Olympia, wash. (AP) – As the owner of a marina, Kate Gervais is used to seeing boats in the water. But the last few days she sees them in the air.
This week, the Washington Department of Natural Resources used one of his fire -fighting helicopters to leave for abandoned boats of an uninhabited island in the southernmost series of Puget Sound, where the ships had come after drifting with the currents and to the mainland to be deconstructed later.
With 14 ships removed, it was the largest operation of the desk of its kind, said civil servants.
“It was a very strange face,” said Gervais, who owns Boston Harbor Marina, just north of Olympia. “The sailboat with the mast was the weirdest to see.”
A boat removal by helicopter is usually done by a private pilot, but for this operation, which was funded by a federal subsidy, the DNR chose to use one of its fire fighting helicopters. It was cheaper and helped with the stretching of the $ 1 million NOAA subsidy, said Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove.
The state agency chooses to avoid boats if they drag it the seabed or the surrounding environment too much. The aquatic countries where the boats countries often include kelp beds, which are crucial for supporting the feeding forces on which Zalm trusts.
Ships for this operation where to be found in bays that are difficult to reach, on the tree line or in mud that made an air bridge a better option, the staff of the desk said.
Since the boat removal program started in 2002, the department has removed more than 1,200 expired ships. There are at least 300 more, with more to be found, said Uptthegrove.
“It is a real challenge that influences the Puget sound when people essentially dump their old boats in the water because they don't want to deal with throwing them away,” he said. “That burden then falls on all of us.”
The federal subsidy allowed the state to clean up boats on Squaxin Island, an uninhabited island that is of particular cultural importance for the Squaxin Island -Stame. The people of the tribe once shared huge countries in the state of West -Washington, but after the Treaty of Medicine Creek from 1854 the island – 4.5 kilometers (7.2 kilometers) long and a half miles (800 meters) wide – the main area was reserved, according to the website of the tribe.
In the end, the members of the trunk left the island, but they continue to use it for fishing, hunting, collecting and camping shellfish.
“The Squaxin Island tribe is very enthusiastic about this opportunity to work with DNR to tidy up decay ships in tribal countries,” said Daniel Kunz, the policy of the tribe and program manager of the tribe. “Maintaining clean beaches and water are essential for the Squaxin Island culture to guarantee collecting access for future generations.”
