105-598: United States v. Washington , 384 F. Supp. 312 (W.D. Wash. 1974), aff'd, 520 F.2d 676 (9th Cir. 1975), commonly known as the Boldt Decision (from the name of the trial court judge, George Hugo Boldt ), was a legal case in 1974 heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit . The case re-affirmed the rights of American Indian tribes in
210-537: A Huguenot lieutenant accompanying him on the Vancouver Expedition . This name later came to be used for the waters north of Tacoma Narrows as well. An alternative term for Puget Sound, used by a number of Native Americans and environmental groups, is Whulge (or Whulj), an Anglicization of the Lushootseed name for Puget Sound, x̌ʷəlč , which literally means "sea, salt water, ocean, or sound". The name for
315-553: A bay with numerous channels and branches; more specifically, it is a fjord system of flooded glacial valleys. Puget Sound is part of a larger physiographic structure termed the Puget Trough, which is a physiographic section of the larger Pacific Border province , which in turn is part of the larger Pacific Mountain System . Puget Sound is a large salt water estuary , or system of many estuaries, fed by highly seasonal freshwater from
420-549: A fish conservation scheme, provided the regulation was not discriminatory. After being remanded to determine if the regulations were not discriminatory, the case returned to the United States Supreme Court in Department of Game of Washington v. Puyallup Tribe ( Puyallyp II ). Again, Justice Douglas wrote the opinion for the court, but this time he struck down the state restrictions as discriminatory. Douglas noted that
525-418: A lawsuit by various animal rights activists, the tribe was allocated the right to take up to five whales a year for the 2001 and 2002 seasons. The state's extraordinary machinations in resisting the [1974] decree have forced the district court to take over a large share of the management of the state's fishery in order to enforce its decrees. Except for some desegregation cases. . ., the district court has faced
630-503: A total volume of 26.5 cubic miles (110 km ) at mean high water. The average volume of water flowing in and out of Puget Sound during each tide is 1.26 cubic miles (5.3 km ). The maximum tidal currents, in the range of 9 to 10 knots , occurs at Deception Pass. Water flow through Deception Pass is approximately equal to 2% of the total tidal exchange between Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The size of Puget Sound's watershed
735-576: A traditional Indian fishing location. Two brothers, Lineas and Audubon Winans, owned property on both sides of the Columbia River and obtained licenses from the State of Washington to operate four fish wheels . The wheels prevented a significant number of salmon from passing the location. Additionally, the Winans prohibited anyone, whether an Indian with treaty rights or otherwise, from crossing their land to get to
840-496: A treaty-based duty to preserve fish runs and habitat sufficiently for the tribes to earn a "moderate living" and sought to compel the state to repair or replace culverts that impede salmon migration. On August 22, 2007, the district court issued a summary judgment order, holding that while culverts impeding anadromous fish migration are not the only factor diminishing their upstream habitat, in building and maintaining culverts that impede salmon migration, Washington State had diminished
945-476: A wide variety of management or "conservation" objectives. Its selection of regulations to achieve these objectives is limited only by its own organic law and the standards of reasonableness required by the Fourteenth Amendment. But when it is regulating the federal right of Indians to take fish at their usual and accustomed places it does not have the same latitude in prescribing the management objectives and
1050-590: Is 12,138 sq mi (31,440 km ). "Northern Puget Sound" is frequently considered part of the Puget Sound watershed, which enlarges its size to 13,700 sq mi (35,000 km ). The USGS uses the name "Puget Sound" for its hydrologic unit subregion 1711, which includes areas draining to Puget Sound proper as well as the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia, and the Fraser River . Significant rivers that drain to "Northern Puget Sound" include
1155-502: Is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington . As a part of the Salish Sea , the sound has one major and two minor connections to the Strait of Juan de Fuca , which in turn connects to the open Pacific Ocean. The major connection is Admiralty Inlet ; the minor connections are Deception Pass and
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#17328375157621260-499: Is at Deception Pass along a line from West Point on Whidbey Island, to Deception Island, then to Rosario Head on Fidalgo Island . The third entrance is at the south end of the Swinomish Channel , which connects Skagit Bay and Padilla Bay . Under this definition, Puget Sound includes the waters of Hood Canal , Admiralty Inlet, Possession Sound , Saratoga Passage , and others. It does not include Bellingham Bay , Padilla Bay,
1365-611: Is attributed to a variety of issues, including human population growth, pollution, and climate change. Because of this population decline, there have been changes to the fishery practices, and an increase in petitioning to add species to the Endangered Species Act . There has also been an increase in recovery and management plans for many different area species. The causes of these environmental issues are toxic contamination, eutrophication (low oxygen due to excess nutrients), and near shore habitat changes. On May 22, 1978,
1470-511: Is home to numerous species of marine invertebrates, including sponges , sea anemones , chitons , clams , sea snails , limpets , crabs , barnacles , starfish , sea urchins , and sand dollars . Dungeness crabs ( Metacarcinus magister ) occur throughout Washington waters, including Puget Sound. Many bivalves occur in Puget Sound, such as Pacific oysters ( Crassostrea gigas ) and geoduck clams ( Panopea generosa ). The Olympia oyster ( Ostreola conchaphila ), once common in Puget Sound,
