||| FROM RUSSEL BARSH for KWIAHT |||
No, it wasn’t Kwiaht’s Indian Island on top of Indian Island Monday. It was the Orcas Youth Conservation Corps, which went ahead with a weed-removal project over our objections that Oystercatchers and other birds were still nesting on the island, and should be given a few more weeks to fledge.
Kwiaht had requested, but did not receive advance notice and coordination for the protection of sensitive birds, native wildflowers and cultural resources.
We are deeply concerned about the adverse impacts of this activity, which could easily have been delayed, and the bad example it sets for local youth. Moreover, the YCC youth with whom we spoke were completely unaware of the cultural history or contemporary ecology of Indian Island.
The YCC, federal land managers, and Orcas Island can and should do better.
Agreed.
Thanks, RB, for the latest. This likely wasn’t an act of malice, but of ignorance, and consequently, of bureaucracy gone amok. Which public office(s) needed to better communicate THIS time?