This year’s International Conference on Emerging Contaminants will be hosted virtually at the University of Washington from September 13-14 in partnership with the Center for Urban Waters, the Puget Sound Institute and the Washington Stormwater Center. Abstracts are due June 16th and the deadline for early registration is July 1. The full announcement is available below. Emcon 2021 7th International Conference on Emerging Contaminants Virtual Event, September 13-14, 2021
On behalf of our Scientific Committee, we cordially invite you to Emcon 2021, the 7th International Conference on Emerging Contaminants (https://cvent.me/7kvWG9). This event will be held virtually on September 13-14, 2021, where you can expect to hear the latest research news and discoveries about the environmental chemistry of emerging environmental contaminants and their management. We welcome you to EMCON where you can virtually reconnect with old colleagues and meet new friends from around the world while discussing your exciting research and ideas together as a community.
EMCON 2021 will cover all aspects of emerging contaminant research while emphasizing cutting edge and novel research on microplastics, biomolecules, roadway runoff, transformation products, ecotoxicology, advanced mass spectrometry and other new analytical techniques, and new emerging contaminants as conference themes. We have an excellent group of keynote speakers, and we look forward to your hearing your science and contributions to these areas. You can expect scientific talks, a virtual poster session (with five £100 prizes for students!), a round of lightning talks, “what went wrong in lab” stories and opportunities for informal meetups. Pre-recorded content will allow both synchronous and asynchronous attendance and interaction. Abstracts are due June 16th and early bird registration July 1, we look forward to hearing from you! Please email emcon2021@uw.edu to submit your abstract ASAP or if you had any questions for us.
Sincerely,
Ed Kolodziej and the Emcon Scientific Committee Emcon 2021
A group of researchers at the University of Washington Tacoma asked more than a thousand people in Pierce County what they viewed as their most important environmental challenges. Nursing professor Robin Evans-Agnew will present some of the findings from the Voices Unbound project on Monday, March 22nd.
Most of the people who wandered by the Voices Unbound booth at the Washington State Fair were not policymakers or scientists. They had never been to a meeting of the governor’s Orca Task Force nor had they publicly debated the best policies for salmon recovery. They were not expecting to be asked about their opinions on the environment.
Nevertheless, a group of researchers in the booth were hungry to know what those opinions were. They were asking anyone within earshot to fill out a brief, anonymous postcard answering two simple but far-reaching questions: “What environmental challenges are most important to you? And what do you do every day to survive those challenges?” The view from the Voices Unbound booth at the Washington State Fair. Photo courtesy of Voices Unbound.
In many cases, the visitors were in too much of a hurry to stop, but the Voices Unbound crew — including UWT School of Nursing professor Robin Evans-Agnew, urban ecologist Christopher Schell and social scientist Tom Koontz along with several UWT students — started up friendly conversations and walked alongside, getting as much information as they could.
Occasionally, people talked about protecting orcas and salmon. Some expressed worries over climate change, mirroring one of the dominant environmental topics of the day. At other times, respondents questioned the need for a survey at all. Some expressed their anger, saying they didn’t want to be part of a “liberal agenda” that they associated with talk about the environment. “Nothing is wrong with the environment,” they said. “The liberals are the problem.”
The answers seemed to vary from person to person, and the word “environment” became a Rorschach test of personal experiences. Strikingly, the researchers found little mention of more mainstream environmental issues. Instead, some respondents talked about poverty and food insecurity. A few answered that litter was a major concern. Others cited health issues such as drug addiction or air quality. In one postcard, a person describing herself as a “trans woman” saw her biggest environmental challenge as potential violence. “Most people are nice, but trans women are often the targets of violence,” she wrote. “I am averse to being in badly lit, isolated areas or environments that seem full of conservative or possibly threatening people.”
Over a seven-month period, between 2019 and 2020 (the project ended just prior to the COVID-19 lock-downs), the Voices Unbound team gathered more than a thousand such postcards at locations around Pierce County ranging from the state fair, to cultural festivals to homeless shelters and senior centers.
“We chose places where we wouldn’t necessarily find the sorts of people who already had a voice,” says Evans-Agnew, who co-led the project. The Voices Unbound podcast features discussions about viewpoints expressed in a series of survey postcards.
For the Voices Unbound team, finding people that are sometimes left out of the conversation is one of the first steps toward better Puget Sound policy. Knowing what people care about — whether they are experts or not — often explains why they make good or bad environmental decisions. It can also reveal injustices and areas of concern that might go overlooked.
“When we went into many of these communities to hear their voices and their stories,” project co-leader Schell says, “the environments that they were living in were fundamentally different from the environments that are often times part of the mainstream discourse.”
The group now plans to publish their data, and last year they began a podcast about the postcards that featured interviews with environmental and health experts. On Monday, March 22nd Robin Evans-Agnew will discuss findings from the project in a seminar sponsored by the Puget Sound institute.