1575-532: Is secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the Territory, and of erecting temporary houses for the purpose of curing the same; together with the privilege of hunting, gathering roots and berries, and pasturing their horses on all open and unclaimed lands. Provided, however, That they shall not take shell-fish from any beds staked or cultivated by citizens; and provided, also, that they shall alter all stallions not intended for breeding, and keep up and confine
1680-648: Is used not just for the body of water but also the Puget Sound region centered on the sound. Major cities on the sound include Seattle , Tacoma , Olympia , and Everett . Puget Sound is also the second-largest estuary in the United States, after Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia . In 1792, George Vancouver gave the name "Puget's Sound" to the waters south of the Tacoma Narrows , in honor of Peter Puget ,
1785-494: The Chimacum Valley [ ceb ] , in the northeast Olympic Peninsula , melted, allowing the lake's water to rapidly drain north into the marine waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which was rising as the ice sheet retreated. As icebergs calved off the toe of the glacier, their embedded gravels and boulders were deposited in the chaotic mix of unsorted till geologists call glaciomarine drift. Many beaches about
1890-611: The National Marine Fisheries Service were ordered to enforce the ruling and soon had boats in the water confronting violators. Some of the protesters rammed Coast Guard boats, and at least one member of the Coast Guard was shot. Those whom the officers caught breaking the court's orders were taken before federal magistrates and fined for contempt, and the illegal fishing as a protest stopped. The United States District Court continued to exercise continuing jurisdiction over
1995-694: The Nooksack , Dungeness , and Elwha Rivers . The Nooksack empties into Bellingham Bay, the Dungeness and Elwha into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Chilliwack River flows north to the Fraser River in Canada. Tides in Puget Sound are of the mixed type with two high and two low tides each tidal day. These are called Higher High Water (HHW), Lower Low Water (LLW), Lower High Water (LHW), and Higher Low Water (HLW). The configuration of basins, sills, and interconnections cause
2100-482: The Puyallup tribe . The first was Puyallup Tribe v. Department of Game of Washington, ( Puyallup I ) which involved a state ban on the use of nets to catch steelhead trout and salmon. Despite the ban, the tribes continued to use nets based on their treaty rights. Justice William Douglas delivered the opinion of the court which said that the treaty did not prevent state regulations that were reasonable and necessary under
2205-433: The Swinomish Channel . Puget Sound extends approximately 100 miles (160 km) from Deception Pass in the north to Olympia in the south. Its average depth is 450 feet (140 m) and its maximum depth, off Jefferson Point between Indianola and Kingston , is 930 feet (280 m). The depth of the main basin, between the southern tip of Whidbey Island and Tacoma , is approximately 600 feet (180 m). In 2009,
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#17328375157622310-525: The Tacoma Narrows , and the Main Basin , which is further subdivided into Admiralty Inlet and the Central Basin. Puget Sound's sills, a kind of submarine terminal moraine , separate the basins from one another, and Puget Sound from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Three sills are particularly significant—the one at Admiralty Inlet which checks the flow of water between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound,
2415-615: The double-crested cormorant ( Phalacrocorax auritus ). Puget Sound is home to a non-migratory and marine-oriented subspecies of great blue herons ( Ardea herodias fannini ). Bald eagles ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus ) occur in relative high densities in the Puget Sound region. Puget Sound has been home to many Indigenous peoples, such as the Lushootseed-speaking peoples , as well as the Twana , Chimakum , and Klallam , for millennia. The earliest known presence of Indigenous inhabitants in
2520-579: The spiny dogfish ( Squalus acanthias ). There are about 28 species of Sebastidae (rockfish), of many types, found in Puget Sound. Among those of special interest are copper rockfish ( Sebastes caurinus ), quillback rockfish ( S. maliger ), black rockfish ( S. melanops ), yelloweye rockfish ( S. ruberrimus ), bocaccio rockfish ( S. paucispinis ), canary rockfish ( S. pinniger ), and Puget Sound rockfish ( S. emphaeus ). Many other fish species occur in Puget Sound, such as sturgeons , lampreys , various sharks , rays , and skates . Puget Sound
2625-412: The state of Washington to co-manage and continue to harvest salmon and other fish under the terms of various treaties with the U.S. government . The tribes ceded their land to the United States but reserved the right to fish as they always had. This included their traditional locations off the designated reservations . As the time went by, the State of Washington had infringed on the treaty rights of
2730-788: The tidal range to increase within Puget Sound. The difference in height between the Higher High Water and the Lower Low Water averages about 8.3 feet (2.5 m) at Port Townsend on Admiralty Inlet, but increases to about 14.4 feet (4.4 m) at Olympia, the southern end of Puget Sound. Puget Sound is generally accepted as the start of the Inside Passage . Important marine flora of Puget Sound include eelgrass ( Zostera marina ) and various kelp , important kelps include canopy forming bull kelp ( Nereocystis luetkeana ). and edible kelps like kombu ( Saccharina latissima ) Among
