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Victoria Sewage Treatment gets another Setback – Times Colonist
Posted on May 30, 2014 by Al Bergstein
So once again, Victoria’s sewage treatment facility is delayed, due to zoning issues. This was a known hazard for them going in and they attempted to steamroll over the opposition. Now they need to find an alternative plan. Years will go by as the poop of Victoria continues to pour out into the Strait, with all manner of pollutants in it. While all of us along the Strait pay high taxes to treat our sewage, and take the solids to landfills, Victoria continues to be the major polluter on the Strait with no end in site. Amazing that in 2014 this is even an issue. But there you have it. Canada continues to be the model of what not to do in environmental protection.
Victoria sewage plant won’t get provincial push
B.C.’s Environment Minister Mary Polak says she will not intervene in the fight over where to put Victoria’s new sewage treatment plant. “After giving the request due consideration, the province will not attempt to override the zoning decisions of the duly elected Esquimalt council, said Polak in a statement issued on Tuesday morning. The Capital Regional District asked Polak to step in last month, after the Township of Esquimalt refused to rezone land at McLoughlin Point, which the CRD purchased last year at a cost of $4.6 million. The move, which effectively blocks plans to build on the site, leaves the CRD without a location for the plant, after eight years of planning. The CRD has been ordered by the provincial government to have a plant up and running by 2016. The federal government has set its own deadline of 2020. Mike Laanela reports.
(CBC) See also: CRD drops plan to build sewage plant in Esquimalt, next step unclear http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/crd-drops-plan-to-build-sewage-plant-in-esquimalt-next-step-unclear-1.1076722 Bill Cleverley and Lindsay Kines report. (Times Colonist)
And watch: Dumping Raw Sewage is Not Okay
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EVENT: June 6 & 7 – Port Angeles – Our Oceans in a Changing Climate
Posted on May 29, 2014 by Al Bergstein
Join Olympic Climate Action June 6 and 7, 2014 for Our Oceans in a Changing Climate—an evening of engaging music and a day of enlightening speakers and activities for the whole family related to the impacts of climate change on our marine waters.
The health of marine waters that embrace the Olympic Peninsula affect us all. As Representative Kevin Van de Wege recently wrote, “Washingtonians are defined in no small part by their relationship to the sea…our economy and way of life are inextricably linked to (the) health and sustainability of our maritime heritage.”
Celebrate our local marine waters Friday evening with popular singer/songwriter Dana Lyons performing works from his new CD The Great Salish Sea. Lyons, best known for his song “Cows with Guns,” is touring to raise awareness about the proposed export of fossil fuels through our region, and its effect on orcas and us all. He will play at7:30 p.m. at the Elwha Heritage Center, First and Peabody Streets, Port Angeles; admission $10.00.
Saturday’s speakers will highlight the serious challenges facing the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Pacific Ocean. Presentations will be based in the Landing Mall on the Port Angeles waterfront, second floor conference room.
- At 11:00 a.m. Matt Krogh will address How Fossil Fuel Exports Threaten our Marine Waters. Krogh, works with Bellingham-based ForestEthics and conducts regulatory and scientific research directed toward preventing the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure. He will talk about the impacts of proposed coal and oil export shipping through our waters.
- The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe will display a technical poster on how the increasing frequency of algal blooms that cause shellfish toxicity may be related to warming water. Hansi Hals, Environmental Planning Manager for the tribe, will take questions on the poster at 12:30.
- From Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, researcher Liam Antrim will present Ocean Acidification and Impacts on Marine Life in the Pacific Northwest, at1:00 p.m. At 2:00 p.m. sanctuary staff will share a new hands-on display on the same topic (great for all ages). The world’s oceans have helped moderate the effects of human-produced greenhouse gases by absorbing about 30 percent of our carbon dioxide emissions, the most abundant greenhouse gas. But the ocean performs that service at the cost of ocean acidification—the rising pH of seawater caused as that dissolved carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid—threatening ocean food chains.
