Thank you YBNorml, that is what I love about this board, all the information. As I was reading the article you posted I had a light go on in my head as far as fertilizer is concerned. There are huge amounts of Christmas trees produced around the canal that receive tens of thousands of tons of fertilizer each year and I am sure that doesn't help any. I was a little confused also while reading the article though because there is a Bear Creek near Belfair that is a trubutary to the Union River which runs right into the end of the hood canal. But I see they were talking about Bear Creek in Woodinville.