Salmon Habitat Protection

Lummi Nation partners with county, land trust on South Fork Nooksack restoration

LUMMI NATION – The Lummi Nation has entered into a partnership with Whatcom County and the Whatcom Land Trust to re-align a portion of a county road that runs past the tribe’s Skookum Creek Hatchery. This section of the road segment serves primarily as access to the hatchery and to a system of logging roads.

Moving the road off the bank of the South Fork of the Nooksack River will allow the tribe to restore habitat to its natural condition, by replanting native vegetation in the riparian area and building logjams for instream cover and complexity. The project ranked first for restoration benefit in a habitat assessment of the upper South Fork conducted by the tribe’s Natural Resources department in 2007. (more…)

Continue ReadingLummi Nation partners with county, land trust on South Fork Nooksack restoration

Larger Returns Don’t Equal Salmon Recovery

August 7, 2002

Here we go again.

A second year of big returns of hatchery chinook returning to the Columbia River – coupled with more good returns of coho to Puget Sound – and some folks already are talking loudly again about easing salmon habitat protection measures.

Unfortunately, what these returns really amount to are two small spikes on the overall downward trend of the salmon resource. Two years of good returns do not amount to salmon recovery. In fact, these larger returns actually may cause more harm than good.

(more…)

Continue ReadingLarger Returns Don’t Equal Salmon Recovery