Puyallup tribal members and other activists protest Tacomas proposed liquid natural gas facility in November of 2016.
Puyallup tribal members and other activists protest Tacoma's proposed liquid natural gas facility in November of 2016. SB

If you need to take a break from New York Magazine's extinction porn, check out what happened this weekend: Native water protectors and other environmental activists from all over Puget Sound spent three days walking, drumming, chanting, and dancing their way from downtown Seattle down to Tacoma, a total of nearly 40 miles, to pray and fight for the Salish Sea.

The march, which launched from Myrtle Edwards Park in downtown Seattle, ended at the site of a proposed Puget Sound Energy natural gas facility at the Port of Tacoma that's drawn months of protest. According to the City of Tacoma, the proposed natural gas facility would chill natural gas to create 250,000 gallons of its liquid product a day for use in ships, land transportation, and peak electricity demand. The project would also build five additional miles of pipeline throughout Pierce County.

The Puyallup Tribe has long opposed the proposed plant, citing the risk of spills and its members' treaty right to fish in adjacent waters. Two years ago, the tribe filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block permits for the project. Other Tacoma locals, like the group Redline Tacoma, have also heavily protested the LNG facility. In May, police arrested five people who chained themselves to drilling equipment on site, including Sarah Morken, a socialist currently running for Tacoma's City Council.

Here's organizer Paul Wagner explaining the significance of the weekend: