Exclusive to the Olympic Peninsula Environmental News
In a surprising statement Monday in a meeting of the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners, Jamestown S’Klallam Chairman and CEO Ron Allen stated that a number of tribes in the Salish Sea and coastal waters seek to transfer ownership of National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) and incorporate them into their tribal reservations.
This proposed transfer of numerous public lands to private entities like the tribes, is unusual and raises questions about the process of transfer of public lands out of public hands.
Chairman Allen came to the meeting to discuss the proposed “Land Transfer of Dungeness Spit and Protection Island”, and was commenting on this transfer to the three County Commissioners (and public in attendance) when he mentioned that this land transfer is only part of a larger effort by all the tribes to take back public lands that are National Wildlife Refuges. He said that the Makah tribe was seeking land transfers of three properties off the coast, the Nisqually were looking to transfer one adjacent to theirs, and the Lummi Nation or Swinomish (he wasn’t sure which) were looking to transfer the San Juan Islands Wildlife Refuge.
“…Because we know (the) Makah’s going to go after the three (refuges) on the coast. And we’re pretty certain that (the) Lummi or “Swin” (Swinomish) will go after the San Juan (reserve)… We know that that once we get this done they’re gonna go after the other three or four.” Allen said.
He went on about the Nisqually Tribe: “…There’s other tribes doing exactly the same thing just like this…. They’re (The Nisqually Tribe) are always pursuing the refuge in their area in Nisqually Valley area.” It is likely that what Chairman Allen was referring to was the current Nisqually Clear Creek Land Transfer Act of 2026 which is sponsored by Representative Marilyn Strickland and Senators Cantwell and Murray. The tribe is in the process of having U.S. Fish and Wildlife transfer buildings at the hatchery which sits on tribal land to the tribe. It is not seeking to transfer the Billie Frank National Wildlife Refuge to them at this point, but Allen’s comments raise questions about the future of the refuge.
There are six maritime National Wildlife Refuges in Washington State managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. They are considered the Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex:
They include:
- Flattery Rocks National Wildlife Refuge
- Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refuge
- Copalis National Wildlife Refuge
- Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge
- Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge
- San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge
The Jamestown S’Klallam currently have been in a co-management agreement with Fish and Wildlife, being paid approximately $800,000 for their work on Protection Island and Dungeness Spit. It is unclear if the Trump administration would be in favor of granting these annual funds if the properties were no longer owned by the Federal Government. It is agreed by all parties that they have been doing exemplary work for the government, and their ability is not being questioned. There have been no calls from the Trump Administration, the Federal government nor the State government to transfer these two particular lands. The request has come only from the Tribe and not from the public. Many public comments ask that nothing change in the relationship.
Washington U.S. Representative Emily Randall (D) has been in talks with the tribe for months if not years, and has openly acknowledged her support of the goal of a land transfer of Dungeness Spit and Protection Island to the Tribe. At a recent public meeting Representative Randall seemed taken aback at the level of public concern over the transfer. The public has only been aware of this land transfer since April. The Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners, City of Sequim and Clallam County Commissioners meetings have been the only local way for the public to comment in person despite this being a federal issue. The Clallam County County Commissioners meetings have been very contentious. The lack of federal sponsored meetings from Randall on the subject is unusual, given the outpouring of negative comments at both counties meetings.
The Trump Administration has been giving up public lands like these refuges as part of their announced Project 2025, which calls for government to get out of the vaguely worded business of “conservation”. In Texas, the administration is in the process of giving away part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge in south Texas to SpaceX in exchange for other properties by SpaceX. A lawsuit has been filed on June 10th to stop this transfer.
Chairman Allen said that they took a big ad in the Peninsula Daily News and Port Townsend Leader because they wanted to be as transparent as they possibly could be …but he added, “Congresswoman Randall asked us to kind of back off on it and we said, okay, that’s fine.” (emphasis mine) This raises the question of whether Congresswoman Randall asked the Tribe to not advertise their intentions to the public.
Washington Senator Maria Cantwell has also been in discussion with the Tribe but has not yet fully committed to the transfer and would like to see more public input, according to a person who discussed it with her staff. However she has not held any public meetings on this. There has been no mention of the Governor being involved in the discussions at this time, but it could be deduced that this kind of large scale planning would have been mentioned at some point to him.
This reporter has seen the draft bill that has been written by tribal lawyers that is assumed to be entered into the U.S. Congress at some near future date. The draft bill does not contain any legally binding language that would protect the island, spit, nor the nearshore waters that are owned by DNR from the tribe using it for commercial aquaculture. The concern by the environmental community is that the rare protected species on the island feed off the marine flora and fauna of the waters and beaches around the island. Creating a monoculture “farm” could impact the amount of food available for the birds. The current tribal council and Chairman Allen claim they have no plans. But it is easy to petition the Washington State Department of Natural Resources to open privately held shoreline to commercial use. DNR have a long history of supporting aquaculture and the State of Washington legally views aquaculture as a desired commercial priority. Once it becomes part of tribal lands, it would also be exempt from state or federal oversight as negotiations would be nation to nation based on treaty law.
