Olympia — State lawmakers gave final approval Friday to a bill meant to increase oil train safety.
The bill was taken up in response to the uptick in oil train traffic in the region. It directs oil taxes to help pay for oil-train spill response. It also imposes public disclosure requirements for railroad companies operating in Washington.
The bill was introduced by Gov. Jay Inslee and three dozen of his fellow Democrats in the House, where their party holds the majority. But by the time it was unanimously approved by the Republican-controlled Senate Friday evening, the bill had undergone many changes.
Funding and requirements for enhanced marine spill response, including an extra rescue tug to be stationed in the eastern part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, were stripped from the bill.
“We got to ‘yes’ on the safety features in the bill and how we pay for them, but we’re going to have to come back and recommit to how we’re paying for the marine side and that is a real true critique of what we got to today,” said Rep. Jessyn Farrell, D-Kenmore, who sponsored of the bill.
Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, said it took compromise to industry-minded lawmakers, too.
“It might not be what everyone wants in every situation but it definitely is the higher majority of a very good idea that’s going to make the people of Washington safer when it comes to crude by rail,” Ericksen said on the Senate floor before the final vote.
Language was stripped from the bill that would have required additional train workers at the rear of oil trains more than 50 cars in length.
The version that passed Friday requires railroads to regularly notify state emergency responders as to the type and quantity of oil arriving by rail, as well as the route of the trains. Oil that arrives by pipeline will be subject to similar notification requirements.
The bill extends to oil hauled by rail the nickel-per-barrel tax currently levied on oil that arrives by ship in Puget Sound. It’s expected to generate roughly $4 million to pay for spill prevention, planning and response.
BNSF Railway transports most of the oil that’s moved along the rails in Washington. The company did not immediately offer a comment.
The Washington Environment Council issued a press release that said the oil industry was responsible for weakening the original legislation.
“While this bill contains some important steps forward in terms of transparency and public disclosure, it leaves huge holes in the safety net needed to protect our communities and waterways from risks we face today,” said Becky Kelley, president of Washington Environmental Council.
The Legislature heads into special session next week to work on the state’s two-year operating budget.
For Healthy Rivers, Farms, Communities in the Face of Climate Change
Written by Cathy Baker, Federal Director of Government Relations, April 21, 2015
Photograph by John Marshall
On the eve of Earth day, the White House recognized Puget Sound as a model for climate change adaptation, making it one of four places in the U.S. where increased cooperation will aid in preparation for the impacts of climate change –including sea level rise, drought, flooding and wildfires.
The Puget Sound region was showcased in the Resilient Lands and Waters Initiative for outstanding efforts in local, state, federal and tribal partnerships around Puget Sound recovery. The release highlights recent successes and builds momentum for efforts to restore floodplains, preserve farmland and reduce flood risk through the innovative Floodplains by Design program and Snohomish County’s Sustainable Land Strategy.
“We are living with the evidence of a changing climate,” said Mike Stevens, Washington State director for The Nature Conservancy. “Longer and more intense winter flooding, low river flows in the summer, and rising seas are affecting both cities and farmlands in the Puget Sound region. “
In Snohomish County, local leaders have developed the Snohomish Sustainable Lands Strategy which brings together Tulalip and Stillaguamish Tribes, government agencies, and local agriculture, and other interests to tackle these issues together.
“Thanks to Sustainable Lands Strategy partners, leadership by Snohomish County Surface Water Management, and the support of the Floodplains by Design program, the county has an assessment of risk and a plan to make the river valleys more resilient in the face of those risks, to the benefit of both people and nature,” Stevens said.
“We are trying to prepare for the future under changing climate conditions,” said Terry Williams of the Tulalip Tribes, a key partner in collaborative efforts underway in Snohomish County. “In the Snohomish River Delta we are getting 500-year-floods more frequently, early spring flooding, early drought. Eighty percent of the delta was diked 100 years ago, and we lost a lot of fish habitat. Mix that with land use that includes forestry, agriculture and urban development—all of that affects the landscape.”
