Nature Conservancy buys 3,184 acres of Hoh River corridor
The Nature Conservancy is adding to the existing conservation efforts by the Hoh River Trust with the purchase that closed March 30 of the 3,184 acres. The deal continues the…
Gov. Inslee visits coastal tribes
Washington Governor Jay Inslee visited the Hoh, Quileute and Makah tribes Friday and heard a number of environmental concerns. See the article in the Peninsula Daily News.
Back to the River documentary premieres at Seattle Aquarium
The premiere of the documentary, Back to the River, was held at the Seattle Aquarium Feb. 2. The movie details the story of the treaty rights struggle from the pre-Boldt…
This series of pictures from the University of Washington and Larry Workman shows the disappearance of Anderson Glacier which feeds the Quinault River.
Coastal Tribes Convene to Tackle Climate Change
On Washington’s rugged Pacific coast, the Quinault Indian Nation has depended on salmon for thousands of years. But the glaciers that feed the Quinault and Queets Rivers and sustain these salmon populations are in retreat because of climate change, threatening the very survival of the salmon.
In Alaska, native villages are pulling up stakes and moving to new ground as the permafrost beneath them melts and erodes due to warming global temperatures.
In the U.S. Pacific Islands rainfall and stream levels are decreasing while storm intensity, sea level, and atmospheric and oceanic temperatures are on the rise. Communities are threatened by the resulting decline in underwater aquifers and increases in land-based pollution, coral bleaching, fire risk, hillside and shoreline erosion, and altered fish abundance and distribution. (more…)
Coastal tribes are already seeing changes to the natural resources they rely on due to climate change. It will be critical to bring their millennia of knowledge together with western science to help indigenous people to adapt.
Climate change: Washington coastal tribes hosting symposium blending indigenous knowledge with western science
Hundreds of native leaders, witnesses and climate scientists will join policy-makers and non-government organizations for groundbreaking dialogue in what is planned to be an annual meeting at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
The Hoh, Makah and Quileute tribes and the Quinault Indian Nation created the symposium because indigenous coastal people are among the most affected by climate change. (more…)
Japanese tsunami debris may begin to arrive in volume in the winter of 2013. Many experts think there will be few large pieces and much of it will be debris such as the crab floats seen in this picture on Second Beach south of LaPush. Items already designed to float such as nets, floats and other plastic items are expected along with the possibility of fuel-laden barrels.
Coastal tribes and communities preparing for arrival of tsunami debris
An empty plastic kerosene can with Japanese writing on it washed onto Point Grenville in March, possibly some of the first debris to reach the Olympic Coast following Japan’s catastrophic tsunami in 2011.
Tribal, local, state and federal agencies are preparing for the possibility that tons more debris may wash ashore. However, little wreckage has reached Hawaii, so tribal scientists are hopeful that not much will arrive here either.
“The original mats of debris aren’t visible by satellite anymore and the at-sea debris that was found north of Midway Island pretty much confirmed it has spread out and much of the debris is now missing and most likely sunk,” said Joe Schumacker, marine scientist for the Quinault Indian Nation. (more…)
Tribes and State Predict Decent Kalaloch Razor Clam Season
The Peninsula Daily News has a column regarding the upcoming razor clam harvest for Kalaloch Beach.
Tribes bring management skills and traditional knowledge to developing ocean policy
“Indigenous peoples, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Hawaiian Natives are among the most vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change in the world,” said Fawn Sharp, Quinault Indian Nation (QIN) president, as part of testimony to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in 2009.
Quileute Tribe Awaits Congressional Approval on Land Acquisition
The Quileute Tribe is awaiting word on legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton to finalize a land acquisition detailed in a Seattle Times story here. Meanwhile, President Obama…
Paralytic shellfish alert on coast may be beginning of more in the future
“When we get these high levels of biotoxin in mussels, we’re also concerned about its ability to persist in some of these bays and inlets where sampling may not be occurring,” said Schumacker. “For Quinault, it will be an ongoing health issue as well as a cultural issue when it affects harvest of these important species.”