LETTER: Public ownership

Published 1:30 am Saturday, July 11, 2026

The Jefferson County Commissioners continued deliberations, allowing time for a meeting between the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and concerned citizens regarding the proposed transfer of ownership of the Protection Island and Dungeness Spit Wildlife Refuges.

The tribe’s request raises broader questions.

It’s important to remember that the public purchased the island’s acreage to establish the Zella Schultz Washington Seabird Sanctuary in 1974, later acquiring the remaining privately owned parcels to create a permanent public wildlife refuge.

Eleanor Stopps, Lorna Campion Smith, countless citizens, local, state and federal officials worked to secure Protection Island as a national wildlife refuge in perpetuity.

The Protection Island Wildlife Refuge Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1982.

Protection Island has been successfully stewarded through a partnership among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, conservation organizations and the public.

In August 2024, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe joined this stewardship.

The tribe’s proposal to transfer ownership would remove the USFWS, WDFW and the public from their ownership.

A deeply committed community has dedicated itself to protecting the island and the broader, intricately interconnected ecology of the Salish Sea.

I believe my grandmother, Eleanor Stopps, would agree that maintaining Protection Island in public ownership under a collaborative management structure best honors the commitments made when the refuge was created, while continuing to recognize the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe as an important and valued partner in its stewardship.

Donna Armstrong

Black Diamond