- At 3 p.m. Olympic National Park physical scientist Bill Baccus, who has been tracking changes on the park’s wild coast for nearly a decade, will share a new video on coastal monitoring, Tides of Change, and discuss climate change impacts across the park, from mountain snowpack to tidepool communities.
Other events during the day include a craft activity for kids and additional information on Olympic Climate Action at the Port Angeles Farmers Market; a sand castle building contest at Hollywood Beach with judging at 12:15 p.m., free admission to the Feiro Marine Center, and open access to the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Discovery Room.
Olympic Climate Action is a group of local, concerned citizens working for a safe, prosperous, sustainable future for residents of the Olympic Peninsula by addressing the threat of climate change. By sharing the best available science, OCA hopes to raise awareness of the challenges “climate chaos” poses for our community, as well as options for mitigation and action. Join us to learn how to be part of the solution, olyclimate.org.
Schedule for Saturday, June 7
| 10:00 -2:00 | Farmers Market Booth, including activities for kids from 10am -noon. |
| 10:00 – 4:00 | NOAA Discovery Room Open, Landing Mall, 2nd Floor |
| 10:00 – 5:00 | Feiro Marine Life Center open , free admission, City Pier |
| 11:00 | How Fossil Fuel Exports Threaten our Marine Waters – presentation by Matt Krogh, ForestEthics (Bellingham), Landing Mall, 2nd Fl. |
| 12:15 | Sand Castle Judging -Hollywood Beach |
| 12:30 | Shellfish, Algae Blooms and Warming Waters, technical poster and Q & A by Hansi Hals, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Landing Mall, 2nd Fl. |
| 1:00 – 2:00 | Ocean Acidification and Impacts on Marine Life in the Pacific Northwest, Liam Antrim, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary researcher,
Landing Mall, 2nd Fl. |
| 2:00 | Hands-on display on ocean acidification, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary staff, Landing Mall, 2nd Fl. |
| 3:00 | Tides of Change (film), and climate change in Olympic National Park, Bill Baccus, Olympic National Park physical scientist, Landing Mall, 2nd Fl. |
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China To Lift Ban On West Coast Shellfish – Earthfix
Posted on May 27, 2014 by Al Bergstein
Finally ended, not sure what the true story on this is. Canada has made out like bandits due during this time, due to the fact that they were not included in the ban. Many say it was a political retribution from China, but no one knows for sure.
http://earthfix.kuow.org/flora-and-fauna/article/china-lifts-ban-on-us-shellfish/
China will lift its ban on imports of geoduck clams and other shellfish from the West Coast, according to a statement from Washington Congressman Derek Kilmer… Chinese officials sent a letter Friday to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration advising the federal agency the ban would be lifted. The letter stated Chinese officials were satisfied with NOAA’s proposed plans for new monitoring and testing requirements for paralytic shellfish poisoning and inorganic arsenic, which would meet China’s food safety requirements. Tony Schick reports. (EarthFix)
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Streamkeepers of Clallam County Calling for Trainees
Posted on May 25, 2014 by Al Bergstein
STREAMKEEPERS OF CLALLAM COUNTY CALLING FOR NEW TRAINEES-ANNUAL TRAINING
BEGINS JUNE 4
*Citizens invited to become involved in watershed stewardship and learn how to monitor streams.*
Streamkeepers, Clallam County’s volunteer stream monitoring program, is seeking new volunteers to help collect stream health data, perform data entry & analysis, and conduct education & outreach. Currently, we have a particular need for help with data entry and checking. New volunteers work with current volunteers; no prior experience needed.
The free annual training begins June 4 from 6-9 p.m. at the County Courthouse; two field-training days will follow, scheduled at trainees’ convenience.
To register or inquire, call Streamkeepers at 417-2281, or email
streamkeepers@co.clallam.wa.us.