The Protection Island National Wildlife Reserve was created in 1982 after almost 20 years of work by bird lovers Zella Schultz, Eleanor Stopps and the coordination with Seattle Audubon. It is the breeding ground of most of Puget Sound’s glaucous wing gulls as well as rare Tufted Puffins and Rhinoceros auklets. It’s creation was supported by virtually all the Washington State federal and state senators and representatives, including Senators Warren Magnuson, Henry Jackson and Slade Gorton along with Republican governor John Spellman.
The tribe has admitted that they look forward to writing their own rules for use of the island. In an interview in the local Port Townsend Leader Tribal Vice Chair Loni Greninger stated, “If we’re able to have that fuller ownership instead of co-management, then I don’t have to rely on any other government and their rules and regulations. I can take my deeper regulations from an ancestral standpoint and be able to infuse that and implement it.”
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Filed under: Clallam County, Government, Jefferson County, Olympic Peninsula, Straits of Juan de Fuca, Washington State | Tagged: dungeness spit, land transfer, protection island |
Al, you repeatedly use your prior association with the Tribe and culturally appropriate language such as “seven generations” to try to assert your authority, then in the next post claim the Tribe is some kind of boogeyman that we should fear. This is reprehensible, colonizer style behavior and you should be ashamed. There is nothing out of the ordinary about this. Tribes across this country are actively engaging in land return, and thousands of acres have been returned in just the past few years – all with i credible results that not only improve the ecological diversity but support tribal culture and public access. These lands would need conservation if they had not been taken and damaged by settlement to begin with.
I have had many conversations with Jamestown S’Klallam about public access, and specifically around improving accessibility for people with disabilities. They have always listened, made adjustments, and committed to making improvements so that MORE people have access. There is absolutely no reason to believe they have anything but the best intentions.
Google me if you don’t believe me.
Syren, your claim that I am culturally appropriating anything is ridiculous. I have worked for the Tribe producing videos for them. I have counted some of their elders as close friends. The Tribe itself is fueling this idea that they are somehow “better suited” to own these Federal Refuges. They themselves use this idea to promote their desire to own these lands.
Thousands of Americans, native and non native worked to save these incredibly important environmental refuges for all time not just seven generations. I will remind you again that the Federal Government has been supporting this work of the Tribe for a few years and have done so since 1982 for Protection Island and since almost 100 years ago for Dungeness Spit!
The Tribe is not a bogeyman that we should fear and I’ve never said that. That’s your interpretation because you don’t support this, so don’t lay that on me. I have always said that the Tribe has done great work and actually is doing great work as the co-manager of the refuge. As I have repeatedly said, the Tribe is the only one that is asking for this there is no imminent threat to either of these refuges except for the Tribes own work in the Dungeness Spit to put in an aquaculture business! Their rush to do so is part of the problem! If that is somehow making them out to be a boogie man I think you need to understand that we are worried about that for the future of the birds that this refuge is supposed to protect! It was not just us but actually the biologist who was in charge of the refuge first brought this up in this way I actually bring it up now because she has left the field. I have explained that in my reporting.
I’m glad that the Jamestown S’Klallam have worked with you to improve accessibility with people with disabilities. That has nothing to do with this issue it is totally out of scope of this issue. I too have also worked with them in the past and it went very well. In addition to my filmmaking for them, as chair of the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee for many years, we worked with them to re-establish Olympia Oysters in Discovery Bay. Everything went fine. We appreciated their efforts. But this is public lands staying in public hands. I don’t want to be giving over our public national refuges and parks to any private corporation. And that is what the Tribe is.
You don’t seem to understand that once the Tribe has this property as part of their reservation it is no longer a part of the United States and this becomes part of a sovereign nation. We will no longer have any input into what the Tribe wants to do with these properties. That is very concerning given the fact that the tribe is totally opaque to the outside world as to their decision-making processes.
If you want to buy the Tribes line that’s fine, I don’t care just don’t call me some type of colonialist because I don’t want to. I have my reasons, many of us do including the grandchildren of the woman who saved Protection Island. Stop making this a “white person” vs “Native”. It is not about that. It’s about keeping public lands in public hands. The Tribe can continue to be paid $800k a year to co-manage this with us. Those of us that care about Protection Island and Dungeness Spit are fine with that. That is all. Period. Take care.
Thank you, Al, for your remarks. I feel they are clear and to the point. Ceding U.S. public lands to other governments is a mis-guided idea. Protect U.S. Lands for all citizens and wildlife.
I found the wording of this article quite disturbing. Having worked with the tribes in Washington and Oregon for most of my career, I have to say a couple of things.
1) these lands and waters were forcibly removed from tribal lands that were hunted and fished and live on for thousands of years before others reached and settled this area less than 200 years ago. It was taken from them without compensation and for tribes to request it back peacefully is fully reasonable under these circumstances. In most cases they can manage it with more dedication and funds than are currently available.
2) These areas would not be taken “out of public hands”. Tribes are uniquely sovereign nations and also American citizens. In my experience, areas managed by tribes are managed with a much longer-term view toward sustainability. Being coastal lands, the appropriate management of these natural resources will benefit tribal members and other all individuals living, fishing, and enjoying coastal environments alike.