2835-515: The western grebe ( Aechmophorus occidentalis ); loons such as the common loon ( Gavia immer ); auks such as the pigeon guillemot ( Cepphus columba ), rhinoceros auklet ( Cerorhinca monocerata ), common murre ( Uria aalge ), and marbled murrelet ( Brachyramphus marmoratus ); the brant goose ( Branta bernicla ); seaducks such as the long-tailed duck ( Clangula hyemalis ), harlequin duck ( Histrionicus histrionicus ), and surf scoter ( Melanitta perspicillata ); and cormorants such as
2940-732: The 1840s, tribes were trading salmon to the Hudson's Bay Company , which shipped the fish to New York, Great Britain, and other locations around the world. In the 1850s, the US government entered into a series of treaties with the American Indian tribes of the Pacific Northwest. In the Treaty of Olympia , Territorial Governor Isaac I. Stevens agreed that the tribes had rights, including: The right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations
3045-503: The 2010s and 17.2 in 2022 with the COVID-19 pandemic . It is the largest ferry operator in the United States. Over the past 30 years, as the human population of the region has increased, there has been a correlating decrease in various plant and animal species which inhabit Puget Sound. The decline has been seen in numerous populations including forage fish , salmonids, bottom fish, marine birds , harbor porpoise , and orcas . The decline
3150-547: The Canada–US border. The melting retreat of the Vashon Glaciation eroded the land, creating a drumlin field of hundreds of aligned drumlin hills. Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish (which are ribbon lakes ), Hood Canal , and the main Puget Sound basin were altered by glacial forces. These glacial forces are not specifically "carving", as in cutting into the landscape via the mechanics of ice/glaciers, but rather eroding
3255-463: The Coast Guard. The American Indians of the Pacific Northwest had long depended on the salmon harvest, a resource that allowed them to become among the wealthiest North American tribes. The salmon harvest for the Columbia River basin was estimated at 43,000,000 pounds (20,000,000 kg) annually, which provided sufficient salmon not only for the tribes' needs but also to trade with others. By
United States v. Washington - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-627: The HBC's subsidy operation, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company was established in part to procure resources and trade, as well as to further establish British claim to the region. Missionaries J.P. Richmond and W.H. Wilson were attending Fort Nisqually for two years by 1840. British ships, such as the Beaver , exported foodstuffs and provisions from Fort Nisqually, and would eventually export Puget Sound lumber, an industry that would soon outpace
3465-519: The Indian tribes' exercise of their treaty rights but only to ensure the "perpetuation of a run or of a species of fish." To regulate the tribes, the state must be able to show that conservation could not be achieved by regulating only the non-Indians, must not discriminate against the tribes, and must use appropriate due process . After the District Court issued its ruling, both sides submitted appeals to
3570-520: The Lushootseed language, dxʷləšucid , is derived from the root word √ləš , an alternative name for Puget Sound. The USGS defines Puget Sound as all the waters south of three entrances from the Strait of Juan de Fuca . The main entrance at Admiralty Inlet is defined as a line between Point Wilson on the Olympic Peninsula , and Point Partridge on Whidbey Island . The second entrance
3675-482: The Olympic and Cascade Mountain watersheds. The mean annual river discharge into Puget Sound is 41,000 cubic feet per second (1,200 m /s), with a monthly average maximum of about 367,000 cubic feet per second (10,400 m /s) and minimum of about 14,000 cubic feet per second (400 m /s). Puget Sound's shoreline is 1,332 miles (2,144 km) long, encompassing a water area of 1,020 square miles (2,600 km ) and
3780-530: The Puget Sound region is between 14,000 BCE to 6,000 BCE. Dispatched in an attempt to locate the fabled Northwest Passage , British Royal Navy captain George Vancouver anchored on May 19, 1792, on the shores of Seattle , explored Puget Sound, and claimed it for Great Britain on June 4 the same year, naming it for one of his officers, Lieutenant Peter Puget . He further named the entire region; New Georgia , after King George III . After 1818 Britain and
3885-576: The Puget Sound region. The most recent glacial period , called the Fraser Glaciation , had three phases, or stades . During the third, or Vashon Glaciation , a lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet , called the Puget Lobe, spread south about 15,000 years ago, covering the Puget Sound region with an ice sheet about 3,000 feet (910 m) thick near Seattle, and nearly 6,000 feet (1,800 m) at
3990-468: The Sound display glacial erratics , rendered more prominent than those in coastal woodland solely by their exposed position; submerged glacial erratics sometimes cause hazards to navigation. The sheer weight of glacial-age ice depressed the landforms, which experienced post-glacial rebound after the ice sheets had retreated. Because the rate of rebound was not synchronous with the post-ice age rise in sea levels,
4095-517: The Supreme Court rejected a collateral attack on the case, largely endorsing Judge Boldt's ruling and the opinion of the Ninth Circuit. In Washington v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Ass'n , Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that "[b]oth sides have a right, secured by treaty, to take a fair share of the available fish." The Supreme Court also endorsed Boldt's orders to enforce his rulings using federal law enforcement assets and
