March 5, 2002

Environmental Watch: Bruce Bare heads UW forestry college

SEATTLE -- Long-time University of Washington professor Bruce Bare has been named dean of the school's College of Forest Resources.

Bare is an expert on the economics, management and sustainable use of forestlands. His appointment reflects growing interest in sustainability among the college's 470 undergraduate and graduate students, 56 faculty members and participants in forestry outreach programs.

"Our vision is to have a program emphasizing the stewardship of natural and managed environments and the sustainable use of their products and services," Bare said.

In addition to forestry and forest products research, the college is also home to programs in urban horticulture and urban forestry.

Ecology awards $7M waste grants

The state Department of Ecology has awarded nearly $7 million in grants to help cities and counties in the Puget Sound region handle hazardous and solid waste problems.

The grants -- for Island, King, Kitsap, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties -- will go toward 17 hazardous waste collection and disposal projects, seven programs to prevent illegal dumping and 12 projects to make composting bins available at below-market prices.

In King County recipients include Seattle Public Utilities, the King County Solid Waste Division and Public Health Seattle & King County.

Ecology has issued $10.5 million in similar assistance for other parts of the state. The two-year grants pay 75 percent of program cost. The funds are from taxes levied on the wholesale distributors of petroleum products and other hazardous materials

PCBs found in Columbia clams

PORTLAND (AP) -- Freshwater clams and crawfish in the Columbia River above the Bonneville Dam are contaminated with dangerous levels of toxins, Oregon health officials say.

Officials at the Oregon Department of Human Services are asking clam and crayfish harvesters to avoid the area until further notice. They believe buried electrical lines may be the cause of the PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, contamination.

"PCBs are commonly found in fish and other aquatic organisms, but the levels found here are far above what is considered normal or background levels," said Ken Kauffman, environmental health specialist for the Department of Human Services.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality are assessing the contamination to create a plan for cleanup.

Carcass toss helps salmon

EATONVILLE (AP) -- The folks hurling 2-foot-long frozen salmon carcasses into the Mashel River last weekend weren't competing for anything.

They were trying to help the fish and their habitat.

The Pre-Spring Salmon Carcass Fling is an attempt by Nisqually Stream Stewards volunteers to help provide nutrients to baby salmon and other wildlife.

"It's harder than it looks," said Amy Callahan, 28, of Olympia as she flung two fish as far as she could on Saturday. The carcasses landed about 3 feet out in the water, catching on a dead tree limb.

"It used to be that, years ago, people thought large woody debris like this was bad in streams," noted volunteer coordinator Ann Marie Finan.

"But now we know that debris can play an important part in the stream. The branch holds the salmon carcass there so ... wildlife can feed on it," Finan said. "That's one reason we plant trees along streams, so there will always be a significant source of branches to fall into the water."

The project is a joint effort by the Nisqually tribe, forestry companies and landowners.

About 2,000 dead salmon provided by the tribe are being tossed into area streams during the November-to-March project, Finan said. On Saturday, 18 volunteers heaved about 400 carcasses into tributaries of the Nisqually River. The Mashel is home to seven species of salmon, Finan said.

Experimental forest jeopardized

LA GRANDE, Ore. (AP) -- The experimental, fenced-in forest near the Grande Ronde River will become just another patch of unstudied rural land under the Bush Administration's proposed budget.

The budget, expected to go before Congress in March, contains no money for the Starkey Experimental Forest, a federal project studying several Western land use issues.

The area -- 25,000 acres cordoned off with a fence in the late 1980s -- is unique in its structure and goals, according to scientists who work there. Rather than a nature reserve, the site is intended for controlled studies of the effects of human industry and recreation on nature.

Logging, cattle grazing and road building take place inside the fence.

Many of the wild and domestic animals that live inside the fence wear radio collars. Their movements are tracked 24-hours a day by telemetry, giving scientists exact information about location.

Mike Wisdom, a Forest Service biologist, said the Pacific Northwest Research Station has probably the largest telemetry data on ungulates such as deer, elk and cattle from the site.

Under the Bush budget proposal, all research activities would end Sept. 30, and the nearly $1.1 million allocated to the Starkey project would go elsewhere in tight fiscal times.

Hog heaven for old county trout

EVERETT (AP) -- Only bubbles are left in the 55-gallon aquarium where Hog the Trout once charmed denizens of the Snohomish County Administration Building.

"He swam well," a saddened County Executive Robert J. Drewel said.

"He died of natural causes complicated by old age," said Tom Murdoch, director of the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to stream preservation.

The 14-inch rainbow trout was put on display six years ago as a symbol of the county's 3,000 miles of streams and creeks, many of them spawning grounds and habitat for trout and salmon.

With a pronounced underbite and what looked like a slightly tipsy grin, Hog was a favorite among county employees, children and others going to and from the human resources, marriage license, voter registration and auditor's offices, said Connie Bishop, an administrative assistant.

"Little kids wonder where the fish is," Bishop said. "We have to tell them he got old and passed away."

After the arrival of warmer, drier weather rainfall this spring, Murdoch plans to try to save some of the young cutthroat trout stuck in isolated pools of water along North Creek and put one or two in the tank.

Sherri Kelley, who works in the county executive's office, said she looks forward to the aquarium being restocked -- and to a new name for whatever fish replaces Hog.

"What kind of name for a fish is that?" she asked. "I hope they give it a better name this time.