Like so many things, a person’s understanding of environmental issues can depend on different factors, from economic status, to race and ethnicity, to politics and culture. An upcoming seminar hosted by the Puget Sound Institute on March 22nd at 10:00 AM will look at these perspectives and will talk about some of the ways that disenfranchised voices can be increasingly heard in environmental policy discussions. The seminar features UW Tacoma Nursing professor Dr. Robin Evans-Agnew, who will describe the ‘Voices Unbound’ project. The project surveyed more than a thousand people in Pierce County about their environmental concerns. Voices Unbound: Amplifying Perspectives of Disenfranchised Communities to Provoke Environmental Change
What do people think about environmental challenges and what do they do every day to survive those challenges?
A considerable gap exists among the discourses of those who implement environmental policies and the underrepresented communities that disproportionately experience environmental issues. In order to address this, Voices Unbound asks people throughout Pierce County to document environmental challenges that are impacting them and their community by using enviro-postcards.
Over seven months between 2019 and 2020, we stood in the street, behind booths, in the sunshine and the rain, asking passers-by to fill out a postcard to answer these two questions. We chose places where we wouldn’t necessarily find the sorts of people who already had a voice: outside the State Fair, in senior centers, amongst those experiencing homelessness, in parks, outside an ice-skating rink, and in local outdoor markets. We collected over 1000 postcards before the coronavirus outbreak took over everyone’s consciousness. Now, we invite you to listen in as we present selections of the postcards we collected and discuss our experiences.
The project also created a podcast series to amplify community voices.
Co-Principal Investigators: Christopher J. Schell, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Tacoma; Robin A. Evans-Agnew, School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership, UW Tacoma.
Co-Investigators: Tom Koontz and Joel Baker, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Tacoma.
When: 10:00 AM
Where: Join by Zoom https://washington.zoom.us/j/97391827146
Meeting ID: 973 9182 7146
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+12532158782,,97391827146# US (Tacoma)
Like so many things, a person’s understanding of environmental issues can depend on different factors, from economic status, to race and ethnicity, to politics and culture. An upcoming seminar hosted by the Puget Sound Institute on March 22nd at 10:00 AM will look at these perspectives and will talk about some of the ways that disenfranchised voices can be increasingly heard in environmental policy discussions. The seminar features UW Tacoma Nursing professor Dr. Robin Evans-Agnew, who will describe the ‘Voices Unbound’ project. The project surveyed more than a thousand people in Pierce County about their environmental concerns. Voices Unbound: Amplifying Perspectives of Disenfranchised Communities to Provoke Environmental Change
What do people think about environmental challenges and what do they do every day to survive those challenges?
A considerable gap exists among the discourses of those who implement environmental policies and the underrepresented communities that disproportionately experience environmental issues. In order to address this, Voices Unbound asks people throughout Pierce County to document environmental challenges that are impacting them and their community by using enviro-postcards.
Over seven months between 2019 and 2020, we stood in the street, behind booths, in the sunshine and the rain, asking passers-by to fill out a postcard to answer these two questions. We chose places where we wouldn’t necessarily find the sorts of people who already had a voice: outside the State Fair, in senior centers, amongst those experiencing homelessness, in parks, outside an ice-skating rink, and in local outdoor markets. We collected over 1000 postcards before the coronavirus outbreak took over everyone’s consciousness. Now, we invite you to listen in as we present selections of the postcards we collected and discuss our experiences.
The project also created a podcast series to amplify community voices.
Co-Principal Investigators: Christopher J. Schell, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Tacoma; Robin A. Evans-Agnew, School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership, UW Tacoma.
Co-Investigators: Tom Koontz and Joel Baker, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Tacoma.
When: 10:00 AM
Where: Join by Zoom https://washington.zoom.us/j/97391827146
Meeting ID: 973 9182 7146
One tap mobile
+12063379723,,97391827146# US (Seattle)
+12532158782,,97391827146# US (Tacoma)
Puget Sound recovery efforts could get a boost from a newly proposed five-year, $494-billion economic stimulus package, according to U.S. Reps. Denny Heck, D-Olympia, and Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor.
The two Washington congressmen, known for their efforts to help restore the Puget Sound ecosystem, spoke online Friday to more than 160 people during the first Virtual Puget Sound Days on the Hill forum. The event was sponsored by the Puget Sound Partnership, the agency coordinating the recovery of Puget Sound.
While the bill’s future is uncertain, this so-called “Invest in America Act” would improve the nation’s eroding transportation systems and rebuild the crumbling infrastructure, according to the bill’s primary sponsor, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. It would also help to lift the nation out of an economic slump brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
While the bill is designed around transportation, Heck and Kilmer said they expect significant amounts of money to be allocated for reducing the environmental impacts of roads, bridges and rail networks — specifically targeting dollars to stormwater improvements.
“You’ve heard me say it many times,” Heck noted, “but I don’t think it can be said often enough: Stormwater is the number-1 source of pollution to Puget Sound and for all waterways in the United States of America.”
According to Heck, 29 million jobs have been lost to the pandemic, the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression. The situation has brought to light social and structural inequities that plague our society, he said. The challenge is to “combat the virus” and “recharge the economy” in ways that address the systemic problems that harm communities of color and others, he added.
Among other efforts, he said, thousands of jobs could be created by focusing attention on Puget Sound recovery.
“I think we’re wise to suggest that infrastructure investment is a way to get more people back to work,” Heck said. “I have no doubt that we will be making substantial increases in infrastructure. I think the key is to broadly define it as more than just roads and bridges. It should include investments in Puget Sound recovery.”
House Democrats are generally supportive of the nearly $500 billion in expenditures outlined in the Invest in America Act, but the Republican-led Senate appears to be of mixed sentiment. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated that further expenditures related to the pandemic should be narrowly confined. Mitch McConnell, Senate majority leader
“As Senate Republicans have made clear for weeks, future efforts must be laser-focused on helping schools reopen safely in the fall, helping American workers continue to get back on the job, and helping employers reopen and grow,” McConnell said Friday in a news release.
On Saturday, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said he was sure there would be another stimulus package, but the specifics would depend on how well jobs rebound as businesses reopen. Check out his interview with Fox News anchor Charles Payne.
Two weeks ago, some Republicans were voicing strong support for an infrastructure bill, but others had their own ideas to stimulate the economy, as reported by Manu Raju and Lauren Fox of CNN.
Meanwhile, Kilmer and Heck keep pushing for Puget Sound funding, an issue high on their list of priorities.
The two came into the House at the same time in 2013. Kilmer took over the 6th District seat of U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, who was a powerful supporter of Puget Sound issues for 36 years. Heck was elected to the new 10th District in South Puget Sound, a district created as a result of the state’s population growth. Late last year, Heck announced his retirement from Congress, effective at the end of this year.
Heck and Kilmer were joint sponsors of the PUGET SOS bill, which passed the House in February. If approved by the Senate, the bill would create a new Puget Sound Recovery Office in the Environmental Protection Agency, formalize the federal Puget Sound Leadership Task Force, and authorize $50 million for federal agencies to work on Puget Sound problems. (PUGET SOS = Promoting United Government Efforts To Save Our Sound.)
“That’s a bill that will make sure the federal government is the strong partner that state, tribal and local entities need to save our sound,” Kilmer said during Friday’s forum. If the bill becomes law, he said, federal agencies will “assist regional efforts to restore salmon and orca populations and ensure that future generations can dig for clams and uphold tribal treaty rights.”
Kilmer noted that the House was able to alter the course of President Trump’s budget, which would have eliminated EPA funding from a program called the Puget Sound Geographic Fund. In fact, the congressional budget increased expenditures by $5 million, to $33 million last year. The money is used to carry out planning and restoration, as spelled out in the Puget Sound Partnership’s Action Agenda.
Reducing flooding and stormwater pollution, restoring shoreline habitat and removing culverts to improve fish passage are all part of the effort that can help recover Puget Sound and create new jobs to help the economy, Kilmer said. Howard Hanson Dam on the Green River // Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Kilmer said he was excited to see that the Army Corps of Engineers will spend $3 million to begin design of a new fish-passage project at Howard Hanson Dam on the Green River. The project, requested by Washington’s entire congressional delegation, has the potential to reclaim more than 100 miles of salmon-spawning habitat. The project will take time and money, Kilmer cautioned, but the benefits will be enormous.
Kilmer said it is time to put Puget Sound funding programs “on steroids” to reverse the course of Chinook salmon and killer whale populations in Puget Sound. Both Chinook and orcas are headed toward extinction, along with several other species, if conditions don’t improve, experts say.
“As a member of the (House) Appropriations Committee, that will be my top priority,” Kilmer said. “In addition, we need to be working to create new federal programs that will help fill remaining gaps in addressing the challenges we are facing as a result of this unprecedented public health and economic crisis.”
Kilmer unveiled two new programs he is proposing:
A Coastal Restoration Corps, modeled after the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s.The organization would provide training for people working in the field of environmental restoration while improving coastal habitats in 28 estuaries throughout the United States, and
A Coastal Resilience Design and Construction Program, which would enlist the Army Corps of Engineers to work in partnership with state, local and tribal governments. The goal would be to develop coastal resilience projects and help maintain natural conditions in the face of sea-level rise and other environmental changes.
“This kind of development isn’t just good for the health of the Sound,” Kilmer said. “It has huge benefits for the health and safety of local communities as well. We cannot leave our front-line communities behind; the only way to succeed is to do it together.”
The next online meeting of Virtual Puget Sound Days on the Hill will be Friday, when U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, and Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, will speak and answer questions. Advance registration is required at least 24 hours before the event.
Folks who care about salmon, killer whales and the Puget Sound ecosystem will get a chance to participate in the annual discussion known as Puget Sound Day on the Hill. But this year the event will be called “2020 Virtual Puget Sound Days on the Hill,” as the talks go online.
