Bohemian Waxwing
Christmas Bird count week has started and locally the count is up to 61 species as of Thursday & Saturday is count day.
Front Page Photo By JIM LEWIS

Fish Factor: Impacts of ocean acidification By LAINE WELCH - West Coast shellfish growers have learned to work around upwellings of corrosive waters and save the lives of their bivalve stocks.

Increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere are changing the chemistry of the oceans, making it more acid. The CO2 surge stems mostly from coal and to a lesser degree, oil –fired  power plants.    The resulting off kilter acidity reduces carbonate, the mineral building block of shells, skeletons and corals.

 In 2005, oystermen first noticed failures in natural sets in Willipa Bay in southern Puget Sound, followed by failures at two of four of the region’s major shellfish hatcheries.    

“In 2008 our oyster larvae production was off 60% and  80% in 2009,” said Bill Dewey, director of Public Policy and Communications for Taylor Shellfish Farms in Shelton, Washington, the nation’s largest producer of farmed oysters, clams, mussels and geoducks.

At first, the growers believed the killer was a lethal, naturally occurring bacterium, but expensive filtration did nothing to stop the larval die offs. Then ocean acidification blipped onto the radar screen, Dewey said, and new testing equipment proved that was the culprit.

“It became very telling very quickly that when the oyster larvae were dying enmasse, it was because we were bringing in very corrosive water. The oyster is still growing a shell; it’s just that it is dissolving from the outside faster than they can grow it. So eventually they lose that race and they die,” he explained. - More...
Saturday AM - December 17, 2011

Alaska: Interior Appropriations a Boon for Alaskan Causes - Senator Lisa Murkowski announced on Friday a number of funding priorities for Alaska reflected in the 2012 Interior Appropriations Bill working its way through the House and Senate – on areas ranging from resources to public health to recreation. Murkowski is the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, which, with her role on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, gives her authorizing and appropriating power over the Interior Department.

“Alaskans are a bottom line people, and this appropriations bill shows results where it counts: the bottom line,” said Murkowski.  “Since the Interior Department owns about two-thirds of our lands, we have larger and wider needs: our First People, natural resources – and job opportunities for Alaskans.”

Some key Alaskan provisions in the Interior Appropriations Bill include:

Alaska’s Forests:

• Alaska Red Cedar –Language in the appropriations bill requires the U.S. Forest Service to offer profitable tracts of red cedar timber to Alaska mill operators for sale, and requires that Alaska and West Coast sawmills be given the first right to process the timber, to keep jobs in the United States.

• Timber Harvest and Forest Roads – Keeps EPA from regulating water runoff from forest road construction projects, and keeps in place a 30-year practice of allowing forest road maintenance to be exempt from the Clean Water Act. - More...
Saturday - December 17, 2011

Ketchikan: Tech Center to Host EPA Certified Lead Abatement Class - Ketchikan Indian Community’s Southern Southeast Alaska Technical Education Center (SSEATeC) announced an eight hour lead based paint renovation and repair class will be held on Friday January 13th. Those successfully passing the course will earn a certificate which is acknowledged nationwide by the Environmental Protection Agency.

KIC is only the second Tribe in the nation to receive a certificate from the EPA allowing this certificated course to be taught.  EPA has expressed an interest in utilizing the SSEATeC facility for future federally required classes and continuing education for the building industry.

Ketchikan Indian Community's technical center is the 2nd education facility in Southeast Alaska certified by the EPA.  Chas Edwardson, KIC’s Workforce Development Director, will teach the course.  

A complete list of upcoming classes in early 2012 can be found on the Ketchikan Indian Community's website.  Residents are also invited to take a very short survey designed to measure their interest in existing class offerings as well as offer their suggestions for other class ideas. - More...
Saturday AM - December 17, 2011

Alaska: Former Cooper Landing Fishing Guide Charged with Stealing from Clients - A former Cooper Landing fishing guide was charged last week with stealing from nearly 70 clients by failing to provide trips booked with his guiding business in 2010 and 2011. The investigation began after the Alaska Wildlife Troopers' Wildlife Investigations Unit received a complaint on Sept. 6, 2010 regarding 35-year-old Thomas W. Murray. Murray, the owner of Wise Guide Outfitters of Cooper Landing, was alleged to have failed to provide "all inclusive" fishing vacations that included transportation to and from Anchorage and Cooper Landing, five full days of guided fishing trips, all meals, six nights lodging as well as camp fires and sightseeing tours.

The Wildlife Investigations Unit, with assistance from the Alaska Department of Revenue's Criminal Investigations Unit and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, opened an investigation into Murray and Wise Guide Outfitters. - More...
Saturday AM - December 17, 2011

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