Dear editor,
I read with great interest Lynne Wheeler's letter to Environment Minister Peter Kent regarding protecting Baynes Sound and the southern Strait of Georgia National Marine Conservation Area.
Expanding the NMCA to include all of the Salish Sea would be a significant contribution Kent's government could make to the ecological and economic well-being of this region.
Working with Washington State to create a trans-boundary International Salish Sea Marine Conservation Area would not only protect orca habitat and a seamless ecosystem; it would also send a strong message that the relationship between our two countries is much more than a thin line on a map.
Meanwhile, I support every effort by the federal government to make the entire Canadian side of the Salish Sea an NMCA where all marine resources can be carefully and conservatively managed for future generations to enjoy and external threats such as proposed adjacent open pit coal mines are thoroughly evaluated with regards to potential direct, indirect, and cumulative effects on the marine environment.
Dr. Katherine Dunster,
Denman Island