New boat ramp at Point Julia part of Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe's series of bayside projects

POINT JULIA — An old dock beloved by members of the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe for decades has been replaced by a new boat ramp that can better support fishers to launch boats from the beach at Point Julia.

In 2018, the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe demolished the dock at Point Julia, which was built around the 1970s, due to safety issues and environmental concerns, the tribe said.

“It (the old dock) was a place for our families to enhance our lives at the beach. We stored subsistence harvests in the water tied to it, our kids learned to fish from it, and it’s where most of us learned to swim," said PGST Executive Director Kelly Sullivan.

As time passed, the dock became structurally unsafe and contributed to pollution in Port Gamble Bay, Sullivan said. Creosote pilings of the dock may have leached chemicals into the sediments and people could have been exposed to chemicals when playing at the dock. Creosote, derived from the distillation of tar from wood or coal, can also cause high mortality and developmental abnormalities in herring eggs, according to the state's Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

After tearing down the dock in 2018, the tribe began its plan to build a new boat ramp. Construction of the new south boat ramp started in April 2022 and was completed in December that year, said Barret Schmanska at PGST Planning Department, who led the project.

Now, the tribe enjoys the state-of-the-art structure the new boat ramp has, which directly meets the needs of the tribe's fishers and protects the waters, Sullivan said.

The tribe launched a celebration event for the opening of the south boat ramp on Nov. 15. Tribal members, council members, as well as representatives from construction partner Redside Construction Company and design partner Gray and Osborne attended the event, Schmanska said. With tribal elder Bill Ives' praying and tribal council member Matt Ives cutting the ribbon, the ramp was officially open.

The project cost approximately $3.75 million, Schmanska said. In addition, the tribe was obligated to give about $1 million in mitigation funds to the Hood Canal In Lieu Fee Program. The $1 million was required as a part of the Army Corp of Engineers permit, Schmanska said.

The Hood Canal In Lieu Fee Program identifies impacts on freshwater and marine aquatic resources and offers permit applicants to buy mitigation credits from the Hood Canal Coordinating Council (HCCC) nonprofit organization to satisfy mitigation obligations for their proposed projects, according to HCCC.

It is unclear how many years the new south boat launch can be used due to a variety of reasons, not the least of which is sea level rise, Schmanska said. The tribe hopes to get at least several decades of use out of the new boat ramp.

The tribe appreciates those who participated to accomplish the project.

"We thank our planning, natural resources, and legal teams for the years of work and collaboration that was necessary to make this happen,” Sullivan said.

Beside the newly-constructed south boat ramp, on the north side of Point Julia, sits a smaller boat ramp, which is only suitable for small vessels. The north boat ramp was built in the 1950s and replaced in 2016. The two boat ramps at Point Julia are the only two located on the Port Gamble S'Klallam Reservation, according to Schmanska.

New hatchery building under construction

Not far from the boat ramp, PGST is also building a hatchery and beach shelter at Point Julia that would better serve the tribal community and the environment. The facility currently under construction is a 1,800-square-foot, two-story building that includes office space for the tribe's salmon hatchery program and an open-air structure used by the tribal commercial fishing operations, according to CAST Architecture, the tribe's construction partner who's building the hatchery.

The hatchery and beach shelter at Point Julia will open later this year, according to the tribe.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe builds new Point Julia boat ramp