June 4, 2002

Environmental Watch: AWB enviro conference this week

SEATTLE -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator John Iani will deliver the keynote address at the Association of Washington Business' annual environmental conference beginning Thursday, June 6, at the WestCoast Grand Hotel in downtown Seattle.

The two-day conference will feature a range of seminars,including the Endangered Species Act, wastewater discharge permits, viewsheds in the Columbia River gorge and transportation megaprojects.

The theme of this year's conference is competitiveness. Recently the state's environmental regulatory framework has been roundly criticized for harming the state's business climate.

For the first time in the conference's 11-year history it is being presented in conjunction with the Northwest Environmental Business Council. There will also be a tradeshow, with exhibits from about 30 companies. Sponsors include Preston Gates & Ellis. Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, Kane Environmental, Landau Associates and URS Corp.

Lincoln Reservoir park out for bid

SEATTLE -- Seattle Parks and Recreation is soliciting bids for a park to go along with covering Lincoln Reservoir on Capitol Hill.

Construction, estimated to cost $790,000, is scheduled for summer and fall.

The project includes a 2,200-square-foot public plaza framed by a 1,000-square-foot activity building and a 700-square-foot comfort station. The project also includes a 300-square-foot maintenance storage building, and site improvements including paths, sidewalks, lighting and landscaping.

Tom Roth of Roth and Associates, architects, and The Berger Partnership, landscape architects, designed the project.

Funding comes from a number of sources including the Pro Parks Levy approved by Seattle voters in 2000, a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant, the Parks Cumulative Reserve Fund, Seattle Central Community College and Seattle Public Utilities.

Bid documents are available from Seattle Parks and Recreation, Third Floor, 800 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle. For more information about the project or the bidding process, contact project manager Don Bullard, at (206) 684-7158.

Oregon suit says clearcuts harm coho

PORTLAND (AP) -- Five conservation groups are seeking an injunction to stop the Oregon Department of Forestry from allowing clearcutting on steep slopes above streams bearing threatened coho salmon.

The action came as an addition to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court last February to stop logging on high-risk industrial forest lands regulated by the state.

The lawsuit alleges that the Oregon Forest Practices Act, which regulates logging on state and private lands, violates the Endangered Species Act by not adequately protecting coho, which are a threatened species.

If granted, the injunction could stop 5 percent to 15 percent of the industrial logging in the state, the groups said.

"There is an uncontested body of evidence that clearcutting on landslide-prone slopes is a serious problem for coho salmon," said Mary Scurlock of the Pacific Rivers Council, one of the groups that brought the lawsuit.

"Unfortunately, this lawsuit was the only way to get the Department of Forestry's attention on this matter," she said.

After a landslide originating from a steep clearcut authorized by the Department of Forestry killed four people outside Roseburg in 1996, the state stopped allowing clearcutting on that posed high risks to homes and roads.

The Department of Forestry does not have the same authority to protect salmon, and landslides may actually benefit salmon in the long run by putting logs and gravel in streams, said Ted Lorensen, an assistant state forester.

"It's easy to say, `Stop landslides because they're bad,' but we know that's not always the case," Lorensen said.

Salmon Homecomning event wins award

SEATTLE -- The Salmon Homecoming Alliance, sponsors of the annual festival on the Seattle waterfront, was honored as the recipient of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission’s Spirit of the Salmon Education Award at the Salmon Feast Gala last week in Portland.

Salmon Homecoming, a project started by the Seattle Aquarium, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, and the tribal communities of the Pacific Northwest, has become a popular event on the Seattle waterfront celebrating the annual return of salmon, tribal traditions and watershed health, while collaborating with numerous entities to educate the public on salmon and restoration efforts.

The Tenth Annual Salmon Homecoming Celebration will take place Sept. 5-8. The event begins with a forum on fisheries and watershed conservation along with an opening ceremony and awards dinner

Protest against Goose Lake timber sale

VANCOUVER (AP) -- An environmental group is opposing a timber sale by the U.S. Forest Service that it says will harm the environment.

The Vancouver-based Gifford Pinchot Task Force also contends the sale will ruin views from a popular recreational area around Goose Lake.

"It's an amazing area," said Susan Jane Brown, executive director of the group.

Brown's organization is leading a publicity campaign against the sale because of its value as a "connectivity corridor" for wildlife moving between forested areas.

But Forest Service officials say they have no intention of withdrawing the sale, 12 miles southwest of the Klickitat County town of Trout Lake.

They say the Goose Egg sale complies with environmental laws and is part of the 20 percent of forest land designated for logging under the Northwest Forest Plan.

Mount Adams District Ranger Greg Cox acknowledged the logged area will be visible, but he said it won't be different than other views in the area. "It's not a wilderness," he said.

The task force has distributed postcards addressed to Cox, Gifford Pinchot National Forest Supervisor Claire Lavendel and LB&R Logging Co. President Robert Hornbeck urging them to negotiate a cash buyout.

The company, based in Skagit County, acquired the timber after the Forest Service withdrew a timber sale LB&R purchased a decade ago on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest