Broken Democracy

Over the past two years I have been involved in trying to tighten regulations on a certain form of placer mining here in Washington State.  Currently, miners can take a machine called a suction dredge (pictured above) and suck up stream beds, spewing out the sediment which includes residual toxic materials such as zinc, copper, mercury, downstream.  Many of the miners mine areas which are designated critical habitat for fish species listed endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.  And the miners do this for a few flakes of gold which they claim they do as a hobby (but many of them admit they are actually supplementing their income...let's just say the story changes from hobby to income depending on the argument they are making).

In order to change the regulations, which are promulgated and "enforced" by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), we need to change the current laws which the legislature, in the1990s, wrote in broad language requiring WDFW to "go light" on mining regulation.

Working with a broad coalition of groups, we proposed several modest changes (modest in comparison with what is happening in our neighboring states, including Idaho): a study to determine the effects and cumulative impacts of this form of mining, a license fee for the miners (since they pay absolutely nothing now), and a moratorium on allowing the miners to mine with suction dredges in streams that are listed as critical habitat for Endangered Species Act listed fish species in Washington State.  This is the second year we have introduced legislation.  Last year our bill went no where.

From what we understand there are about 1, 500 miners in Washington State.  The current population of Washington State is 7, 062,000 (over 7 million people).  Those 7 million people pay over 200 million dollars every year in restoration projects for salmon, steelhead, and Bull trout (the three main species listed under the Endangered Species Act).  And those 7 million people expect their state legislators to work for the majority of the people, not for a loud, bullying minority of folks whose selfish desire to destroy streams for small flakes of gold.

This past legislative session, we managed to get a hearing in front of the Washington State House of Representatives Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee for our modest bill.  The miners who are very internet savvy, knew about the hearing instantly, and between Facebook and their web sites, alerted their members.  While we have talked to thousands of people about this issue, and believe a large majority of Washingtonians agree with us, the miners outnumbered our supporters in the hearing room.  On top of it, only one Democratic Member of the House stayed for the hearing, while the minority (the Republicans) all stayed and asked softball questions to the miners.

The miners intimidate.  The bully people through the Internet.  The carry guns when they are mining and both Federal and State enforcement officers have told us they are nervous and scared of running into the miners when they are out in the field.  The miners refuse to comply with Federal laws requiring them to notify the US Forest Service when they are mining on our Federal land.  And we have watched videos where the miners admit they don't pay taxes on the gold they collect off of our Federal lands.  They are a small minority who control the majority.

Clearly, democracy is broken.  In today's Seattle Times there was this article which implies that the only way to bring about the change a majority of people may want is to circumvent elected officials.  People wonder why conservationists sue and sane gun law advocates use the initiative process, it's because loud and intimidating minorities "own" our democracy.

We have tried to work with the system we have and have gotten nowhere.  Meanwhile, streams and rivers in Washington continue to be torn up by miners.   It's been over a decade since salmon, steelhead, and Bull trout were listed as endangered or threatened.  The recoveries have been slow if non-existent because everyone is scared to take the steps necessary.  Tightening the regulations on suction dredge mining is small step.  It is low hanging fruit in terms of helping fish survive.  It's what the majority of people in Washington State want, it's what we have committed billions of dollars toward solving.  So, it may be time to figure out how to leave the broken democracy and find a way to give fish a chance.

What I Learned On My Summer Vacation About Suction Dredge Mining

                                                          "Hurt Not the Earth

                                                            Neither the Sky

                                                            Nor the Trees." Revelation 7:3

Summer is drawing to a close.   I began the summer working on a number of projects, including one that was at the intersection of my passion for fly fishing and my work as an ecologist.

A number of years ago I began noticing the same cars and trucks pulled over near Peshastin/Tronson Creeks on the north side of Blewett Pass here in Washington.  Then one day I saw a man operating a dredge in the Wenatchee River which must have drawn a fair amount of attention because there was an article about this type of gold mining in the Wenatchee World.  I became interested in what was suction dredge mining, what were the impacts on streams and rivers, and who mined.  Later, while fishing, I encountered a miner and saw, after he left, a plume of sediment flowing downstream.

Gold miners use gas powered suction dredges (see picture above) to vacuum up large amounts of gravel and sediment off the bottom of stream beds.  This type of mining has recently been the subject of a moratorium in California, more severe restrictions in Oregon, a serious change in regulations in Idaho.  Yet, in Washington, the miners are able to dredge during work windows without obtaining a permit and paying no licensing fee to the state.  And, if they want to dredge outside the work windows, they apply, again fee free, for a permit which are routinely granted.

During some chatter over mining claims on the Clearwater River in Idaho, I began a conversation with several other fly fishermen about this form of mining.  Together, we did a lot of research, read all the literature on the impacts of suction dredge mining to aquatic and riparian habitat, we became familiar with the rules, and what other states allowed.

