The 16th annual Sinclair Inlet Earth Day Cleanup, sponsored by the Kitsap Diving Association and Kitsap Trees & Shoreline Association (KiTSA) will take place on April 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers will meet at Bremerton Boardwalk pumphouse next to Harborside Parking Garage and the Annapolis Dock in Port Orchard. Sinclair Inlet Cleanups began in 1990 as part of the Department of Ecology’s (DOE) Urban Bay Action Plan for Dyes Inlet and Sinclair Inlet, until funding lapsed in 1993.

For more information, contact Don Larson, Kitsap Diving Association (KDA), Kitsap Trees & Shoreline Association, PO Box 1302, Bremerton, WA 98337, at (360) 476-6150 or (360) 373-7593 or dolarson@gmail.com.

EcoFest Annual Earth Day Celebration takes place on Saturday, April 22, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Stillwaters Environmental Center Campus, and is fun for the whole family. The center is located at 26059 Barber Cut Off Road in Kingston. Call Naomi or Joleen at (360) 297-2876 or email Naomi@stillwatersenvironmentalcenter.org for more information.

On April 29, at 10 a.m., WSDOT is donating 39 trees from its nursery for an Earth Day planting at the SR-303-NW Warren Avenue Bridge, Eagle Scout Enhancement Project property in Bremerton. City of Bremerton Parks Department’s Tom Cressman will dig the holes for the tree planting prior to the planting day on March 28.

Action Team funds 15 PIE projects around the Sound

On March 22, the Puget Sound Action Team (PSAT) announced recipients of its Public Involvement and Education (PIE) Fund. The Kitsap Home Builders Foundation (KHBF) and 14 others were selected after 76 proposals totaling requests for $2.3 million were sent in by agencies, organizations and schools. In 2006-2007, the Action Team will fund nearly $487,236 in personal service contracts to educate and involve the public in protecting and restoring Puget Sound.

The projects will be carried out in the next 13 months. The KHBF project will educate building industry professionals and agency staff on how to install low impact development (LID) technologies by engaging them in the retrofit of a quarter-acre commercial site owned by the Home Builders Association of Kitsap County. The site will serve as an LID showcase. The foundation will provide resources, coordination and support for LID projects in Kitsap County. The proposal, crafted by Grant-Solutions, received over 26 letters of commitment or support including the Cities of Bremerton, Port Orchard, and Poulsbo.

Action Team helps Port Orchard write LID into its regulations

On March 23, the City of Port Orchard was notified of its selection, through a competitive process, to receive technical assistance in the 2006 Low Impact Development Local Regulation Assistance Project in a letter to Mayor Kim Abel.

In the first round of these awards last year, the Puget Sound Action Team (PSAT) made it possible for busy, budget-strapped local governments to make room for LID in their regulations. Through a similar competition, PSAT selected 11 local governments to receive free help making their regulations more LID-friendly.

The Tacoma engineering firm AHBL, Inc., was chosen to provide that technical assistance. AHBL suggested recommendations to city and county staff for regulations dealing with stormwater management, subdivisions, planned unit developments, parking, roads, commercial and industrial development, and incentives to developers.

This spring the Action Team will select another engineering firm for the six local governments selected to participate in the second round of technical assistance.

“I think this is one of the biggest types of projects in the nation,” said Bruce Wulkan, the Action Team’s Stormwater Program Manager. “No one else that I know of has attempted to work with 11 local governments simultaneously to revise regulatory language so local managers and elected officials can consider adopting LID.”

The funding for this technical assistance project came from DOE’s Direct Implementation Fund and from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and State Water Quality Account funds administered by the Action Team.

The cities involved in the 2005 LID Local Regulation Assistance Project were Poulsbo, Bellingham, Issaquah, Marysville, and Redmond. Counties were Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, Snohomish, Thurston and Whatcom. Materials developed from those projects will be available this spring at www.psat.wa.gov/LID.

Sewage Spill in Liberty Bay

The City of Poulsbo reported an estimated 5,000-gallon sewage spill on Tuesday, March 21, at the head of Liberty Bay along the same aging sewer line that was responsible for a Sept. 29 spill, which was estimated at 553,000 gallons.

The broken line was repaired by the City on the same day. As a result, the Kitsap County Health District issued a health advisory for all of Liberty Bay out to Keyport, until March 25th. Residents were advised to avoid any contact with the water, and shellfish harvesting in the advisory area which was also closed. The Health District has an ongoing advisory against collecting shellfish for the east side of Liberty Bay near Poulsbo. The Health District posted warning signs at public access points around Liberty Bay. For more information on this advisory, contact the Health District’s Water Quality Program at (360) 337-5235, Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Additional information is available on the Health District’s 24-hour hotline at (800) 2BE-WELL or online at www.kitsapcountyhealth.com. For information on the spill, contact Andrzej Kasiniak, City of Poulsbo Public Works Department, at (360) 779-4078.

USGS Habitat Study begins

The US Geological Survey (USGS) study of habitat in Liberty Bay began on March 14, with research oceanographers and scientists Lisa Gee, Colin Smith, and fisheries biologist Theresa (Marty) Liedtke from the Columbia River Research Laboratory in Cook, Wash. The team was assisted by the Suquamish Tribe’s salmon recovery coordinator Paul Dorn, Liberty Bay Foundation, and volunteers in seining sites along the shores.

Future studies will involve measurement of other indicators; chemical and biological.

“I will be deploying two moorings to measure chlorophyll (which indicates phytoplankton productivity) — one inside Liberty Bay and one just outside, for comparison,” wrote Jessie Lacy, USGS Research Oceanographer, from the Santa Cruz, Calif. science center. “I am currently working with Randi Thurston at WDFW and Courtney Wasson at DNR on getting permits for the moorings. Their main concern is to avoid impacts to aquatic vegetation.”

“The site for the proposed moorings is not likely to have critical marine vegetation, but I would be happy to dive during one of our scheduled beach seine events (every two weeks), or at time that fits the eelgrass/macro algae summer schedule” he added. “No cost of course.  I think it would be extremely useful for all concerned with the health of Liberty Bay to have expert measurements of chlorophyll a that we can (hopefully) tie into upland/estuarine nutrient inputs. We would even provide the boat to help set the equipment up to reduce the cost to USGS.”

Volunteers interested in participating in the bi-weekly beach seining sessions taking place 2-5 p.m. on April 11, 12-4 p.m. on April 25, May 9, and May 23 can call Luis Barrantes at (360) 697-5815 or go to www.libertybayfoundation.com for information.

Marine Science Center receives $250,000 in state’s supplementary budget

Under the budget proviso submitted by 23rd District Rep. Sherry Appleton (D-Poulsbo) on the first day of the 2006 legislative session, the House Appropriations Committee approved funding for Poulsbo to receive $250,000 to help start up a new marine educational program at the center.

State Sen. Phil Rockefeller was key to support in the Senate and making the funding a reality in the short legislative session, and the state Legislature included the $250,000 in its final 2006 budget. The money will become available July 1.

Mayor Kathryn Quade and Councilman Ed Stern presented packets on the proposal that included letters of support from the Liberty Bay Foundation, the Greater Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce, community leaders, and students who had attended classes there.

“Sherry, thank you for all you’ve done, shepherding this through... the community worked hard as well, letter writing, phoning and supplying pertinent information,” Quade wrote in an email on news of the funding. “I thank you all for this outstanding display of community caring.”

As a Poulsbo City Councilwoman in the 1990s, Appleton was a primary advocate for earmarking the funds for the original opening of the center. “Having the opportunity to come to its aid as a state representative is an honor. I am absolutely thrilled,” said Appleton.