Some ferry routes back on schedule
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004164427_dige05m.html
The Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth and Seattle-Bremerton ferry routes are to return to their
normal winter schedules and boat assignments as of this morning, the state Department of
Transportation announced Monday.
The 124-car Chelan boat, which normally runs the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route, has
returned from Coast Guard-mandated repairs, which began Jan. 14, according to a news release.
With the Chelan back on its route, the 124-car Kitsap can return to the Seattle-Bremerton run
while the slower and smaller 87-car Tillikum will go back to the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth
run. The Tillikum had been filling in on the Seattle-Bremerton route.
"The impact to our customers over this last three weeks has been tremendous," Traci BrewerRogstad, deputy director of Washington State Ferries, said in a prepared statement. "We
certainly appreciate their patience as we work through what must be the most ambitious ferrymaintenance program in the history of the system."
Coho are once again listed as threatened
Salmon - The federal decision follows a ruling that science didn't support delisting
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
GAIL KINSEY HILL
The Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1202187307128990.xml&coll=7
The federal government returned Oregon's coastal coho salmon to the endangered species list Monday,
responding to a judge's ruling that scientific evidence didn't support delisting the fish.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, the federal agency charged with restoring
Northwest salmon, took coastal coho off the list two years ago, based in part on an analysis by state
biologists who concluded that coho are more resilient than experts thought.
The coho's relisting as a threatened species underscored the failure of the state-federal partnership to
rebuild the dwindling species without the more rigid oversight of the protections in the federal Endangered
Species Act.
Conservation groups applauded the decision to put coho back on the list.
But NOAA Fisheries officials lamented the apparent derailment of the Oregon Plan for Salmon and
Watersheds, the state's program for restoring the coastal coho runs.
The debate over the coho's status has been going since the early 1990s, when conservation groups began
petitioning for federal protections.
The species was listed as threatened between 1998 and 2004, then was taken off the list in 2006 when
NOAA Fisheries ruled that the coho are "not likely to become endangered" in the foreseeable future.
Trout Unlimited challenged the decision, and last summer a U.S. district court ruled that the agency's action
was "arbitrary, capricious, contrary to the best available evidence and in violation of the Endangered
Species Act."
NOAA Fisheries had until Monday to respond to the court ruling.
"As the court ordered, we have made a new determination based on the information available to us in this
limited time," said Bob Lohn, head of the agency's Northwest regional office in Seattle.
If the agency had been allowed to more closely examine the results of the Oregon salmon plan, Lohn said,
"we may have reached a different conclusion." He praised the voluntary provisions of the Oregon plan,
which relied on restoration efforts by thousands of landowners.
More than a million coho once filled coastal rivers and streams, but the species has since declined to a small
fraction of those historic levels.
Conservation groups said the coho's plight demanded federal protections. The listing as a threatened
species "is in the best interests of the salmon and the many people who value and depend on them," said
Chris Frissell, director of science and conservation for the Pacific Rivers Council.
The federal protections could slow logging and other development along coastal rivers and streams where
coho spawn.
NOAA Fisheries will designate certain areas as critical habitat and prohibit certain activities that can harm
fish. The agency said effects on state and local governments and on landowners "are expected to be minor."
Gail Kinsey Hill: 503-221-8590; gailhill@ news.oregonian.com
Is Keystone run too hard on small ferry?
Peninsula Daily News
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080204/NEWS/
802040302&template=printart
PORT TOWNSEND — As state ferry officials learn this week whether the
Steilacoom II is up to the challenge of navigating the rough waters between Port
Townsend and Keystone, two new ferry strategy meetings are scheduled in
Olympia and Port Townsend.
Amid concerns about its maneuverability and handling, the 50-car ferry begins its
sea trials and crew training today.
Leased for $760,000 from Pierce County, the Steilacoom II is smaller and less
powerful than the 80-year-old Steel Electric-class boats that until recently
operated on the route.
Some longtime ferry users in Port Townsend say they'd be more comfortable
riding Steel Electrics, despite the state's decision to tie them up because of
safety questions.
To them, the Steilacoom II seems too small, too underpowered and too low in the
water.
