Since time immemorial, the S’Klallam people have made a living fishing, hunting, and gathering resources on their traditional lands for subsistence and trade. Today the Tribe’s treaty rights recognize our right to manage and protect the waters and land that make up not just our reservation but also areas of historic and traditional use.
The Port Gamble S’Klallam Environmental Program serves to safeguard treaty rights and advocate for the protection of natural and cultural resources from the increasing threats of pollution, loss of habitat, harmful land uses, and other environmental issues.
In their planning, the Port Gamble S’Klallams regularly look forward seven generations and beyond to ensure that Tribal members will be able to continue to practice their treaty rights as they have for thousands of years. The Environmental Program’s activities are structured to satisfy this purpose.
“The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe has been waiting for this kind of opportunity for a long time while watching the old mill slowly being pulled apart and hauled away. Now is the time for restoration and protection. Our Tribal members rely on shellfish and fin fish that are in Port Gamble Bay, or as we call it, ‘Noo-Kayet’. We are looking forward to having clean seafood, with less toxins in them for the health of our people. Because Noo-Kayet is our home, we will always be here and want what is best for this place.”
~Chairman Jeromy Sullivan