This is huge. The question is, “where will the money come from?” Something is going to have to give from the State budget. Will it be social services? Environmental protections? Or will the State raise gas taxes to fund the work? But to be clear, if we want to save salmon runs from extinction, along with the resident orcas, we will have to continue to do costly work to protect our natural resources. There is not much time left for them, given a warming planet.
The U.S. Supreme Court is leaving in place a lower court order that forces Washington state to restore salmon habitat by removing barriers that block fish migration. The justices split 4-4 Monday in the long-running dispute that pitted the state against Indian tribes and the federal government. The tie means that a lower-court ruling in favor of the tribes will stand. Justice Anthony Kennedy stepped aside from the case because he participated in an earlier stage of it when he served on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…. At issue is whether Washington state must fix or replace hundreds of culverts. Those are large pipes that allow streams to pass beneath roads but can block migrating salmon if they become clogged or if they’re too steep to navigate. Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times) See also: Will the state learn from another loss on tribal fishing rights? Daniel Jack Chasan reports. (Crosscut)
Tied U.S. Supreme Court decision means Washington must remove barriers to salmon migration
Filed under: Around the Sound, Puget Sound | Tagged: culverts, Puget Sound |
