Boats fly through the air in the south Sound

A DNR helicopter lifts a derelict vessel from the water earlier this month.

By Dave Upthegrove

Commissioner of Public Lands

IT’ S A BIRD! IT’S A PLANE! IT’S A…BOAT??

If you happened to be in the south Sound a few weeks ago, you may have seen a strange sight: old, abandoned boats flying through the air.

Thanks to a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program, DNR (Dept of Natural Resources) was able to partner with the Squaxin Island Tribe to remove over a dozen derelict vessels from the Squaxin Island shoreline using – you guessed it – helicopters.

These boats had washed ashore or been left behind by their owners, posing a serious risk to Puget Sound ecosystems and marine life. Using our wildfire helicopters before they were dispatched for the summer, we teamed up with the Squaxin Island Tribe and the Port of Olympia to remove 14 of these vessels from public waters (and provide our pilots valuable flight time in the process).

Speaking of helicopters – we also utilized our flying friends this month (this time Chinook helicopters) to install log jams in the Pilchuk River. This important ecological work is being done by the Tulalip Tribe using salvaged timber from DNR to help restore the health of the river ecosystem and aid the recovery of threatened salmon species.

These projects represent the best of government: efficient, cost-effective collaboration to provide an important service to the public (and doing something cool in the process…). To learn more about our Derelict Vessel Removal Program, click here.