4200-597: The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Washington argued that the district court had no power to invalidate state fishing regulations, but the tribes argued that "the state may not regulate their fishing activities at treaty locations for any reason." Writing for a majority of the court, Circuit Court Judge Herbert Choy affirmed Judge Boldt's opinion "in all respects" but clarified that Judge Boldt's "equitable apportionment" of harvestable fish did not apply to "fish caught by non-Washington citizens outside
4305-627: The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington alleging that Washington had infringed on the treaty rights of the Hoh , Makah , Muckleshoot , Nisqually , Puyallup, Quileute , and Skokomish tribes. Later, the Lummi , Quinault , Sauk-Suiattle , Squaxin Island , Stillaguamish , Upper Skagit , and Yakama tribes intervened in the case. Defendants were the State of Washington,
United States v. Washington - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-458: The United States Supreme Court once again ruled on the treaty rights of the Yakama tribe. In 1939, Sampson Tulee, a Yakama, was arrested for fishing without a state fishing license. The United States government immediately filed for a writ of habeas corpus on Tulee's behalf, which was denied on procedural grounds because he had not yet been tried in state court and had not exhausted his appeals. Tulee
4515-414: The United States described it to the tribes, holding that the United States intended for there to be an equal sharing of the fish resource between the tribes and the settlers. As the court stated, the phrase means "sharing equally the opportunity to take fish... therefore, nontreaty fishermen shall have the opportunity to take up to 50% of the harvestable number of fish... and treaty right fishermen shall have
4620-496: The United States sued on behalf of Williams, the United States District Court in Oregon issued an injunction which the Supreme Court affirmed, again holding that the treaties created a servitude that ran with the land. The decision was significant in that it expanded the hunting and fishing rights outside the territory ceded by the tribes when it was shown that the tribe had used the area for hunting and fishing. In Tulee v. Washington ,
4725-528: The United States, which both claimed the Oregon Country , agreed to "joint occupancy", deferring resolution of the Oregon boundary dispute until the 1846 Oregon Treaty . Puget Sound was part of the disputed region until 1846, after which it became US territory. American maritime fur traders visited Puget Sound in the early 19th century. An Hudson's Bay Company expedition led by James McMillan in late 1824
4830-729: The Veteran's home in Lakewood, Washington , survived by his wife, three children, eight grandchildren and a great-grandchild. A decade after his death, tribes excluded from his ruling unsuccessfully sought to access his medical records to determine whether he suffered from the disease while he oversaw the fishing rights case. The tribes celebrated the 40th anniversary of his fishing rights ruling in February 2014. Puget Sound Puget Sound ( / ˈ p juː dʒ ɪ t / PEW -jit ; Lushootseed : x̌ʷəlč IPA: [ˈχʷəlt͡ʃ] WHULCH )
4935-645: The Washington Department of Fisheries, the Washington Game Commission, and the Washington Reef Net Owners Association. The first phase of the case took three years, mainly in preparation for trial. During the trial, Boldt heard testimony from about 50 witnesses and admitted 350 exhibits. The evidence showed that the state had shut down many sites used by Indians for net fishing but allowed commercial net fishing elsewhere on
5040-576: The Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Association both filed lawsuits in state court to block the new regulations. These private concerns won at both the trial court and at the Washington Supreme Court. Washington Attorney General Slade Gorton , representing the State of Washington, supported the position of the private concerns and opposed the position of the United States and
5145-709: The Western District of Washington . Born in Chicago , Boldt received a Bachelor of Arts from University of Montana in 1925 and a Bachelor of Laws from the Alexander Blewett ;III School of Law at the University of Montana in 1926. Boldt was a lifelong member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and served as a Grand Trustee for 6 years, from 1957 to 1963. He was in private practice of law in Helena, Montana , from 1926 to 1927. He
5250-402: The allocation to the Indian tribes. The state appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed in part and reversed in part, allowing the hatchery fish to remain in the allocation but leaving the habitat issue open. In 2001, 21 northwestern Washington tribes, joined by the United States filed a Request for Determination in U.S. District Court, asking the court to find that the state has
5355-411: The area of co-operative management of resources, for Indian treaty rights, internationally for aboriginal treaty rights, and tribal civil rights. The decision caused an immediate negative reaction from some citizens of Washington. Bumper stickers reading "Can Judge Boldt, Not Salmon" appeared, and Boldt was hanged in effigy at the federal courthouse. Non-Indian commercial fishermen ignored the ruling, and
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#17328375157625460-458: The bed of what is now Puget Sound filled alternately with fresh and with sea water. The upper level of the lake-sediment Lawton Clay now lies about 120 feet (37 m) above sea level. The Puget Sound system consists of four deep basins connected by shallower sills. The four basins are Hood Canal , west of the Kitsap Peninsula , Whidbey Basin, east of Whidbey Island, South Sound , south of
5565-515: The courts for enforcement of their rights under the treaties. In one of the earliest of the enforcement cases, decided in 1887, the United States Indian agent and several members of the Yakama tribe filed suit in territorial court to enforce their right of access to off-reservation fishing locations. Frank Taylor, a non-Indian settler, had obtained land from the United States and had fenced off
