An argument that has been used recently to support the notion of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe taking ownership of our two wildlife refuges is that the current administration is not funding support for refuges. This press release seems to show that’s not quite true.

Filed under: Environmental Protection, Government, legislation, Olympic Peninsula | Tagged: protection island | Leave a comment »
Here is the interview I did with Phil Andrus last week. While I didn’t get every point across I wanted I got the jist of it for you. We discuss the proposed land transfer of Dungeness Spit and Protection Island to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. Is this good or not for the bird sanctuary? Do we give away a National Wildlife Refuge with no guarantees of what might happen to it in the future? You decide. The devil as usual is in the details of the proposal.
Filed under: Environmental Protection, Olympic Peninsula | Tagged: protection island | Leave a comment »
This was in the weekend edition of the Peninsula Daily News. Please read the previous posts here to understand our opposition to this proposal.
Filed under: Jefferson County, legislation, Olympic Peninsula, Straits of Juan de Fuca | Tagged: Environmental Protection, jamestown s'klallam tribe, National Wildlife Refuge, protection island | Leave a comment »
As the controversy over the possible transfer of management and ownership of the Dungeness Wildlife Refuge and Protection Island to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe continues, I was sent this quote which sums up the issue of approving this transfer. At the moment, the Refuge decision making process is theoretically one for the protection of its wildlife for all of American citizens. Yes, that’s not always what happens. But in this case, for 100+ years, I think it has been done well. It is worth remembering that the Tribe is attempting to engage in commercial aquaculture (for their financial benefit) at the very edge of the Refuge, with criticism coming from some key biologists as to the effects of this on the very species that the refuge is supposed to protect. To be clear, in 2024 the US Fish & Wildlife Service signed over management of the Dungeness Spit and Protection Island to the Jamestown Tribe in a deal with virtually no public input that will pay the Tribe at least $500,000 annually and allow them to commercially harvest non-native oysters in a 50-acre parcel within the Refuge. Now a bill has been drafted and will be presented in Congress that would give the Tribe total ownership as part of their reservation allowing them to determine all rule making and audiences for those rule making processes. This makes this quote all the more important in the decision making process of granting this request.
Jean Pratschner wrote Sequim City Council:
My husband Greg Pratschner (deceased) was a regional administrator of USF&W, all over the country. He often worked with tribal groups, very familiar with their agendas, programs, and abilities, often brought them into the Federal programs and helped with scholarships, training, grants, projects. He was awarded many honors for his inclusionary concepts in co-management. We had many Native friends. But, he often felt the goals and perspectives were not on the same page when it came to fisheries and refuges. He could never go against or find a legal way or option to alter a bad aspect of their programs, and always felt there was no argument or decision that he could use to make them comply with a negatively contrived agenda about an issue. His hands were always tied, by ultimately BIA power, that had no concern for non -Native viewpoint, only one opinion or goal would be followed. Native opinion. He always had to bend. Always. Sometimes it turned out less than good for all parties.
Filed under: Clallam County, Endangered Species, Environmental Law, Environmental Protection | Tagged: Dungeness Wildlife Refuge, protection island | 4 Comments »
The Peninsula Daily News reported that Protection Island is seeing what may be the last breeding pair of Tufted Puffins. Smith and Protection Islands were what state officials believe to be the last islands with nesting pairs.
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in 1909, there were an estimated 25,000 Tufted Puffins across 44 nesting sites on the coast of Washington and in the interior Salish Sea. By 2009, the population had plummeted to less than 3,000, with only 19 nesting sites remaining and only two in the Salish Sea.
Tufted Puffins are still thriving in Alaskan waters, however …”a troubling mass die-off event on St. Paul Island in 2016 raises significant concern for the species’ future. Over 350 severely emaciated carcasses washed ashore, underscoring the urgency for further research and conservation efforts to safeguard these remarkable birds.” (as reported in https://www.adventuresnw.com/rare-birds-the-endangered-puffins-of-the-salish-sea/)
The loss of Puffins may be from a wide variety of causes, including habitat loss and the loss of species of fish they eat.
Salish Sea on cusp of losing tufted puffins
also check out “Dispatch from the Last Colony”
https://www.eopugetsound.org/magazine/field-dispatch-last-colony
Filed under: Endangered Species, Olympic Peninsula | Tagged: protection island, Tufted Puffins | 1 Comment »
When I first started coming to the Strait, in the late 70s, Tufted Puffins were quite common to see. Now, they rarely are seen.Many nested on Protection Island and the efforts to establish the island as a Federally protected place were an attempt to protect those populations. Seems like my random observations are accurate. The state is working to see if there’s anyway to bring them back. Listing is one good starting point, but restoring the fish that these birds eat, such as herring which has seen a huge loss of resident populations, and is the target of restoration and protection, is going to be another key issue.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is accepting public comment on a status report for the tufted puffin, and a proposal to add the Pacific Northwest bird to the state’s list of endangered species. Tufted puffins are native seabirds once common in the San Juan Islands, Strait of Juan de Fuca and along the state’s coast, Fish and Wildlife said in a news release. But over the last several decades, 38 of 43 known breeding sites have been abandoned or seen significant declines in use. (Skagit Valley Herald)
Filed under: Endangered Species | Tagged: protection island, tufted puffin | Comments Off on State considers listing tufted puffin as endangered species – Skagit Valley Herald
Eleanor Stopps passed away today, after a short illness. She was attended to by hospice. I think it time we brought out the unpublished interview Mountainstone Productions shot of her as part of “Voices of the Strait”. Video will follow, but takes quite a bit longer to get right.
Eleanor talks about her life, and how she came to protect Protection Island. Interview by Betsy Wharton and Jo Anne Bailey.
Downloads allowed. However, no commercial use of this audio track is allowed without written permission. Please contact mountainstoneproductions AT gmail.com for use questions (replace the AT with @ as usual)
http://soundcloud.com/mountainstone/eleanor-stopps-in-her-own
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: birds, eleanor stopps, protection island, Puget Sound | Comments Off on Eleanor Stopps – In her own words
