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A billion-dollar plan for orca recovery
Today Washington governor Jay Inslee announced a $1.1 billion plan for recovery of orcas in the Salish Sea, according to the Seattle Times. It’s part of Inslee’s $54 billion state budget. The plan closely follows recommendations from a panel the governor appointed to study how best to help the critically endangered southern resident pod.
A big share of the plan involves fixing road culverts and salmon habitat (which the state is required to do after a successful lawsuit by Native American tribes). Other efforts include a three-year halt to orca watching tours, limits on marine vehicles, and boosting chinook salmon hatcheries. The plan also includes money for a study to remove dams on the lower Snake River, which would substantially increase the population of salmon that orcas depend on while feeding off the coast.
Will is pass the legislature? Will it be enough to save these amazing creatures? Can the federal government be expected to agree to dam removal on the lower Snake? Those are big questions that may take years to answer, but the plan seems bold–or at least bold enough to have a decent shot of passage next year.
The plan comes after many people in Cascadia (and across the world) reacted to the plight of Tahlequah, an orca who kept vigil with her dead calf. Paul Nelson’s poem at Cascadia Magazine helped many of us tap into the anger and grief we felt, and spurred a call for real action. The pod has declined to just 74 individuals in recent years because of pollution, noise, lack of food, and–as Lynda Mapes at the Seattle Times reports– capture of orcas for aquariums in the 1960s and 70s.
For information on how you can support orca protection efforts, visit The Georgia Straight Alliance in BC or Soundwatch in WA. If you live in Washington, you can find out how to contact your state legislator here.
WA governor’s $54 billion budget includes capital gains tax
Washington governor Jay Inslee proposed a $54 billion budget, which includes boosts in spending for K-12 schools, mental health, orca protections, and includes a new capital gains tax on the sale of stocks and bonds, the Olympian reports. At Crosscut, John Stang looks at Inslee’s chances of passing the capital gains tax, which would affect the 1.5 percent richest residents in the state.
Poll finds 75 percent of people in BC want to ban fish farms
According to the Georgia Straight, a new poll finds that 3 in 4 people in BC support banning fish farms. Washington state is phasing out farms after an accidental release of 260,000 Atlantic salmon in the Salish Sea last summer. To learn more about First Nations opposition to net-pen farms off the coast of BC, read Mychaylo Prystupa’s recent feature at Cascadia Magazine.
Oregon looks at limiting death penalty
OPB reports that the Oregon legislature is considering measures to strictly curtail use of the death penalty in the state, even though an outright ban would require a measure before the voters. Governors Kitzhaber and Brown have imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in Oregon since 2011.
Tolls move forward on Portland highways
The state of Oregon has approved measures that could eventually lead to tolls on freeways in Portland in order to help reduce traffic congestion. In other transportation news, Vancouver BC’s TransLink announced it will start work to make wi-fi available on all buses and light rail in the city. Meanwhile Oregon’s controversial tax on bikes has been a flop, and longtime Vancouver BC cycling activist Arno Schortinghuis was killed in a bike wreck late last month.
Holiday shopping beyond Amazon
If you’re looking to avoid shopping at the retail behemoth Amazon for the holidays and spend your money locally (sure, Jeff Bezos has headquarters in Seattle, but you know what we mean…) check out the South Seattle Emerald’s guide to LGBTQ and minority-owned businesses across the city. Yes! magazine suggests eight businesses owned by people of color (including Trickster Company, a very cool Indigenous-owned business selling clothing and accessories based on Native design motifs). For all you foodies, Portland Monthly has the ultimate guide to local food gifts, or try Laura & Dave’s Honey is Seattle for locally-sourced honey and beeswax. If you’re gifting books be sure find a regional independent bookshop. And don’t forget Portland’s hottest gift item this season: the Robert Mueller votive candle.
Portland’s Tin House ends print magazine
Sad news today: the influential Portland-based literary journal Tin House will cease publication of its print magazine. The sort-of-good news is that Tin House will still publish some fiction, essays, and poetry online and continue to publish a great selection of books.
“The Fifth Season,” fiction by Joe Galván
Portland writer and anthropologist Joe Galván has a short story online at Barrelhouse, “The Fifth Season,” a bittersweet recollection of a past love affair. “It doesn’t feel like Christmas, because Christmas is without its cold-season requisites: ice and snow. We could have watched the tide roll in on the Island from the safety of the porch at the beach house you and I share, but you are gone.” Read the full story here. (Hat tip to Longform for this find.)
That’s tonight’s assortment of news, arts & culture from across the Pacific Northwest. –Andrew Engelson
Photo credits: pair of orcas by Jim Pfeiffenberger, National Park Service (public domain)