5670-681: The defendants. Boldt declared a mistrial and sentenced the defendants to up to a year in prison for contempt of court. On October 22, 1971, President Richard Nixon appointed Boldt chairman of the Pay Board, an agency established within the Executive Office of the President of the United States under the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 . Boldt suffered from Alzheimer's disease during his final years, and died on March 18, 1984, at
5775-512: The district court's decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. On June 27, 2016, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision and upheld the injunction. Washington State has estimated it will need to fix an average of 30 to 40 culverts a year to comply with the injunction. Scholars consider the Boldt decision to be a landmark case in American Indian law, in
5880-543: The district court's equitable remedy should attempt to minimize hardships for white reef net fishermen. District court judge James M. Burns , sitting by designation, wrote a separate concurring opinion in which he criticized the "recalcitrance of Washington State officials" in their management of the state's fisheries. Judge Burns argued that Washington's recalcitrance forced Judge Boldt to act as "perpetual fishmaster" and noted that he "deplore[d]" situations in which district court judges are forced to act as "enduring managers of
5985-525: The dominant fur trading market and drive the early Puget Sound economy. The first organized American expedition took place under the helm of Commander Charles Wilkes , whose exploring party sailed up Puget Sound in 1841. The first permanent American settlement on Puget Sound was Tumwater , founded in 1845 by Americans who had come via the Oregon Trail . The decision to settle north of the Columbia River
6090-591: The edge of the Juan de Fuca Plate are being subducted under the North American Plate . There has not been a major subduction zone earthquake here since the magnitude nine Cascadia earthquake ; according to Japanese records, it occurred on January 26, 1700. Lesser Puget Sound earthquakes with shallow epicenters , caused by the fracturing of stressed oceanic rocks as they are subducted, still cause great damage. The Seattle Fault cuts across Puget Sound, crossing
6195-421: The falls. The United States Attorney for Washington then filed a suit to enforce the treaty rights of the tribe. The trial court held that the property rights of the Winans allowed them to exclude others from the property, including Indians. In 1905, the United States Supreme Court reversed that decision by holding that the tribe had reserved fishing rights when they ceded the property to the United States. Since
6300-586: The fish harvest. The court retained continuing jurisdiction, and his order was not appealed. Although the Belloni decision established the rights of the Indian tribes to exercise their treaty fishing rights, the States of Oregon and Washington continued to arrest tribal members for violations of state law and regulations that infringed on those rights. In September 1970, the United States Attorney filed an action in
6405-422: The fisheries, forests, and highways." In his concluding remarks, Judge Burns argued that Washington's responsibility to manage its natural resources "should neither escape notice nor be forgotten." After the Ninth Circuit issued its ruling in the direct appeal, the case was remanded to the district court for further proceedings. Washington submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, which denied
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#17328375157626510-453: The harvest, but by 1984, they were collecting 49%. Tribal members became successful commercial fishermen, even expanding to marine fishing as far away as Alaska . The tribes became co-managers of the fisheries along with the state, hiring fish biologists and staff to carry out those duties. The Makah tribe, based on the terms of the Neah Bay Treaty and the Boldt decision, took their first California gray whale in over 70 years in 1999. Following
6615-451: The harvest. The Boldt decision further defined that reserved right, holding that the tribes were entitled to half the fish harvest each year. In 1975, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Boldt's ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. After the state refused to enforce the court order, Judge Boldt ordered the United States Coast Guard and federal law enforcement agencies to enforce his rulings. On July 2, 1979,
6720-469: The land, preventing access by the Yakama to their traditional fishing locations. Although the trial court ruled in Taylor's favor, the Supreme Court of the Territory of Washington reversed and held that the tribe had reserved its own rights to fish, thereby creating an easement or an equitable servitude of the land that was not extinguished when Taylor obtained title. Within ten years, another case arose, which dealt with fishing rights at Celilo Falls ,
6825-404: The landscape from melt water of the Vashon Glacier creating the drumlin field. As the ice retreated, vast amounts of glacial till were deposited throughout the Puget Sound region. The soils of the region, less than ten thousand years old, are still characterized as immature. As the Vashon glacier receded a series of proglacial lakes formed, filling the main trough of Puget Sound and inundating
