Stillaguamish Tribe to hold Salmon Ceremony on July 25
The Stillaguamish Tribe will have its first Salmon Ceremony in at least 25 years on July 25. The ceremony marks the first time the tribe has had a ceremonial and…
Tribe preserving threatened South Fork Stillaguamish River chinook
ARLINGTON – The Stillaguamish Tribe has everything it needs to start a chinook supplementation program in the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River – except the fish.
The tribe hired additional field technicians and acquired an old trout farm to spawn and rear threatened South Fork Stillaguamish River chinook. But because there are so few chinook returning to the South Fork, it has been a challenge to collect enough adult fish to spawn.
South Fork chinook are genetically distinct from North Fork chinook, and always have been smaller in number.
The tribe’s hatchery program in the North Fork has supplemented that population for 20 years, with about 1,500 fish returning to the North Fork each year. Meanwhile, chinook returns to the South Fork have declined to fewer than 100 fish. (more…)
Videos
Treaty Indian Fisheries and Salmon Recovery dispels many of the myths about tribal fishing practices and explains why habitat loss and degradation is the single most significant factor contributing to…
Genetics
NWIFC geneticists assist member tribes in generating and evaluating data relating to the genetic structure of the fish populations they manage. Examples of the services genetics staff provide includes: Finding…
Skagit streamside buffer plans rejected before
The Skagit Valley Herald (subscription required) offered a brief history on Sunday of the 11-year “saga of streamside buffers.”
Skagit County’s proposed Salmon Heritage Program is merely the latest attempt to resolve a dispute that has pitted farmers against fish advocates and has reached the state Supreme Court. It incorporates many elements from previous plans, including the target of bringing just 80 percent of the eligible land — rather than 100 percent — into the program.
Being Frank: Hope
I was recently asked to sum up my aspirations for the new year in a single word. For me, the word is hope. If I could give everyone a single gift, it would be hope, because it is the spawning ground of all worthy achievement and the source of light on our trail ahead. It is the primary source of human energy, and to be without it is worse than death. I’m not referring to the trail our country has been on for the past six years—years of corporate self-indulgence at the expense of environmental investment. The achievements I speak of have nothing to do with drilling more oil wells or erecting taller buildings to further pad the wallets of the super rich.
Listen To The Salmon
OLYMPIA, WA (March 7, 2006) — This week I am turning 75 years young—time for me to think about what to do with the next half of my life.
But seriously, everyone who knows me knows I’ll continue to fight, to the last breath, to help restore salmon to the rivers of the Pacific Northwest—at harvestable levels. If I am remembered by anyone in future generations, let it be as a fisherman.
Cutting back our fisheries so sharply over the past quarter century to protect declining runs has been painful to Northwest Indians. The salmon’s decline has in no way been the fault of the tribes, but because our historic roots run so deep here we feel an ongoing responsibility, to our ancestors and the generations to come, to help solve the problem.
Elk “Alive and Kicking” After Tribes’ Transfer
TOUTLE (June 9, 2005) – The second round in an ongoing tribal effort to bolster a weak population of elk in the North Cascades was highly successful, tribal officials said. All ten of the elk transferred from the Mt. St. Helens area near Toutle, where elk are plentiful, survived their relocation to the North Sound region.
This year’s transfer adds to the 41 animals the tribes and the state worked together to transfer to the dwindling bands of the Nooksack elk herd.
“We’re happy and proud that all of the animals we brought north have survived,” said Todd Wilbur, Swinomish, chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission’s inter-tribal wildlife committee. “Now, 10 more elk are alive and kicking in core habitat for the Nooksack elk herd.”
Tribes Hold The Senior Water Right
January 14, 2003
With the 2003 State Legislature now in session, water is again a key environmental issue being considered by the state lawmakers.
Another thing they must consider is that the tribes hold the senior water right in this state. 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.