Radio series emphasizes fragility of our Salish Sea

“Water and sky, mountain and forest, clad in sunshine and clouds, are composed in landscapes sublime in magnitude, yet exquisitely fine and fresh, and full of glad, rejoicing life.” A tender, gentle love note to Puget Sound delivered by perhaps the most deft hand possible: John Muir. He marveled in 1889 at the abundant wildlife, the “beautiful curves around bays,” and “the islands, with soft, waving outlines, lavishly adorned with spruces and cedars.”

His words paint a picture of a land of riches, of a land full of life and potential. His travels to Puget Sound and through the Strait of San Juan De Fuca provide words to describe a territory we now know as the Salish Sea.

Around 2010 radio station KNKX, then KPLU, created a love note of their own for the Salish Sea in a series called “Reflections on the Water.” Environmental reporter Liam Moriarty went on location to interview people, exploring their connection to the sea and its vital role in the Pacific Northwest.

Given current environmental hazards and challenges, KNKX picked up the torch and passed it to environmental reporter Bellamy Pailthorp, a talented journalist with a Masters in Journalism from New York’s Columbia University. “Return to the Salish Sea” is a 15-part series offering a detailed look at the current challenges facing the Salish. From scientists to engineers to artists, a variety of experts with heartfelt experiences are interviewed.

The most pressing concerns facing the region is the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, a $7.4 billion construction project that will triple the daily capacity of the Trans Mountain Pipeline from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels.

“There could be as much as a sevenfold increase in traffic traveling through the Salish Sea,” says Pailthorp. It was not the only reason to revisit the series, however. “I think it was a combination of things,” says Pailthorp. “First of all, it’s just wonderful material. It’s great to get out into the environment and talk to the people.” The series also corresponds with concerns that Federal administration changes might lead to budget cuts that will leave the area vulnerable. “There was a real feeling of urgency,” she says.

While Pailthorp’s series shines a much-needed spotlight on fragility of the Salish Sea, it also emphasizes the beauty and bounty that can be found in this region and discusses the joint efforts being made by Canada and the United States to protect this unique and idyllic area.

Will those efforts be enough? “I do think there is kind of a cresting awareness right now,” says Pailthorp. “I think the more people care, the more we are likely to take action.”

The words of another writer offer perspective of how truly special this land is and how much we need to protect it. “The American Continent may now sink under the sea, for I have taken the best that it yields,” Rudyard Kipling wrote in 1899 as a reference to the bountiful salmon fishing in the Pacific Northwest. Another love note that, even out of context, is a stark reminder that we need to be stewards for a land worth protecting.

All of the episodes of the “Return to the Salish Sea” series are at http://apps.knkx.org/SalishSea/stories/.