Online meetings with Washington’s congressional lawmakers will be held each Friday in June. Putting the meetings online will allow anyone interested to listen to the discussion, which generally focuses on upcoming legislation and funding for Puget Sound. Loved by some and hated by others, the annual trip to Washington, D.C., won’t happen this year.
“For me, the greatest advantage of doing this online is that it opens up the meetings to hundreds if not thousands of people,” said Laura Blackmore, executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership. “The cost of traveling to Washington, D.C, and staying in hotels is expensive.”
The meetings will be trimmed down substantially, to be sure, and they won’t include small-group meetings in which delegates from state and county governments, Indian tribes, environmental groups and others explain their programs and seek specific support. Also missing will be meetings with members of Congress and their staffs from other states as well as separate meetings with top officials from federal agencies focused on natural resources.
The main focus of these upcoming meetings, which require 24-hour-advance registration, will involve discussions with the senators and representatives elected to Congress. Besides the normal funding issues, a major topic of discussion will be anticipated recovery and jobs programs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Denise Ross, executive assistant for the Partnership.
“We want to emphasize how important Puget Sound recovery is and how natural resources can play a role in jobs recovery,” she told me.
Reps. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, and Denny Heck, D-Olympia, have agreed to kick off the meetings next Friday at 1 p.m. As of today, participants in the other meetings have not been scheduled, but organizers hope to get three officials for each successive meeting, which will continue at least until the end of the month.
Last year, I joined a delegation of more than 70 people who traveled to Washington, D.C., to share information about Puget Sound. The Democratic lawmakers, most of whom have connections to Puget Sound, met with the Puget Sound delegation as well as a separate group focused on salmon. The Eastern Washington Republicans were not involved, but I would like to hear their positions on Puget Sound.
I don’t know that this year’s meeting will be as effective when it comes to lobbying, but it will be a chance for more people to understand the inner workings of Congress when it comes to funding and legislation.
Here are the blog posts I wrote from last year’s Day on the Hill:
Jon Bridgman, communications manager for the Partnership, said this year’s meeting was pulled together quickly over the past two weeks after the normal meeting was canceled because of the pandemic.
“We are sort of figuring this out as we go, and we can adjust things as needed,” he said.
If the “Day on the Hill” returns to Washington, D.C., next year, considerable thought will be given about how to provide online access, perhaps with a live Facebook feed, Jon told me.
For those interested, a key to the meetings will be to make sure to register 24 hours in advance. For next Friday’s meeting, that means signing up by 1 p.m. Thursday by going to the registration page.
Canceled! Canceled! Canceled!
Participants in this year’s Earth Day activities won’t be rallying in large groups, participating in environmental festivals or coming together to clean up the Earth.
On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day — Wednesday of next week — the environmental movement will be uniquely digital, with many people celebrating from their home computers.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, this year’s Earth Day was being promoted as the “largest environmental mobilization in history,” as Forbes magazine trumpeted in a headline. Millions of people were being mobilized.
Now a deadly virus has changed the tone of Earth Day celebrations, as disease outbreaks alter the pace of human life and cause many people to reflect on what is truly important. Some say this pause in the action is exactly what is needed to begin healing our relationship with the natural world.
“If there was ever a time in which humanity should finally recognize that we belong to one connected family on Earth, this should be it,” say Margaret Bullitt-Jonas and Leah D. Schade, co-editors of the book “Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis.”
“We share a single planet, drink from the same water and breathe the same air,” they write in an essay for the Earth Day Network. “So whether hunkered down at home or hospital, or working on the front lines, we are all doing our part to face a common enemy together. When COVID-19 is finally behind us, instead of returning to normal life, we must hold on to these lessons in the fight against climate change.”
Climate change, the theme of Earth Day 2020, threatens to upset natural systems in ways that are hard to imagine. The worldwide response to the coronavirus shows that people are capable of major sacrifices when they see the need. Science provides roadmaps for resolving the pandemic, the climate crisis and other environmental problems.
Alyssa Macy, CEO of Washington Environmental Council, told me that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to slow down and reflect on their health and mental state. It has allowed many people to consider their relationship with nature and to find peace in solitude, particularly when they can get outside away from crowds. Alyssa Macy, CEO of Washington Environmental Council
The slowdown has resulted in less air pollution, she noted, and in some places wild animals are able to roam more freely.
“This is an opportunity for the Earth to breathe and for people to see what happens when humanity stops impacting nature to such an extent,” she said.
Alyssa took the top leadership role at Washington Environmental Council in January. Her previous job was chief operations officer with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. Growing up on the Warm Springs Reservation, she left the Northwest for various jobs in other parts of the country. Seventeen years later, she felt a calling to return home while listening to the songs of her people being sung at a conference.
“We all have cultures that connect us to place,” Alyssa said. “My view is that we can’t exist in this world without acknowledging the relationship we have with the land around us.”
