SPEECH President's Message

by Janine Unsoeld

Shellfish aquaculture will be the topic of SPEECH's 23rd annual meeting on Saturday, March 23, 7:00 p.m., at Traditions Fair Trade, 300 5th Avenue SW, Olympia, featuring a panel discussion with Bill Dewey of Taylor Shellfish and Laura Hendricks of the Sierra Club. Shellfish representatives from the Nisqually and Jamestown-S'Klallam Tribes, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, and small businesses have also been invited to discuss the issue of shellfish farming and water quality restoration efforts in South Puget Sound.

In January, a hearing examiner approved three permit applications, submitted to Thurston County by Taylor Shellfish and Arcadia Point Seafood, requesting the installation of three geoduck farms along Henderson Inlet. These decisions are significant as they are the first Thurston County geoduck farming application approvals since 2007. Understanding these determinations and the announced appeal by the Coalition to Protect Puget Sound is a subject sure to inform and educate the community. The public is invited - please join us.

Thank you to SPEECH's three new interns from The Evergreen State College, Christina Balsom, Hildi Flores, and Kevin Petrie, for their efforts with us so far. You'll see original research and reporting by Hildi and Kevin in this issue. All three have been busy attending local events, interviewing community members, producing stories, and taking on specific in-house responsibilities - please check out their ongoing progress and more articles at www.oly-wa.us/greenpages.

Our interns will soon be asking our members, through a brief telephone and/or email survey, to respond to a few reflective questions. Our last official member survey was conducted six years ago. The resounding response at that time was that we should continue to educate the community on local environmental issues and campaigns, and keep our publication focused on environmental issues. We have kept our promise. But what are our environmental priorities? What are your priorities?

The word 'environment' has increasingly broader implications now than it did when SPEECH began as a non-profit 23 years ago. Homelessness is an environmental issue when a whole community of individuals doesn't have access to proper restroom and laundry facilities. Reproductive rights and health care is an environmental issue. Almost every issue, both old and new, it seems, can be construed as "environmental."

So, it's time to reassess how we're doing, and how to best focus our efforts given the existence and effective use of social media. When one of our new interns contacts you, please take the time to let us know what you think. As SPEECH turns 23 years old, we thank you, our members, for sustaining us as an all-volunteer, independent voice for local environmental concerns. If you would like to be a member of SPEECH, please go to our website at www.oly-wa.us/greenpages and click on our new JustGive donation button.

Janine Unsoeld is president of the South Puget Environmental Education Clearinghouse (SPEECH) and can be reached at (360) 791-7736 or through her local news blog, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com.