HyleBlog - Friends of the Hylebos

Benn Gleck for Mayor?

Having some fun in Thinking Locally with cable talking heads...

Don't Forget the Nonprofits

The latest Thinking Locally column looks at the importance of supporting nonprofits as part of your local economy and community. While I didn't come right out and say it, attending Ruby Dance is a wonderful way to do that, and have fun at the same time!

More on the NYT's series on the nation's water pollution problems, this one dealing with agricultural waste and the human health impacts.

Yet runoff from all but the largest farms is essentially unregulated by many of the federal laws intended to prevent pollution and protect drinking water sources. The Clean Water Act of 1972 largely regulates only chemicals or contaminants that move through pipes or ditches, which means it does not typically apply to waste that is sprayed on a field and seeps into groundwater.

As a result, many of the agricultural pollutants that contaminate drinking water sources are often subject only to state or county regulations. And those laws have failed to protect some residents living nearby.

To address this problem, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has created special rules for the biggest farms, like those with at least 700 cows.

But thousands of large animal feedlots that should be regulated by those rules are effectively ignored because farmers never file paperwork, E.P.A. officials say.

Putting it all in perspective, ag waste is a bigger threat than our traditional villians, the stormwater pipe draining from a factory.

Agricultural runoff is the single largest source of water pollution in the nation’s rivers and streams, according to the E.P.A. An estimated 19.5 million Americans fall ill each year from waterborne parasites, viruses or bacteria, including those stemming from human and animal waste, according to a study published last year in the scientific journal Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.

And I'm happy to see that someone is trying to find out what to do with all that dog waste. Researchers at Cornell are trying to determine whether dog poop composting is practical. The sad thing is if you look at the photo that reminds me what happens if I don't pick up after my dogs in my backyard for a couple of days!

Something's Wrong in the Nation's Water

Disturbing but very important investigative report over at the NYT about water pollution in this country, and increasing failure by the government to prevent or stop polluters, AND increasing incidences of water pollution.

According to the Times:

Almost four decades ago, Congress passed the Clean Water Act to force polluters to disclose the toxins they dump into waterways and to give regulators the power to fine or jail offenders. States have passed pollution statutes of their own. But in recent years, violations of the Clean Water Act have risen steadily across the nation, an extensive review of water pollution records by The New York Times found.

In the last five years alone, chemical factories, manufacturing plants and other workplaces have violated water pollution laws more than half a million times. The violations range from failing to report emissions to dumping toxins at concentrations regulators say might contribute to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses.

However, the vast majority of those polluters have escaped punishment. State officials have repeatedly ignored obvious illegal dumping, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which can prosecute polluters when states fail to act, has often declined to intervene.

And this isn't necessarily your grandfather's pollution:

Because most of today’s water pollution has no scent or taste, many people who consume dangerous chemicals do not realize it, even after they become sick, researchers say.

But an estimated 19.5 million Americans fall ill each year from drinking water contaminated with parasites, bacteria or viruses, according to a study published last year in the scientific journal Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. That figure does not include illnesses caused by other chemicals and toxins.

Government at all levels has fallen asleep, or simply looked the other way, while violations and health impacts increase.

Finally, the Times’s research shows that fewer than 3 percent of Clean Water Act violations resulted in fines or other significant punishments by state officials. And the E.P.A. has often declined to prosecute polluters or force states to strengthen their enforcement by threatening to withhold federal money or take away powers the agency has delegated to state officials.

Very cool article on PNW bats and efforts to monitor the health of the population.

The Story of Old Buck, The Invasive Species

I love 3-day weekends. Apart from the half-day spent moving daughter #1 into her new home, I vegged inside for much of the weekend. There's something about rainy, soggy days that trigger my vegging instinct. I finished a wonderful book, "Then We Came To The End" by Joshua Ferris and for that I was thankful. I hope everyone's weekend was enjoyable.

This article caught my attention this morning. The new Lynnwood High School has integrated science education activities with their onsite stream & wetlands. Sounds like a great opportunity to bring science into the real world, something we hope to be doing in the not too distant future with the Hylebos.

Here's a neat story of a man working to clean-up and preserve the Mid-Fork Snoqualmie River into a family-friendly forest recreation area & Wilderness candidate. There's somethng about working on a scale of conservation small enough to be able to know the land intimately.

