Endangered Species Act

Cooperation Shows the Way

For years, Skagit County has been a battleground between fishermen and farmers. After a recent court victory the Swinomish Tribe is finding a way for the once warring sides to come together for the good of salmon habitat.

A few years back, the Swinomish Tribe sued Skagit County Dike District No. 22 for building tide gates without the permits they needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In September, a federal judge ruled that the district had violated both the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.

With the judge’s ruling on their side, the Swinomish Tribe took the issue out of the courtroom. Instead of forcing the district to pay federal fines, the tribe suggested that the two become partners in restoring 200 acres of estuary in the Skagit delta.
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Tired of Salmon?

OLYMPIA – There’s a new bug that’s been going around for the last couple years. State and federal elected officials and bureaucrats seem to be coming down with it more than anyone else.

It’s called “salmon fatigue” and from what I can tell, it’s a brain infection that makes you tired of trying to save the salmon.

If we cried about fatigue every time we came up against a difficult problem in this country, where would we be? I don’t understand how you can get tired of trying to save the salmon.

What those infected with salmon fatigue are really saying is “stop coming to me and talking about salmon.” (more…)

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Tribes, agencies partner on Hoko River Restoration

FORKS (October 3, 2008) – A joint effort of the Lower Elwha Klallam and Makah tribes, the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Rayonier Forest Resources L.P. has been successful in restoring an important part of the Hoko River as a thriving feeding and spawning ground for fish and other wildlife.

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SSHIAP

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In 1991, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the Western Washington Treaty Indian Tribes began the Wild Stock Restoration Initiative (WSRI) to catalog and inventory salmon and…

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Don’t let fishing be the scapegoat

Fishing opportunities in Northwest waters have just about disappeared. It’s a situation that has strained relations between Indians and non-Indians – the state, local governments, environmental organizations, businesses and even fishermen. It’s also a condition we can improve, if we follow the truth, and that truth goes right to habitat. Fishermen have made the lion’s share of sacrifice so far, and cutting back on fisheries to the degree we have has not been easy on our people. Empty freezers and smoke houses hurt deeply, physically, economically and culturally.

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Standing Up For Salmon

At the expense of the salmon recovery effort, recreational interests have delayed plans to restore crucial chinook habitat in Wiley Slough, in the South Fork of the Skagit River delta. Puget Sound chinook salmon are listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act. Restoration work was set to begin last summer to return tidal flow to a 157-acre parcel of land around Wiley Slough. Project partners, including the Skagit River System Cooperative and state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), identified the area as a priority for estuarine restoration in accordance with 2003 state legislation to restore public lands for salmon recovery before looking to private land. The parcel, also known as the Headquarters Unit of the Skagit Wildlife Area, was acquired by the state in 1962 through a land swap with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The estuary was converted for recreational use – and the salmon habitat destroyed – through dikes, drainage ditches, culverts and tide gates.

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SVH: Tribes react to steelhead listing

Following Monday’s listing of Puget Sound steelhead as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, the Skagit Valley Herald (subscription required) reported the following:

Swinomish tribal officials said today that the tribe would likely cut back on its already limited take of steelhead.

“The listing of steelhead as threatened is one more indicator that now is the time to act to save our anadromous fish” said tribal Chairman Brian Cladoosby.

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Being Frank: Certainty is Key

This year’s North of Falcon salmon management process, for the coast and Puget Sound, was tougher than it’s ever been. North of Falcon is the key part of annual planning that brings state and tribal co-managers together with input from stakeholders to set fishing regulations north of the Oregon Coast cape of the same name. As in years past, it was a give-and-take process of shaping fisheries to fit under the “impact lid” that helps us protect weak wild salmon stocks while, to the extent possible, harvesting abundant hatchery salmon. We are especially concerned about protecting Puget Sound chinook listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

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