Being Frank

  August 2023

Tell the Truth, Trust the Science About Orca Recovery

by Ed Johnstone My mentor Billy Frank Jr. always said that it’s going to take all of us working together to recover salmon.  He also said, “Tell the truth.”  The truth is that sometimes we have to change our thinking … Continue reading

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  June 2023

Harvest Management Is Not Enough

by Ed Johnstone Salmon extinction is not an option, but harvest management alone is not going to get us to recovery. In April, the treaty tribes in western Washington and our state co-manager finalized the 2023-24 fishing seasons’ agreement.  The … Continue reading

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  May 2023

Hatchery Salmon Hold the Ecosystem Together

by Ed Johnstone Salmon are a keystone species in the Pacific Northwest — a central part of the food chain and our way of life. Throughout the region, salmon runs are imperiled by the cumulative effects of habitat degradation and … Continue reading

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  April 2023

Salmon Management Must Build on Past Lessons

by Ed Johnstone One year from now, in February 2024, we will mark the 50th anniversary of federal Judge George Boldt’s ruling in United States vs. Washington, which affirmed tribes’ treaty-reserved rights to harvest salmon outside of our reservations. The … Continue reading

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  March 2023

Dead Zones Are a Symptom of a Warming Planet

by Ed Johnstone As first stewards on the front lines of climate change, treaty tribes have been sounding the alarm for more than a decade about low oxygen levels in the ocean and the Salish Sea. My mentor, former NWIFC … Continue reading

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  February 2023

Water Quality Protection Is Headed in Right Direction

by Ed Johnstone Tribes have traveled a long road and back again to improve water quality standards and protect the health of everyone who eats salmon and shellfish in the state of Washington.  In November, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) … Continue reading

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  January 2023

Climate Change Forces Tribes to Leave Traditional Lands

by Ed Johnstone Native nations are on the front lines of climate change. The impacts have reached our shores and are forcing us to leave traditional lands behind. Sea level rise, flooding, erosion, intensity of storm surges and threats of … Continue reading

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  December 2022

Infrastructure Is More Than Roads and Bridges

by Ed Johnstone Indigenous tribes existed for thousands of years before we heard the word “infrastructure.” In today’s world, infrastructure includes the roads, bridges, ferries and airports that keep society moving. Generations ago, we didn’t have these things—the natural world … Continue reading

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  Oct/Nov 2022

Protecting the Environment for the Next Seven Generations

by Ed Johnstone Every generation owes it to the next seven generations to protect the environment. At the rate populations are growing and the climate is changing, it’s getting harder and harder to be optimistic about what will be left … Continue reading

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  September 2022

We Need to Slow the Spread of European Green Crab

by Ed Johnstone Efforts are ramping up to control the explosion of invasive European green crab (Carcinus maenas) in western Washington. The invasive species reached San Francisco in 1989 and was first detected in small numbers on the Olympic coast … Continue reading

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