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67-637: The Gateway Pacific Terminal was a proposed export terminal at Cherry Point ( Lummi : Xwe’chi’eXen ) in Whatcom County , Washington , along the Salish Sea shoreline. It was announced in 2011 and would have exported coal, but was opposed by local residents and the Lummi Nation , who had an ancestral village site at Cherry Point. The terminal project was rejected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2016, ruling that it would infringe on

134-563: 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

201-811: A blessing by the Lummi Nation at the Tribal Administration Center. On May 9, 2016, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit to the project, citing the Lummi Nation's treaty-protected fishing rights. In July 2021, Whatcom County passed a zoning ordinance to prohibit new refineries, fossil fuel shipment facilities, coal plants, piers, and wharfs, in an attempt to put a permanent end to such proposals. 48°51′48″N 122°44′26″W  /  48.86333°N 122.74056°W  / 48.86333; -122.74056 Cherry Point Refinery Completed in 1971, its design and construction

268-684: A fight in the courts over the Gateway Pacific Terminal. These protests by the Lummi and others regarding the Gateway Pacific Terminal connect to regional struggles against fossil coal extraction and export by environmental groups and Native American organizations in the Pacific Northwest . In September 2012, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians , a congress of more than 50 tribes in seven states, passed

335-545: 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 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

402-534: 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 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

469-613: A resolution demanding a broad environmental impact statement for all terminal projects regionally. Another regional protest against coal development in the Pacific Northwest by Native American groups was the Totem Pole Journey, the journey of a 22-foot totem pole through the region from Vancouver, British Columbia to Lame Deer, Montana . On August 21, 2015, the pole made a stop in Bellingham, Washington, for

536-507: 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

603-540: A year by 2019. The quantity of oil spilled in the area would increase 28 percent, from 656 gallons to 857 gallons. On January 5, 2015, the Lummi Indian Business Council and the Lummi Nation sent a formal letter to the Army Corps of Engineer requesting a denial of the permit. The letter, signed by members of the Council and Chair Tim Ballew II, states "The proposed project will directly result in

670-602: 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

737-500: 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, 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

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804-696: 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 , 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

871-621: 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,

938-626: Is from the Alaska North Slope . It is brought in by petroleum tankers via the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Rosario Strait and delivered directly to the refinery via the facility's tanker pier near a minor headland called Cherry Point, on the Strait of Georgia. The refinery received the first oil through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline , transported aboard the ARCO Juneau , in early August 1977. The remainder of

1005-511: 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,

1072-714: 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

1139-533: The Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution in opposition to the development of coal export ports in the region. This followed the passage of resolutions in opposition by smaller municipalities regionally, including Hood River, Oregon , and Camas , Washougal , and Marysville , in Washington . In October 2012, a group of Native and non-Native fishermen gathered a fleet of boats in

1206-571: 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" 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

1273-563: 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 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

1340-538: 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,

1407-498: The Washington State Department of Ecology stated that the construction of the Gateway Pacific Terminal would cause an increase in potential oil spills, leading to environmental damage and disruption of traditional fishing grounds. The median amount of oil spills in the nearby Puget Sound is projected by the study to increase 26 percent, or an increase from approximately 10 to approximately 13 individual spills

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1474-628: 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

1541-579: 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

1608-810: 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

1675-515: 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

1742-476: The 1855 Treaty of Point Elliot , which under Article 5 grants signatory nations "The right of taking fish at usual and accustomed grounds and stations is further secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the Territory." Further, they argue the presence of the terminal could "irrevocably damage religious and sacred sites, such as Cherry Point, if the coal should spill." Previous requests for permits in

1809-508: 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

1876-590: The Chehalis River until 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

1943-458: The Corps in evaluating our request for a permit denial. However, we are not interested in engaging in a lengthy dialogue with the project proponent and do not anticipate the necessity of responding further." Additionally, the Lummi Nation announced on the same date that they were hiring Dentons , the world's largest law firm, to represent them in future lawsuits, indicating the Lummi are preparing for

2010-647: 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

2077-487: 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

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2144-538: 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

2211-485: 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 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

2278-472: 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,

2345-539: 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

2412-478: The Whatcom County Council voted unanimously to ban new refineries, shipping terminals, or coal-fired power plants at Cherry Point. In December 2023, BP finalized its purchase of 1,100 acres (450 ha) near Cherry Point from a subsidiary of SSA Marine for $ 50 million to be used as a buffer for their refinery. The purchase was opposed by the Lummi Nation due to its potential encroachment of

2479-418: The area, including for a proposed salmon fishery, have been rejected on similar grounds. On June 1, 2011, more than 300 persons turned out for a hearing regarding the Gateway Pacific Terminal hosted by Mayor Dan Pike of nearby Bellingham, Washington . Many of the speakers opposed the terminal, citing varied concerns, including "health effects from coal dust and ship and locomotive emissions, climate change from

2546-466: 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

2613-587: The burning of exported coal in China, and reduced property values from railroad dirt and noise." Supporters of the project also spoke, with primarily members of local labor unions speaking in support because of potential employment opportunities. David Warren, a former president of the Whatcom County Labor Council , stated, "We've lost 3,500 to 4,000 jobs in the last several years in this area ... you can't say you're for jobs if you are against

