And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: DATE: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 14:26:28 From: "Frank S. LaFountaine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.seattletimes.com/news/editorial/html98/altbolted_19990315.html= Copyright =A9 1999 Seattle Times Company=20 Posted at 05:58 a.m. PST; Monday, March 15, 1999=20 Boldt anniversary burns brightly with ESA news TOMORROW, the federal government is scheduled to announce = long-anticipated Endangered Species Act fish listings on rivers and = streams in Washington and Oregon.=20 Officials in both states have been waiting for this wader to drop = for months, and they are anxious and unsure about where it all will = lead.=20 Everyone is worried about federal regulations and directives with = the potential to curtail employment and development around lakes and = rivers in busy, growing urban areas. Changes are coming, and King, = Pierce and Snohomish counties have been crafting rules and responses to = try and control their own destinies.=20 In the midst of the negotiations and consultations, all parties have = been casting sidelong glances at the region's Indian tribes.=20 What do they think, how will they react, what will they do?=20 The pending ESA announcements and the quizzical looks make a fitting = anniversary observance of the 25 years since the historic ruling by U.S. = District Judge George Boldt.=20 In February 1974, the judge ended a three-year trial with a 203-page = thunderbolt of a ruling: According to long-standing treaties and the = language of their time, tribes were entitled to half of the harvestable = salmon running through their traditional waters.=20 "Furthermore, Boldt made the tribes co-managers of the state's = fisheries," wrote Times reporter Alex Tizon. "With the drop of a gavel, = tribes transformed, in the eyes of the law, from underground poaching = societies to at-the-table equals with the state authorities that had = persecuted them for so long."=20 Native Americans armed with the Boldt decision became formidable = opponents in court. Their interests in sustainable, harvestable numbers = of salmon had to be acknowledged and respected.=20 Indians have been strong proponents of hatcheries to help sustain or = revive big runs of fish, and that has put them at odds with conservation = and sport interests that see contamination of wild stocks.=20 The tribes, however, have long pointed to the ruinous effects on = salmon runs from too much commercial fishing, dam-building and logging = practices. The essence of tomorrow's ESA findings go a long way to = proving them right.=20 The Boldt decision realigned power relationships in the Pacific = Northwest. A federal judge's historic, 25-year-old ruling is as fresh = and relevant as tomorrow's headlines.=20 - &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