Water, meanwhile, “is the sustainer of life,” she added. “We are made of water. It connects everything together. To me, everything goes back to that.”
Alyssa told me that she is thrilled with her new position, which involves working on environmental issues in a beautiful place where people really care about the land and water.
Earth Day, she said, is a time for people to connect or reconnect with nature and to understand how people are damaging the planet.
“There has to be a way to make a connection,” she said. “It helps when we slow down. There is a blessing in all of this. It’s the opportunity to find some personal growth, to re-engage and see the animals and the Earth in ways we did not see before.”
Alyssa said her hope is that the environmental movement can be “re-energized” after this pause, moving forward with scientifically based actions. She is disturbed by recent rollbacks in environmental regulations.
“We have exposed how fragile the system is,” she said. “I don’t want to go back to what we considered normal. We can engage with people and move forward toward a more just society. We can see the possibilities of drastic changes to curb the impacts of climate change.”
[iframe align=”right” width=”500″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/6HUtM_LTyIw”%5D News anchor Walter Cronkite speaking about Earth Day at the very first event in 1970.
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the scientific understanding of the world’s ecosystems has become far more sophisticated and the solutions no longer simple. Instead of killing millions of fish outright with industrial pollution, we are now altering entire species with new chemicals that act like natural hormones.
The modern environmental movement was brought together with the first Earth Day over growing concerns about oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic waste dumps, pesticides, loss of wilderness and the extinction of wildlife. Before the end of 1970, Congress had created the Environmental Protection Agency and passed the Clean Air Act. Two years later, lawmakers approved the Clean Water Act followed by the Endangered Species Act.
“When 20 million Americans participated in the first Earth Day, they believed the warnings of scientists, as did the U.S. Congress,” Denis Hayes, the principal organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970, said in a news release. “Our current pandemic demonstrates that governments must embrace science early.” Denis Hayes, Earth Day’s first organizer Photo: Bullitt Foundation
In 2010, during the last decadal celebration of Earth Day, I discussed the importance of environmental education. It has been encouraging to see that what was once specialized knowledge about natural systems is now well understood by grade-school students. See Kitsap Sun, April 17, 2010.
But understanding something does not always bring the best results, as we can see from the struggle to get government to change the course of climate change.
Long before COVID-19, environmental activists were using online tools to organize their campaigns. But today the risk of spreading disease has forced postponement or cancellation of massive cleanup events being planned this year.
“Amid the recent outbreak, we encourage people to rise up but to do so safely and responsibly,” Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network said in a news release. “in many cases, that means using our voices to drive action online rather than in person…. Together, we can build an Earth Day unlike any other — an Earth Day that defines us as a global community, united by our challenges yet unshrinking from the bold, urgent action needed to overcome them.” Online events in the works
Earth Day 50 Virtual Stage (starts Sunday), from Earth Day Initiative, including speakers and virtual workshops.
Earth Day 50th Anniversary (starts Monday), six days of panel discussions from “We Don’t Have the Time” coalition
Earth Day Live, a multitude of speakers over three days from the U.S. Climate Strike Coalition.
Delegates stressed the need for a federal partnership with state and local governments to save salmon, orcas and Native American culture. Puget Sound Institute senior writer Christopher Dunagan visited Washington D.C. during the May 4 -6 ‘Day on the Hill’ event, in which Puget Sound representatives met with federal policymakers to advocate for ecosystem protection. By Christopher Dunagan
With orcas and Chinook salmon closer to extinction than ever before, state and federal governments are being urged to spend more money to reverse these trends, which reflect a struggling Puget Sound ecosystem.
Last week, a delegation of more than 70 people, mainly from the Puget Sound region, carried that message to lawmakers in Washington, D.C. Meeting with senators and representatives, they shared information about progress in restoring the ecosystem and emphasized that Congress must not give up on Puget Sound.
“It was energizing to me to see how deeply people care about Puget Sound recovery and salmon recovery,” said Laura Blackmore, who took over as executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership on May 4. “To see people giving of their time and treasure to help Puget Sound was a wonderful way for me to start my new role.”
The urgency of the environmental crisis was understood by everyone who attended Puget Sound Day on the Hill, Blackmore said. A harsh reckoning U.S. Rep. Denny Heck. File photo
U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, D-Olympia, opened the first day of meetings by talking about the grave of Billy Frank Jr., the inspirational Native American leader who long advocated for treaty rights and environmental stewardship.
“I didn’t like it at the time,” Heck said of the words inscribed on the headstone. “It just didn’t resonate when I thought about Billy’s incredible life.”
But over time, Heck says he has come to realize that the grave marker reflects a harsh reality summarized in Billy Frank’s own words: “As the salmon disappear so do our tribal cultures and treaty rights. We are at a crossroads and we are running out of time.”
“We ARE running out of time,” Heck told the audience visiting the nation’s capital. “We really don’t have an unlimited amount of time to get the work done…We need to increase our investment.”
