Author Archives: eoconnell

Everyday Olympia: Water Quality, Capitol Lake and the Deschutes Estuary

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Jeff Dickison has a new post over at Everyday Olympia on water quality in Capitol Lake:

…a recent letter from the state Department of Ecology to the Department of General Administration (which owns the property around the lake and therefore manages it) sheds a lot of light on the water quality debate.

In short, the letter spells out the water quality problems in Capitol Lake are being caused by the lake’s very existence. Because the artificial lake is by its very design shallow, warm and sluggish it becomes a haven for algae growth that leads to its many water quality problems.

You can read the entire post here.

Where do the coho live in Sherwood Creek?

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A piece about the tribe’s efforts to find out more about local salmon populations:

The Squaxin Island Tribe is taking a close look at where coho salmon live in the Sherwood Creek watershed.

Biologists from the tribe and the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group are looking for juvenile coho by snorkeling stretches of the stream and its main tributary, Schumacher Creek.

They’ll compare the number of fish they see with data from temperature monitoring and habitat surveys. “We’re not just trying to find where the fish are, but we’re also trying to figure out why they’re here and how well they’re doing,” said Sarah Haque, the tribe’s Timber/Fish/Wildlife biologist. By monitoring the creek’s temperature and looking closely at what kind of habitat the fish prefer, the researchers will get a better understanding of how the watershed supports wild coho.

PT Leader: Building a better Squaxin Island Tribe barge

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The Squaxin Island Tribe is buying a new barge, custom built in Port Townsend:

“It’s a beautiful craft,” said resource technician Dave George Krise of the Squaxin Island Tribe as the Travelift approached to hoist the tribe’s new barge from the shipyard to the boat haven.

With the boat at the dock, still suspended over the water, Jay Brevik, president of Lee Shore Boats Inc., stood at her bow with a bottle of champagne.

“I got the privilege of breaking the champagne bottle,” said Brevik, since Krise had already ceremonially blessed it with burnt sage in the Native American tradition.

Both traditions welcomed Lee Shore Boats’ first aluminum barge.

Brevik says that this project is a significant departure. Lee Shore Boats specializes in conventional mono-hulled boats. “We’re very proud of the quality. Everyone is just marveling that we can build a boat like this from aluminum.”