ByRepresentatives Chase, Nance, Dent, McClintock, Bernbaum, Engell, Schmick, Orcutt, Springer, Marshall, Volz, Reeves, Jacobsen, Parshley, Klicker, Eslick, and Schmidt

TO THE HONORABLE DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, AND TO THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION:

We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

WHEREAS, Congress passed the Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act in 2018 to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow lethal removal of sea lions on a portion of the Columbia River and these lethal removal efforts have begun to show signs of success; and

WHEREAS, The Washington State Academy of Sciences studied policy responses to increase salmon stocks and reported to the Washington State Legislature in 2022 that current populations of pinnipeds are a contributing factor in the decline and depression of salmon populations in Washington state waters; and

WHEREAS, The Washington State Academy of Sciences recommended that strategic and appropriately scaled adaptive management of pinniped populations, including lethal removals, is a key tool that could be expanded to improve salmon recovery; and

WHEREAS, State and tribal resource managers cannot use the recommended management tools for salmon recovery without Congress providing new flexibility under the Marine Mammal Protection Act that extends beyond the segment of the Columbia River currently authorized;

NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress modify the Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow greater flexibility for states and tribes to use adaptive management tools, including the use of lethal removal, for pinniped predators of endangered salmon stocks across all marine shorelines and the Puget Sound.

BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, the Director of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.