Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

The Upper Skagit Tribe is analyzing scale samples to determine the age of steelhead returning to the Skagit River.

Unlike most species of salmon, steelhead can spawn repeatedly before they die. They mature at 2 or 3 years, and can stay at sea up to three years before returning to fresh water to spawn.

Upper Skagit tribal staff took scale samples from 75 wild steelhead to …

Earthjustice posted a column that explains the Swinomish Tribe’s appeal of the state Department of Ecology’s actions in the Skagit River water rights dispute:

Washington state’s Swinomish tribe faces a water rights battle in the Skagit River basin, the likes of which we have seen before. It’s reminiscent of the dispute that broke out around a decade ago in the Klamath River basin in California and

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Fish access and tidal flow were restored in March to a high-priority pocket estuary near the Swinomish reservation.

The Skagit River System Cooperative (SRSC) removed a portion of Similk Bay Road and a non-functioning tide gate that isolated about 8 acres of estuary in Turners Bay. SRSC is the natural resources extension of the Swinomish and Sauk-Suiattle tribes.

The road removal restored natural processes to a …

The Coast Salish Gathering was held Sunday through Tuesday in Cowichan, B.C.

From the Cowichan News Leader:

Dozens of West Coast chiefs and Native leaders representing 66 tribes met with scientists in Duncan this week in an effort to find new approaches to climate change.

A few hundred participants took part in a three-day Coast Salish gathering at the Qu’wutsun’ Cultural Centre to discuss what

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Point Elliott Treaty tribes are using a safer, less-expensive method of collaring and tracking elk in the Nooksack herd.

Tribal and state wildlife co-managers monitor the Nooksack herd via helicopter surveys. In the past, animals were fitted with tracking collars after being tranquilized by aerial darts. However, helicopter time is expensive and aerial darting poses a safety risk.

“We’re looking at ways to put collars on …

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced grant funding for tribal wildlife conservation projects, including the Swinomish Tribe’s management of Kukutali Preserve, also known as Kiket Island.

From Environment News Service:

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community will inventory, manage, protect, and enhance wildlife and habitat resources on the 118 acres of tidelands, nearshore, and old growth forests of Kukutali Preserve on the Swinomish Reservation in

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Earthjustice and the Center for Environmental Law and Policy filed a friends of the court brief today with the Washington State Court of Appeals supporting the Swinomish Tribe’s effort to protect the Skagit River and salmon habitat.

In their brief, Earthjustice and CELP argue that the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) cannot allow more water to be withdrawn from the troubled Skagit River and its tributaries

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The Sauk-Suiattle Tribe is working with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to study sediment on the Sauk, Suiattle and White Chuck rivers.

Sediment is a concern in this watershed because the rivers pass through a network of forest roads and culverts that can fail and cause landslides. The glacier-fed rivers already have a naturally high amount of sediment, but silt from glacier melt is suspected to …

The Bellingham Herald:

An ongoing effort to improve salmon habitat in the lower Nooksack floodplain received another round of federal funding, the state Department of Ecology announced recently.

Phase 3 of the Smuggler’s Slough restoration project obtained an $804,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for acquisition of 101 acres of wetlands and salt marsh along the lower reach of the slough off Lummi

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Indian Country Today has a story about the 157th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Point Elliott. The article highlights the importance of the rights reserved by the tribes in 1855.

At the annual Treaty Days commemoration in the Swinomish Smokehouse January 21, one leader talked of how, as a child, he saw his parents get arrested for fishing without a state license, even

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