OLYMPIA, WA (March 7, 2008) — So-called exempt wells could potentially run our rivers dry. Our rivers are connected to the ground waters and what affects one affects the other.

Under state law, property owners can tap up to 5,000 gallons of groundwater every day and be exempted from getting a permit. There are no limits under current state law for watering livestock, gardens or lawns. The 5,000 gallon limitation applies to home and industrial uses, including irrigation. Pumping more than that takes a permit, unless, of course, you’re willing to cheat—and unfortunately many do just that. Clean, fresh water is just about as rare and even more valuable than gasoline, and that leads to thievery.

Five thousand gallons may not seem like much. But multiply those individual exemptions by the hundreds of thousands of property owners and millions of new residents in this state and, well, you don’t need to be a genius to realize we’re talking about a lot of water.

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Posted at 10:16 AM

Fishing opportunities in Northwest waters have just about disappeared. It’s a situation that has strained relations between Indians and non-Indians – the state, local governments, environmental organizations, businesses and even fishermen. It’s also a condition we can improve, if we follow the truth, and that truth goes right to habitat.

Fishermen have made the lion’s share of sacrifice so far, and cutting back on fisheries to the degree we have has not been easy on our people. Empty freezers and smoke houses hurt deeply, physically, economically and culturally.

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Posted at 2:32 PM

OLYMPIA (March 5, 2008) − At the expense of the salmon recovery effort, recreational interests have delayed plans to restore crucial chinook habitat in Wiley Slough, in the South Fork of the Skagit River delta. Puget Sound chinook salmon are listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Restoration work was set to begin last summer to return tidal flow to a 157-acre parcel of land around Wiley Slough. Project partners, including the Skagit River System Cooperative and state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), identified the area as a priority for estuarine restoration in accordance with 2003 state legislation to restore public lands for salmon recovery before looking to private land.

The parcel, also known as the Headquarters Unit of the Skagit Wildlife Area, was acquired by the state in 1962 through a land swap with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The estuary was converted for recreational use – and the salmon habitat destroyed – through dikes, drainage ditches, culverts and tide gates.

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Posted at 2:05 PM