Washington's inland waters now the Salish Sea

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names has adopted the name Salish Sea for the inland waters that stretch from Olympia north to Canada's Desolation Sound.

Lou Yost, the board's executive secretary, said the name was approved Thursday, meaning Salish (SAY'-lish) Sea can now be added to maps and other materials. The name was proposed to describe the region's far-reaching ecosystem, which until now has not had an official name but includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia - all well known marine waterways in the Pacific Northwest.

Bart Webber, a retired marine biology professor at Huxley College of Environmental Studies at Western Washington University who proposed the name, said it seemed appropriate because the indigenous people in the region are connected by various Coast Salish languages.

"The Salish people were here first," Webber told The Herald of Everett. "It's not a perfect fit - the Makah Tribe at Neah Bay are not Salish people - but it fits pretty well."

Washington state's Board of Geographic Names approved the name late last month. The Geographical Names Board of Canada also has approved using Salish Sea for most of the marine waters between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland. Approval by the British Columbia government is needed before the name is official.

The Washington side of the border often is called Puget Sound, but the U.S. Geological Survey says technically that name only refers to the waters south and east of Whidbey Island, including those off Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Everett and Bremerton.

The British explorer Capt. George Vancouver named it after Lt. Peter Puget, a member of Vancouver's expedition who surveyed the southern sound in 1792.

The Salish Sea on the U.S. side includes a number of passages, bays, inlets, ports and channels, and one erroneously named canal - Hood Canal, which actually is a fjord. All their existing names will remain unchanged.

Marlin Fryberg Jr., the Tulalip Tribes board secretary, said the name Salish Sea reflects the region's history.

"The Salish Sea has provided travel ways for our ancestors and people for decades," he said. "It is part of our past, present and future."

The state board turned down Webber's initial request for the name in 1990, saying there wasn't a need and no historical evidence that anyone had ever grouped the waters together. But use of Salish Sea by businesses, tribes, artists, educators and others grew over the years and Webber decided to try again.

Caleb Maki, secretary of the state board, said there were a few objections from people who thought the name wasn't necessary or was simply a way to be politically correct.

"We could hem and haw, but the name is in common local usage," Maki said. "This has been a cooperative effort with British Columbia, and nobody foresees the new name cluttering up the maps."

Longtime Everett commercial fisherman Jim Leese Sr. said he can see the logic of the collective name.

"If you need to call it one name, Salish Sea probably will be fine," Leese, 83, told The Herald. "It just might be hard for some of us older fishermen to get used to."