Cascadia today: Tribe works to save sunflower stars + Pike Place to be clogged with cars + BC wildfires more intense
Tribe works to save endangered sunflowers stars
KUOW reports on work wildlife biologists and the Samish tribe are doing to breed and release sunflowers stars, which have been devastated by a bacterial pandemic that has wiped out 5 billion of the Pacific coast creatures. Members of the Salish Sea tribe hope that the returned sea stars will survive and restore kelp beds, which have declined because an increase in the star's preferred food: sea urchins. The Trump administration has done nothing to help the critically endangered species and so it's up to us here in Cascadia to come up with solutions.
Seattle's Pike Place to get more cars again
Proving that Seattle is committed to not having nice things, the successful program to prohibit cars driving through Pike Place, the road through the city's famous market, is ending this winter, the Urbanist reports. The pedestrian-only program was hugely popular with visitors, including crowds in town for the World Cup. It's time for Seattle to grow up and become a real city instead of an overgrown car-reliant suburb. In related news, a new study finds that lowering speed limits in Seattle has helped reduce the number crashes, but the fatality rate remains high. Oh, and the Urbanist also makes the case (and a very good on) that Sound Transit add a Ballard station to its Sounder commuter rail service while the neighborhood waits until the second half of the 21st century for a light rail station.
BC wildfires have increased in intensity in past decade
The Narwhal talks with wildfire scientist Mike Flannagan, whose research show that the intensity and frequency of wildfires in British Columbia has surged dramatically in the past decade when compared with the previous 60 years. And surprise, surprise – the main culprit behind the surge is climate change. And yet the Canadian government under the Liberals and Mark Carney are proposing to build yet another oil pipeline from Alberta to BC.
"I used to be more optimistic than I am. Our track record with dealing with greenhouse gases is abysmal. Building another pipeline is like adding a nail in our coffin. We really have to get off fossil fuels." --Mike Flannagan, fire scientist
Portland Art Museum hires new director
OPB reports that the Portland Art Museum has hired a new director – Michael J. Anderson, who's currently president of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. The previous leader of PAM, Brian Ferriso, has been there two decades and led a recently-opened $111 million expansion.
Thank for reading. Keep loving and keep fighting. --Andy
