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Did a Winter Visit By Orcas Help Puget Sound Steelhead?

The Nisqually Indian Tribe – with help from the federal and state government – is trying to find out how much a winter-time visit of marine mammal eating transient orca whales might have benefited endangered steelhead. The orcas preyed on marine mammals, whose numbers had been spiking around Puget Sound in recent years. Recent research […]

“Sharing the burden”

Carl Burke, a contract lobbyist working for Puget Sound Anglers and the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, made a strong statement about how his employers feel about the North of Falcon process during a recent state senate workshop yesterday. Burke said: The issue we have with the tribes occasionally, specifically in the North of Falcon, is […]

New tools aid tribe’s steelhead tracking

Nisqually tribal surveyors are hitting the water with a new piece of equipment that will help them better track endangered steelhead. “We’ve been adapting our surveying techniques to gather more precise information on not only how many steelhead make it back each year to spawn, but where exactly they spawn,” said David Troutt, natural resources […]

Tribal and state salmon co-managers come to agreement on upcoming fishing seasons

Treaty tribal and state salmon co-managers reached agreement late Tuesday on a package of fishing seasons that will fairly share the burden of conserving weak wild salmon stocks while providing limited harvest opportunities. “Cooperation on both sides helped to ensure that everyone will be able to fish this year,” said Lorraine Loomis, chair of the […]

Swinomish Tribe Files Suit to Stop Bakken Crude Trains

The Swinomish Tribal Community issued this press release yesterday: The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community filed a lawsuit in federal court today against BNSF Railway (BNSF) for violating the terms of an easement agreement allowing trains to cross its Reservation in Skagit County. Train tracks running across the northern edge of the Reservation were laid in […]