T&T: Potti

[Richard Tomkinson]

We live in the Skagit Valley. Agriculture is our big business. Any of the 
farmers will tell you of there continuing efforts to keep up to the many 
regulations regarding containment of animal 'tailings', chemicals, and 
biomass from non animal sources. Here as in many places the big issue is 
keeping the many streams habitable for fish, specifically salmon. So farmers 
must keep herds and cultivation way back from stream edges  which of course 
reduces their capacity. This is the same issue as pump-outs, residual 
pharmaceuticals in the water, etc. Either 'we' 'all' act responsibly or 'we' 
'all' suffer the consequences.

It is obvious that we can and do make a difference. I am old enough to 
remember summers on the lower Fraser River valley where we did not see the 
direct sun all summer because of the haze from the beehive burners. The 
Fraser Rive was choked with foam, junk logs, and trash in form of batteries, 
car bodies and refrigerators. And we had huge salmon runs. Now we have a 
clean river, carefully monitored, clean air in spite of x10 population. And 
almost no fish. The delay effect in nature is complex and difficult to 
understand but big picture it is hard to dispute.

Some will wait for regulation, some wait for enforcement, and some just use 
common sense. We are boaters, so we are going to boat. Some will leave their 
garbage on an island in a park, some will take it with them. Life goes on, 
for a while.
Richard