“We’re figuring out how to address these landscapes, these changing conditions, and capitalize on them so we become stronger, rather than weaker,” he said.
“This designation speaks volumes about what we’ve accomplished,” said Tristan Klesick, of Klesick Family Farms. “It’s not easy work, but it’s valuable and important. We have to be stewards of the environment and the economy – we have to have a place for salmon and salamanders, corn, broccoli and milk, homes, schools and hospitals.“
“We look forward to engaging in this opportunity to build upon our efforts to bring government and our communities together to address the natural resource challenges we face,” said Snohomish County Council Chair Dave Somers.
The Nature Conservancy has contributed both science and leadership to this work.
John Murray, Chief Earl Old Person and Tyson Running Wolf announced Wednesday a national campaign to cancel oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine area.(Photo: Courtesy photo)
The Blackfeet Tribe and National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) announced a campaign Wednesday to cancel the remaining oil and gas leases within the Badger-Two Medicine area.
The rock band Pearl Jam and member Jeff Ament, who originally is from Big Sandy, will be reaching out to their supporters to encourage them to join the campaign, it was announced during a news conference.
The 165,588-acre area is almost entirely within roads and features mountains, ridges, river valleys and wetlands along the Rocky Mountain Front.
The area has 47 oil and gas leases that the Blackfeet and NCAI contend were illegally granted more than 30 years ago without tribal consultation. Today, 18 leases remain. In 2013, Solonex LLC filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to begin drilling in the area.
The Blackfeet announced a campaign to urge Congress, President Barack Obama and federal agencies to cancel all remaining leases in the Badger-Two Medicine, which is located at the intersection of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
Tyson Running Wolf, secretary of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council, said drilling in the lands that are at the heart of the tribe’s creation story with so much cultural significance is not an option. The tribe will be putting the full weight of a growing alliance behind efforts to stop drilling, he said.
“The Badger-Two Medicine is a sacred place where the Blackfeet people gather food and medicine,” Running Wolf said.
The fight against the oil and gas leases was announced during a news conference conducted in Browning by Running Wolf; Blackfeet Chief Earl Old Person; John Murray, Blackfeet tribal historic preservation officer; Jacqueline Johnson Pata, executive director of the NCAI.
Old Person led the announcement with a prayer.
Tribal members have been struggling with the possibility of development in the Badger-Two Medicine for awhile, he said. Past leaders of the tribe said wars of the future would not only be with bows and arrows, he said.
Running Wolf said the Blackfeet Nation has been fighting to protect the area for more than 30 years. Under the Reagan administration, 47 oil and gas leases were illegally issued without consulting the tribe, he said. With the announcement, the full weight of the tribe and a growing alliance is behind the effort.
“We will never let this happen,” Running Wolf said.
Murray said the campaign will include billboards and a website, badger-twomedicine.org. There also is a petition on change.org asking Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to cancel the leases.
The tribe also is reaching out to faith and business communities and national environmental organizations to bring their voices to millions of people around the nation.
Ament, of Pearl Jam, will be helping out as well on social media.
“We’re going to be mobilizing his resources to get the message out about the Badger-Two Medicine,” he said.
Ament, bass player for Seattle-based Pearl Jam, issued a statement through the tribe.
“The Blackfeet Nation sits on the front range of the Rocky Mountains of Glacier National Park, one of the most spiritual and beautiful spots in Montana,” Ament said. “Drilling for oil and gas has no place in the Badger-Two Medicine. Clean water and clean air are precious resources that hold the key to the future of the Blackfeet people and all Montanans. Please cancel the leases in the Badger-Two Medicine.”
On its Facebook page, Pearl Jam urged its followers to join the Blackfeet Nation to protect Badger-Two Medicine region that included a picture of Ament and U.S.Sen Jon Tester, D-Mont.
