The tribe finished building its new hatchery in 2011 as part of the Elwha River restoration project, which includes the removal of the river’s fish-blocking Elwha and Glines Canyon dams that have been in existence for nearly a century. The dams are currently being dismantled and are expected to be fully removed by 2014.

From the story:

The hatchery, built in 1978, was replaced by a new one last May as part of the $325 million federal Elwha River restoration project.

The tribe kept the water flowing through the old hatchery, on Hatchery Road near the tribal center, and into Bosco Creek, connected to the Elwha River, expecting fish to continue to follow the scent of the water to return there when spawning.

The tribe planned to collect the returning fish and bring them to its new hatchery on Stratton Road.

Robert Elofson, the tribe’s river restoration program director, said the fish are instead choosing to come to the new hatchery, possibly following the fish food that makes its way from the hatchery into the river.

Elofson said the old hatchery’s fish ponds likely will be filled in, but offices will continue to be used by the tribe’s Natural Resources Department.

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 though Article V of the treaty was their license to fish. Another talked of being harassed recently for hunting elk in traditional hunting areas, another for harvesting cedar.

And so, the battle to protect treaty rights continues. Doing so takes tenacity and it takes education so the individual knows how to defend the treaty in courts and in the halls of government of the dominant society, they said.

“One hundred and fifty seven years ago, the treaty was signed. We gave up a lot,” said Tulalip Tribes Chairman Mel Sheldon. “(The U.S.) wanted us to live on reservations, they wanted us to learn to farm. The assimilation effort was on. But because our ancestors had the hearts of warriors, we have our language and our way of life today.”

The Treaty of Point Elliott was, in a sense, a bill of sale: In exchange for a large swath of land – bordered roughly by Canada to the north, Seattle to the south, the Salish Sea to the west and the Cascades to the east – the U.S. government promised cash, reservations, health care and schools. The 82 Coast Salish leaders who signed the treaty on January 22, 1855 also reserved the rights of their people to fish, harvest and hunt in their “usual and accustomed grounds.”

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 Thursday night.

“There’s only about 5,000 salmon coming back [now], and they expect between 300,000 and 400,000 salmon coming once the river is restored,” Elofson said.

The 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam and 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon Dam are being taken down as part of a $325 million federal project to restore the river’s ecosystem and salmon runs.

It is the largest dam removal project in the U.S. to date, Elofson said.

Last summer, about 600 coho salmon were released into tributaries between the two dams — the Little River and Indian Creek — to shield them from high sediment loads coming down the main stem of the river.

“It worked out very well,” Elofson said.

“About half of those came back over the lower dam and returned, but half of them stayed up there.”

The Seattle Times:

Like so many dairy farmers, the Werkhovens felt the pinch in 2008 when milk prices plunged, hay prices rose and there was the ever-present issue of finding appropriate ways to dispose of waste. Right and left, dairies were going under — even those like the Werkhoven Dairy, which has operated for decades.

“I’m just glad my dad wasn’t around to see it,” Andy Werkhoven said. Sam Werkhoven, who started the dairy in 1959 with 25 cows, died several years ago.

When Daryl Williams of the Tulalip Tribes, strolled into their pasture one day with an idea on how to turn manure to money, Andy Werkhoven was ready to listen.

The Tulalips were interested because the Werkhoven Dairy is at the confluence of the Skykomish and Snoqualmie rivers, the historic fishing area for the tribe.

Williams’ idea was forming a nonprofit group, Qualco Energy, and buying an anaerobic digester to turn manure to methane, which in turn, powers a generator that puts electricity on the grid.

Sponsored by the Nisqually Tribe and the City of Roy, the event featured displays of salmon and salmon restoration, educational activities, and speakers from organizations involved in salmon restoration.

Before several people addressed the crowd, Nisqually Tribe elder Bob Sison kicked off the event by blessing Muck Creek and the salmon.

“Heavenly Father, creator of heaven and earth, grandfather, eagle spirts, all our ancestors — look upon us today and bless us, guide us … (to) restore these waterways for our salmon to return,” Sison said. “There has been troubles in the past for the salmon. Bring them back in abundance the way it was years ago.”

“Grandfather, look upon us,” he added. “Teach us the way it was, the way it must return.”

Muck Creek was fully restored in the fall of 1998 and the first Roy Salmon Homecoming was in January 1999. The Nisqually Tribe, Pierce Stream Team, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and other groups have collaborated on many restoration projects along Muck Creek.

From the story:

(NOAA biologist John) McMillan and biologists with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe have found almost 100 other egg sacks like this one in the Elwha and her tributaries.

These eggs were laid by coho from the tribal hatchery near the mouth of the river, but they are descended from native Elwha coho salmon. This winter hundreds of adult hatchery coho were transported above the first dam. [Here’s a link to the video of the transport.]

Mike McHenry, a biologist with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, says even though the parents of these eggs are from the hatchery, the offspring will grow up wild.

“For all practical purposes they will be living in natural habitats and adapting and being subjected to natural selection and doing their thing,” he says. “It’s game on. We’re into recolonization now.”

