Salish Sea speaks to a shared natural heritage

THE ecological unity of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia is officially and delightfully celebrated in the collective name, the Salish Sea.

The name draws on a regional heritage that transcends political boundaries. At least that is the view on this side of the U.S.-Canada border.

Use of Salish Sea is now official in Washington, but it is not a done deal in British Columbia, despite having been adopted by the Geographical Names Board of Canada contingent on approval by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. That happened last week.

Now the name is being additionally vetted by the Integrated Land Management Bureau of the B.C. provincial government.

Embrace of the collective name Salish Sea — think the Great Lakes — does not change names on either side of the border. Puget Sound is still that body of water off Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Everett and Bremerton, but more expansive use of the name never sat right with residents of San Juan County or the Gulf Islands.

The move for official recognition was started by Bert Webber, a marine biologist at Western Washington University. His research on the vast cross-border ecosystem recognized the entire body of water as an integrated ecological unit. Whatever comes out of the Fraser River ends up in the saltwater off Seattle.

Webber's first attempt to change the name was rebuffed in 1990, but over the years he saw use of Salish Sea increase among natural-resource managers and marine-science educators, and by businesses, such as whale-watching tours. Webber, now retired from Huxley College of Environmental Studies at WWU, reapplied for the name recognition in 2008 and won approval late last month.

This time the state Board on Geographic Names acknowledged the broad use of Salish Sea. In the same session that approved Cupacoffee Creek as an official tributary of Coffee Creek in Lewis County, Salish Sea was adopted.

As a practical matter, use of the name on maps will vary with deference to a term of art known as cartographic license. Not all maps are sized to take in the breadth of space covered by the Salish Sea. Inclusion of the name is at the discretion of the mapmaker and the answer to: Is there room?

The Salish Sea speaks to a common aquatic link for which the border is not real.

A previous version of this story, published November 20, 2009 and corrected November 23, 2009, misspelled Fraser River. We regret the error.