Then we created a dog and pony show, trying to engage established fish or environmental organizations to seek more restrictions to this form of mining.

See, Washington state is defined by our iconic fish species that are near extinction.  The magnificent Chinook salmon, the mythical steelhead, the large Bull trout.  All, and more, are listed as either endangered or threatened.  Irrigators have had to change how, when, and why they withdraw water from streams.  State officials are not allowed to willy-nilly release hatchery fish.  Hydroelectric dams are required to discharge more water during peak spawning times.  Cities and counties are required to write and enforce strong development codes preventing and mitigating building on flood plains and critical salmon habitat.  The State is requiring extensive changes to how we deal with storm water runoff, requiring developers and landowners to take responsibility for rain water mixed with toxics so the mix does not enter our rivers, streams, and salt water.  Taxpayers contribute billions of dollars in restoration projects.  We are about to invest billions more on removing old culverts and replacing them with fish friendly passages under our roads.  Forest owners and loggers have altered time honored methods of logging in order to protect streams.  Fishermen and women are no longer allowed to fish in many Washington streams and rivers because any catch will harm the attempts at brining our fish back to our waters.

This is the definition of "shared sacrifice."  From alfalfa growers to public utilities to taxpayers and ratepayers, to fishermen and fish managers, we are all giving up something in order to someday, hopefully, see salmon and steelhead run through Puget Sound and up the mighty Columbia, all the way to pristine headwaters in the Cascades.

But folks involved in these sometimes way too long battles to help fish didn't want to take on the suction dredge issue.  Either it wasn't glamorous enough, or, they said: "we don't need the grief from the mining community."

We decided to go alone.  We met with our own legislators, got some interest, and then watched exactly what folks warned us about.  The mining backlash.

By many estimates, there are around 2,000 active miners in Washington.  Mining in this state is done on mining claims, most are owned by a number of mining clubs.  The miners then join a club (even Boeing has a mining club) and pay a "fee" to mine a certain site for a period of time.  Most of the productive placer mining sites are in areas where there have been historic gold mines: Blewett Pass, Stimilkameen, Hart's Pass in the Methow watershed, the North Cascades.  The streams that run these areas are also prime steelhead, Bull trout, and salmon habitat.

It appears the mining community are quite sophisticated in Internet research skills.  The instantly saw the legislation, found our Facebook page, and began carpet bombing our site.  It was, frankly, scary to watch and sad to read their postings.  Clearly they felt threatened by what our legislator was proposing, which was no suction dredge mining in streams and their tributaries that are listed as critical habitat by the federal wildlife agencies, and to obtain a license, the miners had to pay a fee.

Unfortunately we reacted in a way that I knew wasn't good.  Name calling, mud slinging, moral outrage.  A chasm developed where we were convinced we wore the white hats and the miners were evil.  I knew better.  But it seemed that some folks relished the fight and often sought to pick one, talking about "sticking it to the miners," and calling the miners "awful evil people."

During all of this I had lunch with an old friend.  As I described this scene, she wisely said: "it seems to me the miners are not bad people, they are just doing something you don't happen to like."

The "fights" devolved into the usual acrimonious and mud-slinging ways.  To the miners, our science was stupid and clearly prejudiced by our "tree hugging ways."  We, they asserted, do more harm to fish than they do.  Even catch and release, they screamed, kill fish.  Then they went on the drum beat that they have never harmed fish, that dredging releases food for the fish, and that we needed to be careful what we wished for because once "they" close streams to suction dredging, they will close them to fishing (which, of course, WDFW already has done that.  Miners can mine on streams that fishermen can not fish on).  The miners also made the "fight" about us.  They posted Photoshopped pictures of some of "our" folks out mining, they posted decades old information about some of us, and they called all of us names our mother's would blanch at hearing.

Our "side" reacted just as predictably.  We considered the miners ignorant, backwards, lawless, and hypocrites.  We had "sound science" on our side while they relied on people who claimed they were scientists but really were miners.

And as the arguments settled into the usual rhetoric and tactics, I realized I was not solving anything.

The issue isn't about individual miners or even the mining community.  They are doing something they enjoy, find fulfillment in, and have invested time and money.  I understand that.  I have also invested dollars and time in my fly fishing.  But in the two decades that I have been fishing in Washington state, I have also seen the places that I used to fish be removed from being open waters to closed waters.  Why?  Because in this state, we're trying to save the last remnants of salmon, steelhead, and Bull trout.  And to do that, we all have to help.