These coho eggs will hatch in early spring. The young will hang out in the river for about 18 months and then head to the ocean. By the time they come back, the dams will be gone.

Six years of multi-party water rights negotiations in the Nooksack basin of Whatcom County have been suspended while the Lummi Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe seek federal support to quantify their water rights.

At issue is how much water should remain in various reaches and streams of the Nooksack River, and how much should be available for other uses.

…

“Treaty-reserved water rights are outside the state system, and the only way that the tribes can have documented and clearly defined water rights is through a quantification judgment,” said Merle Jefferson, Lummi Natural Resources Department Director. “We encourage others to support our request to resolve this long-standing issue so that we can all have certainty and can plan accordingly.”

“There is no surprise here,” said Bob Kelly, Chairman of the Nooksack tribe. “We all knew that federal court action would be needed to establish the Indian water rights. We made a lot of progress together, and, if the parties continue to cooperate, this can be noncontroversial.”

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 the release of sediment.

That hiatus was expected to last until the first of next year.

But an interagency team of biologists monitoring the return of fish to the Elwha River determined that the late fall runs of chum salmon had trickled to an end, Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman, said last week.

From the Marysville Globe:

“Rob is a great listener,” said Libby Halpin Nelson, environmental policy analyst for the Treaty Rights Office of the Natural Resources Department of the Tulalip Tribes, who serves as a liaison to the U.S. Forest Service. “The Tribes were using these forest for their cedar already, but he helped foster better communication and partnership in the forests’ stewardship between the Forest Service and the Tribes, who have a lot in common interests. They both want to see these resources sustained.”

Tulalip Tribal Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. explained that what’s now the managed as the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is within traditional territories where the Tribes and their ancestors have been hunted, fished and gathered herbs, medicines and food, for ceremonial and spiritual purposes, for thousands of years. He praised Iwamoto for working to understand the Tribes’ treaty rights on those lands, and to assist in translating them into actions that will aid the Tribes in continuing their culture.

“We’ve been very honored to work with you,” Sheldon said. “You’ve respected our government, and even when faced with tough problems, you’ve always found solutions to them. I wish you weren’t retiring, because you’re leaving behind big shoes to fill, but you’ve also left us with some great memories.”

Among the achievements during Iwamoto’s tenure was the development of a Memorandum of Agreement, between the Tulalip Tribes and the U.S. Forest Service, to improve communications and work together to steward the resources and places of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest that are vital to the Tribes’ culture. This came after Iwamoto and his staff took the Tribes up on their invitation to meet the Tribes’ Natural and Cultural Resources staff in 2005, to hear their ideas and concerns regarding the Forest Service’s management of the National Forest lands.

And that’s important because if the state acknowledges that people are eating more creatures that live in the water, that means the water needs to get cleaner. This past fall Oregon upped its number to 175 grams per day.

Fran Wilshusan, habitat services manager for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Council, says by setting the higher standard in Oregon, that state took a big step toward regulating polluters and cleaning up their waters.

“If we have the opportunity to move it up to the 175 grams or higher,” Wilshusan says, “then we have an opportunity to protect the surface waters from further toxic loading but also to protect the human health for all of us who live in the Puget Sound region.”

…

It took Oregon several years to get the seafood consumption amount changed.

“This has not been an easy path for them.” Fran Wilshusan says, “It won’t be an easy path here in Washington but we have to start out by recognizing and acknowledging that we’re all eating a lot more than 6.5 grams of fish a day.”

Gov. Chris Gregoire, Billy Frank Jr. and Dr. Jane Lubchenco of NOAA listen to Bill Dewey of Taylor Shellfish during the launch of the Washington Shellfish Initiative.

Representatives of western Washington treaty tribes were present at last week’s event celebrating the Washington Shellfish Initiative. The effort would promote growing shellfish and restoring ecosystems in Washington State.

From the Olympian’s coverage of the event:

Supporters of the initiative said the shellfish industry raises clams and oysters that filter and improve water quality. They are part of the Puget Sound cleanup solution, not part of the problem, they said.

“We’re ready to stand by our shellfish growers,” said Billy Frank Jr., chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

Bill Taylor’s piece in the Olympian this morning explains the project well:

The Washington State Shellfish Initiative includes an effort to bring together expertise from agencies with regulatory authority over shellfish farms to overcome these challenges, promote healthy marine waters and productive shellfish beds and bring much-needed jobs back to our state. We at Taylor are hopeful that it will provide a more predictable and efficient permit process while continuing to ensure that regulatory requirements are met.

The initiative also includes commitments to restore native shellfish, enhance recreational shellfishing, continue vital shellfish aquaculture research and direct funding and agency resources toward improving water quality in commercial, recreational and tribal shellfish growing areas. Taylor has been involved in the promotion of these efforts for decades, and often in partnership with environmental organizations, state and federal agencies and tribes.

However, we have never before experienced this level of unified commitment from so many critical stakeholders. We believe this is the level of effort required to ensure that the initiative’s goals are achieved.