6930-1265: The marine mammals species found in Puget Sound are harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina ). Orca ( Orcinus orca ), or "killer whales" are famous throughout the Sound, and are a large tourist attraction. Although orca are sometimes seen in Puget Sound proper they are far more prevalent around the San Juan Islands north of Puget Sound. Many fish species occur in Puget Sound. The various salmonid species, including salmon , trout , and char are particularly well-known and studied. Salmonid species of Puget Sound include chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ), chum salmon ( O. keta ), coho salmon ( O. kisutch ), pink salmon ( O. gorbuscha ), sockeye salmon ( O. nerka ), sea-run coastal cutthroat trout ( O. clarki clarki ), steelhead ( O. mykiss irideus ), sea-run bull trout ( Salvelinus confluentus ), and Dolly Varden trout ( Salvelinus malma malma ). Common forage fishes found in Puget Sound include Pacific herring ( Clupea pallasii ), surf smelt ( Hypomesus pretiosus ), and Pacific sand lance ( Ammodytes hexapterus ). Important benthopelagic fish of Puget Sound include North Pacific hake ( Merluccius productus ), Pacific cod ( Gadus macrocelhalus ), walleye pollock ( Theragra chalcogramma ), and
7035-450: The matter, determining traditional fishing locations and compiling major orders of the court. The case continued to have issues brought up before the district court. In what became known as "Phase II", District Judge William H. Orrick, Jr. heard the issues presented by the United States on behalf of the tribes. Following the hearing, Orrick enjoined the State of Washington from damaging the fish's habitat and included hatchery-raised fish in
7140-436: The most concerted official and private efforts to frustrate a decree of a federal court witnessed in this century. The challenged orders in this appeal must be reviewed by this court in the context of events forced by litigants who offered the court no reasonable choice. George Hugo Boldt George Hugo Boldt (December 28, 1903 – March 18, 1984) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for
7245-464: The north coast of Washington and the San Juan Islands, essentially equivalent to NOAA's "Northern Puget Sound" subdivision described above. Kruckeberg uses the term "Puget Sound and adjacent waters". Kruckeberg's 1991 text, however, does not reflect the 2009 decision of the United States Board on Geographic Names to use the term Salish Sea to refer to the greater maritime environment. Continental ice sheets have repeatedly advanced and retreated from
7350-421: The one at the entrance to Hood Canal (about 175 ft or 53 m below the surface), and the one at the Tacoma Narrows (about 145 ft or 44 m). Other sills that present less of a barrier include the ones at Blake Island , Agate Pass , Rich Passage , and Hammersley Inlet . The depth of the basins is a result of the Sound being part of the Cascadia subduction zone , where the terranes accreted at
7455-409: The opportunity to take up to the same percentage." The formula used by Boldt gave the tribes 43% of the Puget Sound harvest, which was equivalent to 18% of the statewide harvest. The order required the state to limit the amount of fish taken by non-Indian commercial fishermen, causing a drop in their income from about $ 15,000–20,000 to $ 500–2000. Furthermore, the court also held the state could regulate
7560-507: The present Canada-U.S. border. Since each new advance and retreat of ice erodes away much of the evidence of previous ice ages, the most recent Vashon phase has left the clearest imprint on the land. At its maximum extent the Vashon ice sheet extended south of Olympia to near Tenino , and covered the lowlands between the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges. About 14,000 years ago the ice began to retreat. By 11,000 years ago it survived only north of
7665-411: The regulatory means of achieving them. The state may not qualify the federal right by subordinating it to some other state objective or policy. It may use its police power only to the extent necessary to prevent the exercise of that right in a manner that will imperil the continued existence of the fish resource. Belloni issued a final ruling that the tribes were entitled to a fair and equitable portion of
7770-413: The restrictions for catching steelhead trout with nets had remained, and was a method used only by the tribes, whereas hook and line fishing was allowed but was used only by non-tribal people. As such, the effect of the regulation allocated all of the steelhead trout fishing to sport anglers, and none to the tribes. The third case, Puyallup Tribe, Inc. v. Department of Game of Washington ( Puyallup III ),
7875-576: The river that ran through the Puyallup Reservation as long as the state could base its decision and apportionment on conservation grounds. One year after the Puyallup I decision, Judge Robert C. Belloni issued an order in Sohappy v. Smith , a treaty fishing case involving the Yakama tribe and the state of Oregon. In this case, Oregon had discriminated against the Indian peoples in favor of sports and commercial fishermen, allocating almost nothing to
7980-399: The salmon from reaching the tribal fishing areas. When Washington Territory became a state in 1889, the legislature passed "laws to curtail tribal fishing in the name of 'conservation' but what some scholars described as being designed to protect white fisheries." The state legislature, by 1897, had banned the use of weirs , which were customarily used by Indians fishermen. The tribes turned to
8085-427: The same run. At most, the tribes took only about 2% of the total harvest. There was no evidence presented by the state that showed any detrimental actions by the tribes toward the harvest. Both expert testimony and cultural testimony was presented, with tribal members relating the oral history dealing with the treaties and fishing rights. Additionally, Boldt found that the tribe's witnesses were more credible than those of
8190-508: The size of salmon runs within the case area and thereby violated its obligation under the Stevens Treaties. On March 29, 2013, the court issued an injunction, ordering the state to significantly increase the effort for removing state-owned culverts that block habitat for salmon and steelhead and to replace the state-owned culverts that have the greatest adverse impact on the habitat of anadromous fish by 2030. The State of Washington appealed
