by Susan MacVittie
The Bellingham-based Salish Sea Foundation is championing an international Salish Sea Marine Sanctuary to protect and restore the ecosystem of Puget Sound, and the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Georgia. The sanctuary would require the partnering of Coast Salish First Nations and the governments of BC and Washington State.
“We would like to see people study our Salish Sea marine sanctuary vision map, so that they can clearly understand where and what is the Salish Sea,” says Doug Tolchin, an organizer of the foundation. “Our vision is to restore the wildlife populations to 50%, from the 1-10% levels they are at now.”
The proposal includes a management plan for habitat conservation, restoration, and protection of the Salish Sea, including tributaries, creeks and rivers. Another aspect of the plan is the Salish Sea Coastal Trail which would provide a world-class hiking and biking path circumnavigating the Salish Sea Marine Sanctuary.
With eight million people now inhabiting the Salish Sea watershed, and major new shipping terminals proposed for both tar sands bitumen and Powder River Basin coal, the proposal of an international sanctuary is timely.
“My view of the Salish Sea Marine Sanctuary is not so much in using it as a tool to prohibit, but as an implementation plan that involves restoration, and implicit to restoration is protection. An excellent role model is California’s system of four National Marine Sanctuaries which actively protect and restore over 50% of California’s coastal shorelines, nearshore habitats and wildlife populations,” explains Tolchin. “With the creation of a marine sanctuary, standards get elevated and coordinated and prohibits some things such as offshore drilling of the sea floor and drift netting, but allows other economic activities. Otherwise, the ocean is the wild frontier.”
Other organizations are also working on campaigns to highlight the importance of protection for the Salish Sea. In August, the Wilderness Committee and the Georgia Strait Alliance co-launched a campaign, Save the Salish Sea. They hosted a cross-border town hall event that took place simultaneously through the Salish Sea near Victoria, BC and with Friends of San Juan on San Juan Island, WA.
The public meetings covered the Kinder Morgan tar sands pipeline and tanker proposal, as well as the proposed Fraser Surrey Docks and Pacific Gateway Terminal coal export facilities – all of which are situated along the Salish Sea waterways.
Tolchin says people can participate by liking and sharing the Salish Sea Marine Sanctuary & Trail on Facebook and signing up for the email newsletter on their website.
“Right now we are at the consultation and research and development phase. We would like to get this issue on the election ballots in May 2015 in BC and November 2015 in Washington. We want to focus on the positive world we want to live in and design it.”
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www.salishsea.org
