Environment Archives - Page 6 of 107

Inslee, Ferguson, Tribes, Coastal Businesses Speak Out Against Trump’s Offshore Drilling Plan

Attorney General Bob Ferguson pledges lawsuit if plan includes Washington state

Source: Resource Media Seattle

OLYMPIA—Today, coastal and statewide elected officials, tribal and fishing industry representatives, and conservation advocates spoke in united opposition to a new federal proposal that would open Washington’s coast to oil and gas drilling for the first time in 50 years. On Jan. 4 of this year, the Trump administration released its 2019-2024 draft plan which would open up 90 percent of the nation’s coastline—including Washington’s—to oil and gas drilling.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson sent a letter today to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, opposing President Donald Trump’s proposal to allow oil and gas drilling off Washington’s coast and asking that Washington be exempted. If Washington is not removed from the plan, Ferguson warned Zinke he will file a lawsuit.

The Governor, the Attorney General, representatives from the Quinault Indian Nation, the Makah Tribe, the president of the Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association, the mayor of Ocean Shores and the Commissioner of Public Lands spoke about Washington’s commitment to protecting a fishing, tourism and recreation economy worth millions of dollars from the threat of pollution and oil spills. They pointed to the long-term impacts from the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon disasters on fisheries and businesses. NOAA data from 2015 states that they respond to 100 oil spills in U.S. waters every year. In December, however, the Trump administration announced it will roll back federal safety rules created following the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Jay Inslee, Governor:

“This plan threatens the health, safety and economic prosperity of our beautiful coastal communities. That’s why we are committed to doing everything in our power to make sure that Washington’s waters remain protected from offshore drilling.”

In his letter, Attorney General Bob Ferguson writes:

“On January 9, 2018, Secretary Zinke announced that he had granted an exemption to Florida, sparing that state from the risks and burdens of drilling and exploration off its shores. Every reason identified by the Secretary in announcing his decision also applies to Washington. Were the Department to grant one state an exemption without an identified process and established criteria, it would contravene the regulatory framework and processes that states rely on for fair and lawful treatment. Thus, I ask that Washington receive the same exemption as Florida, and that no drilling or exploration be considered or take place off our coast.

“If, on the other hand, the Department of Interior seeks to put Washington’s coastal communities at risk, my office will initiate litigation against the Department to protect our coast.” Contact: brionna.aho@atg.wa.gov, (360) 753-2727

Gina James, Quinault Indian Nation Business Councilmember: “The Quinault Indian Nation vehemently opposes offshore drilling off the Washington Coast. The QIN signatories of ‘The Treaty of Olympia’ were guaranteed the right to ‘take fish’ at all ‘usual and accustomed grounds and stations.’ The impact from a potential oil spill infringes on this right and will not only harm the Quinault and local economies, but the beautiful coastal environments, the aquatic sea life, and our ability to harvest our traditional foods.” Contact: gjames@quinault.org, 360-590-0821

Larry Thevik, President, WA Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association: “One major oil spill can be devastating: contaminating coastlines, killing fish and wildlife, destroying livelihoods and disrupting communities. This is a risk we do not want to take, we do not need to take, and we must not take.” Contact: thevik_rouse@yahoo.com, 360-581-3910

Chad Bowechop, manager, Makah Tribe Office of Marine Affairs: “The Makah Tribe works to ensure the sustainability of tribal resources in perpetuity to maintain our cultural identity. Since the sustainability of these resources is wholly dependent on a healthy ecosystem, the Makah have a sovereign interest and authority to address any human activity or environmental phenomena that may directly or indirectly affect the Pacific Northwest ecosystems.” Contact: chad.bowechop@makah.com, 360- 640-0295

Crystal Dingler, Mayor of Ocean Shores: “Our Washington coast, and the entire coast of our country, is a beautiful and productive but, fragile environment that needs our voice to be loud and clear: No offshore gas and oil exploration or drilling.”

Ocean Shores was the first city in Washington to pass a resolution against the Trump proposal. Contact: cdingler@osgov.com, 360-581-5386

Johannes Ariens, Loge Camps, Westport, and Surfrider Foundation: “As a surfer, business owner and employer on the Washington coast the idea of offshore drilling this close to home is terrifying. My peers and I have thriving businesses that employ thousands of people, we are suppliers of some of the world’s greatest seafood, hosts to travelers who come from around the globe to enjoy our world-class recreational opportunities, and we depend on a clean and thriving coast to survive. A spill such as that in the Gulf would decimate us all and have economic impacts that reach far beyond our coastline.” Contact: chair@seattle.surfrider.org, 206-799-3298

Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands: “Washington State did not ask for offshore drilling and we do not want offshore drilling. Offshore oil and gas drilling is dirty and dangerous and will further endanger our state’s aquatic resources that are already struggling with ocean acidification and warming waters.” Contact: Carlo Davis, carlo.davis@dnr.wa.gov, 360-999-9165

Washington coastal communities power an economy dependent on the ocean. Tourism, recreation and fishing jobs are all dependent on a healthy coast:

In 2014, commercial (non-tribal) fisheries landed a total of 129 million pounds into Washington’s coastal ports with an ex-vessel value of $93 million.
Annual recreational fishing effort on Washington’s coast averaged 47,000 trips on charter vessels and another 98,000 trips on private vessels between 2003 and 2014. In 2014, trip-related expenditures for coastal recreational fishing generated over $30 million in coastal spending, supported 325 jobs in coastal counties, and contributed $17 million in labor income.
Shellfish aquaculture in Pacific and Grays Harbor counties provides an estimated 572 direct jobs, supports 847 total jobs, and generates $50 million in total labor income in the coastal region alone.
Washington residents took an estimated 4.1 million trips to Washington’s Pacific Coast in 2014, with nearly 60 percent indicating their primary purpose was for recreation. These trips generated an estimated $481 million in expenditures.
Recreational razor clamming generates between 275,000 and 460,000 digger trips each season and provides between $25 million and $40 million in tourist-related income to coastal communities in Washington.

BOEM’s Washington state public meeting has been postponed until further notice after their venue in Tacoma, the Landmark Convention Center, cancelled the room rental for Feb. 5. BOEM is accepting public comments on the 2019-2024 drilling proposal online through March 9. After the comments are received and environmental reviews conducted, the Proposed Program will be released, triggering another comment period. The Final Proposed Program is expected by 2019. The current plan includes six lease sales off California and one off Oregon and Washington.

The livestream of the press conference can be viewed via TVW: https://www.tvw.org/watch/?eventID=2018021102 (this link will be archived)

Inslee, Tribes, Coastal Businesses Speak Out Against Offshore Drilling in WA

Hundreds to gather in Tacoma to protect coastal businesses and beaches

from Trump-proposed drilling

TACOMA—On Feb. 5, hundreds of Washingtonians will travel to Tacoma to voice their opposition to a federal proposal that would open up 90 percent of the nation’s coastline—including Washington’s—to oil and gas drilling. The proposal, issued by the Department of Interior in January, threatens a fishing, tourism and recreation economy worth millions of dollars. The Feb. 5 events will unite Washington’s business, fishing, tribal, tourism and conservation interests with elected leaders including Gov. Jay Inslee.

WHAT: Press conference, citizens forum and rally at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) hearing

WHEN: Monday, Feb. 5, 2018

1-2 p.m. Press conference, Gothic Room (see below)

2-8 p.m. Citizen’s forum (testimony from members of the public)

5:30 p.m. Outdoor rally in front of building

3-7 p.m. BOEM public hearing (written testimony only)

WHERE: Gothic Room in the Landmark Catering and Convention Center

47 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma

WHO:

Speakers: Jay Inslee, Governor

Gina James, Quinault Indian Nation Business Councilmember

Larry Thevik, President, WA Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association

Chad Bowechop, manager, Makah Tribe Office of Marine Affairs

Crystal Dingler, Mayor of Ocean Shores

Johannes Ariens, LOGE Camp and Motel, Westport

Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands

Bob Ferguson, Attorney General (at Citizens Forum, approx. 3 p.m.)

VISUALS: In addition to speakers, crowds (large group wearing blue t-shirts), art installations with mock oil rigs, haz-mat outfitted people mopping up fake oil spill, banners

Background: On January 4, 2018, the Trump administration released the 2019-2024 draft plan to drill for oil and gas in U.S. waters. Washington officials immediately voiced their opposition, joining coastal leaders from both parties around the country in urging the Department of the Interior to protect their economies and communities. The Pacific Coast has been closed to new drilling for over 3 decades, with the last federal lease sales taking place in 1984. Commercial, tribal, and sport fishing, tourism and recreation businesses are threatened by the prospect of increased risks of an oil spill.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is accepting public comments on the draft plan through March 9, and will hold a single public hearing in each state to gather additional input. The plan will undergo two more rounds of revisions and review before it is finalized.

Quil Ceda Village Implements Retail Bag Ordinance

By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News

Quil Ceda Village (QCV) is taking a huge step in protecting the environment by prohibiting the use of plastic carryout bags in all of the businesses located within the city. Effective January 1, 2018, grocery and retail stores as well as restaurants will convert from plastic to paper, in an effort to go green. QCV is home to several large companies including Walmart, Home Depot, Cabela’s and the Seattle Premium Outlets, not to mention the Tulalip Resort Casino, Tulalip Bingo, Quil Ceda Creek Casino and numerous eateries. With so many businesses that utilize plastic bags, you might think a huge change like banning them entirely would ruffle a few feathers. However, the ordinance has appeared to garner more praise than protest and is in the midst of smooth transition, thanks to long-term planning.

