Changes for Hawks
Tuesday Partly sunny day; patchy clouds at night C6
QB spot uncertain; defense loses Trufant B1
Peninsula Daily News Port Townsend-Jefferson County’s Daily Newspaper
50 cents
October 18, 2011
Redistricting effect on clout debatable Political difference over Jefferson split By Charlie Bermant Peninsula Daily News
PORT TOWNSEND — A proposal in Olympia to remove part of East Jefferson County from the 24th Legislative District and put it in a Kitsap County district would not dilute Port Townsend’s political influence, according to the idea’s sponsor, former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton. “You have the same amount of people so their influence will be the
same whichever way you go,” said Gorton, who is a Republican member of the state’s redistricting commission that is fashioning new congressional and legislative district boundaries across the state to reflect the 2010 Census. Gorton said political makeup isn’t the motivator behind the creation of new legislative districts; he is more concerned with creating districts of equal population and compatible geographical areas. He said the commission is not
changing the number of legislative districts but is increasing the population of each to 137,235 people, up from 120,288 in 2001. Gorton said the advantage in his plan to slice Port Townsend, Marrowstone and Indian islands, the Tri-Area and Port Ludlow and place them in the 23rd District is that Grays Harbor County could remain predominantly in one legislative district. Turn
to
District/A4
A MATTER OF SURVIVAL
Charlie Bermant/Peninsula Daily News
Andy Cochrane, president of the Power Trip Energy Corp,. addresses the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
Light shed on solar solution It’s one part of saving energy for new and existing homes By Charlie Bermant Peninsula Daily News
A bull elk eyes the team that inserted a radio signal transmitter into its stomach while he was sedated as part of the Makah tribe’s study that is making sure enough young and mature bull elk survive the hunting season and natural mortalities each year.
Makah study finds elk numbers hold steady Maintenance of healthy population goal of effort By Debbie Ross-Preston
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Bull elk on the North Olympic Peninsula are surviving today at roughly the same rate as they did in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to early results of a two-year study by the Makah tribe. The tribe is halfway through the second year of an elk bull and calf survival study to update information gathered in the 1980s. “We want to be sure enough mature branch-antlered bulls and spikes are making it through each year to maintain a healthy population,” said Rob McCoy, Wildlife Division manager for the Makah tribe. The study is being conducted in an estimated 124,000-acre area that includes Makah reservation and commercial timberlands outside the reservation. Last year, the tribe implanted 20 bulls with radio transmitters; 21 more were implanted this spring. “Approximately 25 percent of the bulls implanted last year survived hunting and natural predators,” McCoy said. If that holds true for the second year, McCoy is confident that the harvest rates have been appropriate to ensure healthy herds as well as hunting opportunity.
Rob McCoy, Wildlife Division manager for the Makah tribe, weighs an elk calf while Shannon Murphy, tribal wildlife biologist, Turn to Elk/A4 notes the weight.
PORT TOWNSEND — It may be expensive to retrofit a house for solar power, but there is no excuse for not at least considering the technology in new construction, the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce was told Monday. “If you are considering building a home, you should ask your architect and builder about passive solar,” said Andy Cochrane, president of Power Trip Energy Corp. of Port Townsend. “If they don’t know more about solar than you do, you should get a new architect and a new builder.” Cochrane, who founded Power Trip in 2003, grew up in Port Townsend and moved to Southern California after high school.
In his keynote talk to at the chamber’s weekly membership luncheon, he questioned his own judgment, saying: “I moved from California to Port Townsend to start a solar company.” It ended up being a good decision, he said, and the so-called rainy local weather does not decrease the wisdom of solar. “Every building where the sun hits the roof that uses electricity should have solar panels on it,” he said. This “commercial” statement is usually the basis of his standard presentation, but Monday’s was different, he said. “This is a report from one business owner in the community to the rest of the community about how things are going for us and how things are going in our little industry,” he said. Turn
to
Energy/A4
Watershed plan lacking financing Wish list released for restoration of Upper Dungeness River resource By Jeff Chew
Peninsula Daily News
BLYN — Olympic National Forest officials Monday released a wish list of proposed projects costing $7.6 million to restore the Upper Dungeness River watershed. A watershed plan facilitator, however, said it was doubtful that the U.S. Forest Service will be able to fund all the proposals, which range from fish passage improvements to road and trail upgrades. The plan also calls for wet meadow restoration and creating tree snags in the woods that could support the likes of woodpeckers and flying squirrels. “The Forest Service doesn’t have $6 million or $7 million,” said Mike Anderson, executive
director with The Wilderness Conservancy, during a Monday workshop at the Jamestown S’Klallam Community Center. Anderson said it comes down to needing more public participation and volunteers to get behind the projects that could be accomplish. “I am optimistic and hopeful that this will go a long way,” said Dean Yoshina, Hood Canal District ranger overseeing the study for Olympic National Forest despite the funding shortfall. Susan Piper, Olympic National Forest Dungeness Watershed Action Plan team leader, said the list does not include routine maintenance projects. Also not included is the cost of a National Environmental Policy Act study. Turn
to
Restore/A4
Inside Today’s Peninsula Daily News 95th year, 247th issue — 3 sections, 18 pages
1A5111856
Business B4 Classified C1 Comics B3 Commentary/Letters A7 Dear Abby B3 Deaths A6 Lottery A2 Movies C6 Nation/World A3
Peninsula Poll Puzzles/Games Sports Weather
A2 C2 B1 C6