Johnson Pata, executive director of the NCAI, said Indian access to sacred places is critical responsibility to federal agencies.
“NCAI has requested that the Department of the Interior consult with the tribe on the Badger-Two Medicine, and we are hopeful that the agency will move to cancel all remaining oil and gas leases that threaten the area’s preservation,” she said.
The Blackfeet also announced partnerships with 18 Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Canadian Native tribes and nations, The Wilderness Society, National Parks and Conservation Association, the Montana Wilderness Association and the Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance.
By Daryl Williams, Tulalip Tribes Natural Resources
Tulalip was invited by the Communities of Color for Climate Justice Organization to meet with Governor Jay Inslee on April 10th to discuss climate change issues affecting air quality, clean energy and transportation.
The Governor talked about his Cap & Trade bill which would limit the amount of carbon air emissions that could be released into the atmosphere within this state. The bill has broad popular support, but the Governor is struggling to get it through the legislature.
He has introduced legislation to help encourage development of clean energy projects that would allow the State to shut down the last remaining coal energy facility within the State of Washington.
He has introduced bills to encourage the use of electric vehicles to help reduce automotive emissions and to set a low carbon fuel standard.
He admits that all of the bills need work to address the issues in a way that they can be agreed to by the state legislature and meet the needs of the people in the State of Washington.
People of color are hit harder than the rest of the population from the impacts of climate change, especially air quality. We have areas in the state with a high prevalence of asthma to air quality issues related to carbon emissions. The Governor used an area along the Duwamish River as an example.
Some of the people in the room were asking for a new State Environmental Justice Advisory Board to be created like several other states have done. The advisory board could review issues concerning air quality, transportation and other environmental issues and their effects on economically disadvantaged communities. The Governor did not seem to be very open to the idea due to the State trying to reduce the number of advisory boards and commissions the state has, but thought that the duties may be wrapped into an existing advisory board.
Some of the other people in the room would also like to make voter registration easier. One state automatically registers people to vote when they obtain their drivers licenses.
Even though the meeting was on climate change issues, we also talked for a few minutes about the states proposed new water quality standards based on higher fish consumption rates, but increasing the cancer risk rate at the same time. The Governor thinks that increasing the cancer risk rate can be mitigated by his bill for reducing the amount of toxics released in to the environment. The water quality standards do not include many toxins that are released through various industrial processes and used in manufacturing. The governors bill would have helped to reduce the usage or eliminate their uses altogether. But there are hundreds of such chemicals in existence today with more developed every year and the bill would have only address a few each year. The bill failed to pass the legislature this session.
Rule covers members of federally-recognized American Indian tribes
Press Release, National Parks Service
WASHINGTON – The National Park Service has proposed to modify the regulation governing the gathering of plants in national parks. The rule would allow members of federally recognized Indian tribes with traditional associations to areas within specific units of the National Park System to gather and remove plants or plant parts for traditional purposes. The gathering and removal allowed by the rule would be governed by agreements that may be entered into between the National Park Service and the tribes, and would also be subject to permits that identify the tribal members who may conduct these activities. The rule would prohibit commercial uses of gathered materials.
To be published Monday April 20 in the Federal Register, 36 CFR Part 2, Gathering of Certain Plants or Plant Parts by Federally Recognized Indian Tribes for Traditional Purposes, will be open for public comment for 90 days through Monday, July 20, 2015.
“The proposed rule respects tribal sovereignty and the government-to-government relationship between the United States and the tribes,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “It also supports the mission of the National Park Service and the continuation of unique cultural traditions of American Indians.”
Many units of the National Park System contain resources important to the continuation of American Indian cultures. Indian tribes have actively sought the ability to gather and use plant resources for traditional purposes such as basketry and traditional medicines while ensuring the sustainability of plant communities in parks. At the same time, park managers and law enforcement officers need clear guidance regarding their responsibilities for enforcing park regulations with respect to the use of park resources by American Indians. The proposal provides an approach to plant collecting by members of federally recognized tribes that can be applied across the National Park Service.