Learning of the terrible impact plastic bags have on the environment, the QCV team had a brainstorming session with the Tulalip Board of Directors on ways the newly established city can be more environmentally friendly and conscious. As many know, plastic is a non-recyclable material that takes hundreds of years to break down into micro-plastics, which often travel to the ocean causing further pollution. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the average American household accrues over 1,500 plastic bags annually and recycle less than one percent of those bags. Currently the ocean is littered with plastic bags and plastic toxins that are killing over 100,000 marine animals every year.

Several department managers at the Seattle Premium Outlets described the ordinance as ‘wonderful’ and ‘great’ while a Disney employee called it ‘inspiring’, stating that guests from nearby counties want their cities to follow in QCV’s footsteps. Over fifty percent of the one-hundred and thirty stores at the outlets already switched to reusable and recyclable bags before the ordinance was even announced, including Disney who sells reusable totes that feature their famous, loveable characters. Stores that were still offering plastic bags are phasing out their inventory during the holidays. A few stores such as Nike and Hot Topic are electing to switch to reusable, biodegradable bags that are in compliance with the ordinance, while other stores such as Pro Image Sports chose to stop offering bags completely.

There are a few exceptions to the plastic ban, including plastic bags used for produce and meat at grocery stores as well as to-go bags for restaurants, though Quil Ceda Administrative Director, Nina Reece, stated that the majority of the restaurants are switching to paper. Shoppers are encouraged to BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) once the new year begins as some stores may charge a bag fee. The Tulalip Resort Casino moved away from the usage of plastic bags a few years ago and offers their T Spa, Salal Floral and gift shop guests paper bags. Similar to the outlets, Cabela’s and Walmart are using the remainder of their plastic bags until the ordinance goes into effect and have their paper and reusable bags set and ready to go. The ordinance originally had a tentative start date last spring and in preparation for that date, Home Depot was the first company in QCV to successfully switch entirely from plastic to paper.

Any businesses that violate the ordinance can be fined for each plastic bag handed out, up to a maximum of $250 per day. The ordinance aims to improve, sustain and protect the environment from plastic pollution and is an inspiring decision by the Tulalip Tribes and the city of Quil Ceda Village. For more information, please contact Quil Ceda Village at (360) 716-5000.

Mission Beach Water Monitoring, Summer 2017

By Valerie Streeter, Tuallip Tribes Natural Resources Dept.

This summer, WSU Beach Watchers volunteers are monitoring the quality of water at Mission Beach each week until August 29. Harvey Eastman at the Tulalip Water Quality Lab analyzes the water samples. So far, the beach has been sampled eight (8) times.

The results show that bacteria levels in the water are low, well below the threshold limit for swimming, which means that the water is clean! The graphs below show the average result from the three beach sampling stations for this year as well as last year. The red line shows the bacteria threshold limit and the blue line is the amount of bacteria in the water at Mission Beach. If bacterial levels are above the threshold limit, there are more chances for skin infections or gastrointestinal illness from too much pollution.

Approximate locations of sampling stations on Mission Beach

Adapting to Change: Tulalip Community Addresses Climate Change

Community members share their top five climate change concerns,.Natural Resources will utilize and refer to this data while developing the adaptation plan throughout the next six months.

“We’re going to be developing strategies to preserve tribal customs and culture first and foremost.”

– Colin Wahl,Tulalip Natural Resources Environmental Scientist

By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News

Countless studies have shown that since the 1900’s, the Earth’s heat has increased by about 1.33 degrees Fahrenheit. That is at an alarming rate considering that leading up to the Industrial Revolution, the planets heat only increased by about nine degrees over the span of 5,000 years. Due to the burning of fossil fuels, excessive carbon dioxide has been released into the atmosphere over the last century. Carbon dioxide is produced by humans, animals and plants; but also by human activity such as generating electricity and using gasoline for vehicles.

Carbon dioxide traps radiated heat from the sun, at the top of the Earth’s atmosphere, causing the planet’s temperature to increase. The more heat that is trapped, the warmer the planet becomes. If the Earth’s population continues to burn fossil fuels at its current rate, over the next century, future generations will face extreme weather including draughts, floods and storms. Recent studies claim that in the year 2100, heat waves will last up to twenty days and will result in many deaths around the entire world.

Climate change is inevitable, however, many environmentalists believe the process can be slowed by means of conserving energy, utilizing other forms of transportation and recycling. The Tulalip Tribes are among the many tribal nations, environmentalists and scientists studying the cause and effect of climate change and how it will affect future generations.

Tulalip’s Natural Resource Department recently held a community dinner at the Tulalip Administration Building to discuss climate change and how it will impact Tulalip and its surrounding areas.

“It is a great honor to be here to start talking about climate change,” said Tulalip Vice Chairwoman, Teri Gobin. “We are beginning to look at what we can do to help better the environment. I really want to see us building green, utilizing solar power and really ramping up our recycling efforts and the reuse of materials. There’s a lot of things that we’re talking about, in regards to climate change, and we need to start taking those steps in the right direction.”