And this is what the discussion should be about: habitat.  It should be about all of us committed to changing our ways, no matter how large or small, in order to give fish in Washington state a chance.  The mining community, like the irrigators, power operators, catch and release fishermen, developers, foresters, and farmers have all said that they have never harmed one fish.  It's the other guy who is hurting the fish.  Maybe that is true.  The reality is, however, that each and everyone of us is harming fish habitat.  Whether it's camping by a river to dredge for weeks at a time, sucking out water for our crops, turning on lights, using lumber to build a home along a river, we all have harmed the habitat our fish need.

No one really knows for "sure" whether reducing water withdrawals, distancing logging from streams, not permitting development near flood plains, or not fishing in critical habitat will help bring salmon, steelhead, or Bull trout back to some levels we once knew.  But if there is a faint hope that these actions will help, a faint hope, then we should do them.

And it's time, it's time for the miners to join in the shared sacrifice so that someday those miners can be out in their beloved streams, panning for gold and be able to show their children a steelhead.  Because to be able to tell someone the magical story of a fish that swims from high in the Cascades to hundreds of miles to the Pacific and back, is telling magic.  Just as it's magic to find a gold nugget in their pan, the story of the steelhead is magic.  The steelhead story is the story about us: endurance, fortitude, resilience, longing, belonging.

So what did I learn on my summer vacation?  That slinging and catching mud in the name of conservation isn't accomplishing anything except keeping people angry.  That really, the issue isn't about people, about our so-called rights or concerns.  It's not about who is good and evil.  It's not about big government versus liberty.  It's not about 19th century mining laws or 20th century environmental regulation.  It's not about rights.

It's about all of us trying to do the right thing, now, even if it only helps a little.  Because every little thing we can do to create a habitat that these magnificent fish seek, helps.  And that is something we all can believe in.

We're Talking Salmon

It's been over 10 years since the federal government declared several "runs" of salmon here in the Pacific Northwest threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in all sorts of salmon habitat restoration projects all over the Puget Sound region as well along the mainstem and tributaries of the Columbia River, both major salmon spawning areas. Hundreds of hours of conferences and seminars have been held. And literally whole stands of timber have been used to create the paper filed in litigation after litigation on salmon issues, much less the voluminous (and sometimes disingenuous) habitat conservation plans.

And yet, the Pacific Northwest, like much of the country, ravenously ate up land during the real estate boom, new developments with amenities like golf courses and even vineyards sprung up in desert lands, fed by water from the Columbia and other rivers. Miles and miles of pavement were laid to feed cul d' sacs and growing commuter populations. And no matter how well engineered to prevent massive run-offs, millions of gallons of storm water contaminated with God-knows-what, entered every watershed. The salmon continue to suffer.

Now, the Obama Administration, with great fanfare, announced it's salmon recovery plans. Which are much like the Bush Administration. No dams on the Snake River will be removed or decommissioned. And the requirements for habitat protections continue to be lame at best.

As wild salmon populations continue to decline, this once abundant anadromous fish is slowly becoming a prisoner of politics. All the money spent by hydro utilities, timber companies, municipalities, and state governments on habitat restoration is not going to fix the causes of salmon declines nor enhance their restoration. At some point, then, rather than continuing the charade that we are trying to prevent the extinction of salmon in the Pacific Northwest, perhaps we really need to begin the conversation about what extinction really means.

Anyone seen a Passenger pigeon recently?

It's Not Nice to Tinker With Nature

This week, several states are in the process of tinkering with nature.  Well, of course, governments, heck we humans, are always tinkering with nature.  But at least two actions seem classic examples of not really thinking too much.

First, the State of Idaho, where elk hunting seems to be considered The Primary Right of Man, will ask the federal government permission to kill at least 80% of the wolves in the Lolo National Forest area.  Apparently this kill is estimated to be about 100 wolves.  Why?  Because big game hunters and guides believe that wolf predation is causing declines in elk herds.  

Second, the States of Oregon and Washington are about to kill Sea lions in the Columbia River who are believed to be the sole reason for declines in salmon spawning up the river.  Salmon, of course, are not only a trophy fishery, but also harvested commercially and by several Native American tribes along the Columbia River pursuant to their treaty rights.  

And we all know the outcomes of these wildlife management schemes.  Sooner or later the elk herds in the Lolo National Forest will destroy the vegetation because other than hunters, there are no other predators, and once the Sea lions are gone, the wildlife biologists will have to find another animal to blame for salmon declines because, God Forbid, we can't engage in discussions about the complex and complicated reasons for salmon declines which might require a whole set of politically delicate decisions about dams, agriculture, real estate development, off shore international fishing, Native treaty rights, sports fishing....

It appears the Sea lions will begin to be trapped very soon.  The wolf issue will require decisions from federal fish and wildlife administrators.  My guess is the feds will not allow the culling of the wolves.  

But it will be interesting in a year or two to see what we can blame next after we have tried to tinker with nature.