Streamkeepers’ website is at www.clallam.net/sk.
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Health risks estimated for Port Gamble Bay shellfish – Kitsap Sun
Posted on May 25, 2014 by Al Bergstein
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2014/feb/10/health-risks-estimated-for-port-gamble-bay/#axzz2szYnGC6a (subscription)
Chris Dunagan of the Kitsap Sun reports in this subscription only article about the risks of consuming significant quantities of shellfish from Port Gamble Bay.
According to the story,
Out of every 1,000 people who eat 1.1 pounds of clams, oysters and crabs every day over a lifetime, two people could be expected to get cancer because of those shellfish… which focuses on shellfish taken from the upper portion of Port Gamble Bay….
There’s lots more to the article. Read it at the Kitsap Sun link above.
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Pope Francis Calls on Faithful to Protect the Environment
Posted on May 24, 2014 by Al Bergstein
Yesterday the Pope made the most forceful case yet for his flock to get active and protect the environment. It will do much to help people who otherwise might not be aware of the seriousness of this situation to feel a duty to take action, or at least support change.
Pope Francis made the religious case for tackling climate change on Wednesday, calling on his fellow Christians to become “Custodians of Creation” and issuing a dire warning about the potentially catastrophic effects of global climate change.
Speaking to a massive crowd in Rome, the first Argentinian pope delivered a short address in which he argued that respect for the “beauty of nature and the grandeur of the cosmos” is a Christian value, noting that failure to care for the planet risks apocalyptic consequences.
“Safeguard Creation,” he said. “Because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us! Never forget this!”
Read the whole story here:
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Video(s) of Salish Sea Shoreline Forum
Posted on May 24, 2014 by Al Bergstein
If you missed the recent Salish Sea Shoreline Forum, you can watch (or listen) to the proceedings provided by Laura James, who videotaped the event. Additional hours of this event are also found on the right hand side of the page below. Some of the issues addressed included alternatives to hard shore armoring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdWiUFpKF28
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Head of Harborview Burn Unit Loses License Over Fake Testimony
Posted on May 23, 2014 by Al Bergstein
For many years now, the Washington Toxics Coalition has been working to ban fire retardants in children’s clothing and our furniture. Numerous studies have shown that fire retardant not only does not effectively protect people from burns, it has leached into Puget Sound and is showing up in a huge number of places we would never have anticipated it to be found. The evidence was so compelling that our local State House Representative, Kevin Van De Wege, himself an ex-fire fighter, changed his mind and some years ago, joined up to be one of the leading legislators attempting to pass a ban on it’s use. Who has stood in the way of this progress? None other than the medical head of Harborview Hospital’s Burn Unit, Dr. David Heimback. His stark testimony won over many lawmakers. Now,we find out that his anecdotal stories were fabricated, and that he was being paid by the flame-retardant industry, though he claimed to be independent. This week, he resigned his medical license and is leaving in disgrace.
Our thanks to the Chicago Tribune for uncovering the truth in this story, and now we can hope that we can see real progress in banning these cancer causing chemicals from our homes and environment.
Read the whole sordid story here:
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023675627_heimbachlicensexml.html
Now back to Olympia in the winter to get this bill passed once and for all.
Read about the efforts to ban flame retardant here. http://watoxics.org/
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Latest Puget Sound Partnership Straits Meeting
Posted on May 16, 2014 by Al Bergstein
The quarterly meeting of local ecosystem recovery groups sponsored by the The Puget Sound Partnership (PSP) was held on Friday May 16th in Blyn. The PSP helps fund these quarterly planning meetings with all the various groups that exist to protect and restore ecosystems, in order to disseminate information and to gather planning information for future funding efforts. Our Strait of Juan de Fuca group is called the Strait ERN (for Ecosystem Recovery Network).