The community dinner included presentations by Tulalip Natural Resources Environmental Scientist, Colin Wahl, as well as guest speaker Clarita Lefthand-Begay of the Navajo Nation, who is an Environmental Professor at the University of Washington.

Colin’s presentation provided a brief overview of climate change, explaining ocean acidification, sea level rise and how global warming will impact salmon runs in the future.

“Salmon is one of the major issues of climate change we’re concerned about,” explained Colin. “As Patti [Gobin] said, the Tulalips are fish people and the tribal culture really relies on fishing and maintaining the salmon populations. We’re going to have to maintain our protection and restoration strategies in the future, but we might have to adjust some of those strategies to consider how climate change impacts salmon. Some of these strategies might include things like protecting cold water habitat in streams and rivers as well as generally trying to slow the progression of climate change through policies that actually decrease carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere.”

Colin stated that due to the impacts from sea level rise, various areas of the reservation will experience beach loss. Areas that will be affected include Tulalip Bay, Hermosa Beach, Priest Point and the Qwuloolt Estuary. Colin used charts to compare and contrast the areas today and the same area eighty years in the future. He also explained that the Natural Resources Department is in the early stages of developing a Climate Change Adaption Plan which will take approximately six months to complete before the implementation process begins.

“We’re going to be developing strategies to preserve tribal customs and culture first and foremost,” Colin stated. “We’re also developing strategies to protect tribal property and infrastructure. We’re working with all the different departments within the administration, including Planning in particular, they’ll be an essential element throughout the process. We also need to protect and restore treaty resources, or continue to do so, so that the Tribe’s customs and culture can extend into the future.

“Historically, Indigenous cultures are very resilient in the Puget Sound area,” he continued. “The ancestors of the Tulalip Tribes, like the salmon, have adapted to the changing environments for thousands of years. This is a little more difficult now, because in the past the people could follow the species wherever they went. Since treaty times, the tribes are tied to place, tied to a reservation, tied to these legally defined boundaries. So, there might be issues with species shifts where there’s more salmon up north compared to south.”

Clarita spoke with the community before leading an open forum discussion. During her presentation she spoke in detail about the dangers of climate change, stating that by the year 2100, the earth will regularly experience extreme heat waves, air pollution as well as water and food borne illnesses. She also states that the food of future generations including shellfish, fish, meat, fresh fruits and vegetables will all be negatively affected by climate change. Clarita explained that the populations most affected by climate change will be elders, children, pregnant women, individuals with compromised immune systems as well as poverty-stricken families.

The climate change dinner concluded with an open discussion for the community to voice their concerns regarding the impacts of climate change. Clarita and the Natural Resources team wrote documented the many concerns. Following the discussion, the participants were given five post-it stickers, each a different color, and asked to rate their top five concerns. Natural Resources will utilize and refer to this data while developing the adaptation plan throughout the next six months.

We need to do more to clean Puget Sound

By Lorraine Loomis, Chair Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

The health of Puget Sound is getting some much-needed help from efforts to reduce polluted stormwater runoff and a proposed new law that would prohibit sewage discharge from boats.

Polluted stormwater runoff from urban areas is the number one source of pollution entering Puget Sound. When it rains, pollutants such as brake-pad dust, oil and other toxics are washed from our roadways into the sound.

The poison soup can be lethal to salmon throughout their life cycle. Returning adult salmon can die in as little as 15 minutes after exposure to polluted stormwater runoff.

The good news is that most pollutants can be removed from the water by pre-treating it through a natural filtration system.

That’s why we congratulate the city of Seattle for its efforts to increase the use of natural rain gardens and biofiltration systems, or bioswales. You can watch KING-5 TV’s story about the project here: go.nwifc.org/1rk

Two bioswales are at work on Capitol Hill where polluted stormwater runoff pours into Lake Union and ultimately Puget Sound. The swales are situated in two block-long planting strips between sidewalks and curbs. Soil and plants inside the swales help trap about one-third of pollutants so they don’t wind up in the water.

These efforts should be expanded across the region. When added to other actions like increased street sweeping by local governments, they can be an inexpensive and effective part of the solution to the problem.

Salmon managers are working too hard and fishermen are sacrificing too much to get salmon back home only to see them die from polluted stormwater runoff.

We also applaud the state Department of Ecology for its work to establish Puget Sound as a no-discharge zone.

There are more than 150,000 recreational boats and more than 3,500 commercial vessels in the Puget Sound region. Most already have holding tanks for sewage, but until recent years there weren’t enough pump-out stations available to make the no-discharge zone possible.

Under current regulations, boats can dump partially treated sewage anywhere in the sound. Raw sewage can be flushed from boats at least three miles from shore.

