Fish And Wildlife

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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Squaxin Island Tribe transfers over 1 million coho to netpens

From the Squaxin Island Tribe’s natural resources blog:

This week the Squaxin Island Tribe Natural Resources (SINR) and Washington State Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) started hauling the first batch of juvenile coho to the South Sound Net Pens (SSNP) located in Peale Passage. SSNP is a co-managed facility by the SINR and WDFW that has released an average of 1.5 million coho smolt yearly to benefit Sport and commercial fisheries through out the Puget Sound.

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Makah Tribe Helps Track and Capture Fisher Needing New Radio Collar

NEAH BAY — The 18 fishers reintroduced into Olympic National Park (ONP) earlier this year by wildlife biologists were expected to do some roaming. But few expected one of the weasel-like animals to journey nearly 60 miles from its Elwha River watershed release site to the Makah Tribe’s reservation in Neah Bay. Crossing mountains, rivers and busy roads, the fisher reached the Makah Reservation over a period of six months. (more…)

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