Puget Creek Watershed Alliance (Draft Statement)
Our mission is to protect, restore, and enhance the natural environment in the Puget Creek Watershed and West Duwamish Greenbelt within the limits imposed by ownership, current use, and resource availability. We hope to be good upstream neighbors to all our community and to future generations.
Beyond our collective responsibility to protect our environment, Puget Creek has particular importance in the context of historic injustices and treaty responsibilities to the Duwamish Tribe who have recently re-established a Longhouse and Cultural Center near the mouth of Puget Creek. We will advocate for environmental reparations for all residents who will enjoy a restored environment and improved quality of life in our city.
Our vision is to be the cleanest, greenest city in the nation, in a new era of social responsibility – starting with the Puget Creek Watershed. This mirrors the Port of Seattle’s vision of being the “cleanest, greenest Port in the nation… in a new era of social responsibility,” as express by Port CEO, Tay Yoshitani.
Social responsibility entails environmental reparations to all who deserve a clean environment, and we wish to offer opportunities to “give back” for all who have benefitted from the land exchanged in the 1855 Port Elliott Treaty (all of Seattle and much of King County). This may include hands-on volunteerism in public space work parties, pro bono services, monetary donations, and restoration and control of invasive “seed rain” sources on private property.
PCWA wishes to offer volunteer and earning/learning opportunities to youth who want to explore the career of ecological restoration. PCWA will also advocate for government policies that incentivize private efforts which benefit public goals, and for government investments in ecological restoration.
Our dream is that citizens of Seattle will find a way to honor fishing rights guaranteed to the Duwamish Tribe by Treaty, despite our federal government’s unwillingness to recognize the Duwamish People still exist.
Our hope is that citizens, business, and government will respond to our historic debt and future obligations for their own sake, and secondarily will recognize the broader economic benefits of protecting the environment. Just like corporations who pay attention to the triple bottom line (people, planet, profit) do better in times of economic stress, we believe our port city will thrive when we restore our environment and our relationship with Seattle’s First People.