The no-discharge zone would protect an area of more than 2,300 square miles and include lakes Washington and Union. Surprisingly, it’s the first no-discharge zone established in Washington although there are more than 90 in 26 other states.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to make a determination on the zone later this year.

The benefits to our health and the health of everything that lives in the sound are clear. It only takes a little sewage contamination to close a shellfish bed or make people sick.

We are encouraged by these efforts to reduce polluted stormwater runoff and prevent boat sewage from being dumped into Puget Sound. We need more like them.

UW Seminar: Preserving the Past Together

Leonard Forsman, Chairman of the Suquamish Tribe and presidential appointed Vice-Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, was the keynote speaker.

By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News

The University of Washington has created a new seminar and workshop series sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences, Office of Research, and the Burke Museum. These two-hour luncheon events bring together tribal representatives, tribal historic preservation offices, representatives from local, state and federal agencies, and cultural resources managers to evaluate the contemporary needs and challenges of preserving heritage in the Salish Sea. The objective is to foster the development of collaborative approaches to heritage management and historic preservation that integrate the needs of these diverse stakeholders.

On Thursday, January 12, the opening seminar of the four-part series, titled Collaborating on Heritage in the Puget Sound, was held at UW’s ωəɬəbʔαltxʷ Intellectual House. Taking place was a facilitated conversation with representatives from local tribes, the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, UW Law, and the Washington State Department of Transportation.

“We want to provide a forum for archaeologists, heritage professionals, and tribal cultural resource managers to consider the current challenges and future possibilities of managing heritage in our own backyard,” explained Sara Gonzalez, UW Assistant Professor and seminar moderator. “Our objective is strengthen and build upon existing methods of knowledge sharing from the diverse stewards and stakeholders who are sitting here today. We have the unique opportunity to think more deeply and creatively about how we can best use our resources to contribute to the capacity of tribes, as well as local agencies and cultural resource firms to manage heritage within the Salish Sea.”

Leonard Forsman, Chairman of the Suquamish Tribe and presidential appointed Vice-Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, was the key-note speaker and gave a heartfelt opening address that connected with many in the room. The following is an excerpt of his speech that explains the important of cultural resources and sacred site protection to Native peoples and how these topics apply to Standing Rock.

“Cultural resources has always been deep in my heart and remains a key pillar of my thinking as we move forward. There are a number of issues that face the tribes, from economic development to habitat protection to educating our children to justice and housing for our people. Many, many aspects of our tribal governments take into account the physical cultural resources unique to our respective nations and communities, as well as our spiritual culture.

One topic that there’s been a lot of talk about recently is sacred site protection, especially in regards to Standing Rock. We know natural resources is vital as a part of the context for identifying a sacred site. We are hearing a lot that cultural practitioners are being asked to step in and explain those elements that essentially tell us why a place is important spiritually. The Standing Rock – DAPL protest is an example of this, where there are a lot of different factors and influences to the protest. There’s a very strong argument based on sacred site protection. This highlights the importance landscape has to us as Native people, that we have these ancestral connections to the land.

Chief Seattle spoke of our interconnectedness with the land and nature in his most memorable speech. He explained how we live with our ancestors on a daily basis and how they are with us all the time. What happens to the land is permanent, and knowing this we are very concerned about what may impact the land because that in turn impacts our lives. That is why we are so adamant about protecting our cultural resources and sites we can preserve because we want to remain respectful of that constant presence in our lives.”

Native American scholar John Mohawk (Seneca) defined culture as a learned means of survival in an environment. As tribes, our means of survival used to be finding what the need was within our community and then each member doing their part to fulfill that need.

In thinking about opportunities and challenges of caring for heritage and protecting our culture in the Pacific Northwest, there is a glaring need to better understand one another. We have to work together to communicate and understand each other’s viewpoints, instead of making assumptions about one another. There are assumptions made about the tribes, about the government, about federal agencies, and seemingly everything in between. Some of these assumptions may be true, but a lot of them aren’t. We have to make sure that we talk to each other and feel safe in doing that, even if it means being blunt in order to express how we feel.

In order to preserve the past together and continue protecting our cultural resources there must be an open dialogue that allows for questions and understanding. This UW workshop series is a promoter of such dialogue and looks to build upon all the knowledge shared and communicated by all those who attend. The next workshop in the series, Meaningful Collaboration and Indigenous Archaeologies, takes place on February 16 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Suzzallo Allen Library (located on the UW campus). For more information please visit http://blogs.uw.edu/preserve.

Contact Micheal Rios: mrios@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov

“Being Frank” Climate Change is Damaging Treaty Rights

By Lorraine Loomis, Chair, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commissiont

Climate change isn’t happening to some of us. It’s happening to all of us, and it’s going to take all of us to meet its challenges.

A recent report from the treaty Indian tribes in western Washington brings the issue of climate change home. Home to the ocean, beaches, rivers and forests that support our treaty-protected rights and resources.

