Back to the River documentary premieres at Seattle Aquarium
The premiere of the documentary, Back to the River, was held at the Seattle Aquarium Feb. 2. The movie details the story of the treaty rights struggle from the pre-Boldt…
Fishing rights activist Alison Gottfriedson passes away
Alison Kay (Bridges) Gottfriedson, a central figure in the struggle for Indian fishing rights and an advocate for Indian people, passed away on July 18. She was 57 years old.
The daughter of Alvin James Bridges and Puyallup tribal leader Theresa (Maiselle) McCloud Bridges, Gottfriedson grew up in the Frank’s Landing Indian Community. She was arrested many times, along with her sisters Suzette and Valerie, and uncle, Billy Frank Jr., for fishing on the Nisqually River in accordance with Indian treaties. (more…)
Trees floating behind dam contribute to salmon recovery
ALDER – Over 100 trees that have fallen into the reservoir behind Alder Dam will be put to use constructing engineered logjams to create salmon habitat on Ohop Creek.
“Trees that wash into the lake from the river and get stuck behind the dam need to be removed before they become a nuisance,” said David Troutt, natural resources manager for the Nisqually Tribe, which is spearheading the effort to gather the logs. “We’re just taking them out and putting them to good use.” Juvenile salmon find both food and shelter within logjams. The structures also slow the flow of the creek, easing adult salmon migration.
“We know logjams benefit salmon because we’ve been monitoring other restoration projects. We really see a difference in the section of river with logjams and those without,” Troutt said. “There are a lot more salmon around the logjams.”
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The Olympian: Tribe uses Alder Lake debris for salmon restoration
From the Olympian this morning, an article about using trees from behind Alder Lake dam to restore a stretch of salmon habitat: Logs and other woody debris delivered during winter…
Eight new podcasts about the Nisqually
A group of Evergreen Students recently completed a series of podcasts about the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s role in natural resources management. Emily Gwinn, Jennifer Johnson, and Joe Nance completed the podcast below on the restoration of the Nisqually River estuary.
From their write-up:
“Nisqually Estuary” reviews the Nisqually Delta restoration projects just north of I-5, in the Nisqually National Wildlife Reserve (formerly the Brown Farm), and the tribally-owned Braget Farm Site on the east bank of the Nisqually River. It focuses on dike removal and the effects that it will have on the estuary and its species. It also examines the cooperative relationship between local farmers and the Nisqually Tribe to protect the estuary from development.
King 5 on Nisqually estuary restoration
King 5 came down to Nisqually yesterday and filed this report on the Nisqually Tribe’s habitat restoration efforts:
A small tree is struggling for a foothold in the Nisqually River Delta, and it’s not alone.
There are thousands of them growing up in protective white pipes, reclaiming the lands occupied by their ancestors more than a century ago.
“Some of the trees we have here are western red cedar, we have a Sitka spruce, a cottonwood, a red alder,” said James Slape of the Nisqually Fish Commission. (more…)
Everyday Olympia takes on racist graffiti at Nisqually
Last week Sarah posted a message on OlyBlog shedding light on the travails that the Native American tribe faces as it fishes in the Nisqually River. I would highly recommend exploring some of the links that Sarah posted, but I’ll return to that later. While I am hesitant to put too much thought into what was perhaps simply a moronic and isolated occurrence, I do think there are some interesting issues that deserve a bit of attention.
Vandals target tribal fishermen
From the Olympian: A vulgar graffiti message scrawled on the upstream side of the Old Pacific Highway bridge across the Nisqually River is a sign that racism hasn't died out…
Recommendations to the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress
Recommendations from the 24 treaty tribes represented by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission regarding treaty tribal natural resources management in the Pacific Northwest.…
Despite low chinook run, co-managers boost escapement
NISQUALLY – Good harvest management by tribal and state salmon co-managers has led to more chinook reaching the spawning grounds on the Nisqually River this year despite fewer returning chinook.
“Overall fewer chinook returned Puget Sound-wide, but because we managed our fisheries the right way, we were able to reach our escapement goal,” said David Troutt, natural resources director for the Nisqually Tribe. Escapement is the number of salmon that are allowed to reach the spawning grounds.
Nisqually River chinook are part of a larger Puget Sound population of chinook that are listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act. (more…)