Submitted by LOTT Clean Water Alliance
Last month the Squaxin Island Tribe and LOTT Clean Water Alliance (LOTT) signed an Accord commemorating the strong working relationship between the sovereign nation and the non-profit governmental corporation. The Accord charts a path forward for ongoing collaboration and enduring communications channels. Mutual respect to achieve common goals around water quality, quantity, habitat, climate action, sea level rise adaptation and community resilience are at the heart of the Accord.
Ray Peters, the Squaxin Island Tribe’s intergovernmental affairs and tribal council liaison quote “All of the good work LOTT does goes hand-in-hand with Tribal cultural principles. LOTT’s Board of Directors and staff care and provide a standard of excellence that the Nation can look at to see how it should be done. It is very valuable and rich. “This agreement builds on our history of successful work together and strengthens our future efforts to protect water quality,” said LOTT’s Executive Director Matt Kennelly.
The Squaxin Island Tribe are descendants of the maritime people who lived along the shores and watersheds of the southernmost inlets of the Salish Sea for thousands of years. LOTT Clean Water Alliance’s mission is to protect public health and the environment by cleaning water and recovering resources for the communities of Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater and Thurston County. The stewardship of ancestral lands, including the Steh-Chass (Budd Inlet) and Noo-She-Chatl (Henderson Inlet) watersheds, are a top priority for the Squaxin people, and LOTT’s treatment facilities are a key part in protecting water quality and quantity for these watersheds.
LOTT Board Chair Tye Menser was pleased to support the joint Accord, which was unanimously approved in December. Menser recognized the alignment between LOTT and the Tribe’s values as reflected in the Accord and the benefits for the whole region for years to come.
For more information about the Squaxin Island Tribe, visit the website.
For more information about LOTT, visit the website.
