Tribes receive nearly $2 million for Puget Sound projects
The EPA today announced nearly $2 million in grants to 19 tribes for "on-the-ground" projects to protect and preserve water quality and salmon habitat in the Puget Sound region. The…
Suquamish Successfully Squelching Spartina
SUQUAMISH (July 9, 2008) – The Suquamish Tribe is confident it has removed most of the invasive spartina from the Doe-Keg-Wats estuary.
The invasive spartina grass, also known as cordgrass, has been causing problems in area since the mid-1990s. Doe-Keg-Wats is a 132-acre wetland area near Indianola that is a traditional ceremonial and harvesting site for the tribe. The tribe is focusing its efforts on an 1.5-acre tidal zone to determine what eradication efforts will work best.
TFW/FF
NWIFC TFW Monitoring Links TFW Monitoring Data - Password-protected. TFW Downloads Related WA State Agency Links DNR Forest Practices WDFW Habitat WRIA Maps WDOE Environmental Assessment Program Environmental Assessment Program…
First tribe in US to receive EPA certification for watershed plan
The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe is the first tribe in the nation to receive EPA certification for its watershed-based plan. It focuses on goals…
Will it be safe to eat fish from the Duwamish?
The P-I’s series on the Duwamish River Superfund site looks at the impact of the pollution on area tribes, which consume above-average amounts of seafood:
Health authorities condone eating salmon out of the Duwamish River up to four times a month. But some tribal members are consuming far more — eating it daily, in some cases.
Another tribe wants to gather clams from the polluted river after it’s cleaned up — but is criticizing the federal government for telling big Duwamish polluters and landowners to count on artificially low consumption rates.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to justify those lower rates, cited a study of a third tribe that doesn’t even fish the Duwamish — and eats a lot less seafood.
Scientists receive $900,000 federal grant
Greg Hood of SRSC is among a group of scientists receiving a grant to devise a computer model of the Skagit River Delta and Skagit and Padilla bays if the oceans rise.
The Skagit Valley Herald:
Rising ocean levels could change change approaches to restoration of salt marshes and the Skagit River estuary that the threatened Chinook and other salmon species need to thrive.
Three Western Washington scientists — Greg Hood, John Rybczyk and Tarang Khangaonkar — will build a computer model to predict what could happen to the Skagit River Delta and Skagit and Padilla bays if the oceans rise. Scientists say the model will help them make decisions about where to best to restore salmon habitat restoration and what might happen if dikes are removed.
Bellingham Herald: Lummis hold hearing on new water rules
The Bellingham Herald:
Lummi Nation has scheduled a public hearing Wednesday on the tribe’s new water quality standards.
Swinomish release results of shellfish study
The Seattle Times and Skagit Valley Herald (subscription required) reported on the results of the Swinomish Tribe’s study on toxics in their traditional shellfishing areas.
Seattle Times:
The study, funded by a $1.2 million grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), found enough of the so-called “bioaccumulative toxics” — chemicals that remain in the body for long periods of time — for many tribal members to worry because they eat about 20 times more shellfish than average Americans.
“We have a saying in Indian country that when the tide is out the table is set,” said Brian Cladoosby, chairman of the Swinomish Tribal Community.
“Right now we are coming into the springtime, and our tribal members are hitting the beaches weekly. And for this study to show that our tribal members have to limit their intake is very sad.”
2006 Seventh Generation Legacy Awards Presented
SEATTLE (November 20, 2006) — The 2006 Seventh Generation Legacy Awards, sponsored by the Salmon Homecoming Alliance, were presented during the Salmon Homecoming Forum, held at the University of Washington on Thursday, Nov. 16. “This award provides an opportunity to acknowledge the great importance of team spirit between tribal and non-tribal communities, particularly in the pursuit of environmental protection and natural resource management,” said Salmon Homecoming Alliance President Gerald James. The name of the award reflects the tribal tradition of basing decisions made today on the impacts they will have on descendants seven generations from now.
Seattle PI op-ed on the Puget Sound Initiative
Pretty good op-ed from the PI: Look out at the Puget Sound "and it looks like there's nothing wrong with it," Billy Frank Jr. said at a P-I Editorial Board…