8295-634: The southern lowlands. Glacial Lake Russell was the first such large recessional lake. From the vicinity of Seattle in the north the lake extended south to the Black Hills , where it drained south into the Chehalis River . Sediments from Lake Russell form the blue-gray clay identified as the Lawton Clay. The second major recessional lake was Glacial Lake Bretz . It also drained to the Chehalis River until
8400-596: The southern tip of Bainbridge Island and under Elliott Bay . To the south, the existence of a second fault, the Tacoma Fault , has buckled the intervening strata in the Seattle Uplift. Typical Puget Sound profiles of dense glacial till overlying permeable glacial outwash of gravels above an impermeable bed of silty clay may become unstable after periods of unusually wet weather and slump in landslides. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) defines Puget Sound as
8505-509: The stallions themselves. Other agreements with area tribes included the treaties of Medicine Creek , Point Elliott , Neah Bay , and Point No Point . All of them had similar language on the rights of the tribes to fish outside the reservation. While the tribes agreed to part with their land, they insisted on protecting their fishing rights throughout the Washington Territory . Initially, the federal government honored its treaties with
8610-469: The state and that the tribe's expert witnesses were "exceptionally well researched." The court held that when the tribes conveyed millions of acres of land in Washington State through a series of treaties signed in 1854 and 1855, they reserved the right to continue fishing. The court looked at the minutes of the treaty negotiations to interpret the meaning of the treaty language " in common with " as
8715-462: The state was reluctant or at times refused to enforce the law. By 1978, Representative John E. Cunningham tried to get a bill passed to abrogate the treaties, to break up Indian tribal holdings, and stop giving the tribes "special consideration", but the effort failed. In 1984, Washington voters passed an initiative ending "special rights" for Indians, but the state refused to enforce it as being pre-empted by federal law. United States v. Washington
8820-431: The state's jurisdiction." In his majority opinion, Judge Choy emphasized that states may not enact regulations that are "in conflict with treaties in force between the United States and the Indian nations." Consequently, he concluded that the treaties signed in the 1850s expressly preempted Washington's regulations and that non-Indian people had "only a limited right to fish at treaty places." Judge Choy also emphasized that
8925-430: The state's petition for certiorari and subsequent petition for rehearing. Despite the rulings, the parties in the original case continued to litigate issues relating to apportionment of the fisheries and subsequent rulings have been issued as recently as May 2015. After Boldt's decision, the Washington Department of Fisheries issued new regulations in compliance with the decision. The Puget Sound Gillnetters Association and
9030-536: The term Salish Sea was established by the United States Board on Geographic Names as the collective waters of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Strait of Georgia . Sometimes the terms "Puget Sound" and "Puget Sound and adjacent waters" are used for not only Puget Sound proper but also for waters to the north, such as Bellingham Bay and the San Juan Islands region. The term "Puget Sound"
9135-461: The tribes at the headwaters of the river. Oregon argued that the treaties only gave the Indians the same rights as every other citizen, and Belloni noted that "[s]uch a reading would not seem unreasonable if all history, anthropology, biology, prior case law and the intention of the parties to the treaty were to be ignored". Belloni also found that: The state may regulate fishing by non-Indians to achieve
9240-410: The tribes despite losing a series of court cases on the issue. Those cases provided the Indian tribal members a right of access through private property to their fishing locations, and said that the state could neither charge the Indians a fee to fish nor discriminate against the tribes in the method of fishing allowed. Those cases also provided for the Indian tribes rights to a fair and equitable share of
9345-521: The tribes had the right to fish reserved in the treaties, the federal government and subsequent owners had no greater property rights than were granted by the treaties. In 1914, the United States sued again, this time against the Seufert Brothers Company, which had prevented Yakama Indians including Sam Williams from fishing on the Oregon side of the Columbia River near the Celilo Falls. After
9450-529: The tribes were "entitled to an equitable apportionment of the opportunity to fish in order to safeguard their federal treaty rights" and that the Ninth Circuit should grant the district court a "great amount of discretion as a court of equity " when apportioning rights to fisheries. He held that the district court's apportionment "was well within its discretion" but clarified that tribes were not entitled to compensation for "unanticipated heavy fishing" that occurred off Washington's coast. Judge Choy also clarified that
9555-404: The tribes, but with increasing numbers of white settlers moving into the area, the settlers began to infringe upon the fishing rights of the native tribes. By 1883, whites had established more than forty salmon canneries. In 1894, there were three canneries in the Puget Sound area; by 1905, there were twenty-four. The whites also began to use new techniques, which prevented a significant portion of
