Being Frank

  March 2023

Dead Zones Are a Symptom of a Warming Planet

Whatcom Watch

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

Whatcom Watch

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

Whatcom Watch

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

Whatcom Watch

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

Whatcom Watch

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

Whatcom Watch

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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  September 2022

Tribes Need to Be at the Table to Conserve Wildlife

Whatcom Watch

by Ed Johnstone Treaty tribes have been working for decades to get federal support for our essential wildlife programs. We’re counting on the U.S. Senate to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) to finally make it happen. The time … Continue reading →

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  July 2022

To Save Salmon, We Have to Slow Climate Change

Whatcom Watch

by Ed Johnstone No one in the Pacific Northwest is exempt from the impacts of climate change. Rising global temperatures are intensifying floods, droughts and warming waters. Last summer’s heat dome led to temperatures in western Washington as high as … Continue reading →

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  July 2022

Proposed Chehalis Dam Threatens Treaty Rights

Whatcom Watch

by Ed Johnstone A proposed dam on the Chehalis River is a threat not only to salmon recovery, but also our treaty rights.  It’s a step in the wrong direction as the rest of the region has moved into an … Continue reading →

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  May 2022

Marine Mammal Predation Is Out of Control

Whatcom Watch

by Ed Johnstone  Our tribal fishermen are being out-fished by marine mammals. When I was growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, it was rare to see a sea lion at the mouth of the Quinault or Hoh rivers. But … Continue reading →

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