In drafting the proposed rule, National Park Service staff met with or contacted more than 120 Indian tribes. Tribal consultation that followed indicates that the approach taken in the proposed rule would address the need for gathering while respecting tribal sovereignty.
Comments on the proposed rule should reference the National Park Service and Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 1024-AD84, and can be submitted online through the Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, which provides instructions for submitting comments; or by mail to: National Park Service, Joe Watkins, Office of Tribal Relations and American Cultures, 1201 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC 20005. The National Park Service will accept public comments on the proposed rule through Monday, July 20, 2015.
Comments and suggestions on the information collection requirements in the proposed rule should be sent to the Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at OMB-OIRA by fax at (202) 395-5806 or by e-mail to OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov. Please provide a copy of your comments by e-mail to madonna_baucum@nps.gov or by mail to: Information Collection Clearance Officer, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240. Please reference “1024-AD84” in the subject line of your comments. You may review the Information Collection Request online at http://www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to review Department of the Interior collections under review by OMB. Comments on the information collection requirements must be received by Wednesday, May 20, 2015.
An agreement between Riverside Energy, Inc. and the port could initiate the development of the first refinery on the Columbia River and the first on the West Coast in 25 years. The refinery would have a capacity of 30,000 barrels per day and produce a mix of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel all primarily for regional use, according to the documents.
The oil would travel to the refinery by rail from the Bakken fields of North Dakota, creating an estimated traffic of 10 trains per month. The refined products would then travel by water.
Several trains carrying crude oil have derailed and exploded in recent years.
“This is shocking new information. Refineries are extremely polluting. Highly toxic air pollution,” Columbia Riverkeeper Executive Director Brett VandenHeuvel said. “And to combine a refinery with explosive oil trains — it’s the worst of both worlds.”
A presentation from Riverside Refining estimates the project would create more than 400 construction jobs and 150 permanent positions, with an average annual wage of $75,000. The refinery would use “state-of-the-art processing technology” and “will have a lower carbon footprint than existing West Coast refineries,” according to the documents.
The Port of Longview indicated it would make a public statement later Wednesday.
Geologists Dave Tucker (left) and Pete Stelling (right) at the Mount Baker hot springs in Washington’s Cascade Mountains. The Forest Service says the springs will not be disturbed, but they are within the large tract of federal land that could one day be open for geothermal development. Ashley Ahearn
The volcanic ridges of the Cascades have long been poked and prodded by people who want to know what kind of geothermal energy they’ll find beneath the surface.
But many of the Northwest’s hot spots are on public lands. And in some cases, federal land managers have prevented access by companies seeking to convert that magmatic force into clean electricity.
That could soon change. The U.S. Forest Service is pursuing plans to make more than 80,000 acres in Washington’s Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest available for lease to energy companies. A final decision on that is expected as early as this month.
Companies wanting to develop geothermal power on federal lands would then undergo a full environmental review for each proposed project. Those studies would take into account the potential seismic risk, vehicle traffic and transmission lines that could be associated with a geothermal power plant.
The development of geothermal power is under way in some parts of the Northwest, which the industry regards as a new frontier. Within that clean-energy frontier, Mount Baker is an outpost sentinel on its northern edge. Its steaming crater and the hot springs on the mountain’s eastern flanks are drawing attention from would-be geothermal developers.
Using steam from deep beneath the earth’s surface to spin turbines and generate electricity is not a new idea. But as more and more renewable energy comes on line, geothermal delivers in a way that intermittent sources like wind and solar do not: it provides a consistent source of what industry insiders call “baseload” power. That’s appealing to utilities like Snohomish PUD.
“A baseload renewable resource is something to treasure. We view it as a very attractive possibility,” said Adam Lewis with the Snohomish Public Utility District. The district has spent $5 million researching geothermal developments in Washington and is interested in building a traditional geothermal plant in the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest to power roughly 20,000 homes.