Some good news was that the extensive planning meetings that had helped us to identify and prioritize the vast array of projects (which can exist from something as large as the Elwha Dam removal to the restoration of one small locale, like the bulkhead removal at Fort Townsend), had shown that we had the largest list of projects from all the various ERN’s around the Sound.
These will be rolled back up to the planning efforts over the summer that the PSP is going to do in order to help seek funding in the next federal budget year, starting later this year.
Additionally, we heard information about sewage sludge, it’s collection and uses, including newly emerging concerns of it’s toxicity. A few short takeaways included that while King County routinely spreads it’s sludge on vast amounts of the forests above the East Side, where it is clearly leaching back into the water sheds and Puget Sound, our two counties are composting it and reusing it. Compost with sludge in it is called “biosolids” and you should not be adding this compost to your family garden. It is more appropriate to flower gardens and other areas where you are unlikely to ingest it. Also, biosolid based compost cannot be used on organic food production.
Short term, we need more extensive testing to identify the vast array of chemicals that are not being treated in biosolids. The laws covering this were created decades ago, long before we were aware of the dangers of pass through drugs from our bodies. Better consumer knowledge is needed, and that is a federal and state issue.
Long term, it is likely we will need to incinerate our biosolids, in order to keep out the hazards of chemical contamination of our waters and food. Incineration is the only way to fully destroy these elements. It apparently reduces the waste stream to a very small amount, comparatively speaking.
It has been my contention that the continued dumping of our sewage into the Salish Sea is likely to be shown to be a root cause of the destruction of the waters, and this is another clear data point that this assumption is probably correct. The ability to incinerate our wastes, and remove storm water runoff would likely be a huge factor in restoring water quality.
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Latest news from the NW Straits Foundation and Initiative
Posted on May 16, 2014 by Al Bergstein
The latest (and first!) newsletter from the NW Straits Foundation is available on their web site.The Foundation is focused on funding both regional projects like the Derelict Gear Recovery project and the local initiatives like the Marine Resource Committees in the North Sound.
http://www.nwstraits.org/Resources/Past-Newsletters/NWSF-May-2014.aspx
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Salmon grown in B.C. land-based tanks come to market – Vancouver Sun
Posted on May 15, 2014 by Al Bergstein
A very positive milestone has been reached in the net pen debate. Finally an alternative to net pen fish has hit the market. We strongly suggest that readers in BC purchase this fish *if* they want to buy farmed fish. Of course, we continue to promote eating wild fish as the best alternative of all.
The first Atlantic salmon grown entirely on land are now landing on grocery store shelves, marketed as a sustainable alternative to salmon grown in ocean-based net pens. The land-based Atlantic salmon, branded under the name Kuterra, is being distributed by Albion Fisheries and sold at 140 Safeway stores in B.C. and Alberta. Randy Shore reports. (Vancouver Sun)
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Salmon+grown+land+based+tanks+come+market/9839481/story.html
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: british columbia salmon, net pen salmon, net pens, Puget Sound | Comments Off on Salmon grown in B.C. land-based tanks come to market – Vancouver Sun
Great new film from Olympic National Park
Posted on May 14, 2014 by Al Bergstein
Check this out. A good story on the Olympic Coast and Ocean Acidification and global warming.
Coastal ecologist Dr. Steve Fradkin is a National Park Service scientist who spends his days in the intertidal zone of Olympic National Park. There, a spectacular diversity of plants and animals interact to form a living, breathing ecosystem that is an especially sensitive indicator of environmental health. Climate change is beginning to take its toll on this fragile ecosystem, but as long as Steve gets a good cup of coffee, he’ll be out there monitoring the changes and figuring out what we as humans can do to help.
Climate change will have many of its first impacts to our coasts and intertidal communities. This film highlights Dr. Steven Fradkin, coastal ecologist at Olympic National Park and his work monitoring intertidal life.
