A former sewage lagoon site and wetlands is planned as a 40-acre refuge for more than 140 species of birds.
By Alejandro Dominquez, The Herald
SNOHOMISH — People are invited to learn the latest details about a proposed wildlife sanctuary at Wednesday’s Parks Board meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Snohomish Boys & Girls Club, 402 Second St.
The board is expected to make a recommendation to the City Council on the sanctuary steering committee’s plan or ask for changes. The public can also make recommendations, project manager Ann Stanton said.
The wildlife viewing area also has a proposed name: Snohomish Riverview Sanctuary.
The sanctuary would be about 40 acres, including a former sewage lagoon and privately owned wetlands located next to the current sewage treatment plant, along the Snohomish River west of Highway 9.
More than 140 bird species have been seen nesting there or using the wetlands for habitat, including great blue herons, red-tailed hawks, swallows and ducks.
The master plan also proposes adding sidewalk and viewpoint areas on the south side of Riverview Road, Stanton said.
The park would also ban dogs because of the likelihood of harming viewing opportunities and habitat quality, Stanton said.
“The majority of the public comments are against dogs (in the park)” Stanton said.
The Snohomish City Council is scheduled to vote on the plan at a July meeting.
The council is also set to accept a $30,000 donation from a local Audubon Society member in early June. The donation is intended to purchase more land for the sanctuary.
People who want to know more about the park and are unable to attend the meeting can contact Stanton at 360-282-3195 or by email at stanton@ci.snohomish.wa.us.
An Irish company building turbines for the Snohomish PUD visited Everett to discuss the potential for a plant here.
Snohomish County PUD This artist’s rendering shows the tidal energy turbine Snohomish County Public Utility District plans to test to determine if tidal energy is a viable source of electricity.
By Bill Sheets, The Herald
An Irish company that builds tidal-power turbines is exploring the possibility of locating a plant in Western Washington — possibly in Everett.
Representatives of OpenHydro of Dublin visited Everett last week to discuss their technology with political and business leaders from Snohomish County, the region and the state.
The Snohomish County Public Utility District has applied with the federal government for a license to start an experimental tidal-power project in Admiralty Inlet between Fort Casey State Park and Port Townsend.
If the $20 million project is approved — a decision could come this summer — the PUD would buy two turbines from OpenHydro.
A majority interest in the Irish company was recently bought by DCNS, a maritime manufacturer based in Paris. OpenHydro will retain its name as a subsidy of the French company, according to an announcement by DCNS.
The PUD arranged the meeting in Everett, said Steve Klein, the utility’s general manager.
“They wanted to meet with the movers and shakers in the economic development community in Puget Sound,” he said.
Among those who attended the meeting at the PUD’s headquarters were Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson; Rick Cooper, chief executive officer of the Everett Clinic and chairman of Economic Alliance Snohomish County; state commerce director Brian Bonlender, and Sheila Babb from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray’s office.
OpenHydro, in business since 2004, has installed turbines off the Orkney Islands in Scotland; the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada, and near Brittany in France.
The company is planning new projects in the Orkneys and off the northern coast of Ireland, OpenHydro chief executive officer James Ives said in an email.
Now, the company sees Pacific Northwest waters as a good potential source of tidal power.
“As the turbine manufacturing requirements are of a large scale, OpenHydro plans on assembling all turbines as close to the deployment locations as possible,” he said.
Ives said the company is impressed by Snohomish County’s high-tech industry, including, but not limited to, Boeing.
“The region’s long history of high-specification engineering means that the skills, supply chain and infrastructure necessary to support this type of manufacturing activity are clearly available,” he said.
Stephanson said he made a pitch for Everett in particular.
“I just wanted to make sure they knew we had a nice deep-water port,” he said.
Ives said tidal turbines, electrical equipment and the steel base foundations for the turbines would be manufactured at the new plant. He estimated 300 jobs would be directly created and 600 spinoff positions would result from a plant turning out 100 generators per year.
In addition to tidal-power turbines, DCNS is experimenting with other technologies, including floating wind-turbine platforms, ocean-wave energy and a system that converts temperature changes in the ocean into energy, according to the company’s website.
Stephanson said he’s excited about the tidal-power technology in particular.
“It’s one more very positive opportunity for our part of the world, for growing the economy and jobs,” he said.
Cooper of the economic group said he was impressed by OpenHydro’s presentation.
“This is cutting edge stuff,” he said.
Cooper said plenty of good words were put in for Snohomish County.
“This was more a matter of establishing relationships and introducing people in the region,” he said. “I think the initial contacts have been made. We wanted to convey a welcoming presence, and I think we were successful in doing that.”
In the PUD’s project, the turbines would be placed in a flat area 200 feet underwater. Each circular turbine resembles a giant fan, sitting about 65 feet high on a triangular platform with dimensions of about 100 feet by 85 feet.
Together, the two turbines would generate about enough power for 450 homes at peak output. If the project goes well, the system could grow, PUD officials said.
The project is opposed by three Indian tribes, a cable company and a cable trade group.
The tribes, including the Tulalips, say the turbines could interfere with fishing. The cable interests believe the project could damage trans-Pacific cables that run through the inlet.
The turbines would be placed about 575 and 770 feet from fiber-optic cables owned by Pacific Crossing of Danville, Calif. The cables extend more than 13,000 miles in a loop from Harbour Pointe in Mukilteo to Ajigaura and Shima, Japan, and Grover Beach, Calif.
A federal study recently concluded the project would not affect fishing or the cables.
The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe is undertaking the restoration of the internationally known botanical garden called Heronswood.
The tribe purchased the 15-acre property, located near the tribe’s reservation, in July 2012 mainly to preserve it for the community, said Noel Higa, the tribe’s economic development director.
“I think there was a real sense that a treasure could be lost if the tribe didn’t do what it could to rescue it,” he said. “Tribal council has been incredibly supportive of the garden restoration effort.”
Acting head gardener Celia Pedersen cleans vines from an arbor. Click on the photo for more of Heronswood.
Heronswood was established in the late 1980s by local horticulturist Dan Hinkley and gained global recognition as a nursery of rare plants collected from around the world. It was purchased by corporate nursery retailer Burpee in 2000 but then shut down by the company in 2006. The property was put to auction in July 2012 and was purchased by the tribe.
The tribe’s goal is to restore the gardens back to their historic internationally-acclaimed level but also to reflect tribal ownership, culture and traditions, said Laurie Mattson, executive director of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Foundation, the non-profit arm of the tribe that is overseeing Heronswood.
“We want to see the tribe get more involved in the development of the gardens too,” said Nancy Heckler, Heronswood general manager. “After all, it’s their garden now.”
There has been discussion about developing traditional and medicinal plant gardens as well as opening the grounds to private events. The tribe has already hosted one event – same-sex marriage ceremonies in February – and will host its first garden open and plant sale on May 18.
The conditions of the gardens are currently being assessed by the tribe and professional gardeners. Volunteers, including tribal citizens and former employees of Heronswood, are weeding, mulching and fixing up 6 acres of garden beds that are filled with native and non-native plants.
“The gardens are in restoration mode, including weeding, cutting back plants that have taken over, determining what plants currently exist and if they are properly associated with the garden’s naming system,” Heckler said. “Heronswood was known for its international collection and everything was catalogued. It’d be a shame to see it go to waste. Plus, there’s enough land to do all sorts of things.”
Annette Bryan, director of the Puyallup Tribal Housing Authority, and Ted Franzen, a resident at “The Place of Hidden” waters chat outside the new environmentally friendly building.
Source: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians is building environmentally friendly housing that also reflects their culture. This year the tribe’s housing authority opened The Place of Hidden Waters, an environmentally friendly 10-unit housing complex that emulates the traditional longhouse design.
“It was important that the building be culturally relevant to the tribe,” said Annette Bryan, executive director for the housing authority. “Another important part of the tribe’s culture is reliance on natural resources, which this project goes a long way toward protecting.”
“The energy efficient design of the building literally includes hidden waters,” Bryan said. The building’s temperature control system uses the moderate soil temperatures to cool the building in the summer and warm it in the winter.
The longhouse project also used recycled and local sustainable construction material. Rainwater from paved areas of the development are filtered through a rain garden, instead of into a traditional stormwater drainage system.
“We kept in mind the existing trees and natural habitat of the site before we started construction,” Bryan said. The building is built toward the eastern edge of a parcel, leaving the western side wooded. The preserved area connects to a 60-acre area that is being restored by the Nature Conservancy and the Port of Tacoma. The housing authority was also able to preserve several mature maple trees on the property.
