OLYMPIA (May 5, 2003) -- The Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG) released a report today that lays the groundwork for implementing a comprehensive, systematic and scientific redesign of salmon hatcheries…
OLYMPIA (May 5,2003)-A coalition of legislators, Indian tribes, environmental organizations and fishing groups objected this morning to the potential passage of water bills to be considered in the special legislative session slated for May 12.
In a press conference in Olympia, State Senator Karen Fraser (D-Olympia), Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Chairman Billy Frank, Jr., Washington Environmental Council President Jay Manning and others said the bills serve the interests of big water users at the expense of the environment and everyone else in the state.
BLYN (Feb. 14, 2003) — In the mid-1990s, fisheries biologists throughout the Pacific Northwest turned their attention on a small hatchery in the lower Dungeness River, where a new approach to restoring a dwindling chinook population was in the works. If successful, it was thought the project could improve hatchery techniques, and most importantly bring back a salmon species from the brink of extinction.
In 2003, attention once again has turned to the Hurd Creek hatchery near Sequim. Not because of the facility’s success with recovering wild salmon, but because the hatchery itself is close to extinction. Gov. Gary Locke’s proposed budget for the next two years calls for three state Department of Fish and Wildlife hatcheries to be closed, including the Hurd Creek facility.
OLYMPIA (Jan. 13, 2003) — Indian tribes today released a list of principles they say the state must comply with in setting water policy. The principles, which were distributed to the Governor’s Office, state legislators and state agencies, were accompanied by a letter from Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Chairman Billy Frank, Jr. which stated that tribes hold the senior water right in the state and that this fact, in addition to treaty law, requires the state to protect water with a priority toward sustaining fish and wildlife habitat.
“The senior right is not held by the public utility districts. It’s not held by the cities, and it’s not held by corporations or the counties. It’s held by the tribal governments, along with the state and federal governments. These are the governments that actually own the water, on behalf of their respective citizens. That’s the law, and yet the state has consistently ignored the tribes in its legislative and management practices and policies,” said Frank.
January 6, 2003
In the weeks after the general election, the writing is still on the wall. The tribes are a political force to be reckoned with.
This is true here in Washington, just as it is true in other parts of the country. In South Dakota, for example, tribes have been credited with winning re-election for U.S. Senator Tim Johnson in the recent election. That was a victory worth celebrating.
LOWER ELWHA (Feb. 7, 2002) -- Just when the legendary Elwha chinook were ready again to make their famous run into the Olympic Mountains, they may be snuffed out by…
OLYMPIA (8/23/00)--Let's face it. The state of Washington has failed to protect the environment of our region from development and natural resource habitat destruction. Nowhere is this more evident than…
If salmon are to be restored in this state, it will require many efforts. Most of all, it will require a team effort. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The state and the tribes must learn to
work together. Like people paddling a canoe, it only makes
sense for us to paddle in the same direction.
We hope this is a message that Jeffrey Koenings, the newly appointed director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, will take to heart. It is critically important for the director of WDFW to be aware of the fact that treaty Indian tribes are co-managers of the salmon resource in this state. It is important for him to understand
that decisions regarding the salmon resource must be made on a government-to-government basis, in full collaboration with the tribes from the outset of any natural resource planning process. Just as important, it will be necessary for him to understand the need for the co-managers to work together, as a team, in the management
and restoration of the salmon resource.