Treaty tribes want a healthy shellfish industry, because that means our region can still be a source of food that have sustained tribes for generations. Billy Frank Jr. explains this point in a recent column:

Treaty tribal and non-Indian shellfish producers are on the front line of monitoring and protecting water quality in Puget Sound and along the coast. We can measure the health of these waters by the health of the shellfish that live there. Healthy water produces healthy shellfish, and healthy shellfish is good food for all of us.

The problem comes when we stop connecting our food to the place where it comes from. Salmon and shellfish don’t come from the grocery store. They come from nature.

Our lands and waters are naturally productive, just like salmon and shellfish. All they need is a little help to let them do what they do. We should be celebrating the fact that we can still produce and harvest salmon and shellfish in western Washington.

Read the entire column here, but this is a good sample:

“Guys were saying, ‘Yeah, we were sitting around the campfire and we saw this black helicopter come over and we know it was you guys herding elk out of the area so the hunters can’t get them,’ and that kind of deal. I’m going, really guys? Black helicopters? You obviously haven’t been reading the paper about our budget problems.”

As for why so many hunters weren’t seeing elk and where the elk were, well, that depends on who you talk to. I talked to a guy who guides hunters drawn for special branch-antler bull permits and he said they saw more elk where they were hunting than they usually do. (I won’t say where that is; if a guy’s got a good hunting spot, I’m not about to give it away.) I talked to other hunters who said they saw lots of elk for a day or two and then didn’t see anything after that.

The Midway Creek fish passage project is part of a larger Goldsborough Creek watershed project by the Squaxin Island Tribe.

What we know now is that this proposed development would be the largest to date at Cherry Point, and would substantially impact the ability of Lummi fishermen to exercise their treaty rights.

The Gateway Pacific pier, planned to be 3,000 feet long and 100 feet wide, would dwarf the existing piers currently operated by BP Cherry Point, Alcoa Intalco Works and ConocoPhillips.

The pier would be large enough to accept massive Cape-size ships – which are too big to even travel through the Panama Canal, can carry 250,000 dead weight tons, and may require as many as four tugboats to guide them into port.

This increased vessel traffic will present a particular hazard to tribal fishers in their comparatively small fishing boats and will interfere with fishing.

Other Lummi Nation concerns about the terminal include:

• Impacts to irreplaceable cultural resources and traditional cultural properties.
• Blocked access to treaty-protected tribal fishing grounds.
• Increased risk of vessel/tanker collision, resulting in potential oil spills.
• Degraded water quality associated with storm water runoff from the facility.
• Eliminated wetlands.
• Reduced instream flows needed for impaired Nooksack River salmon and resulting habitat degradation.
• Increased train traffic, blocking Slater Road, hurting the local economy.
• Global climate change and other air- and water-quality impacts associated with using coal as an energy source.

Our Lummi ancestors had a village at Cherry Point because of its unique deep-water resources. Today, this site is also one of the most commercially valuable ports on the West Coast.

As we have in the past, Lummi Nation will conduct its due diligence to ensure that if this project is developed, negative impacts will be avoided or minimized and any unavoidable impacts appropriately mitigated.

Our Lummi people would expect no less than a thorough investigation when an important aspect of our Lummi schelangen hangs in the balance.

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 science instructor Joyce McClain. With the experience they will gain, graduates will be able to fill the immediate need for tribal environmental technicians.

The classes will also benefit Tribal Natural Resources and Fisheries employees and tribal fisherman wanting to build on their skills, said Gina Corpuz, instructional manager at the Port Gamble S’Klallam site.

Corpuz said the degree is an important part of the curriculum for the site because Port Gamble S’Klallam tribal members are the original stewards of Gamble Bay.

“Everything that impacts their water, forests and land, changes the quality of life for their tribal community and all forms of life dependent on clean air and water,” she said. “NWIC students who choose Native Environmental Science as their program of study are also choosing to be part of the solution to the global environmental crisis.”

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 salmon, being careful not to disturb their migration, experts say.

“This will definitely be a good weekend to look,” said Jon Oleyar, a biologist for the Suquamish Tribe who has the unusual job of walking streams to count fish on the east side of Kitsap County.

“The water is running off in a big way right now,” Oleyar said Tuesday. “By this weekend, every stream should have at least something in it.”

From the story:

For many communities, the consequences also go beyond just health concerns.

“Traditional families are still very active in the smokehouse. They are still fishing for their primary source of living,” says Jamie Donatuto, an environmental specialist for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, in La Conner, Wash. “Fish are not just a source of nutrients, they have cultural and spiritual meaning for these people.”

Donatuto has been working with the Swinomish tribe for more than a decade on the issue. She recently conducted a survey and found that if tribal members had access to as much safe seafood as they wanted, they would consume more than 100 times the state’s estimate.

“In the Pacific Northwest, fish consumption is a way of life. It’s an important cultural hallmark of tribal nations that live here,” adds Elaine Faustman, a professor of environmental and occupational health studies at the University of Washington.

