Swinomish laud protection of Skagit River headwaters ‘donut hole’

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, part of the 300-member Skagit Headwaters Coalition, is grateful for a new agreement between the government of British Columbia, Imperial Metals Corporation and the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission.

Imperial Metals has agreed to surrender all its mining and related rights within the so-called Skagit River Donut Hole. The is a 22.4-square mile gap of unprotected lands surrounded by the parks in British Columbia.

The headwaters of the Skagit River are inside this area, which is also a centerpiece of efforts to reintroduce grizzlies to the North Cascades.

The region has been logged but in 2019 the B.C. government responded to calls to stop forestry operations by halting timber sale licenses in the area.

That same year, the Swinomish Tribal Senate and staff and other tribes began actively opposing Imperial Metals’ permit proposal to mine for gold in this ecologically and culturally sensitive place.

Now that goal has been accomplished.

“This is an extraordinary conservation success that will benefit current and future generations of Coast Salish People,” said Tribal Chairman Steve Edwards in a press release. “We express our gratitude to all our conservation partners who advocated with us to protect our salmon and ecosystem forever.”

Edwards specifically gave a shout-out to British Columbia Premier John Horgan, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Seattle City Light, the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission, tribal and First Nation partners and “the transboundary coalition of conservation advocates that have remained committed to forever protecting the Skagit headwaters as a priceless international natural treasure.”

The Skagit Headwaters Coalition united U.S. and Canadian tribes, non-governmental organizations, recreation and conservation groups and elected officials. In addition to the Swinomish, the Lummi, Upper Skagit and Sauk-Suiattle tribes are participants. Local advocates include the Skagit Audubon Society, Skagit Land Trust and the Skagit Watershed Council. Skagit Valley Malting and the Chuckanut Brewery, both based at The Port of Skagit, are among its 52 business supporters.

Several Skagit County elected officials also participate in the coalition.

Mineral rights are not “extinguished” for free. Imperial Metals will be paid $24 million Canadian dollars, including $7 million each from the B.C. government and Washington state and $5 million each from the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission.

The Washington state funds are part of the Governor’s salmon recovery package and will need to be approved by the state legislature.

“This stellar deal to buy out the mining rights is the culmination of a 35-plus year epic effort to protect the Skagit River from more and higher dams, logging and mining,” said Guemes Island resident Phil Fenner, president of the North Cascades Conservation Council and active in the Skagit Headwaters coalition.

Fenner says the hero in this story is the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission, created by the 1984 High Ross Treaty between the City of Seattle and the province of British Columbia, after Seattle City Light’s plans to raise the Ross Dam and flood Canadian land were stopped by NCCC and other conservation groups.

Canadian and American commission members work to ensure the preservation and protection of the natural and cultural resources and recreational opportunities of the Upper Skagit Watershed through advocacy, promoting international cooperation and strategic partnerships and investments.

Annual payments from Seattle City Light and BC Hydro help support SEEC’s work, which mostly takes place in Canada.

In its press release, SEEC said it views the Donut Hole agreement as an example of international cooperation that sets a strong precedent for the U.S. and Canada to collaborate for the protection of precious transboundary ecosystems.

The agreement means “we are finally able to forever protect from harmful mining practices the water quality and habitat that salmon, steelhead and other essential species need to survive, recover and thrive throughout the entire Skagit watershed,” said Edwards.