HomeMy WebLinkAbout030725 email - Marrowstone_Indian Islands Bridge Naming - Endorsement RequestALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
March 7, 2025
To: Jefferson County Commissioners
From: Vigo E. Anderson
Subject: Marrowstone/Indian Islands Bridge Naming - Endorsement Request
Commissioners: Eisenhour, Nollette, Brotherton
In 2020 the Washington State Department of Transportation built a new bridge between Indian Island and Marrowstone Island. This bridge removed a land bridge that was a fish barrier to
several salmon species migrating between Oak Bay and Kilisut Harbor. The bridge also opened up a historically significant navigable waterway between the two islands.
The Marrowstone Island Community Association created a Bridge Naming Committee to work with the local and the wider community to give the new bridge a name. Some months ago, the members
of the Marrowstone Island Bridge Naming Committee, sent a message out letting key stake-holders and local residents know of our plans to take an Island-wide survey of what name residents
would like to call the new bridge. Following the policy and procedures set out by the Washington Transportation Commission, we requested and received 47 nominations for naming the new
bridge. The committee narrowed it down to 6 final choices and we asked all residents or landowners on Marrowstone Island to select a name from that list.
We also contacted local tribes asking of their interest in the bridge naming. We received recommendations from the Jamestown, Port Gamble and Elwa Tribes making up the S’Klallam Nation
based on the tribal name for the waterway under the bridge. The reopened waterway has been historically travelled by tribal canoes for generations. The Department of Natural Resources
Committee on Geographic Names officially designated the waterway as “Passage Through”. The native word for the waterway is “scɬə́qʷ”.
The island residents overwhelmingly supported the recommendation of the S’Klallam Nation to also name the bridge after the waterway. The goal is to have signs placed on or near the bridge
with the name “Passage Through Bridge” with “scɬə́qʷ displayed underneath.”
Because of the care taken in choosing the proposed name and the support from the residents and tribes, we hope you will voice your support and approval of this name for the bridge.
We ask that you send us a letter or an e-mail to that effect so we may include it in our bridge naming package to be submitted to the Transportation Commission this summer.
The really good news is that this bridge funding provided by the North Olympic Salmon Coalition with participation by the U.S. Navy is doing exactly what it was intended to do and that
was to enhance salmon habitat and return the natural saltwater flow through Kilisut Harbor. Kilisut Harbor is that small body of water between Marrowstone Island and Indian Island.
Should you have any questions or concerns please call or email me. We look forward to seeing you at the official naming ceremony. Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Vigo E. Anderson
Mobile: 360-302-0359
2362 E. Marrowstone Road, Nordland, WA 98358
On behalf of the Marrowstone Island Bridge Naming Committee