In fact, as she points out, it’s not uncommon to find kids “teething on salmon jerky.”

On-the-ground habitat restoration projects will be the focus of a new coalition to jumpstart salmon productivity in the Deschutes River watershed. The Squaxin Island Tribe and the cities of Olympia, Lacey and Yelm are establishing the Deschutes Watershed Environmental Stewardship Coalition.

“The Deschutes coalition will be an ongoing alliance to fund and conduct on-the-ground projects to restore a healthy watershed,” said Andy Whitener, natural resources director for the tribe. “The coalition will put words into actions and start restoring productivity to the Deschutes River.”

Initial projects are slated for the 197-acre farm on the Deschutes River near Lake Lawrence that the cities recently purchased as part of mitigation for their new water rights.

King 5 also covered the deal last night:

The city of Olympia published a staff report that has more background on the proposed agreement.

In response, the Swinomish Tribe has put together a fact sheet to clarify some points:

• Skagit County specifically agreed to stop issuing building permits if new wells would be harmful to salmon. Both the Department of Fish and Wildlife and Ecology have stated that new wells will be harmful to salmon.
• The Swinomish Tribe did not begin litigation over water issues; Skagit County did by suing Ecology in 2003.
• Skagit County specifically agreed to the closure of tributary subbasins once the reservations established in 2006 are exhausted.
• The Swinomish Tribe does not have any litigation over water rights currently pending against Skagit County. The Swinomish Tribe’s lawsuit against Ecology is not seeking to create new law, but is seeking to make Ecology implement and enforce existing laws.
• Skagit County’s efforts to deflect attention away from the County’s responsibility to stop issuing building permits in the Carpenter/Fisher subbasin and cast the Swinomish Tribe as interested in controlling land use is unfair and inaccurate. The Swinomish Tribe’s only purpose is to protect salmon and instream flows, not to control growth.
• Given the necessary funding, the City of Anacortes and Skagit PUD have both offered to provide piped water to meet additional demand. We have provided legal support when Skagit County and the Skagit PUD have tried to expand service to rural residents. Expanding piped water reduces impacts to instream flows and provides safe and clean water to property owners.
• The Swinomish Tribe will continue to do what is necessary to protect salmon and the instream flows upon which salmon depend.

Read the complete fact sheet here.

The key to confirming the ISA findings is getting a live sample of the virus in the lab, so scientists can study its intact genome.

That’s part of why Bruce Stewart is here at the Muckleshoot tribal hatchery.

The creek behind the hatchery churns with coho salmon, just returning from two years in the open ocean. While at sea, these hatchery fish have been exposed to the same viruses as wild salmon so they’re a good representation of what might be out there.
Hatchery workers net the salmon from the creek, their dappled red bodies flopping around madly.

A quick thwack on the head with a wooden baton and the salmon lies still. Then hatchery workers cut the eggs out of it’s belly.

Semen from the males is mixed with the eggs taken from the females and then set aside to incubate.

During this process 60 of these fish are set aside for Bruce Stewart. He’s hunched over a long table sticking a syringe into the abdomen of the female cohos and sucking out a clear liquid.

“So what I’m doing is taking ovarian fluid from each of these females,” he explains. “We know that ovarian fluid is a highly sensitive fluid for viruses.”

From the story:

 PORT ANGELES, Wash. — Standing on the banks of the Elwha River on a crisp November afternoon last week, Mel Elofson eased a slippery pink coho salmon into the cold, green water and watched it swim away.

“It’s a historic day,” he said. “We haven’t had salmon in these reaches for almost 100 years.”

Elofson, who works for the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s fisheries department, was part of a team that transported 55 coho salmon into the middle section of the of the Elwha River, re-introducing coho to the area for the first time since the 108-foot Elwha Dam was completed in 1913.

The state’s current rate of 6.5 grams a day was set in the mid-1980s, but officials believe Washington residents eat much more than that.

And members of fishing tribes in western Washington eat even more fish and shellfish than the average person.

The Associated Press reports:

Several tribes say the current state rate doesn’t reflect the important role fish and shellfish play in the diet and culture of tribal members.

“Our people used to say, `When the tide’s out, the table’s set,” said (Randy) Kinley, a policy analyst for the Lummi Nation, near Bellingham, Wash. “We want to be able to set our nets and catch fish to eat.”

Charles O’Hara, planning director for the Swinomish Tribe near La Conner, Wash., said most tribal ceremonies, funerals or important occasion focus around salmon and other seafood.

“If you look at the current rate of 6 grams, it’s pretty ridiculous,” he said. “To be setting standards on such an unrealistic number ignores reality.” The rate “should account for the people who eat the most,” he added.

Tribes, including the Lummi and Swinomish, are doing their own surveys to find out how much fish tribal members eat. The results will help ensure the state’s criteria protect the health of tribal members, they say.

The Nisqually Tribe has closed its coho fishery nearly a month early to protect a weak run of adult fish returning to the river.

