Date: 10/26/26 3:12 pm From: Steve Hampton via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Protection Island Petition
Elaine,
At the moment, there is no draft legislation available for public review,
so everything anyone says – including all of the linked articles and op-eds
– are based on speculation and promises. Much of it amplifies fears based
on racial stereotypes and directly contradicts the Tribe's public
statements. Even bringing these up in Tweeters (very much white space)
serves to amplify such speculation.
In the absence of any proposed legislation to review, Rainshadow Bird
Alliance in Port Townsend has opted to wait and simply provide biological
information at the moment.
We recently hosted Fawn Wagner, the current manager of Dungeness NWR and
Protection Island NWR. Because the two refuges are co-managed by the USFWS
and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, she is essentially an employee of their
joint operation. Fawn shared about current restoration and research efforts
at the refuges, which include seabird projects (for puffins, Rhinoceros
Auklets, and others), addressing invasive grasses and green crabs, and
fixing long-deferred maintenance. She works closely with Scott Pearson of
WDFW, Peter Hodum of UPS, and other seabird researchers. To those of us who
regularly visit, it’s clear the Tribe has provided a much-needed boost in
energy, leadership, and funding.
The Tribe is also a major restoration partner across the Olympic Peninsula
on a wide variety of salmon, riparian corridor, and forest restoration
projects.
After Fawn’s talk, I spoke with Halsi Hans, the Tribe’s Director of Natural
Resources. I asked her about the Tribe’s oft-repeated promise to continue
managing the refuge lands with the same public access and natural resource
protection obligations as currently, and with no commercial development of
any kind (including new oyster aquaculture). She said that those
commitments will be “baked into the legislation.” At this point, what more
can anyone ask for?
It is also worth noting that, while Protection Island NWR was created by an
act of Congress, Dungeness NWR was created only by an Executive Order, and
thus exists at the pleasure of the president. The Tribe’s proposed
legislation, which would transfer the refuges from the USFWS to the Bureau
of Indian Affairs in trust for the Tribe (both within the Department of the
Interior), would require congressional passage. Thus, Dungeness NWR would
gain far greater protection.
Much of the public debate so far, based primarily on gut reactions and
speculation, falls squarely into the all-too-common American political
discourse of “white people talking about brown people” without asking them
a single question. The glaring similarity between the demographic breakdown
of initial reactions to this proposal and of opinions about honorific bird
names should give everyone pause.
Many of us can't help but compare a hopelessly corrupt federal government
created by exploiting privately-held resources to a local government whose
culture and actions show a deeper commitment to environmental protection
and restoration than the US govt ever has. The irony here is that the
debate concerns one of the few remaining postage stamps of truly protected
land in the Lower 48 (about 6% is truly protected). In a time of national
decline, the Tribe is offering to pick up the baton carried by white
conservationists in the past.
Honestly, I'm not really worried about anything bad happening to the
refuges under either management scenario. I don't see a Trump golf course
at either place. There is no fresh water at either place; that's the main
reason they were never "developed" (to use a settler colonist word for
"destruction"). I'm far more worried about our private and public lands
clearcut and sprayed with herbicides - that's why so many of our birds are
declining, yet somehow we accept that as part of the deal and sign
petitions against local leaders of ecological restoration.
At the very least, I encourage people to read the Tribe's statements, go
experience the infrastructure improvements they've already made in the last
two years, and wait for the written legislation.
