Salish Sea

The Georgia Basin, Salish Sea, or Whulge are conventional names for the great inland waterway stretching from Tumwater, Washington to before the Johnstone Strait, British Columbia that was the central resource of the First Nations Coast Salish peoples who historically and presently inhabit the area.

The khWuhlch (Whulge) is the indigenous Lushootseed name for what is now known in the US as the Salish Sea and as the Georgia Basin in Canada. The large, dilute, estuarial inland sea includes what is now called Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, connecting the sea with the Pacific Ocean.

Western Washington, southeast British Columbia, largely centered on the Salish Sea, 2002.
The forested Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island, the wheatlands east of the Cascade Range are apparent. Urban Everett-Seattle-Tacoma, due east of the white of the Olympics, is in contrast to relatively compact urban Vancouver, just below the white along the top edge, left of middlle, The checkerboard pattern of clear-cut forest is accented by snow in the range, particularly southeast of Downtown Seattle and Lake Washington. Mt. Rainier is the brightest white, relatively round near the bottom, middle. Mt. Baker is the white at top, middle, separated from the white of the Cascades by dark, forested valleys.
Center Point Latitude: 48.5 N, Center Point Longitude: -122.5 W. Nadir 29 April 2002, 21:32:52 (GMT), 14:32:52 (local PDT). Sun azimuth 209^o (approximately SW), sun elevation 53^o.
(Color is approximate. Most browser images are not color adjusted[1]. Higher resolution available at image file.)
Image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center.[2]. Photo ISS004=E-10921. Conditions of use.[3]. 

The lands of the body have been inhabited since they emerged with the end of the last glacial period (c. 8,000 B.C.E.—10,000 years ago). The khWuhlch was the primary waterway interconnecting the greater Lushootseed Coast Salish Nations. (Culture area languages and dialects had variations on the name.) Together with what is now called the Cascade Range and the Columbia River, these are the defining geographical centerpieces of Cascadia.

The Whulge, Salish Sea, or Georgia Basin encompasses the inland sea and the land around it. It is one of the most spectacular settings in the world. Temperate for its latitude, the Olympic Mountains and Vancouver Island Ranges shield from the Pacific Ocean, the Cascade Mountain Range from continental weather; together they surround the Salish Sea, contributing most of the entering fresh water (windward of the Salish Sea lie two of the few temperate rain forests in the world).

Humpback and gray whales, resident and migratory pods of orca dolphins are found in its waters. Mile-high granite faces tower beside deep, indigo fjords, remnants of uncut, low-elevation old growth forest survive on its northern islands. The Spirit Bear is found only in the remaining wild forests of the northern Georgia Basin. The sea and its shores provide vital habitat for the millions of birds that migrate each year along the Pacific Flyway. More waterbirds and raptors winter here than anywhere else in Canada, and five species of salmon use the waters as the gateway to their spawning grounds. (The Pacific Northwest fisheries was once one of the richest in the world, second only to the Grand Banks.)

Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington are world-scale urban metropolises in the watershed. The human population of the khWuhlch, Georgia Basin, or Salish Sea has more than doubled between 1980 and 2005. If this rate of growth continues (as it shows consistent signs of doing), the pressures on wildlife, migratory birds and fish, and the habitats these species require in order to survive, will need to be carefully managed to ensure the overall well-being of the ecosystem—as well as quality of life for the human inhabitants.

To preserve, protect, and restore, efforts are underway among federal and provincial governments of Canda, and, under the aegis of Environment Canada, in subsequent cooperation with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (intergovernmental Joint Statement signed 2000). Government entities include Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Parks, First Nations, and more than 100 departments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and academic institutions. US agencies in addition to the EPA include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and analogs to Canadian organisations.

See also

• Kermode bear
• Logging

Bibliography

• Dailey, Tom (2006-06-14). "Start page". Coast Salish Villages of Puget Sound. Retrieved 2006-04-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
• Earth Sciences Web Team (2006-07-10 updated, 2002-04-29 original). ""Astronaut Photography of Earth - Display Record ISS004-E-10921"". The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Earth Observation Library, Johnson Space Center, NASA. Retrieved 2006-08-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
  Mission: ISS004, Roll: E, Frame: 10921.
• Lucas, Eric (2003-07-25). ""Canada's 'Spirit Bears' Gain Perilous Popularity"". National Geographic Traveler. Retrieved 2006-06-21. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
• ""Map of Geogia Basin"". Georgia Basin Action Plan. Pacific & Yukon Regional, Environment Canada, Government of Canada. 2005-10-17, updated. Retrieved 2006-05-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
• "North America". Rand McNally Cosmopolitan World Atlas. Chicago, New York, San Francisco: Rand McNally. 1985. p. 68. ISBN 528-83149-6. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• ""Part One: Where in the world is the Salish Sea?"". Washington. estuaries.gov. 2004-08-04, revised. Retrieved 2006-05-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
• ""The people and their land"". "Puget Sound Native Art and Culture". Seattle Art Museum. 2003-07-04 per "Native Art of the Northwest Coast: Collection Insight". Retrieved 2006-04-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help); External link in |date= (help)

Further reading

• Arsenault, Adrienne (1997-05-26). "The fight over 'Spirit Bear'". Home > Science and Technology > Clearcutting and Logging: The War of the Woods. CBC Archives (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 2006-08-21. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)