The Salish Sea is a natural ecosystem that happens to be split horizontally down the middle by the US / Canada border—an invisible barrier that is of course not recognized by wild species.

Ginny Broadhurst is founding Director of the Salish Sea Institute at Western Washington University. One of her overarching goals is to try and erase that border in people’s minds as they go about their work so that the focus remains fixed on the ecosystem. She’s pretty great at it. Find more info here: salishsea.wwu.edu

Note: This episode aired in early January before any Federal Government transition or the imposition of tariffs. We're saddened by the situation and look forward to a future with strong collaboration between the two countries.

RESOURCES: 

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The Governance paper that explains the complexity of Salish Sea governance: https://cedar.wwu.edu/salish_pubs/33/ 

The 1992 Environmental Cooperation Agreement between BC and WA - an excellent illustration of recognizing shared environmental threats and the need to cooperate on solutions: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/natural-resource-policy-legislation/environmental-policy/bcwaccord.pdf

Stefan Freelan's map of the Salish Sea: https://salishsea.wwu.edu/salish-sea-surrounding-basin

Aquila Flower's Salish Sea atlas: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/74685f3da4f9411f9746a5f34c6f4312