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: climate change, Olympic National Park, Puget Sound | Comments Off on Great new film from Olympic National Park
Coexisting with Cougars: A Presentation at the Jefferson Museum of Art & History
Posted on May 13, 2014 by Al Bergstein
Having been around a few cougar hunters in my day, I think this might be an interesting lecture. I have an interesting cougar story. I was taking care of my dad, in Tucson a couple of years ago. I went to the store, in his convertible (that’s another story entirely). On the way, about 3PM, I saw a large animal I took to be a great dane walking across the road in front of me, when I realized that great danes don’t have tails that look like a mountain lion. I slowed down and pulled up to where the animal had entered the scrub, and there, 15 feet away, was a cougar, looking right at me, lazily. I was fascinated, until I realized I was sitting in an open convertible and probably could be mistaken for prey! I hit the accelerator, but stopped 100 yards down the road to warn two high school students walking home, who ignored me and kept on walking towards it, thinking I was nuts. Oh well.
————————————————–
Cougars, mountain lions, pumas…no matter what you call them these powerful animals are undoubtedly intriguing. Join Paula Wild, author of The Cougar: Beautiful, Wild and Dangerous (Douglas & McIntyre; $34.95) as she gives a presentation about our evolving relationship with this enigmatic predator. The event will take place on Friday, June 6 at 7pm, as part of the Jefferson County Historical Society’s Friday lecture series, at the Jefferson Museum of Art & History (540 Water Street, Port Townsend).
Cougars are the perfect predator. They can weigh up to 230 pounds, 90% of which is pure muscle. They can leap nearly 18 feet up from a stand-still, and 45 feet horizontally. In 1936, John Huelsdonk, known as the Iron Man of the Hoh River on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, shot a cougar that measured 11 feet from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail. Cougars’ large padded paws allow this elusive cat to travel great distances in near silence and they’re absolute masters at blending in.
Chances are, anyone who spends time in the woods in cougar country has been close to a cougar, whether they knew it or not. It can be a scary thought, especially combined with the lengthy history of recorded encounters that have occurred in North America in the last two hundred years or more. Many of these stories are recounted in Paula Wild’s The Cougar, which was recently nominated as a finalist in theForeword Reviews 2013 Book of the Year Awards, in the category of Nonfiction – Nature.
Her book includes tales of bounty hunters like Jay C. Bruce, California’s first state lion hunter, who killed nearly 700 cougars; stories like that of 12-year-old Walter Farnham, who chased a cougar up a tree to save his younger brother when they were attacked near Olympia; and surprising accounts of encounters occurring where you’d least expect it, such as a brightly lit and noisy dock full of workers at the Port of Kalama, WA.
However, as Wild writes in The Cougar, “co-existing with cougars isn’t about fear, it’s about knowledge.” Her book provides a skillful blend of natural history, scientific research and first-hand accounts, along with amazing photos and detailed information on what to do in the case of a cougar encounter. Throughout, she explores what makes this animal that both fascinates and frightens us so beautiful, so dangerous, and why cougars remain such an important and valuable part of our environment.
Paula Wild is the author of several books, including One River, Two Cultures, The Comox Valley and Sointula: Island Utopia, winner of a B.C. Historical Federation Certificate of Merit. She saw her first live cougar in Washington state before she could walk, and now lives on Vancouver Island in Canada.
Co-existing with Cougars is open to the public with admission by donation (suggested donation: $5.00). For more information, contact the Jefferson County Historical Society at 360-385-1003.
For more information, or to schedule an interview with Paula Wild,
please contact Heather Lohnes at Douglas & McIntyre
Email: heather@harbourpublishing.com
Phone: 604.254.7191
Web: www.douglas-mcintyre.com
please contact Heather Lohnes at Douglas & McIntyre
Email: heather@harbourpublishing.com
Phone: 604.254.7191
Web: www.douglas-mcintyre.com
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: cougar, Puget Sound | 2 Comments »
60 Minutes documents BC salmon farming
Posted on May 11, 2014 by Al Bergstein
And the industry does not come off well. While the opening interview with salmon farming manager Ian Roberts paints a ‘normal’ picture of the industry, much to their credit, 60 minutes Dr. Gupta works in Alexandra Morton and her concerns, along with Alaskan wild salmon supporters. When he finally gets around to interviewing a government official, Brian Wallace, he comes off totally inadequate to the task of defending the government’s inaction in the face of real scientific concern.