It marks the second consecutive year the fishery has closed early, raising questions about what’s happening to the fish when they leave the river for saltwater.’

“It’s alarming,” said David Troutt, the tribe’s natural resources director. “The habitat couldn’t be any better in the river. It seems to be a matter of poor survival in Puget Sound.”
The 50 or so tribal fishers landed about 3,200 coho, about 1,000 fewer than last year, before the emergency closure Oct. 28. Typically, the tribe would fish for coho until Thanksgiving, Troutt said.

The pre-season run size was predicted at 30,000, which would have been a record return, Troutt said. But it never materialized, suggesting something is happening to the fish in Puget Sound when they leave the river as young fish and return as adults.

From the Kitsap Sun:

Chris Weller: Retiring after 26 years with the Point No Point Treaty Council, Weller has been at the center of many salmon-restoration efforts in Hood Canal. They include the Summer Chum Conservation Initiative, which is credited for reversing a downward trend for threatened summer chum. Weller has been one of the few biologists in the region able to bridge the gaps between harvest, hatchery and habitat needs of salmon, Lawlis said.

From the article:

Meanwhile, chum salmon are just beginning to move into streams on the Kitsap Peninsula, where their transition from saltwater is normally timed by rains and higher streamflows, according to Jon Oleyar, who monitors fish in the streams for the Suquamish Tribe.

Curley and Blackjack creeks in South Kitsap, both known for their early runs, have chum in them now, he said.

Chico Creek, home to the largest chum run on the Kitsap Peninsula, began to get some fish over the weekend as rains caused the stream to rise.

“Overall, the creek is low, even with the rains we had,” Oleyar said. “The creeks have water in them but not as much as the fish would like when they head upstream.”

Because their biological clock is ticking, the chum will begin entering most streams soon even with little or no rain, Oleyar said. Coho salmon also are working their way upstream at the moment, he said.

Tribal biologists expected up to 14,000 net pen produced coho to return this year. At this point, probably a few thousand have shown up and they expect more to arrive with the first heavy rains. If that’s the case, we are in for another couple of weeks hunting down schools of coho, flailing away from the beach or a boat, and with a bit of luck, bringing home some decent size salmon.

 

The town and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe share the nearby waterway, Port Gamble Bay. The waterway has been used both economically and culturally by Port Gamble S’Klallam tribal members for generations. A top priority for the tribe the past few years has been protecting the bay from further pollution and development.

Until recently, OPG was offering the land to Kitsap County in exchange for development rights in the historic town. Many were opposed to this proposal, including the tribe, which had concerns about pollution impacting the natural resources of the bay, of which the tribe relies upon for economical and cultural purposes.

Stories about the partnership:

North Kitsap Herald

Kitsap Sun

From the Seattle Times:

Jeromy Sullivan, chairman of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, said the deal could help ensure protection of valuable shellfish beds in Port Gamble Bay.

“We have an obligation to our ancestors, our elders and our youth to ensure that Port Gamble Bay will be restored and protected for the future.”

Press release:

Representatives from numerous Washington Tribes, and Officials from the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the State of Washington Department of Natural Resources and other agencies wrapped up two days of initial discussions that the Tribes hope will lead to greater focus on the management of plants vital to Pacific Northwest tribal cultures.

“Contrary to what many may think the Northwest was not an untouched wilderness before white explorers and traders arrived here; instead, it was home to the Tribes for the last ten thousand years.  Our ancestors figured out long ago a way to treat the lands with respect, with a kind of stewardship that sustained and enhanced the plants and animals they needed,” said Ray Fryberg, Director of the Tulalip Tribes Natural Resources Department.

Northwest Tribes encouraged public land managers to work together with the Tribes to support a diverse and healthy landscape.  “With significant population growth still projected for the Northwest–and a rapidly changing climate–we need to act now to promote a more diverse and resilient environment, upon which all of us depend, not just the Tribes,” said Terry Williams, Commissioner of Fisheries for the Tulalip Tribes.

The Tribes communicated to public land managers that for many Western Washington Treaty tribes the reservation land base cannot, by itself, furnish foods, medicines, materials and certain physical landscapes to sustain tribal cultures.  Historically, these resources were gathered and traded by the Tribes over a very large area, from the high mountains to the coastal waters.  Tribal leaders expressed their hope that the Tribes and public land managers would work together to ensure sustainability and access to these treaty reserved resources—which are needed to perpetuate tribal culture for future generations.

These early discussions were part of a two day inter-Tribal and government dialogue on sustaining healthy populations of traditional plants on public lands, which was hosted at the Tulalip Tribe’s new Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve, a facility dedicated to revive, restore, protect, and interpret the history and traditional cultural values and spiritual beliefs of the Tulalip Tribes.

“For thousands of years, the Tribes’ nurtured the landscapes they were dependent upon for their health and survival.  That included land-management practices to maintain a diversity of plant and animal populations, like burning for wildlife forage, and pruning or burning for huckleberry.  Grasses and other plants were gathered and harvested according to our traditional harvesting methods that ensured the health of plant populations.  We must have the ability to hand down this traditional knowledge to our young if our culture is to survive, and in order to do that we need a healthy and productive environment,” said Hank Gobin, Director of the Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve.