Tribes are closely connected to the natural world and we are seeing the increasing effects of climate change throughout the region: Higher air and water temperatures, disappearing glaciers, decreasing summer streamflows, rising sea levels and stronger winter storms.

Climate change worsens factors that are already affecting our resources, such as the continued loss of salmon habitat faster than it can be restored. When we add projected population growth to the mix, the future looks grim.

Climate change is the most significant environmental event of our lifetime. That’s why we want to focus attention and work together with local, state and federal governments and others to address its effects.

We applaud the state of Washington for leading the nation by using the state Clean Air Act to establish a cap on carbon pollution that is the main cause of climate change.

We think Gov. Inslee’s call for a carbon tax is a good idea. It could provide a big boost to clean energy, forest health and other solutions to address climate change.

The tax would be levied on any company that generates or imports electricity, natural gas or oil, such as power plants and refineries. It would be the first of its kind in the nation, and would encourage other states to follow Washington’s lead.

In the meantime, tribes are conducting vulnerability assessments and implementing adaptation plans to protect tribal communities and resources from the effects of climate change.

Many of the actions needed in salmon recovery also reduce the effects of climate change. Stream buffers, functioning floodplains and adequate instream flows cool waters and protect water supplies. They help create resilience in salmon and other species by helping them adapt to climate change.

Tribes have always lived along the coast and in the watersheds of western Washington. We know these lands and waters better than anyone else.

We are committed to sharing centuries of traditional knowledge combined with today’s science to help others identify, track and adapt to climate change trends across the region and throughout the world.

To learn more about climate change, how it affects tribes, and what the tribes are doing about it, visit us on the web at nwtreatytribes.org/climatechange.

For Tulalips, protecting treaty rights means restoring habitat

From a research boat on Oct. 12, Tulalip Tribes treaty rights commissioner Terry Williams points out a steep hillside near Mission Beach that has been gradually eroding for years. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

By Chris Winters, The Herald, Oct 22, 2016

TULALIP — From the deck of a 30-foot research boat owned by the Tulalip Tribes, Terry Williams pointed out the remnants of a bulkhead along Mission Beach where not long ago there was a string of beach houses.

In 2013, the leases on the tribal property weren’t renewed and the homes were removed. The main concern was erosion of the beach and the bluffs overhead damaging the fragile marine environment below.

Williams, who is the Tulalips’ treaty rights commissioner, said increased rainfall and stronger windstorms would saturate the sandy bluffs and cause them to slide down onto the houses below.

“It gets to the consistency of a milkshake and tends to fall,” Williams said.

On a bright fall day, several parts of the bluff showed clear evidence of slides. Houses were visible above.

Coastal landslides tend to silt up the nearshore environment, which is considered a critical piece of the salmon ecosystem.

“Those areas are really important for forage fish for threatened and endangered salmon,” said Joshua Meidav, the Tulalip Tribes’ conservation science program manager.

The beaches were created and rejuvenated over millennia by the gradual erosion of the bluffs. Development along the shore, including bulkheads, docks and clifftop homes, interrupted that natural process.

Now when the bluff slides, it tends to come down all at once, Williams said.

“The reality is that this is all changing,” he said.

An issue of rights

Climate change is a concern to Williams and the Tulalips in ways that go well beyond the usual worries about flooding and slides. It’s an issue of treaty rights.

While treaty rights are most commonly understood in the context of dividing the salmon harvest, their reach extends beyond the fishing grounds to tribal relationships with local, state and federal governments, said Ray Fryberg Sr., the Tulalips’ Executive Director of Natural Resources.

Most commonly that manifests in cooperative work with federal, state and local governments, and even private landowners, on many kinds of projects designed to restore salmon habitat.

On other occasions, the tribes have sought redress in the federal courts when they felt government wasn’t living up to its obligations.

“We’re like the last vanguard,” Fryberg said. “They have policies and procedures but there’s no enforcement.”

Most recently, that manifested in the “culverts case.”

In 2001, 21 tribes argued successfully that Washington state violated their treaty rights because culverts that carried streams under roads harmed salmon runs.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision in June, and ordered the state Department of Transportation to replace or fix 818 culverts at an estimated cost of $2.4 billion over the next 17 years.

It was a significant advancement of treaty rights into the realm of habitat restoration.

“The culvert case is the case that says there has to be a restoration so that ongoing harm doesn’t continue,” said Robert Anderson, a law professor and the director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington.

In this case, the state of Washington was found to have damaged habitat for salmon, and was ordered to make repairs.

Habitat protection and restoration were key elements in the second phase of a landmark decision by U.S. District Court Judge George Boldt.

In 1974, the first phase of the Boldt decision provided the basis for the co-management system, in which tribal and non-tribal fishermen divide the salmon harvest each year. The second phase, decided in 1984, focused on the habitat for the salmon.