Based on this, and the rest of the scientific information that we have presented here over the last years, is it any wonder why our county commissioners have fought to create a moratorium on salmon farming in our county until more science is brought to the table on this issue?
Or is it any wonder why we have been so critical of the Washington State Department of Ecology and NOAA in their bureaucratic stance that net pen aquaculture is fine, based on 25 year old science? The recently resigned Ted Sturdevant, highlighted here just yesterday, was a typical bureaucratic supporter of the industry, and stonewalled county efforts to bring even a moratorium over the last five years.
Watch the 60 Minute segment here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/saving-the-wild-salmon/
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Alexandra Morton, brian wallace, ian roberts, ISA fish virus, NOAA, Puget Sound, salmon farming, ted sturdevant | 1 Comment »
Ted Sturdevant Leaving the Governor’s Office
Posted on May 9, 2014 by Al Bergstein
The Governor’s policy advisor and legislative liaison, Ted Sturdevant, is stepping away from politics. Sturdevant, who also ran the Department of Ecology under Christine Gregoire, has decided it’s time for something new. It’s a welcome change to see. While running the DOE not only did Sturdevant side with the net pen industry over the controversial regulations of the Shoreline Master Program in Jefferson County, he claimed total ignorance of the issue when I talked to him not long before he left that post. This after years of contentious battles between the Jefferson County Commissioners, especially Phil Johnson, who met with him on a number of occasions to discuss finding a way out of the impasse. That he was then put in a key policy advisory role for the new Governor was extremely disappointing. My perspective on him is that he either was simply an out of touch senior administrator or purposely deceptive to being in favor of allowing net pens wherever in the Sound they could be implemented. No doubt he’ll be back, folks who have run larger bureaucracies surface in other political bureaucracies or in the ranks of lobbyists that get hired to come back in the revolving door. Now we will better see what the governor’s newly hired coal lobbyist is going to offer. Sturdevant’s replacement at Ecology, Maia Bellon, essentially ignored the Jefferson County Commissioners that went to see her.
The issue that Ted and others at the State level have so clearly shown over the last few years, is that they are the first to run to the doors of those of us in the towns and counties who are working the hardest to make the real change happen, to implement laws and get them enforced. When these pols want money to get elected, or seek support for appointment they show up. But after the elections have died down, the same folks tend to conveniently miss appointments, or shun our elected officials when they come to see them. They become more interested in some middle of the road situation, even when the opposing parties don’t the slightest intention of meeting anyone halfway. Like Maia Bellon, they tend to view us as a possible lawsuit in waiting, or just an aggravation to their day. Given the stalemate in government today, it would be quite more refreshing to see people such as Ted Sturdevant actually stand for implementing grass roots requests for improvement in the ecology, rather than bureaucratic stalemate. He and these others just might find that the grassroots are much more likely to support their efforts, when we aren’t fighting the very people we helped elect to implement progressive policies.
Here’s his resignation letter.
