News out today that Tulalip Tribes Treaty Rights Commissioner and defacto leader of the Northwest environmental community has passed.
The bolo tie-wearing elder shaped state and national environmental policy. He was both soft-spoken and a powerful advocate.
Everett Herald
Terry Williams, Tulalip’s ‘champion of climate issues,’ dies at 74 | HeraldNet.com
Terry was always a presence at gatherings of environmental and restoration leadership for decades.
In the 1980s, Williams helped draw up the first Timber/Fish/Wildlife Agreement, a 57-page document outlining plans for a more ethical future for forestry. The accord, crafted through 60 meetings between tribes, timber companies and state agencies, provided the blueprint for negotiating regulations to protect old growth, fish-bearing streams and resolving disputes out of court.
Everett Herald
Always working with Billy Frank Jr. the two helped the tribes in Puget Sound to forge alliances after the Boldt Decision. I attended many meetings where he held the floor and gave focused discussions on what needed to be done to help return salmon to our waters. He dedicated his life to it. But it wasn’t just that dedication but the calm centered person he brought to the discussions. When he spoke, everyone listened.
“He really taught me to not get down and upset when you’re dealing with difficult issues,” Miller said. “I used to watch him having those conversations and I would be upset. I’d be so mad about it. And Terry would be so calm.”
There are people who are impossible to replace, given their history and dedication to a cause. Terry was one of those people. He always played the long game.
The Everett Herald has an excellent obituary on this giant of a man whose work will be felt eight generations from now, as the Tribes so eloquently state.
Terry Williams, Tulalip’s ‘champion of climate issues,’ dies at 74 | HeraldNet.com