the intended purposes because it does not disclose any detail on how the project proponent or regulatory agencies will ensure that funds will be available as long as they are needed to implement the closure and post-closure obligations. Without this information, the likelihood that essential mitigation would be adequately funded in the long term cannot be assessed.”

British Columbia requires mines to post bonds for mitigation and cleanup costs, the amount of which is determined after environmental assessment during the permitting phase of a project. (This financial assurance will be more thoroughly addressed in the third article in this series.)

The Petersburg Vessel Association also cited EPA studies that found mining has contaminated the headwaters of 40 percent of the watersheds in the western continental U.S. and that 76 percent of U.S. hard rock mines exceeded discharge levels predicted in EPA environmental impact statements before construction.

“The application assumes mitigation will always work and a company will stand behind its commitments physically and financially. How this will be guaranteed needs to be addressed in the application,” Lynch wrote. “Considering that bankruptcies and buyouts are common in the mining industry, what assurances can be made that the long term commitments of one company will be kept by another?”

On its website, Seabridge Gold says it usually sells its projects to another company after permitting and prior to construction. Murphy said Seabridge will joint venture KSM — it will find a partner — but it will stay involved in the project.

Rivers Without Borders cited a different study.

“Research shows that even with mitigation measures in place, 93 percent of mines that had a potential for acid drainage exceeded water quality standards in groundwater and 85 percent exceeded water quality standards in nearby surface waters,” they wrote in public comments.

On its website, Seabridge says “protection of the environment is a guiding principle behind the design of the KSM project, and during operation, KSM will fully meet all applicable standards to ensure water quality set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Canadian and Provincial governments and the BC Environmental Agency.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters They also emphasize that the environmental assessment application took five years to prepare and involved “studies and input from more than 16 world-class consulting firms.”

Just the same, a debate surrounds aspects as fundamental as Seabridge’s baseline data on water quality; the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs have data that conflicts with Seabridge’s, Koch said.

“That (KSM’s data) is seriously in question,” he said. “We’ve worked with some independent water quality people … to critique Seabridge’s work.”

It’s usual in the United States and in Canada for mines to hire consulting agencies to conduct studies. But Southeast Alaska Conservation Council Mining and Clean Water Project Coordinator Guy Archibald said frequently in the U.S., as with Kensington and Greens Creek mines, the company hires a state agency, like the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which has a responsibility to the residents of the state and is more likely to submit impartial data. Another option, he said, is to hire someone through an interest group like a First Nation.

Archibald said the source of his unease about KSM is in part related to Seabridge’s confidence that it will have no significant impact on the ecosystem, when the future and human plans and structures are inherently unstable.

“Predictability progressively decreases from day one and uncertainty increases,” he wrote in a reflection about the project. “The 200-year mark is not some magic moment in time when suddenly contact water will cease to be contaminated, but the point where the built-up uncertainty in the analysis exceeds any predictive value. In other words, after 200 years, no one knows.”

The Tulsequah Chief Mine has been leaching acid mine drainage into the Tulsequah River, which flows into the Taku River, since it closed in 1957. Though a recent study found the drainage is not having a significant negative impact on the Taku’s fish, the fact that the mine has leached acid into Alaska’s waters for decades worries those concerned about KSM’s long-ranging water treatment needs.

And compared to KSM, the Tulsequah site is miniscule.

“Lord forbid if we have a seismic event,” Sanderson said. “I could only imagine the catastrophic events in Southeast Alaska.”

Seabridge is required, in its environmental assessment, to address the potential of various disasters.

They say their tailing dams are planned to the standards of a dam in Chile that recently withstood an 8.8 magnitude earthquake. They also say the region is not known for large earthquakes.

Rivers Without Borders, in contrast, calls the region “seismically active.”

STEPS TO MITIGATION More than 80 percent of the waste rock coming from the mine will produce acid, so Seabridge Gold plans to treat all tailings as potentially acidic. At the mine site, where water flows into Alaska, Seabridge plans to divert most water around the mine site and treat any water that comes in contact with it. Both steps have been praised by the EPA. “The concerns that we’re hearing from Alaska are identical to the concerns in Canada,” Seabridge’s Murphy said. “From day one, the protection of the environment has been the key guiding principle behind the design of this project.”

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Others are concerned about selenium, which has a negative effect on fish and is difficult to treat.

Seabridge says its residual effect on fish is “moderate;” Murphy said the ion-exchange technology Seabridge plans to address it is established.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disagrees.

“It appears that the technology being proposed for the (selenium) portion of the water treatment is novel,” the EPA wrote in comments on the application.

“While the development of novel water treatment options to provide site-specific solutions is commendable; there needs to be further studies performed at more relevant water chemistries, flow rates and volumes … before any mining activity occurs in the Kerr pit.”

The EPA also requested some of the same things concerned Alaskan residents want: more information on potential downstream effects on salmon, eulachon (hooligan) and water quality and more information on potential dam failures, for example. The agency also reiterated Alaskan Tribal concerns including the absence of any information on eulachon in the impact statement, concern over acid mine drainage and the fact that the 45-day comment period was not long enough.