Thanks for reading. Sorry you find the wording “disturbing”. I find it disturbing that our public lands, owned by both the Tribes and us as citizens of this country, are being given away to a corporation that happens to be a tribal one, with no public input by one of our elected U.S. Representatives.
I agree with you about the history but that doesn’t change the laws under which we live. These are not eligible for giving away to whoever we deem worthy. They are our hard fought environmental treasures. It seems as if you hold no value in the efforts made by your “elders” of the previous generations who spent twenty years protecting them from development. Without that work, there would be no National Wildlife Refuge to ‘give away”. I hold these lands more valuable to our generation and future generations as publicly held lands as they are now.
I ask you this, are you willing to give up Fort Worden? The Olympic National Park? Yosemite? Just to sooth your conscience about what happened almost 200 years ago? These are all public lands. Just why do you think Protection Island or any of the other Refuges are less valuable than those places?
As to your assertion that they would not be taken out of public hands, you do not understand how sovereign nation status works. Please ask an Ai to explain it to you. I don’t have the time to educate you on something you clearly do not understand. Once in Tribal ownership they can write their own rules of use, as their own Loni Greninger clearly stated to the press some months ago, which is quoted in the story. I find that quote alone disturbing.
You can remove yourself from the blog’s mailing list. I don’t control it. You sign up for it yourself and can remove yourself. I hear a lot of folks say they support environnmental issues like protecting the nesting birds of Protection Island. You stated, “Do you actually believe that conservation and environmental groups can make a real and urgent difference when battling u.s. government litigation process?” The answer is, if that’s how you feel about “environmental groups” you seem like you have no support for their efforts. So where does that put you? How would you like me to see you when you make a statement like that? An environmental group is the reason the Tribe can even ask for this island back. If not for Seattle and National Audubon, the island would long ago be overrun with houses. You can thank environmental groups like the ones I’ve belonged to over the years for what little protection we currently have. Thanks for reading.
Al, you call tribes “private entities.” Is that correct? Aren’t they actually self-governing sovereign nations?
Jason, yes, while they are self-governing nations, under U.S. Law the tribe is a corporation. Ron Allen is its CEO. It’s in his title. See their web site.
The genocide Euro-Americans perpetrated against indigenous peoples of the “Americas” may have been the greatest atrocity in history. However when we consider reparations, we never think of giving the shores of Sequim or Disco Bay, or the Port Angeles or Port Townsend waterfronts, or any of the north Peninsula’s downtown areas back to the S’Klallam peoples—because that would go against the money & power interests of the white people who claimed those lands. Instead we give back a few wildlife refuges because that doesn’t threaten private ownership, & wildlife have no money or power.
You bring up a good point Steve. To most Americans, National Wildlife Refuges have little or no “value”. The few people who have fought for years to establish them are either dead or old. Younger people seem to not care or simply feel that their guilt about the past dictates that they simply give in to sooth their fragile egos. I totally support the Tribe(s) getting back all the land they can buy (or our politicians might want to give them) in Clallam and Jefferson Counties other than the Wildlife Refuges. Maybe Representative Randall should say she wants to give Sequim back to the Tribe. Or Discovery Bay. Or the beaches of Point Hudson, or hmmm. What about Fort Worden and Fort Flagler? Those might be a good place to start. Or if you feel the need you can give your own property to them.
Given the state of the waters in the Salish Sea, (not to mention the harsh treatment by industry and corporations that u.s. government allows across the states), I think the white people have proven their inability to consider anything beyond capitalism. Decades have passed since awareness was heightened to pollution, destruction, raping of the land for profit and yet things haven’t changed. I’m tempted to say, “so what if the original peoples of North America don’t handle things the way white people think they should.” Do you actually believe that conservation and environmental groups can make a real and urgent difference when battling u.s. government litigation process?! I think the Salish Tribes are encouraging proactive environmental recovery, while still fighting for what was promised in the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855. I think we could learn a thing or two from the Salish People on how to love Mother Earth.
A lot to unpack here. First off, it was two white women, Eleanor Stopps and Zella Schultz who worked for twenty years to get Protection Island protected. Their efforts were supported by both tribal and non tribal people. I’ve read the many hundreds of letters of support. Even Marty Bluewater wrote in support of it if he could stay living there. I could find no letter of support from Ron Allen or any other future tribal leaders in the records. I looked. So white people led the battle to save it from development. Additionally 5000 members of Seattle Audubon also supported it. Mostly white birders I would venture back in 1980 but I’m sure some POC were in their membership. Also from Seattle Audubon, Helen Engle and Hazel Wolf, two towering environmental activists ran SA. I met them and knew them. So yes,enviromental groups, including a couple of “little old ladies” made this happen. The real problem is people like yourself, who claim to be environmentally aware and actually are environmentally silent when corporate entities decide to take our public lands for private reasons. Everyone says they are a supporter of environmental issues, but usually their support is all about restoration of what they didn’t help save, instead of getting out from behind their computers and actually saving it in the first place. So we hope you will actually take the effort to send an email or call our elected officials and ask this to stop now. Protection Island is fine the way it is. Just stay the course.