Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

The Peninsula Daily News recently reported on a public presentation by Robert Elofson, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s river restoration director, on the latest efforts of the removal of the two dams on the Elwha River.

From the story:

Efforts to restore the legendary salmon run are ahead of schedule, Elofson told a group of about 20 at the Elwha Klallam Heritage Training Center on

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The Suquamish Tribe recently pulled up the bones of a gray whale from Agate Pass, with hopes of rebuilding the skeleton for educational purposes.

The tribe acquired the remains of the juvenile whale in July 2011 after the mammal beached itself and died near Silverdale. After biologists gathered tissue samples, the tribe wrapped the whale in net material and towed it to Agate Pass to let …

Here is the latest video report from KUOW  and EarthFix on the progress of the restoration efforts of the Elwha River. This report explores how scientists are taking sediment samples from the river. Nearly 20 million cubic yards of sediment have built up behind the dams for nearly a century; A portion of this material is now being released downriver as the dams are slowly …

Following the Skokomish River estuary restoration effort in 2010, the Skokomish Tribe has been closely monitoring the project site in hopes of seeing salmon using the new habitat for feeding and refuge.

Since August, natural resources staff members have been seining dozens of locations within the restored 349-acre area, as well as 330 acres of tidelands nearby that escaped development.

The project area includes 219 acres …

Federal and private dikes built along the lower Dungeness River in 1964 and 1983 have caused ever-increasing harm to salmon.

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dike and a private dike built on each side of the Dungeness River have protected the homes and property behind them for decades.  Now, the dikes are leading to flooding problems for landowners.

Concerned residents approached the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe …

The Peninsula Daily News posted an article announcing that the fish window on the Elwha River has closed earlier than expected, so dam demolition will resume Dec. 19, instead of in January, as initially expected.

From the article:

(Barnard Construction) had to quit dam removal work temporarily Nov. 1, the concern being that any further lowering of the two dams’ reservoirs would harm fish through

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The Lake Aldwell reservoir is starting to look like a river again. It’s just one of the changes to the Elwha River system that the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has been watching with great anticipation since removal of the river’s two fish-blocking dams began in September.

By Nov. 1, the 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam had been lowered by 48 feet and the 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon dam by …

Biologist David Baldwin pours a mixture of copper, zinc, lead and other pollutants into a large tank of water at the Suquamish Tribe’s Grovers Creek Hatchery, then slips four adult coho salmon into the dirty brown liquid. The poisonous soup he creates is aimed to simulate the kind of stormwater runoff to which salmon are frequently exposed, especially in urban streams.

The tribe is working with …

The Northwest Indian College is opening a laboratory classroom on its Port Gamble S’Klallam Reservation campus. The lab will be available to students and employees of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s natural resources department.

From the college’s website:

With the new lab, NWIC students have the opportunity to use instruments and learn techniques routinely employed by environmental scientists, and by government and private organizations, said NWIC

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The Kitsap Sun reported on this fall’s expected fish returns to Kitsap’s watersheds with the inundation of the November rain storms.

From the story:

Recent rains are bringing forth a surge of chum and coho salmon into streams across the Kitsap Peninsula.

With salmon on the move, this weekend might be a good time for local residents and out-of-town visitors to enjoy the natural wonders of

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