Dear legislators, I want to let you know that I’ve made the difficult decision to leave the Governor’s Office, effective June 30. You, more than most, understand how demanding these jobs are, and I’ve decided it’s time for a different pace and a different work-life balance. I know I’ll take the summer to catch up with family, friends and life in general. After that, we’ll see. But I hope we cross paths again as we work in our different ways for this wonderful state. I am a wholehearted supporter of Gov. Inslee’s values and vision for Washington, and I’m sure I’ll find a new way to contribute to realizing that vision. I leave knowing the Governor’s Policy Office is in good hands. We have developed a terrific group of policy advisors, and I am thrilled that Matt Steuerwalt has recently joined the team as Policy Director. Matt has the integrity, experience and talent to lead that strong team. As we bring on a new legislative director in the coming weeks to work with you all, the Governor will have a great team to tackle the challenges and opportunities ahead. On a personal note, I first volunteered for a local campaign in Oregon almost 35 years ago, and I took my first job with the Oregon Legislature just shy of 30 years ago. I have seen such change in that time, and most of it has made the job of being an elected official more difficult. The pace, the money, the shrinking media, the permanent campaign, the lack of privacy, public disclosure (oh that’s right, you don’t have that!) – if it weren’t for the enormous salaries you earn (that’s right, you don’t have those either!), I don’t know how you do it. I have an enormous amount of respect for those of you who are willing to surmount those obstacles and make the sacrifices required to serve the state as elected leaders. I have even more respect for those of you who do the hard and risky work of balancing the necessities of partisanship with the opportunities found in collaboration and compromise. So many sustainable solutions are available when we choose that path.
Thanks for all you do for this state and the people and values you represent. It’s been a real honor to work with you.
All the best, Ted
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The Legend Leaves the Room: Billy Frank Jr. passes.
Posted on May 5, 2014 by Al Bergstein
It is hard to imagine the world of Northwest environmental protection without Billy Frank Jr’s voice being heard. I will let the eulogies from the Tribes carry that, and will add them as they show up, but from my non-Tribal perspective, he loomed over the landscape like a giant among us. It was his (and a few others like Robert Satiacum, etc.) fight that blossomed into Fish Wars and the ultimate Boldt Decision, that changed the balance of power in the environment here forever. It brought the voice of the people who cared the most about the environment, the Tribes, his people, to the table of the powerful. And it empowered a generation of Tribal leaders to stand tall and demand what was legally, by US Treaty, theirs.
He never stopped fighting for the environment and it’s iconic and real symbol, the salmon.
If you want to hear his words, here is a good start, both for the history of the Treaty Rights battle, his own struggles, and the perspective of activism on behalf of the Salish Sea. I recorded them as part of the Northwest Straits Annual Conference in 2012. The talk was entitled:”Treaty Rights At Risk”. Introduced by Terry Williams.
https://soundcloud.com/mountainstone/2012-nw-straits-annual-1
Billy’s last column for the Northwest Indian Fisheries
http://nwifc.org/2014/05/keep-big-oil-grays-harbor/
His Facebook page, with his latest issues. Worth a look at what is important now. https://www.facebook.com/billyfrankjr
His autobiography, which is a very interesting read for anyone interested in the NW history.
http://www.amazon.com/Where-Salmon-Legacy-Billy-Frank-ebook/dp/B0088QPXA0
It was a great honor to have met him briefly on a couple of occasions. He always shook my hand, looked me in the eye and said hi, and thanks. Thank you Billy Frank Jr. for a life well lived. We are all in your debt forever.
“I hope I can live to be 120 because it’s going to take that long to turn this ship around…You got to be very patient at what we are doing…I talked to the President, the Department of Interior, Secretaries of Commerce, the Governor, and a lot of these people are talking the happy talk, ‘Oh we love salmon, we love Puget Sound, we love to go fishing, all the business community loves salmon’ but then no one does anything about it. No one is in charge. So that’s why we are here…If the United States Government doesn’t take back their authority, we are gone. There will be no fish. But this is our country. All of us. So how are we going to make it happen? That change. You have to make it happen. We have to make it happen. We all have to keep the pressure on the United States Government to make that change. We haven’t seen a change yet, but…we are going to see a change. So here we are. You guys are so important to everything we do. I just want to thank you.” Billy Frank Jr. 2012
Filed under: Around the Sound, Puget Sound | Tagged: billie frank jr., Puget Sound, Treaty Rights | 1 Comment »
