Tell the Washington State Department of Natural Resources To Say NO To Glacier Northwest
- por: Preserve Our Islands
- destinatário: Washington State Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland
The Maury Island Aquatic Reserve is the crown jewel of Puget Sound.
Free from significant development and with no industrial uses along its shorelines, it is an oasis in an otherwise urbanized Puget Sound.
This area is so ecologically valuable that it was established as a State designated environmental reserve in order to ensure protection of the unique habitats and species identified in the area.
Endangered Orcas - often with young calves in tow, feed here during the late fall and early winter months - a time when salmon is plentiful along the SE Maury Island shoreline and scarce elsewhere.
Endangered Chinook, Steelhead and Bull trout depend on this area for juvenile rearing, migration and perhaps most importantly, they depend on the forage fish such as herring, surf smelt and sand lance that are abundant in the reserve and that provide for a healthy Puget Sound food chain.
Sadly, the ecological values of the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve are being threatened by a corporate mining company called Glacier Northwest.
Glacier Northwest has proposed the creation of an industrial mining operation in the uplands adjacent to Puget Sound.
In order to support this mega - mine, they have proposed the construction of an industrial dock and barging facility in a sensitive nearshore area that is located at the heart of The Maury Island Aquatic Reserve.
Glacier Northwest does not own the aquatic lands they have proposed building this industrial facility on.
These aquatic lands are public lands owned by the State of Washington and managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Glacier Northwest has requested to lease these publicly owned aquatic lands from the State in order to utilize them to construct their proposed industrial facility.
As the head of DNR, Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland will be making the decision to approve or deny this lease request.
Please join us in telling Commissioner Sutherland to put an end to this preposterous proposal.
Tell Commissioner Sutherland, and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources to preserve the reserve.
Tell them to Deny Glacier Northwest's lease request.
Commissioner Sutherland,
As residents of the State of Washington we are calling on you, as head of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, to put the protection of Puget Sound and of the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve above the profit margins of mining company Glacier Northwest.
We are asking you to say NO to Glacier Northwest's lease request.
In the Department's own words
"The Maury Island Aquatic Reserve was established as an environmental reserve to ensure environmental protection of the unique habitats and species identified in the area".
Glacier Northwest has requested to lease these state owned aquatic lands to construct an industrial dock and barging facility in the sensitive waterways of the reserve.
Glacier's proposal stands in direct contradiction to the goals and objectives of the reserve and to the criteria established by DNR in the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve Final Management Plan
The proposal presents significant risk to the ecological values of The Maury Island Aquatic Reserve and would provide no public benefit.
As a State we are spending more than 1 billion dollars each year in attempt to restore and protect Puget Sound.
Why then would DNR, as a State agency, give a mile of intact fully functioning and protected nearshore habit away to accommodate a private mining company's industrial development?
Industrializing the Reserve Doesn't make sense
It Doesn't Make Environmental Sense
It Doesn't Make Economic Sense
It Doesn't Make Sense For The People Of Washington State
Commissioner Sutherland, these Aquatic lands are mandated by State law to be managed for the benefit of the public trust.
As members of this public trust, we are asking that you act in our interest and in the interest of a healthy Puget Sound.
We are asking that you deny Glacier Northwest's lease request.
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