Ed Johnstone, an official with the Quinault Indian Nation and Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, said the tribes are fully engaged in the political efforts to recover salmon and Puget Sound, but those efforts are not enough. Tribal culture and a salmon-dependent way of life are slipping away, contrary to promises written into the treaties, he added.
“We are on the edge, and we fully understand that we are running out of time,” said Johnstone who came to Washington, D.C., with about 15 other tribal leaders. New funding proposed
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, and other House members from Washington state expressed optimism that control of the House by Democrats will lead to additional funding for salmon and Puget Sound.
This week, Kilmer and Heck announced proposed funding increases for salmon and Puget Sound in advance of discussions by the House Appropriations Committee.
“Securing additional funding to restore the Sound is a big deal if we’re going to recover our salmon populations, if we’re going to ensure future generations can dig for clams, and if we’re going to respect tribal treaty rights,” Kilmer said in a news release.
The fiscal year 2020 Interior Appropriations Bill includes $33 million for the Puget Sound Geographic Program, a $5 million increase over the previous budget. The program, operated through the Environmental Protection Agency, can be used to improve water quality, enhance fish passage, increase salmon habitat and protect and restore shorelines.
Additionally, each of the 28 National Estuary Programs would get $100,000 more than the FY 2019 level, as well as a $3 million increase for competitive grants. The national program, currently at $27 million per year, addresses water quality and ecological health for major estuaries throughout the country. Rep. Derek Kilmer speaks to Puget Sound groups during a previous ‘Day on the Hill’ event. Photo by Tessa Francis.
Kilmer and Heck also reintroduced their PUGET SOS bill, which stands for Promoting United Government Efforts To Save Our Sound. The legislation is designed to enhance the federal government’s role in restoring Puget Sound with the creation of a special Office for Puget Sound Recovery at the EPA. Working together
One strategy to increase funding, Kilmer said, has been to “hold hands” with folks from around Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, Long Island Sound and other troubled waterways. All are more successful when “speaking with one voice,” he noted.
Jacques White, executive director of the Long Live the Kings, moderated a panel on Puget Sound and Columbia River estuaries attended by dozens of staffers serving senators and representatives from many of the estuary regions — the so-called Congressional Estuary Caucus.
“Folks from other states got a pretty strong dose of tribal treaty rights, something that is new to folks back there,” White said in an interview after the meeting.
“We have a triple bottom line for estuary restoration,” he added, citing the effort to save orcas, salmon and treaty rights.
“The feedback I got from legislative staff and others was that the professionalism, focus and level of input on the issues this year was the best they’ve ever seen,” said White of the fifth annual Puget-Sound-Day-on-the-Hill gathering.
During meetings with the Puget Sound delegates, many congressional members were straightforward in explaining that funding is difficult because Congress is no longer functioning effectively. “Congress is broken” was a common expression.
Kilmer was recently appointed chairman of the “Fix Congress Committee,” formally known as the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. He says that he insisted, before taking the chairmanship, that the committee would be evenly split between Democratic and Republican members to create an atmosphere that will increase acceptance for the ideas that come forth.
Goals include improving transparency of government operations, reducing staff turnover to heighten expertise, and implementing new technology. High on the list of challenges is improving the budget and appropriations process, which Kilmer called “completely off the rails.” “Green infrastructure”
Other members of the House are working on a bill to rebuild roads, bridges, docks, internet connections, water systems, sewage-treatment plants and other so-called ‘infrastructure.” The idea was a centerpiece of President Trump’s campaign and an issue embraced by Democrats.
“We have great bipartisan support for this,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray said, “but we have to fight cuts from the administration. Our opportunity is to make sure that it is not just money for infrastructure, but that it is done properly.”
The term “green infrastructure” has been used to describe improving stormwater management, restoring habitat and protecting the environment during all infrastructure reconstruction. Protecting the environment is a key part of the effort, Murray said.
According to the senator, the infrastructure plan is being developed in the House, because Senate Republicans fear that their efforts could end with a presidential veto. Trump has said he will veto any budget with spending above that in the last two-year budget. Although he has promoted up to $2 trillion in spending on infrastructure improvement, details have not been made public. Climate change Senator Maria Cantwell addresses Puget Sound ‘Day on the Hill’ delegates in Washington, D.C. Photo by Christopher Dunagan
As bills to improve the health of Puget Sound move through Congress, the specter of climate change threatens to undo many advancements, according to lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina. DelBene serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, which held a hearing on climate change last week.
“It was the first hearing in 12 years, yet this is a conversation that we should be having all the time,” DelBene told the Puget Sound delegates. “What is happening is truly stunning, and yet there are people in that conversation who feel we really don’t need to do anything.”
In Puget Sound, climate change is expected to alter shorelines, shift saltwater wetlands, change water flows in salmon streams and disrupt stable habitats. A consensus for action on climate issues is building across the country, DelBene said, and there is growing support from many sectors — including agriculture, which could use help in reducing erosion, easing floods and protecting soils.
