||| FROM THE SEATTLE TIMES |||
PROTECTION ISLAND, Jefferson County — Tens of thousands of birds touch down here.
Protection Island is a national wildlife refuge because its bluffs provide some of the Salish Sea’s last undeveloped habitat for burrow-nesting seabirds.
There is a debate about the birds that nest on Protection Island and shelter behind Dungeness Spit with seals, salmon, eel grass and oysters. It’s also a story about people. Politicians. Environmentalists. Ancestors.
Under federal rules designed to leave the animals undisturbed, the 379-acre island is closed to the public and boats must stay 200 yards away.
Congress want to transfer ownership of the refuge from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to his tribe, along with the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, an extraordinary expanse of sand and water located nearby.
Some environmentalists may worry the transfers would align with President Donald Trump’s quest to sell off public lands to business interests.
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