The Forest Service’s move has raised concerns about negative impacts on natural ecosystems. Fifteen conservation groups have submitted a joint lettercommenting on the service’s proposed lease.
“We should be looking at everything but is this really where we need to be looking and if we are, we need to be real careful going up into wild rivers or intact forests,” said Tom Uniack, Conservation Director for Washington Wild.
The groups pushed for stronger protections on rivers and roadless sections of the forest, as well as certain forested areas that provide old growth habitat for northern spotted owls and marbled murrelets — two bird species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
How big is the Northwest’s geothermal potential?
California leads the world in geothermal power generation. Development has also grown in Nevada and Utah, but the Northwest lags behind.
Despite the region’s iconic volcanoes that rise up from the Cascade Range through Oregon and Washington, the geothermal potential in the region varies greatly. In Washington, hot spots appear to be limited to areas immediately surrounding volcanoes like Rainier and Baker.
Less than 5% of the total hydrothermal heat discharge from the Cascades occurs north of latitude 45N, according to research from the US Geological Survey.USGS
Research from the U.S. Geological Survey shows extensive hydrothermal heat discharge in large stretches of the Cascades in Oregon, an indication of geothermal potential, particularly in the state’s southern and eastern stretches. But those heat signatures drop off as you head north of Mount Jefferson and the Three Sisters peaks.
In Washington, the places that could provide geothermal power appear to be even scarcer. Steve Ingebritsen, a geologist with USGS, found that less than 5 percent of the total hydrothermal heat discharge from the Cascades occurs north of the Oregon/Washington border.
“Maybe that’s because the high rainfall and snowfall and snowmelt and fractures near the surface are allowing the water to percolate down and mask the geothermal indicators we’d be looking for,” said Pete Stelling, a geology professor at Western Washington University in Bellingham. “But we don’t really know. We’re still on the hunt right now.”
The Washington Department of Natural Resources has analyzed temperatures in more than 450 wells around the state and found similar results.
But that doesn’t mean it’s game over in the pursuit of geothermal energy in the Evergreen State.
“Although the geothermal potential of Washington is lower than other West Coast states, such as Nevada, Oregon and California, there are still areas of relatively moderate to high potential,” said Dave Norman, state geologist with DNR.
The DNR sampling highlighted hot spots at Mount Baker and the Wind River area as the best places for further geothermal exploration in Washington. (You can look at their mapped well data here.) There are currently no geothermal electricity generating plants in operation in the state.
In Oregon, geothermal energy provides heat for the city of Klamath Falls but geothermal electrification plants are still few and far between, despite a more extensive geothermal resource than that of Washington. There are two plants in operation – a small one in Klamath Falls at the Oregon Institute of Technology and another 30.1MW facility in Malheur County, which borders Idaho and Nevada.
A scene at Mount Baker Hot Springs, where litter and personal belongings can be found scattered on the ground. Ashley Ahearn
Retreating to nature vs. harnessing nature
Orange peels, beer bottles and discarded bras and bathing suits litter the Mount Baker Hot Springs when Dave Tucker, co-director of the Mount Baker Volcano Research Center, and Western Washington University’s Stelling arrive. This area is a hot spot for local college students as well as geothermal energy researchers.
“104.1, 104.3,” Tucker reads temperatures (in degrees Fahrenheit) off his sensor. A broken bottle crunches under his boot. “It’s not, certainly you wouldn’t generate any power from this thing but it’s an indicator that hot water can reach the surface here.”
The springs are within the area of national forest currently under consideration for potential geothermal leasing, though the Forest Service says that any development near the springs would undergo a comprehensive review and the springs would not be disturbed.
The faint rotten egg smell and warm surface temperatures in this pool are enough to interest energy companies and utilities in exploring this area further.
A few hundred yards up the hill from where the geologists scrutinize mineral deposits and algae growth around the murky pool, a tent peeps out of the trees. Four college students groggily make breakfast on their camp stove.
