Our lives and livelihoods depend on saving the Salish Sea

Bert Webber, a retired professor of environmental and marine science at Western Washington University and the driving force behind the naming of the Salish Sea, is quick to tell you that not having a name can create problems. In the early 1970s, people in Washington state were worried about the effect of oil tankers from Alaska passing through the Strait of Juan de Fuca to refinery facilities in the United States and Canada. The ensuing debate focused not only on the potential impact but also on what the region should be called. How does one address a possible problem when there isn’t a name for the area where it might occur?