“The agricultural community knows climate better than anyone,” she noted. “When I hear disagreements, it is when (farmers) feel that they don’t have a seat at the table” or that people don’t try to understand their unique position.
“There is a cost of doing nothing and we don’t often discuss this cost,” DelBene continued. “We are spending money everyday to mitigate for things taking place because we are not taking action.” Threats of growth
Gerald I. James, a policy representative for the Lummi Tribe, told lawmakers that actions need to be taken now to protect salmon streams from rapid development in the Puget Sound region. Imposing 200-foot no-build buffers along salmon streams is one idea, he said. Especially troublesome, he added, is when large buffers along a salmon stream get reduced to strips of land as small as 25 feet when developable property becomes incorporated into a city and subject to new land-use rules.
Growth-management regulations have been created with good intentions, he said, but they are too easily amended. The result is degradation of streamside habitat and reduced salmon populations.
“Something has to change in our thinking, because we can’t continue on this pathway; we will have zero habitat left,” James said. “We may have success here or there, but it’s a tenth of what is needed.”
Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell stressed the benefits of working together to solve environmental problems, as people are doing in Washington state.
“The amount of innovation and the amount of collaboration is phenomenal,” Cantwell said, going on to describe how farmers and fishermen managed to sit down together and allocate the use of water in the Yakima River basin.
That approach is how water should be managed in other places such as Northern California, she said, noting that almond growers are competing for water against natural systems. It appears that people would rather let salmon die than try to address the crisis, she said.
Cantwell also pointed to Washington’s Methow Valley in the North Cascades, where people came together and agreed that mining should not be allowed in an ecologically rich region where the economy is based on recreation, tourism and agriculture. The proposal, with widespread support, would remove 370,000 acres from mining for at least 20 years until permanent plans are adopted.
“That never would have happened without a collaborative effort,” Cantwell said. “We live in an age of huge disruption, and we need to think about every federal agency and what we can do to make them cost effective.
“People need to realize that public lands are the front lines of climate change,” she added, “and we need to pay more attention to how they are managed.” Going forward
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, said people should not despair at what appears to be environmental setbacks in the current political climate, nor should they retreat from economic justice or civil rights issues.
“We are seeing erosions in so many things we care about,” she said. “It is the effectiveness of your advocacy that results in the backlash. They are afraid of the momentum we are building. I want you to know how important advocacy is. We in Congress can’t get anything done without advocacy at the state and local level.”
Puget Sound Day on the Hill was organized by the Puget Sound Partnership. Participants included representatives of state and local governments, non-profit organizations, tribes and a variety of businesses. Travel expenses were covered by the organizations represented at the event. Christopher Dunagan is a senior writer at the Puget Sound Institute.
By Christopher Dunagan
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Optimism, as related to a possible increase in funding for Puget Sound recovery, permeated discussions this week, when 80 officials from the region met with lawmakers in the nation’s capitol.
“It’s the first time in several years that we’ve actually been in a position to direct more money to Puget Sound programs,” said U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, during one of many “Puget Sound Day on the Hill” meetings.
With Democrats now in control of the House, they can draft a budget that fits their priorities for a host of projects — from civil rights legislation to funding for climate change. Of course, the challenge will be to get their issues through the Senate.
“It is really heartwarming to see the optimism that they are expressing, almost to a member,” said Stephanie Solien, vice chair of the Leadership Council, the oversight board for the Puget Sound Partnership. The Partnership coordinates the wide-ranging efforts to restore Puget Sound to ecological health.
Kilmer said he was sworn to secrecy about the actual numbers in the soon-to-be-released House appropriations bill, “but when it comes to fish funding and Puget Sound funding, we did very well.”
When Republicans controlled both the House and Senate, funding was substantially reduced for environmental programs, including money for the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which operate specific funds for improving salmon habitat and restoring major estuaries throughout the country.
The Trump administration’s proposed budget the past two years “zeroed out” funding for the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund, which supports salmon-restoration efforts throughout the Northwest. But Republicans and Democrats worked together to restore the levels to $65 million, which is spread across five states.
Now, said Kilmer, “rather than working from a posture of trying to dig out of a hole, we are starting the conversation at a very good point.”
If the budget process works this year, Kilmer says funding for Puget Sound proposed in the House budget faces reasonably good prospects of getting through the Senate. Besides the support of Washington’s Democratic senators Patty Murray and Marie Cantwell, a number of Republican senators — including Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski — understand the importance of salmon to the Northwest.
The biggest obstacle will be to complete a budget, given the political divisions between House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, on many other issues. Not completing a budget might mean sequestration — automatic spending cuts — or another “continuing resolution” to keep the government operating under the status quo.
Nobody wants that, Kilmer said, and everybody says they are committed to a new budget before the end of the fiscal year in September. The key, he added, is to get House and Senate leaders to agree to a “cap” for the total budget, which would then allow final negotiations about where the available money would be spent.
