Just saw a late-afternoon news break.....after tallying all the absentee ballots, Marie Cantwell has a 2,000+ lead over Gorton!

Now for the automatic re-count.

Sorry, but that fossil has to go.

I agree Eric, at the age of 72 and with another 6 year term, you would see Slade lining his pockets with a lot of special interest money and no accountability at the end of this term because he probably wouldn't run for re-election. He is the same age as Warren Magnuson when Gorton said we needed freshness in Washington State. I couldn't have said it better, the fossil must go!

Gorton 2000!!!!!!!!!

Thats a surprise!!!!

Here's a vicious rumor. Cantwell defeats Gorton so Bush offers him the Secretary of the Interior. Can you say Reagan/Watt all over again?

As the Secretary of the Interior, Gorton may be able to do more damage to the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, etc. than as a Senator. Whatever the permutations (assuming a Bush Administration [sigh]), I can't help but think the next four years are going to be poor ones for the environment.

And I'm usually a pretty optimistic guy.

As anglers, we may need to be active along the general environmental front, in addition to looking after our fishing interests. I realize that many environmental groups are looked upon with suspicion by anglers (with good reason), but there are legitimate environmental organizations and interests, as well--interets in step with the interests of anglers. As anglers, we benefit greatly by the Clean Water Act and ESA. These regulations not only protect diminished stocks, but provide the impetus for both pollutant restrictions and habitat protection measures.



[This message has been edited by obsessed (edited 11-22-2000).]

I voted for Cantwell but voted for Bush. I will admit that Clinton did have an outstanding record on the enviroment. I guess that is one thing we can owe him. Too bad Lowery was not elected Commisioner of Public Lands allthough I dont think Sutherland is necasarily a bad choice, I just dont like the idea of a Republican having control over are natural resources. Sorry about the aside...
Anyways once I heard the rumor of Slade being made Secertary of the Interior, I realized it was doubley important for Cantwell to defeat Gorton. Allthough Ive also heard rumors of whats his face from Alaska being top choice for that position as well. That just gives me the chills.

Is it me or does my spelling get worse the older I get???

Hows the leg coming Jimmy

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[This message has been edited by RPetzold (edited 11-22-2000).]

I thought Skeletor's health was not all that great. It surprises me that someone in the golden years of life would want to go to DC and suck the @ss of yet another administration. I guess that what happens when your a career ladder climber. He probably doesn't know how to slow down and enjoy a nice drift.

Legs doing ok Sparky. Here's the thing--Bush must be considering either Gorton or Don Young of Alaska for some appointment dealing with the environment. Neither would be elgible for the Secretary of the Interior since they're sitting Senators; these are two different jobs. Current Secretary Bruce Babbit isn't in Congress.

But if Gorton gets dethroned; then he'd be available for SOI, should Bush want it. Thats why its kind of a lose lose situation with Cantwell.

Or has it been too long since high school Civics?

We'll have to wait and see with Sutherland. His opponent Lowry is pretty liberal (complete with sex scandal), which was probably why he wasn't elected.

I'm particularly interested in how Sutherland reacts to some of the things going on now. In todays paper (yeah, the real skinny one), there was an article about the decline of the Cherry Point herring stock in north Puget Sound. I did some of the ecological risk assessment work on this herring stock in response to the oil refineries wanting to expand their dock facilities on herring spawning grounds; funding provided by Sutherlands predecessor Jennifer Belcher, who is pretty pro-environment. If you read the article, you'll see that a lot more work needs to be done here. I'm wondering if Sutherland will sweep it all under the rug and give the refineries the go ahead.

Lots to keep an eye on over the next 3-6 months as new folks take office.



[This message has been edited by obsessed (edited 11-22-2000).]

Here is the link to the herring story. Interesting story and one every body should take the time to read. http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/herr22.shtml. The food base for our Puget Sound stocks are at stake here. Does anyone know the health of the rest of the Sounds herring spawning beds?

Stever

There are 18 herring stocks in Puget Sound and 15 of them are healthy, although the Cherry Point stock, which is spiraling the bowl, is the largest in the Sound. In general, the "in sound" stocks, those in central and south Puget Sound are doing better than the north sound/Strait of Georgia stocks.

This may be because these northern fish, particularly the Cherry Point stock, move off of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island to feed. One of the current theories is that warmer ocean temperatures over the past couple of decades has brought further north the coastal hake stock which is predating north Puget Sound herring. The central and south Puget Sound stocks do not move out of the sound so are not exposed to this predation.

Although there is evidence that this is whats happening, sea-surface temperatures have declined over the past 3 years, and so we would expect some kind of recovery; but no deal. The 2000 numbers, which were up in central and south sound, were down for the Cherry Point stock, so something else is going on.

You can see the pickle here. Given we don't know what exactly is going on, plus given the fact that predation may be causing some of the decline, a pro-industry regulatory climate may simply allow further development in the Cherry Point nearshore, which is wear these fish spawn.

Breaking News:
100% of the votes counted, Cantwell is winner over Gorton by 1800 votes.
...pending a recount.