9660-402: The tribes. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and vacated the decision of the Washington Supreme Court. Justice John Paul Stevens announced the decision of the court, which upheld Judge Boldt's order and overturned the rulings of the state courts. Stevens explicitly stated that Boldt could issue the orders that he did: "[t]he federal court unquestionably has the power to enter
9765-421: The various orders that state official and private parties have chosen to ignore, and even to displace local enforcement of those orders if necessary to remedy the violations of federal law found by the court." When the state would not enforce his order to reduce the catch of non-Indian commercial fishermen, Boldt took direct action by placing the matter under federal supervision. The United States Coast Guard and
9870-464: The waters of the San Juan Islands or anything farther north. Another definition, given by NOAA , subdivides Puget Sound into five basins or regions. Four of these (including South Puget Sound ) correspond to areas within the USGS definition, but the fifth, called "Northern Puget Sound" includes a large additional region. It is defined as bounded to the north by the international boundary with Canada, and to
9975-582: The west by a line running north from the mouth of the Sekiu River on the Olympic Peninsula. Under this definition, significant parts of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia are included in Puget Sound, with the international boundary marking an abrupt and hydrologically arbitrary limit. According to Arthur Kruckeberg, the term "Puget Sound" is sometimes used for waters north of Admiralty Inlet and Deception Pass, especially for areas along
10080-524: Was a landmark case in terms of Native American civil rights and evoked strong emotions. According to former U.S. Representative Lloyd Meeds of Everett , "the fishing issue was to Washington state what busing was to the East" for African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement . The tribes involved benefited greatly from the decision. Prior to Boldt's ruling, Indian tribes collected less than 5% of
10185-564: Was admitted to the union in 1889 as part of the Enabling Act , and the regions borders have since remained unchanged. The Washington State Ferries (WSF) are a state-run ferry system that connects the larger islands of Puget Sound the Washington mainland, and the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. Its vessels carry both passengers and vehicular traffic. The system averaged 24.3 million passengers in
10290-613: Was convicted in state court, which was upheld by the Washington Supreme Court on the grounds that the state's sovereignty allowed it to impose a fee on Indians who were fishing outside the reservation. The United States Supreme Court reversed, stating "we are of the opinion that the state is without power to charge the Yakamas a fee for fishing". Following the Tulee decision, there were three United States Supreme Court decisions involving
10395-465: Was decided in 1977. Members of the Puyallup Tribe filed suit, arguing that under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, Washington state courts lacked jurisdiction to regulate fishing activities on tribal reservations. Writing for a majority of the court, Justice John Paul Stevens held that, despite the tribe's sovereign immunity , the state could regulate the harvest of steelhead trout in the portion of
10500-506: Was depleted by human activities during the 20th century. There are ongoing efforts to restore Olympia oysters in Puget Sound. In 1967, an initial scuba survey estimated that were "about 110 million pounds of geoducks" (pronounced "gooey ducks") situated in Puget Sound's sediments. Also known as "king clam", geoducks are considered to be a delicacy in Asian countries. There are many seabird species of Puget Sound. Among these are grebes such as
10605-459: Was first non-Indigenous group to enter Puget Sound since George Vancouver in 1792. The expedition went on to reach the Fraser River , first again to reach the lower Fraser since Fraser himself in 1808. The first non-Indigenous settlement in the Puget Sound area was Fort Nisqually , a fur trade post of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) built in 1833. Fort Nisqually was part of the HBC's Columbia District , headquartered at Fort Vancouver . In 1838,
10710-520: Was his opinion in United States v. Washington (1974), which upheld tribal fishing rights under several treaties. Another notable case was the Seattle Conspiracy Trial (Seattle 7, November–December 1970). In this case, a major federal prosecution of anti-Vietnam War activists, the government's case collapsed when its star witness admitted under cross-examination that he "would lie to get"
10815-580: Was in private practice of law in Seattle, Washington , from 1928 to 1945. He was in the United States Army as a lieutenant colonel from 1942 to 1945. He was a state special deputy attorney general of Washington in 1940 and from 1946 to 1947. He was in private practice of law in Tacoma, Washington , from 1946 to 1953. He was a special prosecuting attorney of Pierce County, Washington , from 1948 to 1949. Boldt
10920-557: Was made in part because one of the settlers, George Washington Bush , was considered black and the Provisional Government of Oregon banned the residency of mulattoes but did not actively enforce the restriction north of the river. In 1853 Washington Territory was formed from part of Oregon Territory . In 1888 the Northern Pacific railroad line reached Puget Sound, linking the region to eastern states. Washington State
11025-636: Was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on June 10, 1953, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington vacated by Judge Charles H. Leavy . He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 14, 1953, and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge in 1971. He assumed senior status on October 30, 1971. His service was terminated on March 18, 1984, due to his death. Boldt's most notable (as well as controversial) decision
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