There is a convergence of compelling reasons to restore the Puget Creek Watershed:
1) Addressing social justice through environmental reparations is important to us all – for our peace of mind, our health, and our economy. If you would like to support the Duwamish Tribe directly, go to http://www.duwamishtribe.org/index.html.
2) It’s the right thing to do. The Duwamish Tribe was federally recognized in 2001 for three days but had recognition revoked due to procedural technicalities, so the fishing rights guaranteed by the Point Elliott Treaty (http://www.duwamishtribe.org/elliottreaty.html), much less the habitat necessary to sustain such rights, remain unfulfilled. Despite our federal government’s failure, those benefitting from the 54,000 acres exchanged (Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Renton, Tukwila, and most of King County) nonetheless have a responsibility to repair the damage done to a way a life, beyone the $64 allotted to each tribal member in 1960. An owner is normally entitled to “be made whole” in eminent domain takings, where the goal of the Duwamish Tribe is “subsistence, our natural human right to feed our families and to care for ourselves, our community, and our ancestral homeland, both physically and spiritually, using the resources of our people, the land, and the sea.”
3) The juxtaposition of Puget Creek, the Longhouse, the Chinese Garden, and trails through Seattle largest greenbelt (when restored) promises to be a popular destination for an in-city natural experience.
4) The Port of Seattle’s vision is closely aligned with PCWAlliance’s goals. That is, ”to be the cleanest, greenest port in the nation… in a new era of social responsibility” (West Seattle Herald, Sept. 19, 2007) as expressed by Port CEO Tay Yoshitani. The Port of Seattle, as should the City of Seattle, recognizes the economic resilience of businesses that pay attention to the “triple bottom line” of social, ecological, and economic justice. “The challenge is to figure out ways to use the Port’s commitment to pollution clean-up to gain ‘new leverage’… for competitive advantage.”
5) Ecological restoration creates more green jobs per dollar invested than many other stimulus efforts.