Taking stock of the Salish Sea

The State of the Salish Sea report examines 150 years of development along our shared waters
Window magazine staff

Western’s Salish Sea Institute’s new, comprehensive “State of the Salish Sea” report illustrates how the ecosystem is under relentless pressure from an accelerating convergence of global and local environmental stressors and the cumulative impacts of 150 years of development and alteration of our watersheds and seascape.

The State of the Salish Sea provides an overall assessment of the health of this vital waterway by summarizing stressors— primarily climate change and human development—that are contributing to ecosystem decline.

The report details examples of how the ecosystem is responding to those impacts and identifies science-based needs and opportunities for stronger collaboration across the entire ecosystem, including working across cultural and political boundaries.

While strong science is critical to understanding the ecosystem, the report provides a spectrum of ideas and opportunities for how governments, organizations, and individuals can work together to meet the needs of science and science-driven management that will sustain the Salish Sea estuarine ecosystem.

The lead author of the report is WWU Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Kathryn Sobocinski, with more than 20 guest authors and contributors from the United States and Canada adding context and research from across a broad spectrum of fields and disciplines.

Learn more about the State of the Salish Sea report and about the Salish Sea Institute at wp.wwu.edu/salishsea

Photo by Rhys Logan, '11