Salish Sea News Week in Review February 12 2021

 

Billy Frank, Jr.

Aloha Boldt Decision Friday!
On February 12, 1974, Federal Judge George Boldt issues an historic ruling reaffirming the rights of Washington's Indian tribes to fish in accustomed places. The "Boldt Decision" allocates 50 percent of the annual catch to treaty tribes, which enrages other fishermen. At the same time Judge Boldt denies landless tribes -- among them the Samish, Snoqualmie, Steilacoom, and Duwamish -- federal recognition and treaty rights. Western Washington tribes had been assured the right to fish at "usual and accustomed grounds and stations" by Federal treaties signed in 1854 and 1855, but during the next 50 years Euro-American immigrants -- armed with larger boats, modern technology, and the regulatory muscle of the state -- gradually displaced them. The campaign to reassert Native American fishing rights began in 1964 with "fish-ins" on the Puyallup River led by Robert Satiacum (1929-1991) and Billy Frank Jr. (1931-2014), who defied Washington state attempts to regulate their fishing. (History Link)

Small fish, big barriers: A county confronts climate change
Island County doesn’t need a canary in the coal mine to warn of advancing climate change. It already has sea lance and surf smelt.

Whale watch companies say licensing system should be voluntary because of COVID-19
New licensing requirements for whale watch boats working in Washington waters take effect March 1...  But this week, state lawmakers began considering changes that would weaken those rules.

B.C.’s ‘dirty secret’: more than 100 contaminated mine sites threaten water, wildlife and communities 
New research finds lax provincial regulations allow companies to discharge toxic wastewater with metal concentrations hundreds of times higher than what’s considered safe for aquatic life.

DNA analysis being used to identify sources of bacterial pollution in area watersheds
The continued search for where the bacterial pollution found in the Samish and Padilla Bay watersheds comes from has turned to DNA analysis for help.

GOP congressman pitches $34 billion plan to breach Lower Snake River dams in new vision for Northwest 
For nearly three decades, the region has been stuck in unending litigation and spiraling costs as salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers decline toward extinction. But in a sweeping $34 billion proposal from an unlikely source, at an auspicious moment, comes a chance for a fresh start.

Putting the Pebble Mine to Rest
Weary Alaska communities are seeking permanent protections for the Bristol Bay watershed.

Meet the frackers: B.C.’s top 10 fracking companies, their subsidies, profits and taxes, revealed
They industrialize farmland. They pump out greenhouse gas emissions. They permanently contaminate water. They benefit from millions in taxpayer-funded subsidies and pay a lot less in royalties than they used to. So who are B.C.’s biggest frackers?

B.C.’s old-growth forest nearly eliminated, new province-wide mapping reveals
As old-growth logging continues unabated in most unprotected areas of B.C., one conservation organization decided to spend a year creating a detailed map that shows the province’s original forests have all but disappeared under pressure from industrialization.

Vancouver Island First Nations leaders want freighter anchorages lifted in the Salish Sea
A number of south Island First Nations have made a joint request aimed at ending the current practice of freighter anchorages in the southern Salish Sea.

Shell pays $191,000 fine for 2015 refinery incident
Shell Oil Products U.S. has paid a $191,000 fine for the release of pollutants from its Shell Puget Sound Refinery in Skagit County nearly six years ago.

Rayonier site cleanup plan upgraded
The Rayonier pulp mill property, zoned for multiple uses, will be cleaned of pollutants to an unrestricted-use standard with contaminants capped but remaining on the property, according to the Department of Ecology. However, cleanup of the 75-acre parcel east of downtown, owned by Rayonier Advanced Materials, could take an estimated seven to 10 years.

Seattle Public Schools commits to weaning off fossil fuels over next 20 years
Nearly two years after scores of its students missed class to demand action on climate change, Washington state’s largest school district now has a 2040 deadline to run on 100% clean and renewable energy.

*

These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow @savepugetsound

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told