By Pepper Fisher
DUNGENESS WILDLIFE REFUGE – The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is about to sign a 2-year, renewable contract with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&W) to take over management of the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, known locally as the “The Spit”. The agreement includes management of the nearby Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge, as well.
The Tribe’s ability to apply for the right to take over management of the refuge stems from fairly new federal legislation that allows Tribes to negotiate deals like this, though few have to date. Jamestown CEO Ron Allen believes it’s a good deal for all because the Tribe has access to multiple sources of funding that the USF&W does not.
“Fish and Wildlife is an agency that has a hard time securing money unless it’s a special initiative. And so, there are so many refuges throughout America that they basically have been flatlined for years. We have access to resources that Fish and Wildlife doesn’t. So, as an example, as a part of this project, we have secured a $200,000 grant to help us with the transition of the program.”
Allen says the transition funding will be used in part for upgrades in signage and trails on the spit. He says he is aware that there are some concerns in the community about what this will mean in terms of public access to the refuge.
“I know one of the questions has been, “Is the public access to the refuge going to change?” The answer is, “Absolutely not.” It doesn’t change one bit. But what we will do is, the signage and the information available throughout the refuge and the trails, we will upgrade them in a huge way. Because they’re misrepresenting the history and the significance of the refuge to the Tribe’s culture and relationship.”
That history Allen speaks of includes the Tribe’s original villages, but it also includes what he called wars between tribes on the site, which gives one off-limits section of the refuge its name, Graveyard Spit.
Another reason the Tribe wanted to manage the refuge has to do with the oyster farm they are testing on a 50-acre lease along the inside shore of the spit. He says they are currently monitoring a 5-acre test patch of oysters there, and hope to expand incrementally into the 35 acres of usable area of that lease.
“You know, we consider ourselves the best stewards around. I mean, nobody does a better job of protecting the environment and restoring the environment than we do. And so, if anybody’s going to do shellfish farming and protect the habitat and the environment for the purposes of wildlife, bird life, etc., we’re the best stewards around.”
Before this deal was closed, Megan Nagel from USF&W told KONP via email, “If the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe leads operations at the refuges, the refuges remain refuges – they will continue to follow the purposes, goals, and objectives laid out in the Comprehensive Conservation Plans for the Dungeness and Protection Island National Wildlife Refuges.”
“That is absolutely accurate. And there’s a lot to this refuge that people don’t realize. For example, the lighthouse is not under the control of the refuge. It’s under the control of the Coast Guard. So we would be collaborating with them. What you’re going to see is, the coordination with the countless volunteers will continue. Those same volunteers worked with us on the Dungeness Nature Center, just up the river. And it’s also relevant to all the work that we’re doing in the estuary, to improve the safety and the protection of the river, so that the river can breathe as it should, as the breathes into the refuge and the Dungeness Bay.”
Although Allen says the deal is settled, he adds that the actual signing of the agreement will take place on August 16.
(Photo courtesy of the National Park Service)