Many at the conference believed it was a good step towards more open communication between the Tribes and public land managers. “It was an important time to hold this workshop, bringing the many tribal people who are involved and interested in this topic together with the public land managers, who may not be fully aware of the importance of plant resources to regional tribes on lands they are managing,” said Libby Halpin Nelson, Conference Coordinator for the Tulalip Tribes Treaty Rights Office.  Following the initial discussion and planning which emerged from the conference, tribal conference officials will continue to encourage dialog and collaboration between the Tribes and public land managing agencies, in order to nurture the richness and wise management of the region’s public lands.

For more information, contact: Francesca Hillery Public Affairs, 360.716.4013, 425.350.8933,  fhillery@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov.

From the Magazine:

The thunderous beat of drums in the tribal gym sounded louder than usual: the beat harder, the men’s voices deeper, the women’s voices louder and the smiles bigger during the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s dam removal celebration Sept. 17.

For nearly 100 years, the tribe has waited to celebrate the demolition of the Elwha River’s two fish-blocking dams, which have violated the tribe’s treaty rights since they were constructed in the early 20th century. The dams blocked all but the lower 5 miles of the river, devastating salmon populations.

The Corps is encouraging habitat degradation by streamlining the process to allow property owners to build the very same structures that we are working to remove as part of salmon recovery efforts. That puts the federal government at cross purposes, because while the Corps is expediting shoreline modification work with little consideration of their cumulative impacts, federal funds are also being used for bulkhead removal and other nearshore habitat repair work.

While a streamlined process for shoreline modifications might work well in other parts of the country, it is making salmon recovery more difficult in western Washington. This isn’t the Mississippi River or Florida we are talking about. They don’t have salmon. We do, and we need to do everything we can to help them because they are in real trouble. Their habitat is disappearing.

We are asking the federal government to align around salmon recovery. The federal government has a trust responsibility to protect tribal treaty rights. Other federal agencies have been responsive and are also asking the Corps to ensure its actions mesh with salmon recovery efforts. Now is the time for coordination and action on these problems.

If we are going to recover salmon, we have to stop damaging and destroying salmon habitat. The Clean Water Act law is clear. By continuing to issue these types of permits for shoreline changes, the Corps is saying that these projects aren’t causing harm, and that’s just not true. We can’t recover salmon if we keep losing and damaging salmon habitat.

Here’s a recent letter  from the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission to the Corps.
The tribes are calling on the Corps to change its streamlined approval process for shoreline changes to an individual permit process that would take into account the special needs of salmon and the loss of nearshore habitat in the state’s marine environment.

The tribes aren’t asking the Corps to stop issuing permits for shoreline work nationwide, but rather for the Seattle District Office to switch to an individual permit system that acknowledges the need to protect and restore salmon habitat in western Washington.

The tribes are not alone in their call for reform. Here are excerpts from letters that federal and state natural resources management agencies have sent to the Corps on the issue:

Will Stelle, regional director of NOAA Fisheries:

The continued steady and substantial loss of shoreline aquatic functions directly attributable to the “hardening” of shoreline areas through the placement of fill, rock, or other structures has a direct and considerable negative impact on the long-term survival and recovery of these [ESA] listed fish populations [in Western Washington].

Kate Kelly, Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Ecosystems, Tribal & Public Affairs:

In particular, EPA has significant concerns about cumulative impacts to Puget Sound as we indicated in our December 17, 2011 letter to you. We request your support for strong and proactive regional conditions protective of Puget Sound marine and estuarine waters.

Ken Berg, manager, Washington Fish and Wildlife Office, US Fish and Wildlife Service:

In many cases we have recommended that actions be submitted through the individual permit process rather than the NWP process or that specific resources be excluded from the NWP process. These recommendations reflect the Service’s serious concern over the potentially significant environmental effects of the NWP program on listed and other fish and wildlife resources…

Steve Landino, Washignton State Habitat Director, National Marine Fisheries Service:

Given the importance of the Puget Sound nearshore for juvenile salmonids, the extent of shoreline armoring already present in Puget Sound, the cumulative impacts of small-scale armoring activities, and the significant adverse effects resulting from shoreline armoring on salmonids and their prey, NMFS believes it appropriate to have regional conditions that restrict or prohibit the use of NWPs in Puget Sound.

The Squaxin Island Tribe and the Capitol Land Trust are hoping to purchase and protect an important piece of forestland between Henderson and Budd inlets as part of a joint effort to restore and protect habitat between the two south Sound inlets.

“In total, we would protect almost 60 acres,” said John Konovsky, resource protection manager for the Squaxin Island Tribe. “Most importantly, the property contains more than 10 acres of a vital 70 acre wetland.”

The purchase will largely be funded by a grant the tribe received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The balance of the funding would come the LOTT Clean Water Alliance, the local wastewater utility.