“Reading the EA application at one page a minute, 24 hours a day would take about half the comment period,” the Rivers Without Borders group pointed out in its comments.

The EPA also requested more information on water quality impacts.

Due to natural leaching and existing high levels of metals in the water in Sulphurets Creek, which flows into the Unuk River and then into Alaska, that treatment will actually improve the quality of the water, Seabridge’s studies say.

Some are skeptical of that statement, especially in the long-term.

“I have yet to see anything like that in the world — where an actual mine has improved a water system. I just have yet to see it. I don’t know if I could buy that just yet,” Raymond Paddock, Native Land and Resources Environmental Coordinator for Tlingit and Haida Central Council, said.

NEXT ARTICLE: Several Southeast Alaskan organizations say five British Columbian projects, in transboundary watersheds like the Unuk and Stikine, have the greatest potential to negatively affect Alaska’s water and its fisheries.

British Columbia, according to its jobs plan, has a goal of eight new mines being in operation by 2015 and nine mines getting upgrades and expansions.

Currently, the BC Environmental Assessment Office has eight aggregate/coal mines and seven metal mines active in the pre-application phase; two metal mines are in the application phase, according to Greg Leake, the EAO’s Director of Client Communications and Engagement. And B.C.’s Premiere, Christy Clark, has told the EAO to “get to ‘yes’ faster.”

BC’s development push and assessment and regulatory process, Canada’s changing environmental laws, Alaska’s recourse — or lack of it — should something go wrong, Alaska and the U.S.’s input in the process and the overall scope of projects that could impact Alaskan waters will be examined in the next article in this series.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

Wild fish management

 Our

Current Bad Practices Will Cripple The $100 Billion Fishing Industry

November 6, 2013

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters It may be difficult to govern in Washington at anything less than a point of crisis, but we can’t make the same mistake with our oceans.

The consequences are too dire.

If we fail to work together now, we risk the collapse of 71% of the Earth’s surface with severe economic consequences. We threaten hundreds of millions of jobs and billions of people who rely on seafood for protein and nutrition.

These frightening assertions are not exaggerations, but facts based on undeniable data. Meanwhile much of the international community is barely waking up to the problem and many are still hitting the snooze button despite the warning signs.

More than 80 other nations are involved in the fishing trade, an industry that generates $102 billion dollars yearly. In addition to providing food and livelihoods, the oceans help absorb 25% of our carbon emissions and international trade generates trillions of dollars in commerce thanks to the unobstructed transit routes the oceans provide for shipping. Although commercial fishing has grown tremendously in the past 50 years, 30% of the world’s fisheries are overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion.

The economic consequences of poor fishery management to large businesses as well as small-scale producers are dire. Currently, we are experiencing an estimated $50 billion in lost economic potential every year from mismanagement of ocean fisheries. Some 350 million jobs are directly linked to the world’s five oceans. That’s more than double the number of people in the U.S. workforce. Needless to say, as a civilization we stand to squander a great deal if we don’t put real effort into protecting the sustainability of our oceans, and the private sector needs to be involved.

Without question, sustainability efforts require some degree of sacrifice and come at a cost, at least in the short term. But the long-term reward is far greater. The trouble is that the most vulnerable ocean regions, which have the most urgent need for capacity to change, are largely found off the shores of developing economies. These are states where resources are scarce, and what income is generated must go to sustain its people with little left over to sustain the environment. Coastal states need support from the private sector, international organizations and civil society groups, which is why partnerships between diverse stakeholders is needed for success. It is in these developing economies that achieving the right balance of environmental and socio-economic goals is most critical.

In some instances, competitors even work together with scientists and conservationists to achieve improvements that benefit everyone. The tuna industry, for example, joined with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and scientists in 2009 to develop the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), which is now leading the way in tuna sustainability advancements that impact food and economic security, as well as long-term marine ecosystem conservation. A majority of companies selling crab in the U.S. continue to work together, along with governments in Southeast Asia, in support of Blue Swimming Crab sustainability initiatives. Partnerships like these are the reason that hundreds of conservation projects are currently active on, near, and for the ocean. What’s been missing, until now, is a guiding framework that consistently prioritizes investments and measures the progress of resulting projects.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters A Blue Ribbon Panel report, released last month by the Global Partnership for Oceans, sets an important standard for determining the most urgent projects and communicating their successes. I sat on the panel and I’m proud of this report.

It represents the views of a diverse group of stakeholders and suggests that priority be given to projects that align ocean health and human well-being. Anything that creates a healthy ocean, along with sustainable livelihoods, social equity and food security should go to the top of the list.

Building capacity and innovation, as well as effective governance systems will also lead to the longterm viability of ocean resources. The panelists agreed that the solutions we invest in must take into consideration the different socio-ecological and economic systems and variables at play. Projects must be integrated across all sectors and benefit all stakeholders in order to be considered fair and equitable.

While this may be important work, it is not easy work. New partnerships that scale-up the implementation of practical solutions will require a tremendous amount of trust to be built where, in many cases, trust has struggled to exist. Other collaborations will be built among partners working together for the first time.

