Dear Sky Valley Residents,

Here is a perfect gift at NCAP (Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides) for upcoming Mother’s Day on May 8:

Show Mom some love with a Pesticide-Free garden sign!

Help protect our food, farms, water, wildlife, people and communities…

 one sign at a time!

Signs now available at the online NCAP store!

• On April 27, 2016 a petition from three non-profit organizations including SVENA was sent to FPB (WA Forest Practices Board) for better notice and disclosure of aerially-sprayed toxic forest chemicals. You can also find a link to the petition on CHEMICAL SPRAYING page of our website. Please send your letter of support for the petition to Megan Dunn,  NCAP  mdunn@pesticide.org and to FPB practicesboard@ dnr.wa.gov by May 9,2016. See an example of a letter here.

• On April 30, 2016 SVENA sent a letter of concern to the Snohomish County Executive, Council and Board of Health in regards to the state law  Chapter 35.88 RCW “Water Pollution – Protection From”, and also to the Singletary Timber Sale. Please find a link to the letter also on HOME page of our website.

• Below are new FPAs (Forest Practice Applications) submitted in April 2016 to DNR Northwest Region (Department of Natural Resources) for our area. Please visit FPAs and SUMMARY for FPAs page at svena.org for more information such as exact location. It is important to send comments (even they are past due) so they are in the system. The more comments, the more seriously government agencies will take them.

2815092 – Monroe area – comments due 4-25-2016 (harvest 5 ac, road constr. 400 ft)

2815081 – Sultan area – comments due 4-18-2016 (road abandonment 3650 ft)

If you have concerns, it is important that you send them to the Northwest Region office of DNR (Department of Natural Resources) northwest.region@dnr.wa.gov . For more impact, please include recipients from RESOURCES page of our website: press; city, county and state legislators. Comments should be informed concerns relevant to the specific FPA. “Canned” comments will not be taken seriously.

List of possible concerns:

> logging and toxic chemical spraying harm public health and safety

> toxic chemical spraying contaminates drinking water sources, local watershed (creeks, streams, rivers) and harms salmon

> logging on steep slopes increases a risk of land/mud slides

> contaminating creeks and streams by putting fill for bridges during road construction

> logging and toxic chemical spraying hurt environment and wildlife

> reducing values of homes and properties

> reducing aesthetic values in the tourism and recreation active area; hurting tourism and recreation industry

> harming local community, economy, businesses and residents.

 

Comments can ask for conditions to be placed on a permit:

> excluding a steep area from the harvest

> doing a partial cut in a gully

> removing logs by helicopter instead of skidding them down a steep unstable slope

> putting a no-cut boundary around a domestic water source

> asking on-site Interdisciplinary Team Review (IDTeam) for the part of the greatest concern

> asking for analysis and evaluations of specific items.

If you have more ideas for concerns and conditions, we will be glad to hear from you.

• April 2016 was the last month to comment to FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) on proposed Sunset Falls hydropower project on the Skykomish River. FERC is the authority that decides if the project gets licensed and goes forward. You can find more information at DAMMING AND PETITION page of our website. During the DLA (Draft License Application) comment period, this is what was sent to FERC, that related to the DLA:

Postcards:  523

Text comments (mostly kayakers):  85

National Parks Service: 2

Conservation Groups: 2   (one big comment from multiple groups)

Dept of Ecology: 1

NW Power & Conservation Council: 1

Department of Natural Resources: 1

Members of Save the Sky River Coalition group writing more detailed comments: 21

Sierra Club: 100

• An interesting article for a fun read

(also available as a link at CHEMICAL SPRAYING page):

Global Ob-Gyn Group Urges Greater Efforts to Prevent Toxic Chemical Exposure, 10-2015

 

Please spread the word, let me know if you have questions or if you would like to opt out from receiving SVENA updates. I will remove you from the mailing list.

Warm regards,

Inessa Pearce
President
SVENA (Skykomish Valley Environmental & Economic Alliance)
svena.org