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Every month our Transition neighbors to the West, Transition Fidalgo & Friends, hold a community potluck called the Seventh Generation Supper. At these soup dinners, a guest speaker is asked to share information on a given topic and Transition members are invited to share important community information. Click on the link below to get the latest scoop on what is going on in the Anacortes area.
7th Generation Supper Notes: 3/31/2015 ~Sarai
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June Williamson's New Book Revisits the Future of SuburbiaThe global age of the city is upon us. But as June Williamson reminds us, architects and designers shouldn’t give up on the quest to retrofit suburbia. http://www.architectmagazine.com/design/exhibits-books-etc/june-williamsons-new-book-revisits-the-future-of-suburbia_o ~Ellen Bynum  Please double-click on the drought map. All the best, Sandra Spargo Anacortes On April 17, 2015 Governor Jay Inslee declared a drought in 13 additional river basins in Washington state. The drought declarations bring to 24 the total number of Washington’s watersheds in drought emergencies, 44 percent of the total area of the state. The web page is updated with current information: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/drought/index.html  Hello Friday Creek and Bear Creek Fans! Note forwarded steelhead survey counts for April 2nd and April 9th for Bear Creek and Friday Creek provided by volunteer, Brady Green. Have a wonderful week!
Sincerely, Kristi Carpenter Skagit Conservation District 2021 E. College Way, Suite #203 Mount Vernon, WA 98723 (360) 428-4313 Here are summaries for the Silver & Bear Creeks Steelhead Surveys for the previous two weeks (4/2 and 4/9, 2015). I plan to conduct surveys again tomorrow on Thursday, April 16th. Steelhead Surveys on April 2, 2015 Silver Creek (4/2/15) Flow Conditions: medium & clear 0 Live Steelhead, 8 Steelhead Redds 5 false redds; 1 CTT redd Water Temperatures: Silver Cr. @ Hwy 99 Bridge = 48.5 F (@10:17am); (Air Temp. 46.9 F @ 10:15am) Silver Cr. at upper end of Index = 49.8 F (@ 11:45 am) Silver Cr. immediately upstream from Friday Cr. confluence = 49.6 F (@1:12 pm) Friday Cr. immediately above Silver Cr. confluence = 50.3 F (@ 1:15 pm) Bear Creek (4/2/15) Flow Conditions: medium & clear 0 Live Steelhead, 0 Steelhead Redds Water Temperatures: Bear Cr. @ Lake Samish Rd. Bridge = 47.2 F (@1:28 pm) (Air Temp. = 45.6 F @ 1:26pm) Friday Creek immediately upstream from Bear Cr. confluence = 52.1 F (1:52 pm) SF Bear Cr. = 48.0 F (@2:39pm) NF Bear Cr. = 47.7 F (@2:45pm) ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Steelhead Surveys on April 9, 2015 Silver Creek (4/9/15) Flow Conditions: low-medium; clear 0 Live Steelhead, 3 Steelhead Redds 1 false redd; 1 CTT redd Water Temperatures: Silver Cr. @ Hwy 99 Bridge = 47.6 F (@10:27am); (Air Temp. 52.6 F @ 10:25am) Silver Cr. at upper end of Index = 48.9 F (@ 11:40am) Silver Cr. immediately upstream from Friday Cr. confluence = 50.8 F (@12:40pm) Friday Cr. immediately above Silver Cr. confluence = 50.8 F (@ 12:42pm) Bear Creek (4/9/15) Flow Conditions: Low-Medium; clear 0 Live Steelhead, 1 Steelhead Redds Water Temperatures: Bear Cr. @ Lake Samish Rd. Bridge = 48.6 F (@1:20 pm) (Air Temp. = 59.2 F @ 1:18pm) Friday Creek immediately upstream from Bear Cr. confluence = 57.3 F (1:58pm) SF Bear Cr. = 50.0 F (@2:58pm) NF Bear Cr. = 50.0 F (@3:02 pm) Brady D. Brady Green 8194 Skagit Way Blaine, WA 98230-9554 Off Ph: 360-738-6496 Cell Ph: 360-201-5528 E-Mail: bgreen5645@aol.com  Three articles on poisons and their effects on our food chain and food security. Cheers, Ranger On the topic of the NEONICOTINOID PESTICIDES, here's the scholarly link. http://services.santabarbaraca.gov/Files/Parks_and_Recreation/Neonics%20in%20Runoff/Neonicotinoid%20Pesticides_Not%20Just%20Bees.pdf Here's the NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/business/energy-environment/pesticides-probably-more-harmful-than-previously-thought-scientist-group-warns.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-2&action=click&contentCollection=Europe®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&pg&_r=0 On the beach below my house we used to go down and toss the star fish back out in the water at low tide –there were thousands of them .....TODAY NOT one anywhere !! Catastrophic chain reactions eventually get to the top of the food chain ~Janet Needler Food Chain Catastrophe: Emergency Shut Down Of West Coast Fisheries: "Populations Have Crashed 91 Percent" By Mac Slavo Earlier this week Michael Snyder warned that the bottom of our food chain is going through a catastrophic collapse with sea creatures dying in absolutely massive numbers. The cause of the problem is a mystery to scientists who claim that they can’t pinpoint how or why it’s happening. What’s worse, the collapse of sea life in the Pacific Ocean isn’t something that will affect us several decades into the future. The implications are being seen right now, as evidenced by an emergency closure of fisheries along the West coast this week. On Wednesday federal regulators announced the early closure of sardine fisheries in California, Oregon and Washington. According to the most recent data, the sardine populations has been wiped out with populations seeing a decline of 91% in just the last eight years. Meeting outside Santa Rosa, California, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to direct NOAA Fisheries Service to halt the current season as early as possible, affecting about 100 fishing boats with sardine permits… … The action was taken based on revised estimates of sardine populations, which found the fish were declining in numbers faster than earlier believed… The council did not take Wednesday’s decision lightly and understood the pain the closure would impose on the fishing industry, said council member Michele Culver, representing the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. She added that it was necessary because a new assessment of sardine stocks showed they were much lower than estimated last year, when harvest quotas were set. Source: New York Times via Steve Quayle / ENEnews Sardines, like honey bees, don’t seem important to the casual observer. But just like honey bees, which are experiencing their own colony collapse, they are critical to the propagation of the global food chain. The immediate effects can be seen on the creatures next in line: … 90 percent of this year’s class of sea lion pups were starving for lack of sardines to eat. “The sardine populations have crashed 91 percent since 2007,” he said after the vote. “We would have liked to see this happen much sooner, but now we can start to rebuild this sardine population that is so important to the health of the ocean.”  (Courtesy: The Seattle Times) But even closing of commercial fisheries may not be the solution. As Snyder points out in the aforementioned report, there are some unexplained phenomena occurring in the Pacific ocean and either scientists don’t have a clue what is happening, or someone is keeping a gag order on researchers. According to two University of Washington scientific research papers that were recently released, a 1,000 mile stretch of the Pacific Ocean has warmed up by several degrees, and nobody seems to know why this is happening. This giant "blob" of warm water was first observed in late 2013, and it is playing havoc with our climate. And since this giant "blob" first showed up, fish and other sea creatures have been dying in absolutely massive numbers. The issue could potentially be one of climate change – but not the kind of climate change we hear from politicians who just want to put carbon tax credits in their pocket. Rather, we could be talking about cyclical climate shifts that have occurred regularly throughout the course of earth’s history. And with those shifts come massive migrations and species die-offs. Or, as one contributor at ENEnews.com suggested, the answer to why this is happening should be obvious: We have three cores melted out of their reactor buildings, lost in the mudrock and sandstone, which we have failed to locate and mitigate. We have an underground river running under the ruins, which we have failed to divert around the reactors. We have three empty reactors, containing nothing but corium splatter left when they blew up and melted out. We have the Pacific Ocean Ecosystem, which we have stressed beyond endurance, through ocean dumping, over fishing, agricultural runoff, and now unrestricted radiation. We have the sudden collapse of the Pacific Ocean Ecosystem, with a threatened collapse of the biosphere. We continue to allow corporate and governmental inaction. What in hell did you think was going to happen? Something is wrong with world’s food chain and one Harvard Professor suggested last year that recent signs, namely with the die-off of honey bee populations, are a prelude of things to come: But he now warns that a pollinator drop could be the least our worries at this point. That it may be a sign of things to come – bees acting as the canary in the coalmine. That not only are we connected to bees through our food supply, but that the plight that so afflicts them may very well soon be our own. Could it be that the collapse of honey bee colonies, mass sea life die-offs, and changing climates in once lush growing regions are all the result of the same underlying phenomena? If so, then we can soon expect not just higher food prices, but a breakdown in the food chain itself. And though none of us can truly prepare for a decades’ long (or longer) food disaster and the complexities that would come along with it (like mass migrations and resource wars), we can take steps to make ourselves as self sustainable as possible, while also preparing emergency plans to respond to the initial brunt of the force should it hit. Related Reading: 11 Emergency Food Items That Can Last a Lifetime Food and Garden Sustainability Sustainable in the City Prepare For Any Disaster Come see us at the Chuckanut Transition Table at the Bow Little Market Garden Swap and Sale
We will have surplus plant and seed to swap or sell: Red and Black Currants, Aronia Berries, Sea Berries, Italian Musk Strawberries, Lovage, Angelica, Ice Plant Sedums, Josta Berries, Highbush Cranberries, Artichoke, Sweet Annie, Ashwagandha, Salad Burnet, Elecampane, Skullcap Herb Starts, Cedars, 'Look Out Blues' Hops, Spotted Hawkweed (nice shade plant), Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes, Spicy Oregano, Columbine, Assorted Bean Seed, Surplus Farm Supply and Gardening Books (if no rain), and...Chocolate! Come talk to us about: Sustainable Samish Garden Tour, Emergency Preparedness Planning, Community Cider Press, Raising Cows for Meat and Milk, Wild Mushrooms, Greenhouse Building, Forestry, Forest Gardening, Vegetable Gardening, and General Enthusiasm and Knowledge about Resilient Sustainable Community! Chuck Nafziger share his latest and greatest bug pictures and information about pollinators in the garden. See you May 2nd! Happy Spring Planting! One commenter points out that you have to have the right soils, water and climate to farm. Point taken.
Which is why keeping as many acres of NW corner soils in production is critical for the future of food. Ellen http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_27904981/harrop-farming-moves-north-temperatures Thought for the month"For thousands of years, we have fought to protect all that is important for those who call the Salish Sea home. We as leaders need to protect our treaty resources, our economies, and the human health of our citizens and neighbors. We all lose if we give up that which is most precious to us all – our commitment is to do what is right for our children and grandchildren, and to protect the land and water upon which their lives will depend.” ~ Brian Cladoosby, Swinomish Tribal Chairman
To Read the rest of the e-newsletter go here. Keri Knapp, Farmer's Market Extraordinaire, is heading for greener grass! That's our loss; but spread the word that the Farmer's Market is hiring! Job description appears below. ~Transition Fidalgo and Friends  Skagit Food for Skagit People: Community Food Planning Project Keeping Informed on Food Access and Nutrition Security in Skagit County April 2015  Here is a link: http://eepurl.com/bfJE81
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Chuckanut Transition Community
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