CONSERVATION CORNER - February, 2004

Edmonds Christmas Bird Count

On Sunday, Dec. 28, 23 people braved the weather to do the 20th Annual Edmonds Christmas Bird Count. We set a new record of 125 species seen, up from 120 last year. Two species, never reported before on this count were a rufous hummingbird (seen by Dan Harville, a registered hummingbird bander) and 80 horned larks seen by Michael Dossett. Four yellow-billed loons were also seen out in the Sound. A total of just under 26,000 birds were reported, about in the mid-range of numbers from previous years. A complete summary of the results will be available later.

KRKO Towers

Last year when the Deputy Snohomish County Hearing examiner considered the proposal by S-R Broadcasting (KRKO) to build a series of eight radio towers on land adjacent to the Snohomish River one-half mile south of the town of Snohomish, he specified a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must be done to address the aesthetic concerns raised during the hearings. The Snohomish County office of Planning and Development Services (PDS) released their draft EIS for public comment. The comment period ended January 7. Comments received by this deadline must then be taken into account in the final EIS. The draft version used 19 photographs taken from roads in the area on clouded or hazy days when even the nearby mountains could not be seen.

From this the EIS concludes the towers will have minimal aesthetic impact. It does not examine the impacts for the many homes with views across the area. The towers are to be about one-quarter mile across the river from the Bob Heirman Wildlife Park where up to 400 trumpeter swans go for safety during the night when wintering in the area. Additionally, during hunting seasons as many as 15,000 ducks spend the day in this safe haven. But the towers were not deemed a significant enough threat to these birds to require further consideration.

Old Computers and other Electronics

Disposing of these modern “necessities” of life can be hazardous. They contain a wide variety of toxic heavy metals and other nasty substances. So what do you do with them? I know many of us have old computers, monitors, TVs, and other such devices we no longer use. Total Reclaim Inc. of Seattle has an electronics recycling division that recycles all usable components and disposes of the remainders in an approved environmentally acceptable way. They are located at 9411 - 8th Ave S in Seattle, phone 206.343.7443.

Other notes

Keep an eye open for more information on the US Forest Service Plan to replace about 300 feet of the Dosewallips Road in the Olympic National Forest that washed out two years ago. The proposed new route will take the road through old-growth forest with trees up to six feet in diameter. We don’t see many of these any more. The proposal is being challenged by the Olympic Parks Association and Olympic Forest Coalition.

CONSERVATION CORNER - January, 2004

Conservation Chairs Meet

On Dec. 6, Washington Audubon’s 25 chapter conservation chairs held their quarterly meeting to discuss issues of statewide concern. It was decided Washington Audubon would go on record as supporting Initiative 297 to the state legislature. This initiative petitions the legislature to require the cleanup of the Hanford Atomic Reservation be completed before more radioactive waste can be brought into the state for disposal. It would also prohibit the disposal of radioactive waste in unlined earthen trenches and block the US Department of Energy from making Hanford their major dumping ground for new nuclear waste. Several years ago the State of Washington, the US Departments of Energy and Defense reached an agreement on the cleanup of Hanford, complete with a projected time line. Since then, the cleanup process has been delayed repeatedly. Currently, the Dept. of Energy plans to bring in 70,000 additional truckloads on nuclear waste for disposal on the Hanford reservation!

Initiative on Boreal Forests

Canada recently announced the establishment of a massive Forest Protection Initiative – a pact between environmentalists, First Nations peoples, energy, and timber companies. The pact will protect 1.3 billion acres of the boreal forests of Northern Canada. These stretch as a broad band from the Alaskan border near the Arctic Circle to Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes, then on to the Maritime Provinces and the Atlantic. This forest represents about one-tenth of the earth’s remaining forests and about one-third of its boreal forests. The Seattle-based Boreal Songbird Initiative points out that many of the billion or so birds living there spend their winters here in Washington or migrate through on their way to warmer climes for the winter, and of course, back in the spring.

In the agreement, about one-half of the forest would be totally off-limits to logging and development. The other half will open only after careful planning for sustainable and ecologically friend-ly timber harvest or development occurs. The emphasis will be on sustaining the vitally important role the forest plays in slowing global warming and helping maintain pure air and water.

This effort represents the first time a nation-wide vision for the management of this type of resource has ever been attempted. It will be a win-win situation for all concerned and should prevent the type of major conflicts between these different interests such as occurred in the past. The Pew Charitable Trusts of Philadelphia have sponsored the Initiative.