The Puyallup Tribal Housing Authority provides housing opportunities to enrolled members of Indian tribes. Their mission includes building new affordable housing and revitalizing older housing developments.
The Place of Hidden Waters was preceded six years ago by another green tribal project called the Elder Healthy Home. The 1,300 square foot single family home was a demonstration project that included passive radiant solar heat, native plants and pervious pavements. It was also was constructed with local and certified sustainable wood.
Many of the environmental issues faced by the tribe stem from impacts of poorly thought-out development. For example, the acres of impervious surface in the Puyallup River watershed increased from 47,000 acres in 1986 to over 70,000 acres in 2006. “Because it is an important mission for the tribe, we’re trying to do things here in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way,” Bryan said.
The site of a former Indian boarding school in Kay County, Oklahoma will soon become the largest wind farm on tribal land in the United States. The Cherokee Nation has partnered with Chicago-based PNE Wind USA Inc. to develop a 90-turbine wind farm, which is estimated to generate copy6 million over the next two decades. Development will start immediately on 6,000 acres of the former property of the Chilocco Indian School, which operated from 1884 to 1980.
The 153-megawatt wind farm will power homes, businesses and farms of the southwest grid region.
“The Cherokee Nation has an opportunity to be a leader among Indian nations in renewable energy,” said Cherokee Nation Deputy Speaker Chuck Hoskin, Jr. “The tribe will be able to utilize an underutilized resource. We talk a lot about protecting our environment and conserving our resources, so this is a prime opportunity to put words into action.”
The Cherokee Nation owns half of the land on which the wind farm will sit. Chilocco was ideal because of its wind resources, and environmental studies show it will not curtail the migratory bird population. The entire Chilocco wind farm will encompass 6,000 acres total. The other 3,000 acres is owned by four other tribes, the Kaw, Otoe-Missouria, Pawnee and Ponca nations.
The tribal council voted 14-2 to approve the wind farm.
“The Cherokee Nation is playing a significant role in creating new green jobs and expects to play a key role in Oklahoma’s emerging wind energy industry,” Principal Chief Bill John Baker said in a press release. “The Cherokee Nation is committed to growing the Oklahoma economy, helping reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and creating sustainable jobs for our people in the renewable energy sector.”
Over 400 diners and auction bidders are expected to fill the Tulalip Resort Hotel’s Orca Ballroom tonight.
Contributions from tonight’s auction will help the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club continue to meet the needs of youth in the Tulalip community. The Tulalip club serves hot meals and healthy snacks to approximately 150 kids each day.
Exciting auction items include Native American art, tropical vacations, sporting events, fine dining and much more.
Splash: It’s time to start thinking about the summer. Splash, our guide to all things summer, is here to help you out. You’ll find comprehensive calendars on fairs, festivals, concerts, outdoor movies and much more. Click hereto check it out.
Live music: It’s time to celebrate Everett Music Initiative’s 1st Birthday Show at one of the best venues in Everett. The show is Friday at the Historic Everett Theatre and the featured bands are the Moondoggies, Motopony, Hot Bodies in Motion and River Giant. The show is all ages, with beer and wine for those over 21. Read more in our story here.
Taste local spirits: Visit Skip Rock Distillers in Snhomish for an open house on Saturday. The event is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the distillery, 104 Ave. C, Snohomish. All of the distiller’s spirits will be available for sampling and sale. Snohomish restaurants will provide food and treats, some featuring Skip Rock spirits. There will be food and drink specials and coupons at local restaurants and bars that feature Skip Rock products. Read more about Skip Rock, including some great recipes featuring their products here.
Boldly Go: Captain Kirk and his bold crew are back on the big screen this weekend. Check out the review here. And if “Star Trek” is not your thing, check out our list of upcoming summer movies.
For plane fans: Paine Field Aviation Day is Saturday. Kids can get an introductory flight, watch all sorts of vintage aircraft fly and explore hands-on interactive exhibits from Pacific Science Center, the Museum of Flight, the Burke Museum and the Star Lab Planetarium. Read more here.
Fan Fest: The AquaSox fan fest is Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be food, games, visits from Webbly and a lot more. Click herefor details.
Real food: The Celebration of Food Festival is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday in Lynnwood. More than 50 vendors will encourage guests to taste and experience real and healthy food. The event includes food demonstrations for children and adults, displays and items to buy. Vendors will hand out free samples, such as cheese, vegetables and chocolate. Resources to help children and adults learn about growing, cooking and preserving food will be available. Get the details in our story here.
