Date: 10/26/26 4:12 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Protection Island Petition
> 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.
>
Thank you, Steve, I was hoping my worm can opening would get a response
like this.
I personally don’t have a strong opinion on this issue; if pressed I’d say
I lean towards thinking it’s a good idea but mildly. That said, since
moving up to Kitsap a few years ago and starting to pay attention to the
issues, I’ve come to generally see the S’Kallam and the Suquamish (the
local Kitsap area tribe) as pretty good stewards and good neighbors
overall, and where we’ve seen this happen in other locations like the
Klamath dam removals I think the results have been to the positive.That
said, not all tribes are good stewards or good neighbors (I have a good
friend elsewhere in Washington stuck in a fight over water rights by a
tribe where it feels like this is a money grab), so every situation has to
be judged individually.
I’ve long had an interest in the First Nations — I’ve been collecting
Northwest First Nations art since the 1990s, and that’s led me down various
paths studying the tribe and cultures over the years and it is fascinating
to me just how different those cultures are from modern western ones, so I
could probably be defined as someone leaning to see them in a positive
light on issues like this.
I would love to hear more detail about why people see this possible deal is
bad, beyond the idea of “losing control” being a bad things. Giving control
to a good partner willing to commit more resources to a thing than we’re
currently committing ourselves can make for good results for all, and right
now, I tend to see this situation as, depending on how the details are
worked out, to be a likely scenario here.
chuq
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Chuq Von Rospach (http://www.chuq.me)
Silverdale, Washington
Birder, Nature and Wildlife Photographer
Vice President, Kitsap Audubon Society