“Phase II said that there’s not going to be a treaty resource of the salmon unless the environment is protected,” Fryberg said. “We get a certain amount of say-so in that.”

The part of the Phase II Boldt decision that obligated the federal government to restore habitat was overturned on appeal. However, the federal appeals court still said that the state of Washington and the tribes needed to take steps to protect and enhance the fisheries.

What those steps should be was left unstated.

“It’s difficult to argue that the federal government has an obligation to restore the ecosystem to, say, pre-treaty conditions, or treaty-time conditions,” Anderson said.

Some of the damage to habitat had already been done by that time, he said. Also, it’s a lot harder to assess the damage done by small changes, such as a single tide gate on private land, compared with the cumulative effects of the state’s culvert construction.

Momentum for restoration work can be created, however, when treaty rights are considered in tandem with the Endangered Species Act’s listing of various populations of salmon and steelhead.

“I think there’s a strong argument with the federal government to take steps to restore habitat,” Anderson said. “Maybe not a legal argument, but a treaty trust obligation to do it, and that they should do it.”

A seat at the table

In practical terms, that means that the tribes have been aggressive in forming partnerships to pursue environmental projects.

Representatives from the Tulalips and the Suquamish Tribes were included in last week’s announcement of a new governmental task force to identify goals to protect Puget Sound.

Tribes also have broad leeway to take on projects of their own that help restore habitat, or at least halt the progress of degradation.

It’s not a blanket authority to do anything anywhere, but it means tribes have a seat at the table whenever a treaty trust resource is affected.

As a coordinating body among the 20 treaty tribes of Western Washington, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission has a role supporting restoration programs to have a greater impact.

A lot of the commission’s work focuses on the marine nearshore environment, said Fran Wilshusen, the NWIFC’s habitat services director. That also means studying how the marine environment interacts with estuaries, river systems and the upland watersheds.

“We’re trying to pull the lens back and look at how the whole system is connected,” Wilshusen said.

That includes small projects, such as the Tulalips’ 2013 pilot study to release beavers in the western Cascades, where their activity of building dams is expected to help return the upper reaches of streams to their natural state, which happens to be better spawning territory for salmon.

Larger efforts include the Tulalips’ restoration of the 400-acre Qwuloolt Estuary in Marysville. A similar project was restoration of the 762-acre estuary in the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge outside Tacoma by the Nisqually Tribe.

The ongoing Nearshore Restoration Project focuses on restoring beaches and marine environments damaged by beach erosion. It’s a Snohomish County project, and local tribes have a place at the table, serving on the boards of several organizations that provided money for the project, including the county’s Marine Resource Committee and the Northwest Straits Commission.

One project under way is an agreement between the Tulalip Tribes and the U.S. Forest Service to maintain a 1,280-acre tract in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest as a source of wild huckleberries.

There aren’t that many places left in the mountains that are accessible by road that still provide habitat for the berries, which are important to tribal culture, said Libby Halpin Nelson, a senior environmental policy analyst with the Tulalips.

“They are healthy and they are a traditional food that is always looked for in ceremonies,” Nelson said.

The project includes removing small conifers that could “shade-out” the berries. In essence, the tribe is mimicking the effect forest fires used to have before fire suppression became standard response, she said.

Rights at risk

For all the work that’s been done to protect and restore salmon habitat, the fish runs continue to decline.

In spring, projections of low numbers of returning salmon, especially coho, led to a breakdown of negotiations between the tribes and the state. Tempers flared and fishermen protested when tribes were given permission to catch a small number of spring Chinook while the non-native sportsmen had to wait.

A July report from the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission’s “Treaty Rights at Risk” initiative pointed out just how dire the situation was for many watersheds, including the Snohomish and Stillaguamish rivers: Habitat was being lost faster than it could be replaced and nearly every single indicator of the health of salmon populations was trending downward.

The challenges looming on the horizon are even more formidable.

A poster on Fryberg’s office wall has a picture of the late Nisqually leader Billy Frank Jr. and his warning to all Native American tribes: “As the salmon disappear, so do our tribal cultures and treaty rights. We are at a crossroads, and we are running out of time.”

With each new study, it becomes clearer that changes are elapsing at an increasing speed.

“Ten, 15 years ago, what we said would happen in 50 years is already happening,” Fryberg said.

The Tulalip Tribes hosted two summits this year, one in April concerning rising sea levels, and another in September that looked at adapting to climate change in general. Fryberg said the tribe is planning a third focused on the state of salmon recovery.

“Collectively, we have to be making some effort,” Fryberg said. “We have a responsibility to the future to try and do something.”

The quote from Billy Frank was from an essay he wrote in 2012, and it’s the next sentence that points to what needs to be done: “That’s why we are asking the federal government to come to align its agencies and programs, and lead a more coordinated recovery effort.”