Ogle motorcycles: The Sky Valley Antique & Classic Motorcycle Show is on Sunday in Snohomish. You can admire motorcycles that still perform after many decades. You can look at custom bikes and learn about bike safety. Find more information here.
Cheap books: Many branches of the Sno-Isle Libraries are offering book sales on Saturday. Sales are planned at Granite Falls, Stanwood, Mill Creek, Clinton and Coupeville. Find out the details here.
Calling canines: Bark for Life is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Haller Middle School football field in Arlington. Walk around the track with your dog and raise money for the American Cancer Society. The cost is $10 per dog. Donations will be accepted. There will also be food, music, face painting, a raffle, contests and more. Get more information here.
For kids: Sesame Street Live is at Comcast Arena in Everett with six shows Friday through Sunday. It’s a musical extravaganza with almost nonstop singing and an all-dancing musical montage. Families can stop in an hour before show time to go to Play Zone, where kids can sing and dance with Sesame Street cast members, sit in Big Bird’s nest, twirl in Zoe’s dance studio and sit on the steps of 123 Sesame St. More details are in our story here.
R-C fun: Contests for radio-controlled scale models are this weekend at Cascade Family Flyers Field. The family-friendly event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. Lunch will be available for $5 for burgers or hot dogs, or bring your own and they will grill it for you. Lots of planes on view. The entrance will be marked; 11021 Old Snohomish Monroe Road, Snohomish. More information here.
Music for kids:Caspar Babypants will play at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at University Book Store, Mill Creek Town Center, 15311 Main St., Mill Creek. The show is for all ages and is free.
For art lovers: The Camano Island Studio Tour allows visitors to see artists in action in a free, self-guided tour of 48 artists, 31 studios and three galleries. The tour is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information or to download a brochure, go here.
More things to do: Check out our new calendar to see what’s happening this weekend and beyond.
Crowe & Dunlevy Indigenous Brazil leaders
15 May 2013
Crowe & Dunlevy
TULSA, Okla. – On May 6, 2013, a delegation of Brazilian indigenous leaders visited Crowe & Dunlevy law firm’s Tulsa office to discuss Native American law, policy and legal history, as well as indigenous issues in Brazil.
“The parallels of indigenous peoples and Amazon forests with our native peoples in Oklahoma is remarkable,” said Mike McBride, chair of the Indian Law and Gaming Practice Group at Crowe & Dunlevy. “The significant difference, however, is that the Brazilian indigenous peoples lack the common law protections, a treaty histories and federal laws to protect their indigenous rights.”
McBride and Gerald Jackson, director at Crowe & Dunlevy, hosted the visitors. U.S. State Department Portuguese interpreters provided real-time translation.
“The lack of significant legal protections and recognition by the Brazilian government creates a challenging environment in which the indigenous people of Brazil can access basic economic development tools in order to better their lives and protect their unique cultures,” Jackson said.
Agostinho Eibahiwu, curator of the Indigenous Community Museum and Bororo Cultural Center of Meruri, explained the delegation’s interest in Native American affairs. He said that he was the first person in his tribe to obtain a Master’s degree. In addition to his museum curatorial activities, Eibahiwu develops projects for local indigenous schools, coordinates a cultural schedule at the community center and works as a consultant on indigenous issues.
Marcelo De Jesus, a leader of the Kiriri Indigenous Tribe, discussed how indigenous peoples, as minorities in Brazil, lack a political voice in the legislature and that few civil law provide adequate protection in the rain forests and how projects continued to threaten their way of life. For example, the plan to build a hydroelectric project and dam threatens their traditional modes of transportation of traveling by boat on the river, their hunting and gathering of plants and animals.
The delegation also discussed the difficulties in economic development and how a number of prior projects have failed because the indigenous nations could not afford to pay the interest on bank loans.
“The challenges that Brazilian indigenous people face today are the same that many of our Indian nations in the United States faced in the 1800s, although the indigenous people of Brazil lack the foundations and protections of tribal sovereignty,” McBride said. The delegation also discussed the United Nations declaration of rights for indigenous peoples and its potential impact and use for indigenous rights in Brazil.