Hit by wave
Safety concerns were heightened over the weekend after the small ferry now on
the Port Townsend-Keystone run, the passenger-only Snohomish, was hit by a
freak wave Friday.
The wave, apparently created by a passing container ship, reportedly sent
passengers screaming as it sucked the bow down and flooded the cabin.
"All of us thought we were going to die," one of the passengers, Walter Dill, told
the weekly Port Townsend Leader newspaper.
But if the Steilacoom II's week-long sea trials are successful, vehicle ferry service
could begin on Saturday.
After training is completed, the Coast Guard will inspect the ferry and decide
whether it and its crew can make the run between Port Townsend and Whidbey
Island loaded with cars and passengers.
Model for new ferries
In addition to hopes of restarting car ferry service on the run, which stopped
when the Steel Electrics were pulled from service on the eve of the Thanksgiving
holiday travel rush, the Steilacoom II is the basic design the state plans to follow
to build three new ferries for $100 million.
The first new boat could be on the water in May 2009.
"I hear people say it [the Steilacoom II) is not safe. I hear people say it is safe,"
said state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, who is chairwoman of
the Senate Transportation Committee.
'The issue is how it handles in really rough waters.
"We won't know until we get it out and do the sea trial."
State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said there is no question the
Steilacoom II can make the run safely, and she intends to be aboard during part
of this week's training.
"We know the boat is safe and seaworthy and is of a standard acceptable on that
kind of run," she said late last month.
"The Coast Guard wouldn't authorize that boat for that run if it was not safe."
Meeting in Olympia
Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and other state legislators are meeting at 8 a.m.
Wednesday with either Gov. Chris Gregoire or Hammond to discuss the Port
Townsend-Keystone ferry situation.
"It will include all the principals, including the governor, or otherwise Hammond,
and representatives with ferries in their districts to discuss where we are going
from here," Kessler said Friday.
Kessler, along with Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, and Sen. Jim
Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, represent the 24th District, which includes Clallam and
Jefferson counties and one third of Grays Harbor County.
Kessler is also the House majority leader.
Several legislators from districts affected by the ferry situation have asked to
participate in the boat's upcoming sea trials.
Kessler said she met last week with Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce
representatives and warned them against suggesting any changes to the current
plans for restoring ferry service on the run.
Chamber officials and Port Townsend business leaders have recommended that
the new ferries be bigger than the Steilacoom II, holding from 65 to 100 vehicles.
But state ferry officials say that would cost too much and take much longer to
build.
'Be careful'
"I warned them [at the chamber] to be careful since we are in emergency mode,"
Kessler said.
"There's no money slated for this, and we're borrowing from other projects.
"The chair [House Transportation Committee Chairwoman Rep. Judy Clibborn,
D-Mercer Island] said we would do the first boat and then reexamine it.
"But right now we are in emergency mode, so we can't look longterm. We don't
have that kind of time."
Kessler and Van De Wege have co-sponsored a bill by Clibborn that would
enable the Department of Transportation to proceed in building one or more
ferries for Port Townsend-Keystone.
The legislation requires the vessels to carry no more than 100 vehicles and all
must be built in Washington.
House Bill 3218 is scheduled for a public hearing and executive session today in
the House Transportation Committee.
Its companion bill is Senate Bill 6794.
The bill includes an emergency clause that would allow it to take effect
immediately after passing the Legislature and being signed by Gregoire.
Kessler said Hammond also must replace Mike Anderson, who retired Dec. 31 as
director of the ferry service.
Hammond has appointed Steve Reinmuth, chief of staff at the state
Transportation Department, to be acting director.
Friday meeting
On Friday, a special Port Townsend-Keystone Partnership meeting will be held.
The morning meeting in the Pope Marine Building, on Madison at Water Street in
downtown Port Townsend, is open to the public.
It will be followed by an afternoon ride on the Steilacoom II as it continues its sea
trials.
The meeting is being held at the request of several partnership and community
members who want to discuss service on the Port Townsend-Keystone route and
concerns that having only one 50-car ferry this summer will result in massive
traffic backups.