Looking at history can help guide policymaking in the future. That’s why Jaime Herrera Beutler’s sea lion bill that she fought hard to get passed and signed into law is monumental for this region.
In the early 1990s, the government didn’t act quickly enough to address the exploding sea lion population up north in the Ballard Locks and the winter steelhead in Lake Washington were decimated. Now, we have a growing crisis in the Columbia River, where endangered salmon and steelhead runs are on the verge of disappearing because of the sea lion population.
Jaime’s bill to remove a limited number of the ever-expanding sea lions will help protect these runs. Her problem-solving abilities have been placed on display yet again. Thank you, congresswoman.