For more information, contact Mike McBride at (918) 592-9824 or mike.mcbride@crowedunlevy.com or Bob Lieser, vice president of programming for Tulsa Global Alliance, (918) 591-4750 or blieser@TulsaGlobalAliance.org.
About Crowe & Dunlevy For more than 110 years, Crowe & Dunlevy has provided innovative and effective legal services to clients in numerous industries. The firm and its attorneys are annually ranked among the top professionals in the nation by nationally recognized peer-review organizations.
By Rob Capriccioso, Indian Country Today Media Network
Even a person only casually acquainted with Native Americans who viewed the May 15 hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in which U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell appeared for the first time could quickly comprehend that there are a plethora of issues for her to deal with on the tribal front.
Which is a big reason why some Indian affairs experts are questioning why some senators chose to push some issues tangentially related to Indian affairs—and some not related at all.
“It’s disappointing that senators currently serving on the committee are neglecting their fiduciary obligations to the Indian tribe, and instead advancing their pet projects that are beyond the scope of the committee’s responsibilities,” said Derek Bailey, former chair of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. “It saddens me that some U.S. senators fail to comprehend this country’s solemn obligations to the Anishinaabek [Native Americans].”
“I was disappointed, although it now seems commonplace to see senators push their in-state agendas at confirmation and introductory hearings,” added Chris Stearns, an Indian affairs lawyer with Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker. “While some of the issues raised were not all that relevant to Indian affairs, what did come across in the Secretary’s testimony was the admission that the U.S. has a problem, and in particular that state of Indian education was embarrassing. Let’s hope that means the Department has taken the first step in recovery.”
Here are the top five off-topic moments:
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) and the non-Indian safety issue
The vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Indian affairs started talking at one point about how he had sent Jewell several letters about a pressing safety issue. One might assume that it was a pressing Indian safety issue, given the topic of the hearing. Nope, his press office later told ICTMN—“It doesn’t have to do with Indian safety issues.” Oh. It was all about the senator’s desire to see a pathway built and maintained on Moose-Wilson Road—a road somewhere in Wyoming, but one that has little to do with any tribes there.
Senators pushing conventional energy development
There are tribes that would benefit from more lax U.S. fossil fuel regulations, but non-tribal interests would be the biggest benefactors. Yet some senators, like Barrasso and Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), made looser conventional energy regulation the centerpiece of their opening statements. Is that really the issue that matters most to tribes combatting poverty, poor health, and dreadful schools?
Senators pushing an environmental agenda
On the flip side of the fossil fuel debate, some senators used the hearing to score environmentalist-friendly brownie points. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), seemed to assume all Indians are supposed to be good stewards of the land just because they are Indian: “There’s a lot of potential for renewable energy in Indian country,” he said. “Those technologies are good for the environment.” Good for the environment, but where was his argument that they will be good for Indians? Barrasso, for all his flaws, cautioned against going too far in pushing an environmental agenda: “We should be asking the tribes, not the Sierra Club or the policy wonks in some think tank or some university what they want to do with their homelands.”
Sen. Jon Tester and the Montana wildfires
Yes, wildfires have recently threatened some western reservations and no doubt will continue to do so as this summer heats up. Tester (D-Mont.) took some precious time to talk about three fires currently burning in his state—getting Interior to spend more money on this problem was his obvious goal, and tribes could benefit if that happened. He also made it clear that Salish Kootenai, in particular, has been facing serious problems as a result of hazardous fire spending reductions, but this was but one anecdote in his discussion of Montana citizens facing the ravages of fire. After all that Montana fire talk, Franken couldn’t help but poke fun: “Wow…we have a fire burning now in Minnesota now, I understand,” he deadpanned.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and climate change
Could the new chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs be accused of being off-topic on Indian issues? For the most part, she was dead-on, focusing on tribal sovereignty, self-determination, and trust responsibility. But some Indian insiders worry that Indian education and fighting tribal poverty don’t appear to be her main focus. The concern is that she’s focused on the issues confronting the relatively well-off tribes in her home state, as well as coastal tribes that face unique circumstances compared to many land-locked tribes. So every minute that she talked about climate change caused a bit of uneasiness for tribal officials who see climate change as a problem, but believe it is far from the most pressing one on their lists.
Cantwell’s office said the new SCIA leader was pleased with the hearing overall. “She was appreciative of the conversation on a number of important issues,” said Jared Leopold, a spokesman for the senator.
