Following The Stimulus Money

[Marc Martyn]

While reading an article on line and following several links, I stumbled across this interactive map where you can go down to street level and see exactly where the money is going and for what. Pretty cool. Click on a location and a pop up window will show the information.

http://www.recovery.gov/transparency/pa ... x?State=WA

[ZaraSpook]

ya, if your gullible & believe the gov.

[Marc Martyn]

ya, if your gullible & believe the gov.

My wife is a school principal and I looked up the figures for her school district grant money and it was just exactly what she said they received.

Try taking a positive outlook on life, it helps make your day go by a little better.

[G-Man]

Here is something positive and fishing related stemming from the stimulus money.

Lost fishing nets strewn along the bottom of Puget Sound have been drowning thousands of fish, birds, seals, crabs and other marine life each year. And some of these ghost nets have been silently killing creatures for a decade or more. But now a local conservation group will have the support it needs to clean up most of the mess, thanks to a $4.6 million federal grant. The money, which comes from the federal stimulus package, will fund the Northwest Straits Commission’s effort to remove 3,000 lost fishing nets littering Puget Sound.

Now if we can just get the nets banned all together, we'll be looking pretty!

[Dave]

Here is something positive and fishing related stemming from the stimulus money.

Lost fishing nets strewn along the bottom of Puget Sound have been drowning thousands of fish, birds, seals, crabs and other marine life each year. And some of these ghost nets have been silently killing creatures for a decade or more. But now a local conservation group will have the support it needs to clean up most of the mess, thanks to a $4.6 million federal grant. The money, which comes from the federal stimulus package, will fund the Northwest Straits Commission’s effort to remove 3,000 lost fishing nets littering Puget Sound.

Now if we can just get the nets banned all together, we'll be looking pretty!

I saw this as well G-Man. Great news for sure! Here is the Everett Herald article:


Stimulus money pays to pluck abandoned fishing gear off Puget Sound’s floor. Associated Press

KINGSTON — Old gill nets littering the sea floor are the silent killers of the Puget Sound. But thanks to federal stimulus money, an ongoing effort to remove old fishing gear has picked up the pace.

The Northwest Straits Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Program received $4.6 million in stimulus funds this summer. Now four boats and about a dozen paid divers are working on the problem full time. The organization’s goal is to remove 90 percent of the estimated 4,000 nets sitting in the Puget Sound by December 2010.

Tom Cowan is the project manager for the derelict gear removal program and a former director of the Northwest Straits Commission. He said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, which awarded the grants, realized the environmental impact the nets were having. Cowan estimates that over the last 30 years, nets have been responsible for the injuries or deaths of 30,000 birds, 110,000 fish and almost 2 million invertebrates. “All of this marine life is really important for the ecosystem,” Cowan said.

Over the last three months, four full-time boats and dive crews have recovered almost 600 nets, mostly from the San Juan Islands. “This is one of the few environmental projects I’ve worked on where you can see you have an impact,” said Jeff June, field manager for the project. “We can measure the amount of habitat we’re restoring.”

Steve Sigo, the skipper of Twila Dawn, has been fishing with his family since he was 12. This year, “fishing for nets” has opened his eyes to what it really means when gear is lost. “I wouldn’t have thought they do as much damage,” Sigo said. “I wouldn’t have thought they keep fishing like they do.”

The four crews will continue working to catch these “ghost fishers” throughout the winter depending on weather and currents. The stimulus money is allowing them to work every day possible for the next 13 months and have a direct effect on the undersea environment. “As soon as we pull it out of the water there’s an immediate benefit to the ecosystem,” Broadhurst said.

[Mike Carey]

While reading an article on line and following several links, I stumbled across this interactive map where you can go down to street level and see exactly where the money is going and for what. Pretty cool. Click on a location and a pop up window will show the information.

http://www.recovery.gov/transparency/pa ... x?State=WA

Definately a cool map and interesting to use. I SO want to add a political statement, but I'll be good. :bigsmurf:

[Marc Martyn]

While reading an article on line and following several links, I stumbled across this interactive map where you can go down to street level and see exactly where the money is going and for what. Pretty cool. Click on a location and a pop up window will show the information.

http://www.recovery.gov/transparency/pa ... x?State=WA

Definately a cool map and interesting to use. I SO want to add a political statement, but I'll be good. :bigsmurf:

It was not intended to be a political post. Just a way to research information if one chooses.