2680-591: The crude comes from a pipeline connected to reserves in Western Canada . In January 2014 the refinery finished construction of a rail facility to import Bakken crude from North Dakota . The gasoline and diesel are primarily shipped to filling stations in Washington and Oregon via the Olympic Pipeline and over-the-road fuel trucks. Jet fuel from Cherry Point Refinery accounts for 85% of

2747-538: 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

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2814-604: 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

2881-637: 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 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,

2948-519: The fishing rights of the Lummi Nation. On February 28, 2011, the environmental review process for the Gateway Pacific Terminal commenced when SSA Marine applied for state and federal permits to build the $ 500 million project. On the federal level, the Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of the environmental review process, and ultimately, the fate of the project. The proposed terminal would have primarily exported coal , and if constructed would be

3015-652: The fuel used by the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport . Significant quantities of calcined coke are also produced and shipped to the nearby ALCOA aluminium smelter . A fire in February 2012 caused the plant to be shut down for several weeks. A coal export facility known as the Gateway Pacific Terminal was proposed to be built here. The proposal was strongly opposed by the Lummi Nation , who argued that

3082-411: The historic Xwe’chi’eXen site, a gathering place for the Lummi people for thousands of years. Puget Sound Puget Sound ( / ˈ p juː dʒ ɪ t / PEW -jit ; Lushootseed : x̌ʷəlč IPA: [ˈχʷəlt͡ʃ] WHULCH ) is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington . As

3149-537: The industries that provide them." On June 3, 2011 in the aftermath of the June 1 meeting, Mayor Pike announced his opposition to the Gateway Pacific Terminal project, stating "At this point, I don't think this community wants to see any coal, and I'm kind of with them on that," and critiqued the concerns over employment opportunities, stating "We cannot turn our backs on people who are struggling in this community, but that doesn't mean we take jobs at any cost." In May, 2012,

3216-490: The landscape via the mechanics of ice/glaciers, but rather eroding 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

3283-479: The largest coal export terminal in North America. The Gateway Pacific Terminal would include a 2,980-foot dock and allow up to 487 ships per year to berth. The scale of the project resulted in protests by the Lummi Nation and other concerned parties in opposition to the construction of the terminal. The Lummi Nation argues that the construction of the Gateway Pacific Terminal violates their treaty rights under

3350-644: 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 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

3417-617: The main trough of Puget Sound and inundating 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

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3484-1265: 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

3551-540: 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

3618-685: The proposal infringed on their rights under the Treaty of Point Elliott , and that it would have destroyed the local ecosystems of the local fisheries. The project was also opposed by the Sightline Institute and the Sierra Club 's Beyond Coal campaign. On May 9, 2016, the United States Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit to the project, citing the Lummi Nation's treaty-protected fishing rights. On July 27, 2021,

3685-785: The refinery became a BP operation 22 years ago in January 2002, following BP's April 2000 purchase of ARCO. The refinery was initially planned to be built closer to Seattle, at Kayak Point , northwest of Everett , but Atlantic Richfield abandoned those plans in October 1968 and built the facility at Cherry Point. When first operational, Cherry Point had a capacity of about 100,000 barrels (16,000 m ); it currently processes over 225,000 barrels (35,800 m ) of petroleum (crude oil) per day, with 90% becoming gasoline , diesel or jet fuel . It covers about 3,300 acres (5.2 sq mi; 13 km ). Most of Cherry Point's crude oil

3752-609: 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

3819-538: The substantial impairment of the treaty rights of the Lummi Nation throughout the Nations’ "usual and accustomed" fishing areas... The Lummi have harvested at this location since time immemorial and plan to continue into the future. The proposed project will impact this significant treaty harvesting location and will significantly limit the ability of tribal members to exercise their treaty rights... The devastating environmental impacts associated with this project, as well as

3886-409: The term Salish Sea to refer to the greater maritime environment. Continental ice sheets have repeatedly advanced and retreated from 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

3953-449: The term "Puget Sound" is sometimes used for waters north of Admiralty Inlet and Deception Pass, especially for areas along 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

4020-429: The trust responsibility of federal agencies to ensure the protection of the treaty rights of the Lummi Nation, mandate the denial of any and all permits under the Corp’s jurisdiction." On August 27, 2015, the Lummi Indian Business Council and the Lummi Nation sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers requesting an expedited decision on the status of the Gateway Pacific Terminal, stating "We remain committed to assisting

4087-474: The waters around Xwe’chi’eXen to stand with the Lummi Nation in opposition. This action was supported by the leadership of the Lummi Nation, with Lummi Nation Chairman Cliff Cultee stating "We have to say ‘no’ to the coal terminal project ... it is our Xw’ xalh Xechnging (sacred duty) to preserve and protect all of Xwe’chi’eXen." Again, in October 2012, tribal leaders burned a mock million dollar to signify that they could not be bought out. A December 2014 study by

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4154-400: The waters of Hood Canal , Admiralty Inlet, Possession Sound , Saratoga Passage , and others. It does not include Bellingham Bay , Padilla Bay, 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

4221-408: 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

4288-458: 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

4355-459: 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,

4422-435: 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

4489-403: Was overseen by George W. Glade, CEO and President of Parsons Constructors, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ralph M. Parsons Company. It is the fourth largest refinery on the West Coast , and one of the last major oil refineries built in the United States. The Cherry Point refinery supplies about 20% of the gasoline in Washington state. Originally an Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) facility,

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