The
INSIDE Sheriff’s Log
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Story of bats & moths
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Not your average vacation
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VOLUME 36, NUMBER 30 • July 23, 2013
Habitat help for endangered rockfish Journal staff report
Threatened and endangered rockfish in the Salish Sea have an advocate in the Center for Biological Diversity, which on July 11 announced a legal effort to force the National Marine Fisheries Service to designate critical habitat necessary for protection of three species of rockfish. In 2010, the Fisheries Service listed the Puget Sound/Georgia basin populations of yelloweye rockfish and canary rockfish as threatened, and bocaccio rockfish as endangered, under the Endangered Species Act. With that listing, federal law requires protection of critical habitat. Studies have shown that species with protected critical habitat are twice as likely to be recovering as species without. The CBD lawsuit targets the agency’s failure to designate critical habitat for rockfish. “Every single fish matters in keeping these rockfish from going extinct,” said CBD attorney Catherine Kilduff. “Some rockfish can live to be 100 years old, so wiping out Puget Sound rockfish is like clear-cutting an old-growth forest.”
Under state fishing rules, no fishing is allowed for rockfish in marine area 7, which includes all of San Juan County, or in most other Puget Sound marine areas. Only coastal areas and the western end of the Straits of Juan de Fuca have open rockfish fishing seasons, many of which include one or two fish limits and “keep the first fish caught” rules. “These fish used to be common on Puget Sound’s steep underwater walls, but now they’re so rare they may not be able to find mates,” said Kilduff. “The worst part is that many rockfish now die by accident, caught incidentally in other fisheries or by ‘ghost’ gear — lost commercial fishing nets and commercial and recreational crab pots that are littering Puget Sound.” According to a press release, the Center for Biological Diversity has more than 500,000 members nationwide dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. For more information, go to www.biologicaldiversity.org and wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/ regulations/
Contributed photo / WDFW
Critical habitat has yet to be determined for three species of federally protected Puget Sound rockfish, including the yelloweye above.
Council approves tourist funds By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
The San Juan County Council approved 2014 funding recommendations for tourism facilities grants totaling $411,000 for the coming year – a 12-percent increase over the amount allocated a year ago. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the list of recommendations offered up by the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee is a $25,000 grant to purchase equipment for a drive-in movie venue at the county fairgrounds. The fair expects to offer movies on 23 nights between April and November, with room for about 100 cars and 50
Lopez Center
spectators at each after-dusk movie. The grants approved July 16 by the council are consistent with amounts recommended by the county LTAC, a volunteer panel tasked with evaluating requests for funding from the county lodging tax facilities fund. The amount allocated for local tourism-related facilities and events totaled $366,700 for 2013. The LTAC facilities grants are about half of the lodging tax funds available for distribution by the county. The other half of the money is used for direct tourism promotion; 85 percent for the San Juan Island Visitors Bureau and five percent for
Concert by Donation
Sunday, August 4th, 3:00pm
Providing a full schedule of fair activities and events plus, informative feature stories Publishes August 13 Copy & Sales Deadline:
Friday, July 24, 2013
To advertise call Cali Bagby 376-4500
MOSTLY BROADWAY an afternoon with Jo-Ann Lange, Soprano Patty Johnson, Piano Ginny Keith, Flute
All proceeds go toward Lopez Center ticket youth fund
the Orcas, Lopez and San Juan chambers of commerce. As in past years, slightly less than half of the money, $190,000, was awarded to San Juan County parks and fairground operations and just over 20 percent, or about $85,000, will be divided among performing arts centers on San Juan, Lopez and Orcas islands. Dona Wuthnow, director of the county Parks and Fair department, said the lodging tax funds represent about 15 percent of the parks and fairgrounds operating budget. As in past years, the Fairgrounds will receive a little less than one-third of the total; the money for the drive-in movie equipment is a separate capital expenditure. The allocations to the three performing arts centers represent about 17.5 percent of the Lopez center yearly budget, 6.25 percent of the Orcas center budget, and 5.6 percent of the San Juan Community Theatre budget. As in past years, grants were provided to historical museums on Orcas, Lopez
and San Juan islands (each will receive about $22,000) and to the San Juan Island Museum of Art ($5,210). Eight new projects competed for grants; five were approved for a total of $49,000 out of $124,000 in requests. The LTAC rejected funding requests by the Friday Harbor Film Festival, arts studio tour promoters on Orcas, Lopez and San Juan islands and the Lopez Community Tennis Association to resurface the Lopez tennis court. Two projects in a new “innovative projects” category in the LTAC Master Plan were funded: the fairgrounds drive-in movie equipment and a $6,100 grant for an Orcas Birding Festival, beginning in May, 2014. Other first-time grants were made to the Lopez Island Conservation Corps ($13,950), a Gateway to Indian Island signage project ($2,725) and the Friday Harbor Pioneer Family Festival ($1,252). The detailed grant applications can be found at sanjuanco.com/LTAC/applicants.aspx.