Category: History

What may be the nation’s largest estuary seems hidden in plain sight for many people

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What is the largest estuary in the United States? This is a question loaded with confusion and open to interpretation, as you will soon see. Before we get to the likely answer — which may surprise you — let me share a few authoritative views on the subject: Chesapeake Bay Foundation: “Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and the third largest in the world. It is about 200 miles long and holds more than 18 trillion gallons of water.” U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer of Washington state: […]

Collaborative Leadership Project featured at national retreat on scholarship and research

The view from AMK Ranch in Grand Teton National Park. Photo by Michael Kern.
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In August, PSI Director of Special Projects Michael Kern was invited by the University Network for Collaborative Governance (UNCG) to discuss the research questions driving the Collaborative Leadership Project at the UNCG Scholarship Retreat. The retreat was held at the University of Wyoming’s AMK Ranch in Grand Teton National Park. It was attended by about 20 top academics and practitioners in the field of collaborative governance, from universities across the country.  Michael provided the attendees with a brief overview of the project, explaining it is intended to capture Washington’s 50-year […]

Before supercomputers, a structural model helped scientists predict currents in Puget Sound

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As part of a project exploring the technical uncertainties surrounding Puget Sound water quality, we are reviewing how computer models are used to advance our understanding of natural systems. This blog post is part of a series focused on different models and their uses within the Puget Sound ecosystem. The project is jointly sponsored by King County and the Puget Sound Institute. One of the first working models of Puget Sound was a scaled-down concrete reproduction of the regional topography, with actual water running through channels, around islands and into bays, […]

A new oral history project looks at the unique development of natural resource policy in Washington state 

From left right: Nisqually Tribe Chairman Willy Frank III, Jim Wilcox of Wilcox Family Farms, and Nisqually Tribe Natural Resource Director David Troutt are shown in a still image from the TVW/Collaborative Leadership Project.
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Our affiliates at the Center for Urban Waters and external partners will examine 50 years of collaborative leadership in the state leading to groundbreaking outcomes on forest, fish, wildlife, land, and water management. Funding secured to date includes generous gifts and pledges from Anchor QEA, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, the Nisqually Tribe, the Puget Sound Partnership, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, the Squaxin Island Tribe, the Suquamish Tribe/Suquamish Foundation, the City of Tacoma, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Washington State University. Billy Frank Jr. was just […]

Environmental justice on the move: a few personal observations about change

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I recently completed a much-involved writing project focused on environmental justice. It has been one of the most challenging, yet for me enlightening, efforts in my 45 years of covering the environment. My initial idea was to report on a plan by the Washington Department of Ecology to rewrite the regulations for the Model Toxics Control Act, the law that prescribes the cleanup of all kinds of contaminated sites. One of Ecology’s goals in rewriting the rules has been to pay more attention to the demographic makeup of populations around […]

Will Puget Sound lose the tufted puffin?

A tufted puffin gets a running start near Smith Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington. Photo: Mick Thompson https://flic.kr/p/WSmZnE (CC BY-NC 2.0)
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Occasionally, this space includes reports and essays from guest writers on the subject of Puget Sound ecosystem recovery. Biologist and author Eric Wagner has this look at the federal government’s recent decision to decline special protection for the tufted puffin under the Endangered Species Act. While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that the puffin has “robust populations across the majority of its range,” the bird’s numbers in Washington, including Puget Sound, have dropped severely in recent years. Wagner recalls what it was like when things were different and […]

Discovery of toxic chemical in tires spurs scientific and regulatory interest

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The discovery of a mysterious chemical that kills coho salmon in urban streams is expected to spawn new research throughout the world while possibly inspiring new demands for protective regulations. The deadly chemical, associated with automobile tires, was identified by researchers at the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Waters, which is affiliated with the Puget Sound Institute. The findings were published yesterday in the journal “Science.” I wrote about this discovery and more than 20 years of related scientific investigations in PSI’s online magazine “Salish Sea Currents.” “This is […]

Puget Sound Restoration Fund meets 10-year, 100-acre goal for restoring native oyster beds

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A heartfelt congratulations goes out to Betsy Peabody, her staff at Puget Sound Restoration Fund, and the dozens of partner organizations working to restore our native Olympia oyster to Puget Sound. PSRF recently fulfilled its ambitious 10-year goal of enhancing habitat for the petite, succulent oysters across 100 acres of Puget Sound tidelands, establishing a foothold for future regeneration of even greater populations. I first met Betsy as the Olympia oyster project was getting off the ground in 1999. Her enthusiasm and vision for the future caused me to fall […]

Does the public have a right to walk across a private beach? The answer is still unresolved

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Even before Washington became a state in 1889, Puget Sound beaches had been exploited as log dumps, farmed for shellfish, occupied as homesites and enjoyed for recreation. But today, after 131 years of statehood, residents of this region still don’t know if they have a legal right to walk across a privately owned beach at low tide. That’s because neither the Washington State Supreme Court nor the Legislature has ever clearly spelled out the limits of the Public Trust Doctrine — an ancient legal principle that provides for common citizens […]

‘Outdoors Act’ would repair national parks, protect land and address recreation needs

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UPDATE: July 23 The Great American Outdoors Act passed the House yesterday on a 310-107 vote. See Associated Press and news release from U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor. —– It appears that the political stars are lining up for what some people are calling the most significant environmental legislation in decades. Billions of dollars have been laid upon the table for parks, recreation facilities and environmentally sensitive lands across the country. The U.S. Senate has already passed the Great American Outdoors Act, which pairs two previous spending proposals: the […]

Western Washington wildfire: What are we facing this year and beyond?

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Trying to predict the likelihood that Western Washington will be scorched with severe forest fires this summer must be an overwhelming job for our region’s meteorologists. In the midst of a pandemic, fire managers and fire crews desperately would like to know what kinds of fire conditions they will face this year, not only in Western Washington but wherever they might be sent. Will firefighters be able to ward off the COVID-19 disease as they battle one blaze after another? How many times might they be called out to fight […]

Earth Day events go online because of virus

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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 […]