https://thenarwhal.ca/squamish-nation-estuary-restoration/
"Just two generations ago, the Squamish estuary — called
Skwelwil’em in the
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim (the Squamish language) — remained somewhat peaceful in
the face of great change.
The settler village of Squamish was built and growing in the estuary, on the
territory of the
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation). A railroad was
built to Vancouver, and old-growth logging was at its height. Still, amid these
colonial disruptions, the estuary was home to salmon, a place for
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh to fish and be close to the water of
Átl’ḵa7tsem (Howe Sound).
But boundless development and resource extraction continued and the town
chipped away at the estuary.
In an example of bulldozing over Indigenous Rights in the name of industry — in
the most literal sense — the estuary was dredged in the 1970s by BC Rail for a
proposed coal port project without any consultation with the Squamish Nation. A
five-kilometre-long spit was built that blocked water and dried up part of the
estuary.
The federal government wound up rejecting the proposal — so for about 30 years
a massive pile of dredged soil remained abandoned right on top of
Skwelwíl̓em. A portion of the estuary, once filled with lush grasses and calm
water, was left barren and brown for decades and salmon numbers began to
decrease.
Now, the Squamish Nation is co-leading an effort to restore the estuary with
the Squamish River Watershed Society and Fisheries and Oceans Canada in a
coalition called Restore the Shore, which seeks to “save this vital ecosystem
and right historical wrongs.”
This year, the group took on its biggest task yet: removing a fifth of the spit
that has blocked juvenile salmon exiting the river from accessing the estuary.
The project has been years in the making and has brought together at-times
disparate community interests."
Via
Future Crunch Sep 23, 2022:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-aids-ocean-indonesia-clean-air-spain/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
