Text copy of my turn at the mic...

The overarching theme of this rally is SHARED WATERS, and to that end, my personal war cry is SHARED WATERS, SHARED SALMON.

Salmon are iconic to the Pacific Northwest and sacred to the Quinault people. Historically, the Chehalis River was once a literal salmon superhighway, and the streams of Grays Harbor have sustainably produced salmon for centuries. In modern times, I’ve personally witnessed phenomenal runs of nearly a quarter million coho, over 50,000 chum, and over 40,000 chinook salmon. To me personally, sustainable salmon are my passion. I marvel at their unyielding tenacity to complete their life cycle while also recognizing all too keenly their tremendous food value. More than anything, I just like to catch them. For me and many of my fishy peers, the experience borders on religion.

SHARED WATERS, SHARED SALMON

They’re a HUGE reason why I’ve chosen to call Grays Harbor home for the past 22 years. I’ve fished all over the west coast from the Columbia River north to Kodiak Alaska… and on a good year, there’s no finer salmon fishing than what I’ve got 30 minutes from my doorstep. Over my career, I’ve amassed a ridiculously well stocked arsenal of fishing tackle, and for the next 3-4 months, I‘ll spend many a sleepless night strategizing on how best to use it to fill my boat’s fishbox…. much to the delight of my family, my friends, and my neighbors.

SHARED WATERS, SHARED SALMON

Salmon are a keystone species, the lifeblood of the natural economy linking the Pacific Ocean to the temperate rainforest ecosystem and all the creatures that call it home. In their annual spawning migration, our local salmon deliver through their bodies a tremendous biomass of marine derived nutrients to fertilize and support the inland forest all the way up to the Olympic mountains. Along the way, they support valuable commercial and recreational fisheries shared by the state and the Quinault Indian Nation.

SHARED WATERS, SHARED SALMON

To thrive, young salmon need a cool clean river flowing into an unspoiled estuary that serves as their nursery before they transition to a life in the ocean pasture. It is the river and the estuary that are at greatest risk from the threat of transporting and storing Bakken crude oil in Hoquiam. An oil spill into the mainstem Chehalis or directly into Grays Harbor would be devastating to salmon and the local fisheries dependent on them.

We who share the salmon must ask the policymakers, “With whom shall we be made to share our waters?”

The folks bringing us these toxic and explosive oil trains? Thanks, but NO THANKS! I learned long ago that oil and water just don’t mix, and it’s as true now as it was then. Crude oil is just a bad fit for the Grays Harbor economy and the coastal life style that we all enjoy. Simply said, SPOILED WATERS THREATEN SHARED SALMON.

Among the many reasons presented by my fellow speakers, this is why I believe this permit MUST be denied.

As I testified at the public hearing last fall in Aberdeen, the question we must ALL ask ourselves is, “Is it worth the risk?

Well…. to quote a Native Alaskan elder speaking on behalf of Bristol Bay salmon, I say

No… Not no… Not just no… But HELL NO!
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"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)

"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)


The Keen Eye MD
Long Live the Kings!