"It's a place where I thought I could make a difference," said Mark Boyar, 52. "It was small enough I could get to know it and work hard at it. The more I came here, the more I learned, and after all those years it's very personal."

Dangers of Invasives and Little Biodiversity
An article about deers and Lyme Disease on Nantucket Island offers a few insights into the risks of introducing non-native species, and how lack of biodiversity can magnify disease risks.

In the annals of animals linked to human disease, there is surely a place for Old Buck of Nantucket.

Spotted in 1922 deer-paddling in the ocean, he was scooped up by a fishing sloop and brought to Nantucket, an island then without a single deer. And since the animal, nicknamed Old Buck, was single, Nantucket took pity on him. With help from a summer resident, a diplomat who had helped create the League of Nations, two does were imported from Michigan in 1926, greeted at the wharf by a cheering crowd

There's no cheering now, as the deer, which have spread like urban myths on the Internet, have become the prime vector for the ticks that carry Lyme Disease. Nantucket Island has one of the highest per capita incidences of Lyme.

“In a place like Nantucket or any other island, there’s less biodiversity, which can mean more intense transmission of infections,” said Dr. Sam Telford III, a tick expert at Tufts University’s school of veterinary medicine.

Houses built closer to deer habitat draw deer to tasty landscaping, and that brings ticks closer to people. Officials estimate that there are about 2,500 deer, about 60 per square mile — compared with 10 to 20 per square mile on the mainland.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has listed Nantucket among the top three Lyme disease counties since 1992.

Invasives can wreak havoc on ecosystems, though rarely with as many direct impacts to humans as the introduction of Old Buck to Nantucket Island.

Is Growth Management Managing Growth The Way We Want?

A couple of items of note today. Our old friend and 2006 Ruby Dance Keynote Speaker, Doug MacDonald presents a compelling argument that current growth management is not achieving the densities desired for urban areas. Growth, he states, is mostly happening on the suburban fringes, and imminent regional transportation decisions need to incorporate this reality into their decision making. 

Doug's article touches on a question that's critical to communities of the Hylebos: how do we create/foster urban communities that provide for density...and are compelling enough to get people to actually live there?

Another set of disconcerting numbers. Is volunteering waning nationally with the deepening recession? According to a new national survey, it is. This is contrary to the experience of past recessions when volunteering has held stable or increased. The National Conference on Citizenship reports:

...that 72 percent of Americans said they were devoting less time to volunteering and other civic activities, like providing food and shelter to those in need and participating in public discussions like town-hall-style meetings.

I don't believe we've seen evidence of a dip in Hylebos volunteering. However, we are heading into our heavy volunteer season and we'll have to see what the response is.

Saturday...Doing A Bit of Clean-Up

...catching up on some unresolved details from the week, cleaning my computer, blogging and listening to Arsenal (via the Internets) beat the snot out of Portsmouth 4-1.

Latest effort for Thinking Locally in the FW Mirror, talkin' about last week's HOV Lane groundbreaker. BTW, just 'cause I poke fun at Andy's series (which was a very good, informative series, BTW) on medical marijuana, I don't want to leave anyone with the impression that he advocates drug use. And don't let his sleepy-eyed, laconic, Dorito-eating lifestyle fool you, either. Our editor is Straight Edge all the way!

My Remarks at the Stage 7 HOV lane Groundbreaking Ceremony

Here are my remarks (and some photos courtesy WSDDOT) for last Friday's groundbreaking ceremony for the Stage 7 HOV Lane Project. Although conservationists are usually pretty rare sights for highway project ceremonies like this, I believe it's important to be able to stand up and point to the good that WSDOT is doing on projects like Spring Valley. There's no understating the importance of the Spring Valley Ranch Project: the single most important preservation and restoration project in the watershed.

"I am thrilled to be here to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Stage 7 HOV Lane project. The Stage 7 project is a shining example of how environmental mitigation should work. In addressing mitigation for the project’s wetland impacts, DOT chose a high-value site in the heart of the Hylebos Watershed, a former farm called Spring Valley Ranch. The wetland had been filled and the stream ditched, but this site was considered by many the most biologically important reach of Hylebos to acquire and restore. It has historically been the hotspot of salmon spawning for Chinook, coho and chum salmon.

Now, thanks to DOT this site, which was restored in 2007 as advance mitigation, is once again a rich habitat for native salmon, great blue heron and other wildlife. I visited the Spring Valley Ranch yesterday and it is absolutely flourishing, a riot of green growth threaded through by a cool, rippling stream that is awaiting the return of Hylebos’ Chinook salmon next month.

