Importance of Tribal Collaboration in Oil Spill Planning & Prevention
Presentation Abstract
For the past 25 years Chad Bowechop, Makah Tribal member and Director of the Office of Marine Affairs, has collaborated with environmental consultant and recently elected Seattle Port Commissioner, Fred Felleman, to advance oil spill protections for the Olympic Coast and Salish Sea. Together, through innovative policy and legal measures they have helped to ensure that state and federal agencies uphold their Treaty Trust responsibility as co-managers of marine resources with the Makah Tribal government. These efforts represent an important perspective on how to engage collaboratively at the state, federal and international levels to require improved oil spill prevention, preparedness and response capacity.
Their accomplishments include, the establishment of the internationally recognized Area to Be Avoided off the Olympic, passage of federal and state legislation to station the Neah Bay emergency response tug, and the designation of Neah Bay as a staging area for oil spill response equipment. Mr. Bowechop established the nation’s first Tribal Office of Marine Affairs (OMA) to assure that state and federal agencies’ recognize their Trust Responsibility to safeguard Treaty protected resources. Under his leadership the OMA completed the first-ever Memorandum of Understanding between a Tribal government and the U.S. Coast Guard District 13.
Fred Felleman championed the creation of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary to ensure Washington’s coast was safe from offshore oil drilling and has been involved with most oil spill legislation in Washington for over two decades. During this time, Mr. Felleman has consulted for the Makah Indian Tribe and has helped to form collaborations between the tribe and environmental community. He continues to serve as the Northwest Consultant for Friends of the Earth, as well as Seattle Port Commissioner.
Conference attendees would greatly benefit from learning of their past success and of their ongoing efforts to protect the coast and Salish Sea from oil spills.
Session Title
Community perspectives on oil spill planning and response
Conference Track
Fate and Effects of Pollutants
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Oil spills--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Prevention; Oil spills--Washington (State), Western--Prevention
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Washington (State), Western
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Importance of Tribal Collaboration in Oil Spill Planning & Prevention
2016SSEC
For the past 25 years Chad Bowechop, Makah Tribal member and Director of the Office of Marine Affairs, has collaborated with environmental consultant and recently elected Seattle Port Commissioner, Fred Felleman, to advance oil spill protections for the Olympic Coast and Salish Sea. Together, through innovative policy and legal measures they have helped to ensure that state and federal agencies uphold their Treaty Trust responsibility as co-managers of marine resources with the Makah Tribal government. These efforts represent an important perspective on how to engage collaboratively at the state, federal and international levels to require improved oil spill prevention, preparedness and response capacity.
Their accomplishments include, the establishment of the internationally recognized Area to Be Avoided off the Olympic, passage of federal and state legislation to station the Neah Bay emergency response tug, and the designation of Neah Bay as a staging area for oil spill response equipment. Mr. Bowechop established the nation’s first Tribal Office of Marine Affairs (OMA) to assure that state and federal agencies’ recognize their Trust Responsibility to safeguard Treaty protected resources. Under his leadership the OMA completed the first-ever Memorandum of Understanding between a Tribal government and the U.S. Coast Guard District 13.
Fred Felleman championed the creation of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary to ensure Washington’s coast was safe from offshore oil drilling and has been involved with most oil spill legislation in Washington for over two decades. During this time, Mr. Felleman has consulted for the Makah Indian Tribe and has helped to form collaborations between the tribe and environmental community. He continues to serve as the Northwest Consultant for Friends of the Earth, as well as Seattle Port Commissioner.
Conference attendees would greatly benefit from learning of their past success and of their ongoing efforts to protect the coast and Salish Sea from oil spills.
Comments
Makah Indian Tribe and U.S. Coast Guard Memorandum of Understanding:
http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/1747591/Coast-Guard-Makah-Tribal-Council-sign-memorandum-of-agreement
http://www.psp.wa.gov/downloads/OILSPILL/oilspill%20update%207-7-13/Signed%20USCG-MTC%20MOA.pdf
Articles and op-eds about Fred Felleman's work:
http://crosscut.com/2014/07/oil-terminal-cherry-point-bp-dock-spills/
http://crosscut.com/2015/03/guest-opinion-dirty-fuel-exports-darken-nws-earth-day/
http://crosscut.com/2013/11/oil-trains-fred-felleman/