Puget Sound: How's it doin?

[stillhope]

Here's what the Puget Sound Partnership thinks (5 minute video).

http://www.psp.wa.gov/shiftingbaselines

What do YOU think? Please comment.

 

[g2]

Okay, since nobody else has replied I'll stick my foot in it...

The video is well produced and does a good job of explaining what a baseline is. For those of us who've grown up in the NW or know the local history, we already have a kind of short-term baseline. The changes are heartbreaking. Just to name a few: loss of the salmon runs, smelt runs, and frequent red-tide/toxin warnings. I often wonder what it would have been like to dive here back in the 1800's when the Indians were scooping up salmon at Bonneville with nets (maybe back then a few salmon lost to hungry sea lions wouldn't have mattered, eh?).

So you know that I agree. Now I'm really going to stir the crab pot...

I suspect that most of the readers of this board -- and many in the NW -- are already eco-conscientious; they're probably "thinking green" and not likely to dump their Prius' motor oil into the Sound. In essence, the video is preaching to the choir. As an example, if the caffeine we drink gets flushed down the toilet and ends up in the ocean, what should we do? This is an argument for better sewage treatment technology, not guilt-tripping coffee addicted sods like myself who use the drug to combat SAD [chuckle here].

What I'm leading up to is that (IMO) it seems we need to 1) identify what would improve the environmental quality of Puget Sound most effectively (best bang for the buck), and 2) make it easily possible for all people, not just us eco-friendly latte-drinking bubble-blowers, to do the right thing, environmentally-speaking. To be blunt, all the videos in the world aren't going to help unless we have the political will and economic motivation to improve things. Perhaps the Puget Sound Partnership would agree?

Alright, I'll get off my soapbox. Now maybe you can help me. It turns out that I'm currently taking an oceanography course, and there is an upcoming project wherein I have to write a position paper urging action on an environmental issue affecting Puget Sound, citing sources from peer-reviewed journals. I already have something in particular in mind, but if you have an environmental pet-peeve that you think should be addressed by a group like PSP please let me know -- I'm open to suggestion.

glenn

 

[wkyongae@aol.com]

Learning ever day something new. Gonna check this Puget Sound thing out.

 

[wkyongae@aol.com]

I looked at the site briefly and wondered if this group is willing and able to deal with all issues of the Sound and Hood Canal. I do realize that a lot of the problems are cause by non native people groups. But, is this group willing to deal with the problem as a whole or is it selective in nature and only goes where the money is. I suspect in respect to the declining salmon runs one only has to travel towards Idaho and look down at the river in the fall when the salmon are running and wonder just how the salmon are supposed to navigate around all those 2000 gill nets and then have a healthy matting season. Or look at the rivers flowing into the Sound and Hood Canal and wonder the same. Has this group ever thought of educating the public on this issue and taking people on tours of such. My wife, son and I watched a full grown whale attempted to be killed just last fall not just on the news but there in person. (we where camping there that weekend) What I'm trying to say if I was to join this group it would have to be willing to tackle native and non native issues and be willing to educate the public to the same. If you think I have an agenda your wrong I'm one who is not afraid to speak ones mind for what I have seen with my eyes not someone else's. I guess what I'm saying in a nut shell I don't care what a judge has ruled on!!! Do we want to save the Sound and Hood Canal or what? If we are then we all must do what is right to the environment. I will be studying this group with great interest and would most likely like to join in their cause as my cause.

 

[stillhope]

G2, Thanks for the reply. I didn't have anything to do with making that movie, but I was curious about how people would react to it. I agree that we need to identify the problems and figure out what we can do. That is what the Puget Sound Partnership has been charged with doing. In April and May they are having a series of forums around the Sound. The forums will help synthesize the region’s knowledge on key aspects of the Puget Sound ecosystem in preparation for a broad, ecosystem-wide forum May 28. During these all-day work sessions, science and policy experts will:
Review Sound-wide status and threats analyses;
Discuss the technical understanding of the problem; and
Identify policy strategies needed to help achieve a healthy Puget Sound.

For more info, visit: Puget Sound Partnership

One interesting reaction to that movie on other forums was that some people complained that it didn't suggest what people could do, and instead conveyed the tone, "don't worry, the government will fix it for you." Which is only partly true -- it will take both citizens and government working together to fix things.

One thing they have done to address the political will and economic motivation issue is to correctly state that public support is necessary for successful legislative and policy changes.

As far as particular environmental issues go, I'm aware of lots of them, but I work mainly with trying to raise awareness about issues in general. But if there's any single issue that's a pet peeve of mine, it's that the burden of proof is on the wrong foot. It has to be proven that a particular act, toxin, or whatever is harmful before it can be stopped. By then it's often too late (e.g. PCB's etc.). Wouldn't it make more sense to have higher standards of proof that a particular new action or product is safe before allowing its widespread use?

 

[stillhope]

wkyongae,
good points. Puget Sound Partnership has lots of different interests at its table, including indians. E.g. Billie Frank Jr., Chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission is on their leadership council, and they have been very active in involving the tribes.

But check out their web site for sure, go to their public meetings, listen to them and make your voice heard.