For Puget Sound, national attention was drawn to the plight of the waterway and southern resident killer whales when Tahlequah, a mother orca, carried her dead baby on her head for 17 days. The orcas, considered to be on the verge of extinction, have helped people make a critical connection between those revered animals and the dwindling population of salmon — including chinook, their primary prey.
The governor’s task force on orcas came up with recommendations to help the Southern Residents. Those ideas were largely supported by the Legislature with new laws and funding. Now, Puget Sound officials are looking for financial assistance from the federal government.
The loss of salmon also affects the culture and traditions of Native American people, whose identity was formed around salmon over thousands of years. Through all the struggles, tribes maintain a right to fish, a right guaranteed by federal treaties and confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. That makes tribal officials a key part of the legislative discussions.
About 20 tribal leaders joined the annual “Puget Sound Day on the Hill,” which this year was combined with a separate effort called “Salmon Day on the Hill.”
“It’s not often that our treaty rights are in the vernacular of Congress,” said Ed Johnstone, an official with the Quinault Indian Nation and Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. “We have a long history, going back through Congressman (Norm) Dicks and Senators (Warren) Magnuson and Scoop Jackson. We are here to help this process.”
Kilmer agreed with Johnstone that the personal connections between people and the natural world are priceless. He said some of the best moments of his life are those times he has spent outdoors with his children “enjoying nature in this incredible part of the world.”
“The main thing I want to say is thank you,” Kilmer told the group of 80 delegates gathered together Wednesday morning. “The impact that this group has had over the years is significant.”
In addition to Kilmer, the delegates from Puget Sound met as a large group with both Washington state senators as well as with Reps. Denny Heck, D-Olympia; Kim Schrier, D-Sammamish; Suzan DelBene, D-Medina; Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle; and Rick Larsen, D-Everett.
Some of the delegates met again in small groups with those lawmakers, while others joined up with other representatives from Washington state. Still others carried the message to senators and representatives from other parts of the country, talking about the importance of the Puget Sound ecosystem and how to go about restoring the waterway to a healthy condition. — Christopher Dunagan is a senior writer at the Puget Sound Institute.
Puget Sound Institute senior writer Christopher Dunagan is in Washington, D.C. covering this week’s “Puget Sound Day on the Hill” event. By Christopher Dunagan
WASHINGTON, D.C. — About 80 leaders involved in restoring Puget Sound to ecological health have been gathering here in the nation’s Capitol since last night to meet with federal lawmakers and agency officials.
It’s the fifth year of the so-called “Puget Sound Day on the Hill.” This year, the event is combined with the annual “Salmon Day on the Hill,” which began this morning when salmon experts from the Northwest met with officials from the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Erik Neatherlin, executive coordinator for the Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office, was able to describe 11 projects in Washington state that are part of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which works with farmers and other landowners to improve soil conditions, water quality and salmon habitat, among other things.
As with many federal grant programs, the funding provided by NRCS is a critical part of the overall effort to restore watersheds and improve salmon habitat throughout the state, Neatherlin said. For the 11 programs in Washington state, $50 million in federal funds has been matched with more than $90 million in state and local money.
The Day on the Hill provides an important forum for sharing information about the goals and accomplishments of the various projects — from the Palouse River watershed in Eastern Washington to the Puyallup River watershed in South Puget Sound, according to Neatherlin. It is also an opportunity to figure out new ways that people with diverse interests — from fishing to farming — can work together.
Other meetings of the salmon delegation will include discussions with the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as members of Congress and their staffers.
The Puget Sound meetings, focused more on northwestern Washington, will begin Wednesday morning following a reception tonight. They will cover a wide variety of issues, from water quality to habitat to endangered orcas.
The meetings, in both large and small groups, provide a chance to thank congressional officials for their past support of Puget Sound recovery while updating them on future projects, said Laura Blackmore, the new executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership, which coordinates recovery of the inland waterway.
Beginning in 2017, White House budgets proposed eliminating key funds for Puget Sound recovery, including the National Estuary Program and Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund. Congress has maintained much of the funding, which is a small but significant part of the overall recovery effort, Blackmore said.
For every federal dollar spent on the effort, about $30 is provided by local, state or tribal investments in Puget Sound, she noted. With new financial commitments this year from the Washington Legislature, it is more important than ever to maintain the federal portion of the funding.
“Our congressional delegation tirelessly supports the federal investments needed for Puget Sound and salmon recovery,” Blackmore said in a news release.
Participants in Puget Sound Day on the Hill represent a wide range of interests, including state and local governments, Puget Sound treaty tribes, environmental groups and various businesses.
Mindy Roberts, director of Puget Sound Programs for Washington Environmental Council, said the value of sharing information with everyone involved will have lasting effects on efforts to recover Puget Sound.
“This week,” she said, “I’m proud to be part of a group of over 80 people speaking to the importance of federal funds for Puget Sound recovery.”
