We the citizens of Jefferson and Clallam County and beyond are in FULL SUPPORT of the Land Transfer Act of 2026, which will return the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and Protection Island Wildlife Refuge, currently co-managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, to trust lands of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe. 

Tribal officials have stated that this change will “restore tribal stewardship over ancestral lands while expressly preserving conservation purposes, appropriate public access, and wildlife protections through a Tribal Management Plan.”

The City Council voted 6-0 in favor of the transfer, and they have written a letter of strong support to Senator Maria Cantwell and Representative Emily Randall, extolling the Tribe's history of partnership and contributions to the cultural and economic life of the city. 

State Senator Mike Chapman's office writes, “Senator Chapman supports the proposed transfer of the Dungeness Wildlife Refuge and Protection Island Wildlife Refuge from the federal government to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. It’s important that the Tribe have these lands returned to them which are culturally significant to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.”

To learn more about this proposed transfer, which will need congressional approval, you can read this article in the Sequim Gazette. 

Meanwhile, a group of "concerned citizens" are spreading rumors and falsehoods about this transfer with a petition of their own that states, "Shifting ownership solely to the Sovereign Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe is not in the best interests of American citizens." No real factual support is given for this statement (and apparently the members of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe are not considered American citizens by the drafters of the petition). The petition insinuates that the Tribe will close off public access, when first and foremost, Protection Island has been closed by the USFWS to public access to protect nesting seabird colonies for decades. Second, the legislation specifically requires that the Tribe "must maintain a publicly available management plan, continue to allow appropriate public access and educational opportunities, and prohibit any gaming on the transferred lands and commercial development."

At a recent County Commissioners meeting, speaker after speaker stood up and continued these rumors, including that the transfer would affect the tax base for the county, when the land is already in public ownership (therefore not taxed) and the transfer is revenue-neutral. 

These lands are of great cultural and historic importance to the S'Klallam people, and the biologists working for the Tribe are some of the most highly trained biologists we have on the Northern Olympic peninsula. We have full confidence in the Tribe's capacity to manage these lands, as they manage so many other institutions in Clallam County that benefit all of us: aquatic lands, the Dungeness Nature Center, the Jamestown Family Health Clinic, Jamestown Healing Clinics, and many others. Dungeness Spit and Protection Island are very much part of the original territory of the S'Klallam people, and are a tiny fraction of the lands that were taken from them, with little-to-no choice or compensation.

This is a creative, local solution to land management, recreation, and conservation of our environmental treasures at a time of decreasing federal support. All federal agencies are experiencing drastic cuts, particularly land management agencies. We believe that these lands are likely to be better managed by the Tribe, given how little funding the US Fish and Wildlife Service currently has and is likely to have in the future. 

We celebrate this legislation, and wish our representatives and the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Council to know that there are many of us here who support their decisions in this matter.

Please sign and share this petition to support the Land Transfer Act of 2026 of the Dungeness Wildlife Refuge and Protection Island Refuge to its rightful stewards, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.