“Does anyone want bacon?” asks Nathan Sundyne, a student at Western Washington University.
Samantha Miller sits in a camp chair nearby.
Samantha Miller and Paul Bikis, students at Western Washington University, enjoy the Mt. Baker hot springs. “I think it’s cool the idea of harnessing natural energy,” Miller said, “but if it really compromises the integrity of the area that would be kind of sad.” Ashley Ahearn
“I think it’s cool, the idea of harnessing natural energy like that,” she says. “But if it really compromises the integrity of the area that would be kind of sad.”
“Do we destroy the habitat we have, that we get to sit around and enjoy, for energy for more houses and development – growth for the sake of growth?” Paul Bikis, a fellow student asks. “Or do we want to preserve the places that we cherish?”
As Tucker and Stelling hike out of the hot springs area, Stelling pauses to pick up a discarded beer bottle.
“People say ‘no [geothermal development] – it’s so pretty here,’ and then they leave this mess around,” Stelling said, frustration in his voice. He acknowledges that harnessing geothermal power does come with some local environmental impacts, but he says that we can no longer afford to be “hamstrung” by the “not in my backyard” approach to new clean energy projects.
“If we want to save the environment and be the environmentalists that we hope that we are, then we need to consider what we’re doing on a bigger scale.”
File photo of EPA Region 10 Administrator Dennis McLerran (left) meeting with Swinomish Tribal Council Chairman Brian Cladoosby at the Swinomish Reservation. Cladoosby’s tribe has filed a lawsuit to stop oil trains from traveling on its reservation. Ashley Ahearn
The Swinomish Tribe has filed a lawsuit against BNSF Railway to stop oil trains from traveling through its reservation.
BNSF train tracks cross the top of the Swinomish Reservation in Skagit County. In recent years they’ve been used to move oil from North Dakota to two refineries in Anacortes.
In 1990 BNSF and the Swinomish reached a settlement that required BNSF to regularly update the tribe on the type of cargo moving through the reservation. It also limited traffic to two 25-car trains per day.
Now, the tribe says BNSF is running several times that many train cars through the reservation each day (an estimated six oil trains of more than 100 cars per week).
The Swinomish Tribe says BNSF does not have permission for the increased oil train traffic and that the company is putting the tribe’s way of life at risk.
“We told BNSF to stop, again and again,” said Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby. “Our signatures were on the agreement with BNSF, so were theirs, and so was the United States. But despite all that, BNSF began running its Bakken oil trains across the Reservation without asking, and without even telling us.”
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle. It seeks to stop BNSF Railway from moving oil through the reservation.
BNSF spokesperson Courtney Wallace says the company has received the complaint and is reviewing it.
Beavers are busy in the Snohomish watershed, as they’re being relocated to higher elevations where their dam-building skills help moderate stream flow and provide better habitat for salmon and other fish. Photo courtesy Beavers Northwest.
Chris Thomas, Public News Service – WA, April 6, 2015
SEATTLE – Sometimes moving to a new neighborhood is the best choice for everyone. That’s the theory behind a research project by the Tulalip Tribes of Washington to relocate beaver families. The critters have become a nuisance in the lowlands but in higher elevations, their hard work can benefit the entire Snohomish watershed.
Ben Dittbrenner is a graduate student of University of Washington Environmental and Forestry Sciences and he’s working with the Tribes to trap and move beavers and study the effects of their dam-building. When less snow is predicted with a changing climate, he says a beaver dam is just the right type of eco-friendly barrier to moderate spring runoff.
“It will just flow right down to Puget Sound and it won’t stay in the system for more than a couple days,” says Dittbrenner. “But if we can trap it high up in the watershed, we can keep it there for months and hopefully continue to keep those systems healthier for a longer period of time.”
This will be the second year for the project. Dittbrenner says one family’s big dam in the pond that is its new home has raised the water level by four feet.