But we must remember that public-private partnerships around the world have led to mind-blowing discoveries in the face of adversity. When government agencies and the private sector work together, we develop things like the Internet and critical advancements in medicine that get us closer to the eradication of killer diseases.

Ultimately, when it comes to saving our oceans, innovative publicprivate partnerships that bring together commercial experience, conservation interests, and scientific expertise — under an overarching umbrella of good governance — create the best path to success.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Alaska halts 2014 Chinook salmon fishing on Yukon River May 6, 2014 The worst fears are coming true this year for the Chinook salmon run on the Yukon River. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says there will be no commercial or sport fishing for Chinook salmon this season.

Fishery manager Jeff Estensen says that includes subsistence harvesters.

“The fishermen on the Alaska side of things can really expect to see no opportunity to fish for Chinook salmon at all in 2014,” Estensen says.

In the 1990s, the Chinook run averaged more than 300,000 fish.

Since 2008, fewer than half that number have returned to the Yukon River.

Last year, the number was well below 100,000, and this year fishery managers are expecting even fewer.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters

 Strait of Georgia Salmon Research Gets Financial Boost May 12, 2014 VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – A large-scale effort to restore coho and Chinook salmon in the Strait of Georgia is a step closer to reality thanks to a donation from Vancouver philanthropist Rudy North, president and CEO of North Growth Management. North pledged $250,000 to the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, a research project to determine the causes of major declines in Chinook and coho salmon in the Strait of Georgia during the last 20 years. The five-year project will cost $10 million and North’s donation brings the total raised to $7.25 million.

North’s donation was announced at the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Vancouver fundraising gala on April 30 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in front of an audience of 700 people. North made the donation to challenge others who care about salmon and the environment to make a similar level of financial commitment. North will also help the Foundation spearhead a fundraising campaign to raise the remaining funds needed to launch full-scale research in 2015.

“There are thousands of marine life species right outside our back door in the Strait of Georgia, and Pacific salmon are among the most important because entire ecosystems depend on salmon for sustenance,” said North. “Those of us who live on the Strait of Georgia have seen dramatic changes during the last two decades, including loss of forage fish and marine plants like kelp and eel grass, and yet we still know too little about what’s causing these changes in the marine world. We need a comprehensive assessment that leverages all of our research capabilities to figure out what’s happening and to develop the strategies to ensure that we sustain the Strait of Georgia for future generations.”

Scientists believe changes in the Salish Sea, which includes the Strait of Georgia, Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, have significantly affected the abundance of Pacific salmon. Recent catches of coho, Chinook and steelhead in the Salish Sea have been at historic lows of less than one-tenth of past peak levels. These losses have been well acknowledged in communities surrounding the Salish Sea, yet understanding the causes of the declines have remained a mystery. Paradoxically, other Pacific salmon species like sockeye have had huge variability in returns. During the past five years, Fraser River sockeye have returned at the lowest (2009) and highest (2010) levels in a century. Pink salmon, on the other hand, have consistently returned at historically high levels in the North Pacific in recent years.

“The Salish Sea Marine Survival Project is an ambitious project that will look at the entire Salish Sea ecosystem to determine the most significant factors that affect the survival of juvenile salmon, particularly as they enter the saltwater phase of their lives,” said Dr. Brian Riddell, president and CEO, Pacific Salmon Foundation and scientific leader of the project.

Legacy – June 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “The importance of the Salish Sea in determining salmon production has been overlooked for far too long and we welcome the leadership of Rudy North in making this financial commitment and know it will encourage others in the business and philanthropic communities to support this long-overdue environmental effort right in our own backyard.”

Riddell said the project has developed with the support of a multidisciplinary group consisting of 20 federal state and provincial agencies, First Nations, academia and nonprofit organizations on both sides of the U.S. and Canadian border The project will improve knowledge about the critical relationship between Pacific salmon and marine waters through the development of a comprehensive ecosystem-based research framework, coordinated data collection and standardization, and improved information sharing. The Pacific Salmon Foundation is partnering with Seattle-based Long Live the Kings to undertake the project, which includes research on similar issues in Puget Sound associated with steelhead trout, also a Pacific salmon species.

Riddell said North’s donation adds to support from several B.C. foundations, businesses, and nongovernmental and governmental entities, including Canadian Fishing Company, Eagle Wing Tours, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Goldcorp, Pacific Salmon Endowment Fund Society, Port Metro Vancouver, Ritchie Family Foundation, Sitka Foundation and the University of British Columbia.

To learn more about the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, read the case statement.

About the Pacific Salmon Foundation: The Pacific Salmon Foundation was created in 1987 as an independent, non-government, charitable organization to protect, conserve and rebuild Pacific Salmon populations in British Columbia and the Yukon. Since 1989, the Foundation has invested more than $41.3 million to support Pacific salmon conservation projects. Pacific Salmon Foundation’s mission is to be the trusted voice for conservation and restoration of wild Pacific salmon and their ecosystems and works to bring salmon back stream by stream through the strategic use of resources and local communities. www.psf.ca