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Boldt Decision
An article in the Seattle P-I commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Boldt Decision, which reaffirmed historic fishing rights to tribes in Washington State.
RodgersWilliam
Professor William Rodgers (photo from the University of Washington)

Celebrate Water

Thank you to everyone who attended Celebrate Water 2016 – it was a huge success! Thanks to our supporters and sponsors, we raised over $15,000 to help us continue to protect Washington’s rivers and streams. This year we honored two individuals for their work in Washington water policy issues.

Professor Rodgers was this year’s Ralph W. Johnson Water Hero Award recipient for his lifetime contributions to the field of Environmental Law and Washington water resource issues. Professor Rodgers is recognized as a founder and one of the leading figures in U.S. Environmental Law. As an eye-witness to history, he participated in writing the nation’s environmental laws that ushered in the “environmental revolution” of the 1960’s and 70’s. His four volume treatise and hornbook on environmental law are foundational texts for law schools nationwide. He has educated thousands of passionate advocates for the environment. To mark his immense contribution, the University of Washington named him its first Stimson Bullitt Professor of Environmental Law.

Professor Rodgers’ work has had immense impacts on water resource issues in Washington State.  He acted as lawyer and witness in the “smelter cases,” including the arsenic pollution of Tacoma and Puget Sound, and has represented Indian tribes and activists on numerous occasions. Professor Rodgers worked with attorneys including UW law professor Ralph Johnson, to protect Indian fishing rights (the Boldt decision), including representing the Puyallup Tribe’s treaty rights to salmon.

Read Professor Rodgers’ full bio here.
Read “The Personal Impact of the Boldt Case: A Tribute to Professor William H. Rodgers Jr“.

 

Rep. Derek Stanford, D-1
Rep. Derek Stanford, D-1

Washington Water Policy Award Recipient: Derek Stanford

We also honored Representative Derek Stanford as the first recipient of the Washington Water Policy Award for his work in the state legislature. This new award goes to an elected official or policy maker who shows outstanding contributions to sustainable water policy in Washington. Representative Stanford’s work over the last two years in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and as vice chair for the Joint Committee, Water Supply During Drought, has helped direct Washington water policy to a more sustainable path.

Since joining the House Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee several years ago, he has been a tireless advocate for protection of instream flows and salmon.  He is currently viewed as the lead member of the House Democratic Caucus on water issues. In 2016, he prime sponsored HB 2430 which directed the state to update low volume plumbing standards.  The bill passed the House but ran into stiff opposition in the Senate from building industry.

 

 

Thank you to everyone who attended our Pre-reception CLE on Dams and Salmon in the Columbia Basin!

Our Celebrate Water event on June 8th was preceded by a CLE workshop focused on the background of dams and salmon in the Columbia Basin, and what’s next after the court rejected the failed federal salmon plan in early May. Our presenter was Steve Mashuda from Earthjustice.

Steve Mashuda is the Managing Attorney for Oceans at Earthjustice. He began working for Earthjustice’s Northern Rockies office in 1998, where he specialized in Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act litigation. In 2000, he joined Earthjustice in Seattle, where he has focused primarily on Northwest salmon recovery, including 15 years of litigation to protect and recover salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake Rivers.  

Columbia_River_and_Gorge
Columbia River

 

Thank you to our event sponsors: Anonymous, Bob Anderson & Marilyn Heiman, Todd Wildermuth & Sanne Knudsen, Upper Columbia United Tribes, Adidas Outdoor, Mattson Law Firm, Law Office of Charles M. Tebbutt, Rachael & John Osborn, Howard Funke & Associates PC, South Sound Sierra Club Group, Western Environmental Law Center, and the League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund.

Please contact Elan at development@celp.org if you are interested in sponsoring next year’s event!

 

 

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