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.

  • Environmental Scientist – Suquamish Tribe

    October 2, 2020

    Download Description Serves as a senior environmental scientist providing expert advice to program and executive management on measures required to investigate and clean-up chemical pollution impacts to Treaty-reserved rights and resources. The Environmental Scientist position serves as staff lead on multi-agency project teams evaluating human health and ecological impacts of CERCLA and MTCA sites located […]

  • Hydrologist/Water Resources Coordinator – Suquamish Tribe

    October 2, 2020

    Download Description Position provides expert advice to program and executive management, and serves as program technical expert on measures required to protect ground and surface water resources and aquatic habitat.  Incumbent will be the staff lead on planning and implementing water resources management activities for the Suquamish Tribe. For more information on these positions and […]

  • Biologist/Ecologist – Suquamish Tribe

    October 2, 2020

    Download Description Serves as a senior biologist or ecologist who provides expert advice to program and executive management and serves as program technical expert on measures required to protect treaty-reserved fishery resources and aquatic habitat.  Serves as staff lead on government-to-government consultations, and senior project representative on efforts to protect and restore habitat and to […]

RSS News from nwtreatytribes.org

  • Quileute Tribe’s Watershed Plan Helps Guide Partnership that Benefits Salmon in Quillayute River
    The Quileute Tribe purchased a 58-acre plot of land fronting the Quillayute River to build a treatment house for those recovering from addiction. As an added benefit, the tribe was able to work toward one of its goals in the Quillayute River Action and Assessment Plan, created by the tribe’s contractor Tetra Tech as a […]
  • Gov. Inslee Signs Billy Frank Jr. Statue Bill
    Gov. Jay Inslee today signed legislation to honor Nisqually tribal leader Billy Frank Jr., natural resources and civil rights champion, with a statue in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. “He was a warrior for the natural world and values we hold so dear in Washington,” Inslee said. “He stood up for the […]
  • Why Aren’t Steelhead Making It Past The Hood Canal Bridge?
    The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe has been trying to figure out why juvenile steelhead are not getting past the Hood Canal Bridge. Traffic noise? Light pollution? Water quality? Wave action? Dissolved oxygen issues? Nope. Mostly, it’s the bridge itself.  The bridge’s floating pontoons, which span 80 percent of the width of the canal and extend […]