The Olympian also has some coverage of the purchase and here is the staff report from LOTT.

So why are these impacts allowed to continue?

A small change in how the federal government permits shoreline modifications could help turn the tide.

Shoreline modifications are often regulated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act and Rivers and Harbors Act. Many of the permits are authorized through a streamlined nationwide permit system.

The Corps issues nationwide permits for several types of shoreline modifications ranging from bank stabilization and dredging and filling, to boat ramp construction and mooring buoy installation. As long as a property owner meets the conditions of these permits, they are automatically authorized with little opportunity for public comment or to assess possible cumulative effects of multiple projects in an area.

Fortunately, the federal Clean Water Act creates a test to prevent fast tracked permits from causing serious harm to the aquatic environment. A key provision of the Clean Water Act says that the Corps cannot authorize these permits if they cause more than minimal individual or cumulative adverse effects to the aquatic ecosystem.

The Corps contends that they were conducting a cumulative impact analysis of shoreline modifications to determine whether their permits pass that test, but the process has not been transparent. It is unclear what the nature and scope of the analysis was, or if a threshold is being determined to indicate how much shoreline armoring is too much.

The Corps has been clear on one issue, though. With the recent publication of their final draft regional conditions, the Corps is proposing to authorize another five years of streamlined shoreline modifications. By doing so, the Corps is effectively declaring that loss of critical shoreline habitat passes the Clean Water Act test, and is not causing more than minimal adverse cumulative impacts.

The shores of Puget Sound bristle with docks, bulkheads and other structures. While individual shoreline projects may have minimal effects on local ecosystems, their sheer number results in cumulative effects that are causing severe damage to salmon and salmon habitat in the nearshore environment.

Each of these docks, bulkheads and other shoreline changes shown here were permitted individually, while their cumulative effects are largely ignored:

View Larger Map

Here it is, by the numbers:

• Every year more than one mile of Puget Sound shoreline is lost to armoring.
• Today almost 1000 miles of the Puget Sound basin is lined with bulkheads, docks and other structures.
• On the western shoreline of the Hood Canal alone, more than 80 percent of the shoreline is -modified

Nearshore habitat provides a critical nursery for juvenile salmon as they prepare to make their seaward migration, and also serves as migration corridors for returning adult salmon. One of the many ways that bulkheads and other shoreline modifications greatly affect the marine environment is by disconnecting land and marine ecosystems. This disconnection prevents important terrestrial inputs such as logs and bugs from entering the water, which ultimately alters the food chain and eliminates important habitat. Another impact from shoreline modification is that it affects currents, which change where and how much sand is deposited. This in turn harms habitat of forage fish and invertebrates that are an important source of food for young and returning adult salmon.

A striking example of the problem can be found off the mouth of the Nisqually River. The Nisqually is one of the few watersheds in Puget Sound where significant habitat gains have been made in recent years. More than 85 percent of lower river estuary habitat has been reclaimed through cooperative federal, tribal, and state work to remove dikes; nearly 75 percent of mainstem river habitat is in permanent stewardship through a land trust.

Yet despite the massive effort and cost of the cooperative effort, research shows that young ESA-listed salmon and steelhead from the Nisqually River are dying before they can reach Tacoma, just 30 miles away. A major contributor is believed to be a lack of good nearshore habitat caused by ongoing shoreline development practices.

Other shoreline changes, such as the placement of mooring buoys can contribute to pollution in Puget Sound because they are magnets for recreational boaters. It’s not uncommon during boating season to see 50-75 boats tied to the scores of mooring buoys in 100-acre Mystery Bay on Marrowstone Island. Some boats are moored in the bay year round.

The resulting pollution from human waste and other contaminants has led to closures of nearby shellfish beds, denying tribes the exercise of their treaty-reserved shellfish harvest rights. Mooring buoys can also lead to damage of eelgrass beds that are an important part of the marine ecosystem.

In other areas, such as along Hood Canal, mooring buoys have been anchored in longstanding tribal fishing locations, preventing tribal fishermen from setting their nets and denying their treaty right to harvest salmon.

It’s possible that in many parts of Puget Sound we’ve passed a point of no return in terms of these cumulative impacts.

The Lummi Nation distributed sockeye salmon to tribal members last month for families to can and store for the winter.

“The tribe puts fish away as much as possible when we have an abundance, for ceremonies and all the functions that the tribe sponsors,” said Randy Kinley Sr., policy representative for the tribe. “It’s very important to take care of your people’s needs culturally.”

The fish was caught during the record 2010 Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery and has been in cold storage.

“The sockeye season was short this year and we wanted to make sure people have the opportunity to put salmon away for the winter,” Kinley said.

Watch the video below:

View more pictures on Flickr.

The interactive site features the Lummi Nation:

The most touching moments of the celebration marking the beginning of the end of the Elwha dams were tribal. They were the smiling faces on the children of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe who danced, drummed and sang in brand new outfits handcrafted for the occasion.

