OLYMPIA (January 12, 2004) - Governor Locke committed to work with tribes to develop a government-to-government process to improve water management in a state/tribal meeting here Friday evening, after being…
OLYMPIA (June 24, 2003)– Governor Locke signed the highly controversial water bills quietly and without fanfare Friday. The bills, dubbed the “water grab and hoarding bills of 2003” by the tribal governments that co-own the water with the state and federal governments, send a clear message that the state has little regard for environmental health, says Billy Frank, Jr., chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
“These are bad news bills,” said Frank. “We’ve said so all along. They’re bad for the environment and they’re bad for the state/tribal relationship.”
OLYMPIA (June 11, 2003)-- Passage of three water bills in the waning hours of Special Session Number One of the State Legislature last night sent a clear message to the…
OLYMPIA (May 5,2003)-A coalition of legislators, Indian tribes, environmental organizations and fishing groups objected this morning to the potential passage of water bills to be considered in the special legislative session slated for May 12.
In a press conference in Olympia, State Senator Karen Fraser (D-Olympia), Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Chairman Billy Frank, Jr., Washington Environmental Council President Jay Manning and others said the bills serve the interests of big water users at the expense of the environment and everyone else in the state.