PRESS RELEASE
February 1, 2017 Washington State Conservation Commission Grant Approved to Improve Lummi Shellfish Beds Portage Bay Partnership secures $150,000 grant and identifies first two Whatcom dairy farmers to participate in Water Quality Improvement Plans Bellingham, WA – The Portage Bay Partnership announced that the Washington State Conservation Commission had approved a $150,000 grant to the Lummi Nation to improve shellfish beds. The request came from Merle Jefferson, Executive Director of the Lummi Natural Resources Department in a January 11 letter addressed to the Whatcom Conservation District. The District board approved the request unanimously at their January 12 board meeting and passed the request to state Commission staff for review and approval. That approval was granted on Tuesday, January 17. The Partnership also announced that following an initial meeting with the four farmers and four Lummi Indian Business Council members directing the Partnership, two Whatcom dairy farms were identified as the first to jointly develop Water Quality Improvement Plans. The plans, a key element of the Portage Bay Partnership, will identify specific ways individual participating farms can improve environmental performance aimed at reducing bacterial contamination. The two farms are Edaleen Dairy and Twin Brook Creamery. Mitch Moorlag is the general manager of Edaleen Dairy and Larry Stap is owner of Twin Brook Creamery with other family members. The approved Conservation Commission funds will be used to acquire a barge to transport bed enhancement material, for project permitting costs, and to restore three acres of shellfish beds. This phase would be completed by June, 2017. An anticipated future phase would require an additional $350,000 in funding and would involve improvement of 22 acres of shellfish beds to be completed by June, 2019. The project involves applying gravel to improve shellfish bed substrates in order to enhance survival rates of clam seeds. A total of $5.1 million of State Conservation Commission funds have been used since 2013 to improve Western Washington shellfish harvests. The 214 approved projects to date are used to improve water quality by addressing septic systems, manure storage, surface water runoff, etc. These funds were identified by the farmers as suitable for use for enhancing the shellfish beds during the negotiations leading up the Portage Bay Partnership agreement which was signed January 5 at a signing ceremony at the Lummi Nation. “This grant is important to the future of our shellfish harvesters and our entire community,” said Lummi Indian Business Council Chairman Tim Ballew II. “And it also demonstrates that by working together farmers and the Lummi Nation can accomplish much more than we can independently or by opposition. We are hopeful that this is just one example of the benefits that this partnership can deliver to our respective communities.” Rich Appel, a farmer member of the Portage Bay Partnership echoed Chairman Ballew’s comments, “It’s about the relationship and this grant is an excellent example. Farmers can be very helpful to our friends and neighbors of the Lummi Nation who are also harvesters, and we know that our relationship with the Lummi Nation is an important part of our future as family farmers.” Under the agreement forming the Partnership, Water Quality Improvement Plans will be developed jointly with agreed upon experts identified by the Lummi leaders and farmers. The first two plans are expected to be completed within the May 1, 2017 timeframe identified in the plan. Following the successful development of these plans, the remaining five farmers that are part of the Partnership agreement will develop these plans and other farmers in the county will also be invited to join. The entire Partnership is focused on opening the Portage Bay shellfish beds which have been closed part of the year since September, 2014 due to higher than allowed levels of bacterial contamination. Recognizing this contamination is from multiple sources, the Partnership establishes a process where farmers and Lummi Nation leaders can work together to address all sources. http://scc.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Shellfish_2016Map.pdf Contact: Sheena Kinley-Sanders, Lummi Indian Business Council 360-305-8532 (mobile) 360.312.2156 (alternate) Gerald Baron, Whatcom Family Farmers 360.303.9123 (mobile) info@whatcomfamilyfarmers.org |
P R E S S R E L E A S E
January 5, 2017 Lummi Nation and Whatcom Farmers Reach Historic Agreement to Improve Water Quality on Nooksack River Portage Bay Partnership agreement is an initial step toward long term collaboration BELLINGHAM, Wash.—The Lummi Nation and seven Whatcom County dairy farms announced today an agreement to improve water quality in the Nooksack River Basin, in order to reopen Portage Bay shellfish beds that have been closed since fall 2014 because of bacteria contamination. Known as the Portage Bay Partnership, the agreement will help protect water supplies and initiate a cooperative approach to developing supportive farming plans for dairies that join the partnership. The partnership was signed today by farmers and the Tribe during a salmon feed celebration at the Lummi Reservation. “We want to work together to protect water for all and to return it to the productive state it once was,” said Tim Ballew II, chairman of the Lummi Indian Business Council. “The Portage Bay Recovery Partnership is an opportunity for the Lummi to safeguard our harvesting communities.” “While this first step involves a number of actions aimed at addressing water contamination coming from a variety of sources, the most important element we believe is the beginning of a more positive, constructive and beneficial working relationship between the farmers and the Lummi Nation,” said Rich Appel, a dairy farmer and key member of the team that developed the Partnership. The Partnership is the culmination of more than 15 months of talks between farm leaders and the Tribe. The agreement includes an initial $450,000 payment from farmers and the dairy industry to the Portage Bay Recovery for the impacts suffered by Lummi fishers for lost opportunities to harvest shellfish for commercial, ceremonial and subsistence purposes. The Lummi Nation has agreed not to engage in adversarial litigation against the dairies that sign the agreement, provided that the parties continue to work in good faith in order to improve the water quality of the Nooksack River. Farmers and the Tribe will work together to raise additional funds from various sources. “These funds are an important recognition of the harm done to our friends and neighbors of the Lummi Nation historically by dairy farms,” said Mitch Moorlag of Edaleen Dairy, a negotiator for the farmers. “While farms were major contributors of contamination in the past, today there are multiple causes that must be addressed. This partnership enables us to work with Lummi leaders and others in the community to more effectively address all the causes of water contamination that keep the shellfish beds from re-opening.” "The farms that have joined the partnership are not wholly responsible for the contamination,” said Merle Jefferson, executive director of the Lummi Natural Resources Department. “They’re stepping forward as leaders in fixing it, and we hope others will follow their strong example." In 1996, bacterial contamination closed approximately 735 acres of shellfish beds in Portage Bay. After a decade of technical assistance, compliance enforcement inspections and water quality monitoring activities, the beds were reopened for harvest in 2006. However, after approximately five years of continued water quality degradation and limited corrective actions, portions of the Portage Bay shellfish growing area were closed again in September 2014. The partnership includes a process for farmers and Lummi representatives to work together with experts to develop Water Quality Improvement Plans (WQIP) for individual farms. The agreement calls for development of specific plans on two farms to be completed in early 2017. If successful and agreed upon by farm and Lummi representatives, the development of WQIPs can proceed to other county dairy farms. The Lummi Indian Business Council and Whatcom farmers are seeking to develop an action plan to address water issues related to the Nooksack River by May, 2017. Contact: Sheena Kinley-Sanders, Lummi Indian Business Council 360-305-8532 (mobile) 360.312.2156 (alternate) Gerald Baron, Whatcom Family Farmers 360.303.9123 (mobile) info@whatcomfamilyfarmers.org |