Williams’ entire career has been focused on building bridges between tribal, state and federal governments.

Shortly after the Boldt decision, he was involved in setting up the co-management regime in the state, and then negotiating the Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada and its First Nations, backed by research developed by Tulalip staff scientists.

In the 1990s he was tapped to open the Indian Office in the Environmental Protection Agency. But many efforts to restore salmon runs were coming up short.

“We were putting tremendous amount of money into restoration and we were losing ground,” Williams said.

He realized that many federal and state agencies operated in their own silos, and often they might set regulations that aren’t in line with each other or broader goals.

“It’s the authority of each individual agency, federal, state or local, that gives them the ability to create rules and standards,” Williams said. “Eleven agencies have independent programs and authorities in Puget Sound. Most are not geared toward Puget Sound recovery goals.”

At the climate change summit in September, Williams noted the decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies to temporarily halt work on the Dakota Access Pipeline after months of protests at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. He said that was recognition that regulators were out of alignment with the Obama Administration’s agenda.

While a court has allowed some of that work to start up again, the government’s order came with an announcement that the federal government would consult with tribes on major infrastructure projects in the future.

The consultation process already existed since President Obama created a cabinet-level position to coordinate government-tribal relations, Anderson said.

“Here the Obama Administration seems to be signaling that, ‘Hey, maybe we ought to be doing more,’” he said.

That may lead simply to more federal agencies talking to each other and more often with tribal governments, which is still a step forward.

From the Tulalip research boat, Williams pointed out a section of Hermosa Point where he’s lived since the 1970s. Here too, the bluffs have slid, and some of the houses are perched on the edge, hanging over the lip.

“When I bought my house we were looking at getting closer to the bluff, but decided that wasn’t a good idea,” he said.

If stronger regulations are enacted, it would prevent some houses from being built, and that would translate into lower insurance costs for government. That would also help protect fragile ecosystems.

“The more we can understand it, the better we can prepare,” Williams said.

“What we’re seeing in climate impacts right now is just the beginning.”

An eroding hillside near Hermosa Point on the Tulalip Reservation. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

Evidence of a recent slide along a hillside near Arcadia Road on the Tulalip Reservation on Oct. 12. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

Fishermen in Tulalip Bay with the Olympic Mountains looming in the background. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.

Being Frank: Hatcheries Bridge Gap Between Habitat, Harvest

By Lorraine Loomis, Chair, NWIFC

Despite their unbreakable connection, salmon harvest and habitat restoration continue moving down separate roads in western Washington. Many people either don’t see or choose to ignore the fact that habitat determines harvest, and that we continue to lose habitat faster than it can be restored.

Indian and non-Indian harvest has been cut to the bone this summer because of expected historically low returns, especially coho. Yet habitat loss and damage – the root of the problem – continues every day throughout our watersheds and nearshore marine waters.

Poor ocean survival conditions certainly played a role in the low salmon returns of the past several years. But even when we can restore or protect salmon habitat, we aren’t helping ourselves enough.

You might be surprised, but fish really do grow on trees. Trees keep water temperatures low, the way salmon like it. Their roots help to prevent soil erosion that can smother salmon eggs. When they fall into a river, trees provide diverse rearing habitat for fish. When the salmon spawn and die, their nutrients feed the trees.

Yet from 2006 to 2011 we lost the equivalent of two Seattle-sized forests or about 170 square miles, according to the treaty tribes’ 2016 State of Our Watersheds Report. The report can be viewed at nwifc.org/sow.

When we lose habitat, we also lose the natural production of salmon it provides. The collapse of our fisheries is simply mirroring the collapse of the eco-systems that support them.

For more than 100 years, hatcheries have tried to make up for that loss, but hatchery salmon depend on the same declining habitat as naturally spawning salmon.

About half of the salmon harvested in western Washington are hatchery fish. Continued habitat loss means we will have to depend on hatcheries for as long as lost and damaged habitat continues to restrict natural salmon production and threaten treaty rights.

Hatcheries are simply a tool. Some provide fish for harvest while reducing harvest pressures on weak stocks. Others serve as nurseries to protect threatened salmon stocks. All are essential to salmon recovery and should be integrated in our salmon recovery efforts for every watershed. We need every tool in the box to reinforce remaining salmon populations as we work to restore habitat.

The importance of this tool should be reflected in its funding, but as the need for hatchery fish has increased, state funding for hatcheries has declined or remained flat. Treaty tribes have stepped up to fill the gap in recent years and provide more salmon for everyone by picking up the costs at a number of state hatcheries where production was threatened by budget shortfalls.

The connection between harvest and habitat is clear. We cannot expect to harvest salmon – either hatchery or naturally spawning – as long as we continue to destroy salmon habitat. In the meantime, hatcheries must continue to help bridge that gap and be included as the essential part of salmon recovery that they are.

Lorraine Loomis is the chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.