Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

The Skokomish Tribe has solid data showing how salmon are using the Skokomish Tidelands after a year of monitoring the 400-acre restored estuary.

While the tribe monitors the estuary year round, the first full year of sampling (December 2011 to November 2012) showed 20 fish species, including chinook, chum and coho salmon, using both the large and small tidal channels in the restored areas of the …

If the waters of Hood Canal were drained from the Skokomish delta today, the exposed seafloor would show a complex network of channels within the delta that leads to steep ridges on the bottom of Hood Canal.

The Skokomish Tribe is working with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to map the topography, morphology and habitats of the delta and the tribe’s 1,000-acre estuary in southern Hood Canal.…

The Kitsap Sun released an article recently about the Skokomish Tribe filing a lawsuit against the state of Washington over hunting rights.

The suit involves tribal rights to hunt on “open and unclaimed lands”.

From the story:

The lawsuit claims that actions by state agencies and officials have denied tribal members access to their legitimate hunting areas. Furthermore, state officials have imposed civil and criminal sanctions

…

The premiere of the documentary, Back to the River, was held at the Seattle Aquarium Feb. 2. The movie details the story of the treaty rights struggle from the pre-Boldt era to tribal and state co-management. The movie includes the voices and personal accounts of tribal fishers, leaders and others active in the treaty fishing rights struggle. More photos of the event can be found …

The latest phase of the Skokomish Estuary restoration effort is the largest to date: 600 acres of forested wetlands are going to be reconnected to 400 acres of Skokomish tidelands.

“The main goal of this phase is to reconnect the historic tidal channels that have been blocked or filled in over time,” said Alex Gouley, the tribe’s habitat program manager. “Doing that will reestablish the forested …

The Skokomish Tribe is studying the bugs that reside in the Skokomish Estuary, providing food for chum, chinook and coho salmon and other fish.

The tribe has four fallout traps located near the edge of the estuary. Made of plastic boxes stabilized between four rods of conduit, the traps catch bugs that land in the tubs of soapy water.

The tribe collects the invertebrates, which can …

Crashing through the forest just outside of Matlock, Skokomish Tribe wildlife biologist Bethany Tropp glances at her GPS unit while surveying the surrounding understory, looking for any sign of a cougar’s kill site.

“Finding out where, what and how much the cougars are eating helps determine how they are affecting elk and deer population,” Tropp said. It is generally thought that cougars are hard on elk …

The Skokomish Tribe is studying the diet of juvenile salmon that have taken up residence in the nearly 400-acres of newly restored Skokomish tidelands in southern Hood Canal.

After gently flushing out the stomachs of a small sampling of juvenile salmon with a water pick, the microscopic contents, including algae and bugs, are collected and sent off to a lab for analysis.

“The invertebrate community is …

The Skokomish Tribe is targeting several lower Hood Canal beaches for restoration efforts this summer.
Shellfish populations near the mouths of the mainstem of the Skokomish River as well as Rendsland and Twanoh creeks have declined within the last decade, said Margaret Homerding, the tribe’s shellfish management biologist.

“While the habitat restoration work for salmon at the mouths of these waterways has been important, the shellfish …

The Skokomish Tribe and Mason Conservation District collaborated on a project to install more than 200 pieces of large woody debris (logs and rootwads) into channels within the Skokomish Tidelands. This video explains why and how massive logs are being transported into the tidelands. The story behind this project can be found here.