NISQUALLY – The Nisqually Tribe on Tuesday celebrated the return of saltwater to 140 acres of the Nisqually River estuary, where dike removal restored critical salmon habitat in south Puget Sound. The land had been used for a cattle ranch for more than a century.
Tribal dancers and drummers in vibrant black-and-red blankets and other traditional dress opened the event at the edge of the estuary, where the river meets the inland sea. As speakers addressed the crowd, a 14-foot tide began slowly filling the basin. Birds darted overhead and autumn-brilliant trees rustled along the shore.
“It’s coming to life right in front of our eyes,” said Billy Frank Jr., Nisqually elder and head of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
About 200 people – tribal members, politicians, activists and workers from various agencies – huddled together in chilly sunshine to celebrate the return of the sea.
The Blaget family, which had diked and worked the land since 1898, provided food for people, said David Troutt, the tribe’s natural resource director. “Now we’re turning it over to make food for fish.”
While Nisqually salmon runs adapted to changes in the landscape over the years, “the more of this stuff the better for fish,” Troutt said. The restored estuary habitat will provide food for “everything in the south Sound. In addition to salmon, it will feed things that feed the fish.”
Still, the work “is not about one species or another – it’s about life,” said U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., whose district encompasses the project.
“This is huge,” said state Ecology Director Jay Manning, a co-chairman of the Puget Sound Partnership charged by Gov. Chris Gregoire with restoring the troubled sound after 150 years of pollution and development. “I hope we can replicate it across Puget Sound.”
Manning described his two co-chairmen – Billy Frank and Bill Ruckelshaus, first director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – as “living legends who live up to their billing.”
“There’s no better example of how this partnership should work than right here,” Ruckelshaus said.
“Our sound is hollering for help right now,” Frank said. “If we don’t wake up to this it’ll be too late.”
The 140-acre wetland was named Blaget Marsh to honor the family. Longtime rancher Kenny Blaget sold the family’s 410-acre property to the tribe for $2.4 million in 1999.
Most of the 840-acre estuary was diked in the early 20th century for agricultural use. The tribe and its state and federal partners removed the dikes enclosing 100 acres this summer, following a 40-acre project earlier.
The first saltwater flowed in on Oct. 1, shortly after Blaget died.
“Kenny Blaget kept this estuary pristine even though he had his farm on it,” Frank said.
The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, which includes 700 acres of diked estuary, is working on plans to remove those barriers as well.
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