ARLINGTON -- The state Department of Transportation (DOT) and a crew of inmates are helping the Stillaguamish Tribe restore 40 acres of floodplain adjacent to Interstate 5. The tribe acquired…
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has begun preparing the lower Elwha River’s floodplain for the influx of sediment expected to come down the river after the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are deconstructed starting in 2011.
“This work in the floodplain will help restore natural habitat forming processes in preparation for the expected release of the 20 million cubic feet of sediment trapped behind the dams,” said Mike McHenry, the tribe’s habitat program manager. “Our goal is to reconnect as much of the historic floodplain to the mainstem as possible. We are basically undoing historic channelization actions that have simplified the river.”
With $2 million in funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the tribe will be constructing 20 engineered logjams, removing three manmade dikes, replacing two culverts with a larger culvert and a bridge, and planting native vegetation. This summer, the tribe filled in an unused 1,500-foot-long hatchery outfall ditch that was built in the middle of the floodplain in 1977. All this work will help improve the river’s function ahead of the dams’ removal. (more…)
The Kitsap Sun started its four-part series about the Skokomish watershed with a report about the Skokomish Tribe and it's connection to the area. Reporter Chris Dunagan interviewed members who…
Seattle Times: Migrating fish in the Sooes River on the Olympic coast are getting a helping hand from the Makah Tribe. One day late last month in a span of…
OLYMPIA (April 5, 2005) – Did you take a shower this morning? Eat a bowl of cereal? Drive to work? If you did any of those things, you killed wild salmon.
You see, millions of other folks did the same thing. Together, these and other everyday activities take a toll on salmon and the habitat they need to survive.
No one is telling you to stop showering, eating, driving to work or any of the other things you do each day. So why do some people keep saying that the tribes should stop fishing?
DUNGENESS (Dec. 27, 2004) – In the 1800s, the lower reach of the Dungeness River flowed through a 100-acre floodplain before emptying into Dungeness Bay. The river was connected to a large estuary that provided essential spawning and rearing habitat for salmon.
Nowadays, the floodplain is the site of several homes and agricultural land. Dikes – built in the 1960s – on both sides of the river restrict the river’s course, protecting development and eliminating critical salmon habitat. The west-bank dike, known as the Rivers End levee, is privately maintained and hasn’t always worked, causing flooding problems for property owners and the environment.
NISQUALLY (June 20, 2003) — A river is more than just a line on a map; every side channel, slough and tributary stream helps create a complex and living river. The Nisqually Indian Tribe and the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group are surveying off-channel habitat in the Nisqually River basin to target areas for protection and restoration. The information gathered during these surveys will guide the tribe and enhancement group in decisions on future habitat projects.