HomeMy WebLinkAbout080226 email - Suggested edits to Randall letter Please acknowledge receipt of this emailALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Dear Jefferson County Commissioners:
Thank you for your deep consideration about the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s request for a Letter of Support to transfer the Dungeness and Protection Island Refuges to them through the
BIA.
I am suggesting a few edits to the letter for more clarity.
• Address the letter to both Randall and Cantwell, as each will propose bills in each chamber, and cc. Patty Murray.
• Page 1:
Paragraph 1: Change the word “folks” to “citizens”
Paragraph 2: Insert this at the end of the paragraph: The Dungeness Refuge - set aside in 1915 for its lush eelgrass beds for
migrating Black Brant as well as a nursery for baby salmon - hosts over 260 bird species.
Paragraph 3, line 5. after “…by the USFWS,” insert: and citizens ability to engage with and oversee the USFWS.
line 8: insert: co-management “…or expanding this co-management agreement…”
• Page 2
Paragraph 1, line 3: Delete: It is our sense….federal requirement.” It doesn’t flow and the same point is reiterated in
“…and the area showcases…and public access” where the point is a better fit.
This paragraph should follow paragraph 1: We also note the timing of this request for a letter or support. To act now while the U.S. 9th District Court is deliberating the Tribe’s intervention
of keeping the USFWS from following its mandate on whether the Tribe’s proposed 50-acre shellfish aquaculture industrial activities in the Dungeness Refuge would impact the mission
of the USFWS Refuge is of concern, as the Tribe has openly stated it does not want to be under anyone’s control and will pursue the industrial shellfish activity.
Paragraph 2: This should be deleted in its entirety. No one can own these lands. They belong to wildlife. We all must steward them, which is why they must remain public. The above
paragraph should replace this.
With over 70% of WA State coastal shores lined with “business,” i.e., shellfish operations, and the incredible numbers of bird losses mostly due to habitat loss, it is imperative that
our shorelines not be privatized for whatever purposes, and the public - which includes tribes - be ever more vigilant and protective of these habitats.
As to the dire need to do so, if you didn’t watch PBS Wm Brangham’s Saturday show on the loss of birds, with Peter Marra of Georgetown U. - major bird naturalist/researcher, please do
watch this half-hour show. The loss of the number of birds are staggering, mostly (not only) due to habitat loss.
https://www.pbs.org/video/the-decline-of-bird-populations-and-why-humans-should-care-bthoij/
Thank you,
Darlene Schanfald, Ph.D.
darlenes@olympus.net <mailto:darlenes@olympus.net>
360-681-7565
Civilizations do not fall only from war or economics.
They fall when the living systems that sustain them are quietly dismantled.
Joseph Varon January 26, 2026