Forest and Fish Plan Signing (As Written)

June 5, 2006

Thank you, Doug (Sutherland), and thank you Ken and Bonnie Miller for offering your family tree farm for today�s signing ceremony.

Make no mistake: This is one for the history books. Today we honor a unique partnership and celebrate years of hard work to preserve Washington�s natural heritage for generations to come.

Once again our Washington leads the way�with a farsighted, bold, and science-based approach to save our salmon, ensure clean, fresh water, and protect our Northwest culture and timber economy.

We have a lot of partners to thank for the Forest and Fish Plan:

Thank you to the tribes for fighting to protect our salmon, so central to the cultural heritage of Native Americans and the Pacific Northwest. There�s a Native American saying, �Always think of the seventh generation.� This plan is in keeping with that spirit.

Thank you to our small landowners�the Ken and Bonnie Millers of the world, Sherry Fox of the Washington Farm Forestry Association and many others�who want to stay competitive, preserve our environment, and pass along a cherished livelihood while facing enormous pressures to sell off valuable forestland to real estate developers, generating even more traffic congestion and suburban sprawl.

Their efforts and their cooperation have been a win-win. They will continue to grow trees�now with a little more certainty about the future. And Washington�s fish, wildlife, water, and cultural resources will be better off for it.

Thank you to Bill Wilkerson and our large landowners who have a long-term stake in our economy and healthy forests. With this plan we�re demonstrating how to remain globally competitive in the timber sector and safeguard our natural heritage. Your leadership shows the entire state how collaboration can lead to strong protection for our natural resources and maintain a healthy, sustainable, forest-based economy.

And thank you to all of our federal, state, and local governments and agencies. It�s been a long haul, and you�as conscientious public servants�kept the faith! Thank you to the National Marine Fisheries Service, to the EPA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to our state Department of Fish and Wildlife, our Department of Ecology, DNR, and thank you to the Washington Association of Counties, our local governments, and so many others.

Back in 1997, all of our partners saw the need to come together and reach agreement on how, in the face of the ESA salmon listings, fish habitat and water quality could be protected on state and private forestlands.

The resulting Forest and Fish Report brought to the table folks who might otherwise not be inclined to break bread together. Bare-knuckle negotiations are tough, believe me, I know! But leadership demands that we work in common cause for the greater good, and that�s what the Forest and Fish Plan accomplishes.

In practice, this plan breathes life into what I call the �Washington Way,� an approach to problem solving that engages local citizens and ignites interest in the long-term environmental health and economic sustainability of the Northwest. It�s a noble endeavor�to build community while protecting our corner of heaven for future generations.

I want to emphasize that this plan is based on science, including adaptive management that requires collecting data�data that will improve and adjust the rules accordingly. Science and data change. They�re not static!

We haven�t waited, either: Real progress has already been made on the ground. Since 2001, we�ve protected over 60,000 miles of rivers and streams across 9.3 million acres of forestland, 1,400 fish barriers have already been removed�re-establishing fish passage to over 800 miles of fish habitat.

A couple weeks ago, I signed off on the design for our Washington State Quarter (Now the quarter will be 100 percent Washington with George on one side and our state on the other!) A wild salmon is the centerpiece, with Mount Rainier as the backdrop. Salmon swim in rivers on both sides of the Cascades, and their health and well-being mirror our health and well being.

One of my personal heroes was Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, whose fierce passion for the environment and his home state of Washington earned him the nickname, �Nature�s Justice.�

Today, by working together, we do justice to future generations and to generations yet unborn, that they may enjoy clean water, healthy salmon runs, and healthy, working forests. Today, by working together, we do justice to our communities, to our economy, to our culture, and to nature.

Thank you.

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