Leaders from the Lummi Nation discussed ongoing environmental and health concerns facing the Tribe with U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen Thursday.
Throughout the afternoon, tribal leadership showed Larsen around the community, where he toured the temporary detox center, saw the ongoing construction of a new health care facility and visited the Tribe’s hatcheries.
William Jones Jr., the chairperson of the Lummi Indian Business Council (LIBC), invited Larsen for the tour about six weeks ago, when he visited Washington, D.C. to discuss the Tribe’s needs.
The LIBC’s chief of staff, Akesha Martin, said they invited Larsen out to develop relationships with local leadership.
“We like to create relationships with upper-level policymakers to see how we can help each other,” she said.
Throughout Thursday’s tour, he shared stories related to the Tribe’s battles with fentanyl, trapping green crabs and flooding.
“They have a long-term plan to help address the scourge of fentanyl,” Larsen told the Cascadia Daily News after his tour. “Included in that is the short-term plan to build a new detox facility.”
After the tour of the facility, Jones brought Larsen to the shellfish and fish hatcheries.
“We went out to look at the hatchery, because frankly, I’m only slightly older than their hatchery,” Larsen said. “They need a larger, more efficient hatchery that helps support them.”
During the visit, Lummi biologists and natural resources employees showed Larsen buckets filled with European green crabs they caught earlier that day.
The crabs, an invasive species, have devastated local fish populations, destroyed eelgrass beds and multiply exponentially.
The next step, Larsen said, is to figure out how his office can help the Tribe access financial support and direction throughout their projects.
“They’ve given us a good to-do list,” he said. “It’s always better to take the field trip and see it with my own eyes.”