Existing Bicycle FacilitiesM

Posted: 08 Aug 2013 03:18 PM PDT

SCOG has prepared a map of the existing bicycle facilities in Skagit County. The facilities are broken up into three classes:

• Trails - These facilities are separated facilities for bicycle and pedestrian use. These are generally the most preferable place for bicyclists to ride, particularly novice cyclists. Facilities were included as trails only if they are paved. Also, sidewalks that are ten feet wide, as opposed to the standard six foot wide sidewalk, were also included as trails.
• Bike Lanes - These are facilities which grant designated space to bicycles within roadways. While there are many roadways in the county that appear as bike lanes, they are only included in the map if they are officially designated by roadway markings or signs on the shoulder.
• Signed Routes - These are facilities designated by signs or roadway markings without granting space for seperated bicycle use. Examples of this type of facility include bicycle route signage or sharrows.

The map below displays the existing bicycle facilities in Skagit County. Click on the green, red, or blue markings to see more information about the facility. If you know of any trail, bike lane or signed route that has been overlooked, please contact Gabe Philips at (360) 416-6678.

           SKAGIT COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL                 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon, WA 98273           Phone: (360) 336-9410 • Fax: (360) 419-7705  NEWS RELEASE   IMPLEMENTED BY:          Skagit County Fire Marshal’s Office

APPROVED BY:                 Skagit County Commissioners

CONTACT:                          Kevin Noyes Deputy Fire Marshal

                                             Telephone: (360) 419-7703

DATE OF RELEASE:           August 2, 2013

FOR RELEASE:                   Immediately  OUTDOOR BURNING BAN  Due to high fire danger and expected hot and dry weather conditions, an outdoor burning ban for the unincorporated areas of Skagit County will go into effect Monday, August 5, 2013 at 8:00 AM.  This burn ban will be in effect until further notice.  If you are within the city limits of any of the incorporated cities or towns, check with your city fire department for current burning ban information. During the burn restriction no burning is allowed with the exception of barbequing with propane or natural gas.   These restrictions will remain in effect until further notice.  All outdoor burning permits for the unincorporated areas of Skagit County are suspended at this time. It is never legal to burn trash or garbage. This decision has been made in cooperation with the, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Island County, Whatcom County, local fire districts and Northwest Clean Air Agency. You may obtain updated County burn restriction information by calling the Skagit County Deputy Fire Marshal at (360) 419-7703 or skagitcounty.net     

Kate Martin of the Skagit Valley Herald wrote a great article on the Coal Terminal now needs a far reaching study on railway impacts.

To read article: http://www.goskagit.com/news/local_news/coal-terminal-requires-study-of-far-reaching-rail-impacts/article_1d50f7dc-fa0c-11e2-963e-001a4bcf887a.html

With great respect for the Lummi Nation, we are grateful and pleased to share the following letter that was sent to the Army Corp of Engineers, dated July 30, 2013, stating the Lummi Nation's absolute opposition to the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal and Custer Spur Rail Expansion projects.    
The Lummi tribe submitted 34 pages of objections to the co-lead agencies during scoping.    This formal letter of objection sent directly to the Army Corps. is an even more significant step because it complies specifically with Army Corp. requirements.
Related news articles are also attached, and well worth reading to understand the full significance of the action that has been taken by the Lummi who are adamant about protecting their sacred cultural lands and their fishing grounds at Xwe' Chi' eXen (Cherry Point.)

Scientists discover what’s killing the bees and it’s worse than you thought – Quartz
Outlawing a type of insecticides is not a panacea. AP Photo/Ben MargotScientists discover what’s killing the bees and it’s worse than you thoughtBy Todd Woody — July 24, 2013

As we’ve written before, the mysterious mass die-off of honey bees that pollinate $30 billion worth of crops in the US has so decimated America’s apis mellifera population that one bad winter could leave fields fallow. Now, a new study has pinpointed some of the probable causes of bee deaths and the rather scary results show that averting beemageddon will be much more difficult than previously thought.

Scientists had struggled to find the trigger for so-called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that has wiped out an estimated 10 million beehives, worth $2 billion, over the past six years. Suspects have included pesticides, disease-bearing parasites and poor nutrition. But in a first-of-its-kind study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, scientists at the University of Maryland and the US Department of Agriculture have identified a witch’s brew of pesticides and fungicides contaminating pollen that bees collect to feed their hives. The findings break new ground on why large numbers of bees are dying though they do not identify the specific cause of CCD, where an entire beehive dies at once.

When researchers collected pollen from hives on the east coast pollinating cranberry, watermelon and other crops and fed it to healthy bees, those bees showed a significant decline in their ability to resist infection by a parasite called Nosema ceranae. The parasite has been implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder though scientists took pains to point out that their findings do not directly link the pesticides to CCD. The pollen was contaminated on average with nine different pesticides and fungicides though scientists discovered 21 agricultural chemicals in one sample. Scientists identified eight ag chemicals associated with increased risk of infection by the parasite.

Most disturbing, bees that ate pollen contaminated with fungicides were three times as likely to be infected by the parasite. Widely used, fungicides had been thought to be harmless for bees as they’re designed to kill fungus, not insects, on crops like apples.

“There’s growing evidence that fungicides may be affecting the bees on their own and I think what it highlights is a need to reassess how we label these agricultural chemicals,” Dennis vanEngelsdorp, the study’s lead author, told Quartz.

Labels on pesticides warn farmers not to spray when pollinating bees are in the vicinity but such precautions have not applied to fungicides.

Bee populations are so low in the US that it now takes 60% of the country’s surviving colonies just to pollinate one California crop, almonds. And that’s not just a west coast problem—California supplies 80% of the world’s almonds, a market worth $4 billion.

In recent years, a class of chemicals called neonicotinoids has been linked to bee deaths and in April regulators banned the use of the pesticide for two years in Europe where bee populations have also plummeted. But vanEngelsdorp, an assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland, says the new study shows that the interaction of multiple pesticides is affecting bee health.

“The pesticide issue in itself is much more complex than we have led to be believe,” he says. “It’s a lot more complicated than just one product, which means of course the solution does not lie in just banning one class of product.”

The study found another complication in efforts to save the bees: US honey bees, which are descendants of European bees, do not bring home pollen from native North American crops but collect bee chow from nearby weeds and wildflowers. That pollen, however, was also contaminated with pesticides even though those plants were not the target of spraying.

“It’s not clear whether the pesticides are drifting over to those plants but we need take a new look at agricultural spraying practices,” says vanEngelsdorp.