The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) is a natural resources management support service organization for 20 treaty Indian tribes in western Washington. Headquartered in Olympia, the NWIFC employs approximately 65 people with satellite offices in Burlington and Forks.

NWIFC member tribes are: Lummi, Nooksack, Swinomish, Upper Skagit, Sauk-Suiattle, Stillaguamish, Tulalip, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Nisqually, Squaxin Island, Skokomish, Suquamish, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, Lower Elwha Klallam, Makah, Quileute, Quinault, and Hoh.

The NWIFC was created following the 1974 U.S. v. Washington ruling (Boldt Decision) that re-affirmed the tribes’ treaty-reserved fishing rights. The ruling recognized them as natural resources co-managers with the State of Washington with an equal share of the harvestable number of salmon returning annually.

Read more on our About Us page.

  • Water Rights Specialist – Bureau of Indian Affairs

    January 14, 2021

    Download Announcement Serve as an authoritative expert in water rights. Perform and direct tasks to protect Indian water rights and related trust resources. Responsible for the investigation, analysis and preparation of water rights cases, including litigation reports and position papers for government entities. Participate in negotiations involving highly complex legal and natural resource issues. Review […]

  • Fish Habitat Biologist II (Hydraulic Officer) – Quinault Indian Nation

    January 14, 2021

    Download Announcement The Fish Habitat Biologist II (Hydraulic Officer) position is expected to monitor all activities occurring within 200’ of any water body within the Quinault Indian Reservation (QIR) and will participate in restoration and/or monitoring activities related to salmon habitat needs. This position participates in the implementation of the Quinault Indian Nation (QIN) Forest […]

  • Research Natural Resource Technicians – Skagit River System Cooperative (SRSC)

    January 11, 2021

    Download Announcement Provide support to SRSC projects and its staff in the collection and compilation of samples and/or data required in the implementation diverse suite of salmon specific research projects.

RSS News from nwtreatytribes.org

  • Holding Habitat Impacts Accountable for Salmon Decline
    Being Frank is a column written by the chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. As a statement from the NWIFC chair, the column represents the natural resources management interests and concerns of the treaty Indian tribes in western Washington. Habitat loss and damage is the driving factor for the decline of salmon in our […]
  • Henry “Hank” Lyle Adams Obituary
    Olympia – Henry “Hank” Lyle Adams, age 77, a citizen of the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes, began his Journey to the Spirit World at St. Peter’s Hospital in Olympia, Washington, on Monday, December 21, 2020 at 14:57 p.m. Hank was born on May 16, 1943, on the Fort Peck Reservation in Wolf Point, […]
  • Logjams are Key to Salmon Habitat Restoration
    The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe constructed more than a dozen engineered logjams in the upper Dungeness  River last fall to support salmon recovery. Historic removal of wood in the upper watershed stripped the river of the habitat salmon need for spawning, especially chinook salmon, said Hilton Turnbull, the tribe’s habitat biologist. “We found a 14-acre floodplain in the river that […]