Jason Schilling, the Tribes’ wildlife biologist, says beaver dams are engineering marvels, holding back sediment and creating more complex stream systems and good habitat for fish feeding and spawning. In this part of Washington, he says that’s especially important.
“The Snohomish ecosystem is the second-largest salmon-producing system in Puget Sound and there are some limiting factors for salmon production, the biggest ones are water temperature and sedimentation,” says Schilling. “It just so happens that beavers are very good at fixing those problems.”
Relocation starts again in June. The goal is to trap and move at least ten families. Schilling explains beavers tend to stick together as family units and are more likely to settle into an area and get to work if they arrive together.
The project is one of 22 conservation projects across the country, among 13 Native American Tribes, to receive grant funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
By Lorraine Loomis, Chair, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
A population explosion of harbor seals and sea lions along the Washington coast and in Puget Sound is interfering with recovery of weak salmon and steelhead stocks, threatening tribal treaty rights and posing increasing threats to public safety throughout our region.
At the root of the problem is the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972, a well-intentioned law that was needed at the time, but today has led to unintended consequences.
Tribes historically lived in balance with marine mammals, salmon and all other elements of the environment. But commercial hunting and state-directed control measures had driven down many West Coast marine mammal populations by the time the MMPA became law.
Today their populations are healthy and growing steadily. Since the 1950s, California sea lions have increased from about 10,000 to more than 300,000. Harbor seal populations along the Washington and Oregon coasts have grown from about 3,000 to 40,000. West Coast Steller sea lions numbered about 18,000 in 1979; today there are about 80,000.
But while harbor seal and sea lion populations have steadily increased over the past four decades, the opposite is true for many salmon and steelhead stocks in western Washington, which continue to steadily decline.
No one is claiming that the increase in harbor seals and California sea lions is the main reason for the loss of salmon and steelhead. We know that the cause is ongoing loss and destruction of salmon habitat.
Still, the increasing loss of salmon and steelhead to seals and sea lions sends ripples through the whole marine ecosystem. Harbor seals and sea lions can eat from about 10 to more than 100 pounds of fish every day. While they eat other fish too, their impacts can be significant to the weakest salmon and steelhead stocks we are trying to protect and restore.
That means there are fewer salmon and steelhead available for others species that depend on the ocean ecosystem. Threatened orcas, for example, must compete for salmon – their preferred food – with steadily growing seal and sea lion populations and steadily shrinking salmon populations.
As the salmon decline, the fishing rights of the Salmon People – the treaty Indian tribes in western Washington – are increasingly threatened. Our treaty-reserved rights depend on salmon being available for harvest.
As seal and sea lion populations increase, so do their encounters with humans, especially fishermen. Experts at stealing fish from nets and fishing lines, they have been seen taking fish right out of boats tied up to the dock. In many marinas, sea lions lay claim to docks, causing thousands in damage and lost revenue and threatening anyone who gets too close.
With each encounter they become less afraid of people and more aggressive, putting fishermen and everyone else at increased risk. Control measures – such as rubber bullets and firecrackers – just don’t work because seals and sea lions quickly learn to avoid or ignore them.
Federal government action is long overdue to address the problems being caused by the overpopulation of harbor seals and sea lions in Washington marine waters. One encouraging recent development is the Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act introduced by U.S. Reps. Jamie Herrera Beutler of Washington and Kurt Schrader of Oregon. The act would streamline the current lengthy process for state and tribal natural resources managers on the Columbia River to remove problem animals if attempts to chase them off are unsuccessful. That is a good step in the right direction. We must reduce the added pressure that these marine mammals are putting on these already diminished resources. We must focus our management efforts on the resources that need the most protection.
Harbor seal and sea lion populations must be brought back into balance with the reality of today’s ecosystems, which cannot support their steadily increasing numbers. We need to focus our efforts on protecting and restoring habitat to successfully recover salmon populations so we can have both sustainable strong runs of wild salmon and healthy marine mammal populations.