They were in the voices of the elder women who sang along with the Klallam love song. Who couldn’t smile during elder Ben Charles blessing, interrupted by husky belly laughs?

But the most significant moment came when tribal chairwoman took the carefully planned event off script to invite to the stage Billy Frank Jr. to speak.
Frank is a member of the Nisqually tribe, who, like the Elwha gave up land to the federal government in the 1850s in exchange for the right to fish in the usual and accustomed places in perpetuity. It was a right that was taken away in the 20th Century by an encroaching society that had little interest in the Indians traditional society and culture.

Tribal hunting harvest has fluctuated since 1999, as has non-tribal harvest, but hasn’t climbed. In the two years prior to State v. Buchanan, reported tribal harvest averaged just over 700 deer and just under 400 elk. The averages in the 10 years since then: 622 deer and 333 elk. The tribes’ combined deer-and-elk harvest is typically around 3 percent of that of non-tribal hunters; for elk, tribal hunters typically account for 4 to 5 percent of the state’s harvest.

“I can pretty much assure you that the Mucklshoot tribal harvest would never negatively impact the (elk) population,” said David Vales, a Muckleshoot tribal wildlife biologist.

“The tribe’s goal is longterm sustainable populations of animals. We cut our regulations based on sound biological principals — those are key words we fall back on any time we’re thinking about changing regulations. It has to be good data.”

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nwifc/sets/72157627705384254/

Blog of Science Symposium – http://blogs.nwifc.org/elwha/

Media Recap of Dam Removal Ceremony:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0918-dam-20110918,0,5450869.story

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/specialreports/elwha/?cmpid=2654

http://peninsuladailynews.com/article/20110918/NEWS/309189975/-8216-prayers-answered-national-figures-join-peninsula-leaders-at

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/sep/17/as-dams-come-down-researchers-stand-by-to/

http://www.king5.com/news/Celebration-as-demolition-of-Elwha-Dam-begins-130043288.html

http://www.kirotv.com/video/29221798/index.html

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/130016438.html

http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2011/09/19/rockybarker/franks_impromptu_comments_elwha_recognize_treaty_fights#ixzz1YbTj1tEX

Federal, state and tribal fisheries managers and other interested parties must spell out this transition strategy with measurable, verifiable metrics under the Endangered Species Act that will be subject to scientific and public review. If the productivity of a restored Elwha is as strong as we expect, there likely will be little need for continued hatchery programs following restoration.

What’s the rush? Amid the concerns and consequences of dam removal, we must not lose sight of the severe effects to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe in the near-term and its treaty-protected fishing right. NOAA Fisheries strongly supports the tribe’s treaty right and knows that the right means fishing to the tribe, not just the mere existence of fish.

NOAA Fisheries shares in the tribe’s pride and excitement about the restoration plan and looks forward to working with them and others on an acceptable hatchery transition that allows the tribe to be fishing as soon as possible on strong, abundant, wild Elwha River salmon and steelhead populations.

Join the effort, hold our feet to the fire and commit to success in rebuilding the wild runs of the Elwha.

From the Daily Herald:

When finished, [the pipeline] will allow the Tulalips to develop more commercial land, serve their growing population and even conserve important waterways. The positive economic benefits are expected to ripple far beyond the reservation.

“We’re thinking of the future,” tribal Chairman Mel Sheldon said.

…

A decade ago, the tribes filed a $37 million legal claim against Everett, contending that the city’s diversion dam built years earlier on the Sultan River had destroyed a salmon run. There were other hurts too.

The good-faith efforts of the city on this project have done much to heal old wounds, Sheldon said.

“They saw the historical inequities and realized in order to go forward they had to review those and find solutions,” he said.

The entire pipeline won’t be completed for at least a few years.

Read the full article.

You can find out more about the symposium (including a program) here.

Here is also some more recent Elwha coverage from the NWIFC:

• Lower Elwha Klallam using sonar to count fish in Elwha River
• Photo Set: Lower Elwha Klallam SONAR camera
• Behind The Elwha Dams: The Drawdown of the Aldwell and Mills Reservoirs
• Photo Set: Aldwell Reservoir Drawdown
• Lamprey study part of Elwha River restoration
• Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe to measure sediment from river dams during removal
• NWIFC Flickr: Lower Elwha Sediment Monitoring July 2011

From the Kitsap Sun:

The land transfer involves the 500-acre Nalley Ranch at the mouth of the Skokomish River; 500 acres of wooded land, including Lake Cushman Park, on the shore of Lake Cushman; and 3 acres with 470 feet of waterfront on Hood Canal.

Tacoma Power placed $11 million into a tribal account, as called for in the settlement, which also allows the tribe a share of the revenues from power production.

Friday’s signing ceremony occurred at Lake Cushman Park, which tribal officials consider an important cultural site.

“Here we are today being able to call ourselves partners in this watershed,” said Joseph Pavel, vice chairman of the Skokomish Tribe, in a prepared statement. “It’s very significant.”

You can listen to his speech below.

Here is a post from King5 on the meeting.