We thought so highly of the Spring Valley Ranch Project that we gave the DOT our Innovation in Conservation Award, which recognizes progressive and innovative approaches to conservation in the Hylebos Watershed. I’m here to tell you today that while the Stage 7 project will bring us future transit improvements, it has already significantly improved our environment and our community."

Who Beat up Chris?

I look like I got the smack knocked out of me.

I'm taking a few days off for medical leave. I've written in the past about my fun with my rare sinus condition (the condition's rare, that is, not the sinus. Though, I am fond of my sinuses...I digress). The end game of the sinus issue was reconstructive surgery on Thursday to get my left eye back in proper alignment with the right eye.

Interestingly, the procedure was basic carpentry. The surgeon shimmed up my eye by placing semi-hard silicon implants under the eye to bring it level with the other eye.

I'm still working through how I feel about being shimmed up like a recalcitrant door in an old house. But, if you're interested, this is how I look the day after. The immediate recovery includes enduring some nasty double vision as my brain works out how to make a single, good image out of two that are now - quite suddenly - aligned, after two or more years of slow, progressive disalignment.

The double vision should correct itself after a time. In the meantime, I'm working my eyes out reading all sorts of things. I also caught the Chelsea-West Ham match this morning and the Man. U.-Tottenham game yesterday.

Carol Ostrom writes about density, space and our personal senses of space in the Pacific Northwest magazine. How are we going to go about increasing the density of our urban communities and how will we accommodate the needed changes in our comfort with density? (and I learned a new word: Proxemics).

The suburban cities of the Hylebos (FDub, Fife, Milton, Edgewood) all have pretty significant economic development needs. How will those be affected by the current (and yet to come) economic challenges? And how the heck did Bothell get so lucky?

Escape From The Office!

I got out of the office today. Started off the day meeting with Rep. Mark Miloscia to talk about the upcoming Legislative session. Then, it was off to Seattle to meet with former Stream Team Coordinator Katie Akyuz (nee Moller) to talk about urban forest health issues. Katie, of course, remains a very special friend of the Hylebos and it's always a treat to spend time with her. (plus, I always learn a lot!)

Other Things On My Mind
The PI had a good editorial on the Puget Sound Action Agenda and the need to see some funding for the plan. I'm not quite convinced the PSAA is the entire solution the Sound needs, but it contains some very important actions for reversing the decline of Puget Sound.

Also, Andrew C. Revkin of the NYT blogs about what a "moon shot for energy independence" might look like. Interesting stuff there.

Nice to see a huge, heartless bank show some real progressiveness on a nasty environmental issue like mountaintop mining. You go, BOA!

Has the Mainstream Media grown tired of The End of the World As We Know It (aka, global warming)?

In today's papes (that's papers for those of you not fully versed in HyleSpeak), I read mention of a possible "Car Czar" for the federal auto industry assistance and a Cybersecurity Czar for a federal computer security initiative. A quick Google search also showed "School Czar," "Anti-Corruption Czar," "Czar Power," "Energy Czar" (presumably the Secretary of the Dept. of Energy?), and Isn't it about time we just drop-kicked czar from our government policies? I think so. First off, we're celebrating a 19th century tyrant in a democratic system of governance. I say dissonace. But more practically, if our czars keep proliferating, we'll need to adopt a position of Czar Czar just to manage them all.

(BTW, I am still available for the position of Hylebos Czar, if that one comes open. Call me.)

Goodbye to Cool Hand Luke

Nothing Hylebos-related to report today. Last night was Ruby Dance. It went great, but I'm tired and it's Sunday.

So, today, I just note the passing of a great American actor and a great American, Paul Newman. He was a pleasure to watch on the big screen. He was as cool as they come (and real cool, not the artificial Vin Diesel cool, is always a precious commodity). And he taught me that, while hard-boiled eggs are a good thing, too much of them is not.

But, acting, race car driving, being cool, and all that aside, he leveraged his success into good works on this Earth, with a variety of charitable foundations and enterprises.

But he remained fulfilled by his charitable work, saying it was his greatest legacy, particularly in giving ailing children a camp at which to play.

“We are such spendthrifts with our lives,” Mr. Newman once told a reporter. “The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”