Bringing salmon back from the brink

Leave it better than you found it. That’s how I approach my work in the Legislature, especially on environmental issues and our state’s natural resources. We are blessed to live on the Salish Sea and it’s important that we make protecting it and the life within it a priority.

Salmon have long played an important role in the ecology, economy and culture of the Pacific Northwest and of the state of Washington. They are significant to the traditions and practices of tribal nations in our state, many of which have treaty-protected fishing rights. And they are a food source for marine wildlife that call this region home, including our iconic and endangered orcas.

Unfortunately, salmon populations have declined by 90 percent and are on the brink of extinction in the wild. Salmon are struggling to survive as they continue to lose critical habitat and face additional challenges brought on by climate change and our region’s explosive growth.

A lot of good work has been done on salmon recovery at the state, local and tribal levels of government. However, in order to make significant impacts and bring our salmon populations back from the brink, we need to look at salmon recovery holistically, integrate it into our development decisions and plan for the long-term. I’m sponsoring multiple bills this session to do just that.

The first would integrate salmon recovery efforts with the Growth Management Act, which guides land management and planning in Washington state. As I like to say, “If we’re going to grow, we should grow well.” As our cities and counties plan for future development, they will have support from the state to incorporate salmon recovery.

I’m also championing bills to create a long-standing committee to guide salmon policy and another on water policy. The salmon committee will bring together cities, counties, the state and the treaty tribes to find sound, accountable solutions for salmon recovery. Through the committee on water policy, we can ensure our state’s precious water resources are appropriately allocated for current and future needs. This is particularly important to the Skagit Valley, which has the only river in the lower forty-eight that spawns all five species of wild salmon.

Lastly, I’ve sponsored legislation that comes out of the Orca Recovery Task Force and establishes a standard of net ecological gain. Our current standard of “no net loss” means decisions on land development are balanced with environmental impacts, leaving it no worse, but no better. By switching to a net ecological gain standard, development projects will contribute to habitat restoration and help achieve a healthier environment for current and future generations.

We continue to lose salmon habitat faster than we can restore it. By taking these concrete steps, we can leave our environment, and our state, better than we found it.

Rep. Lekanoff represents the 40th Legislative District, which includes San Juan County and parts of Whatcom and Skagit Counties. She lives in Bow.