The Tacoma News Tribune reported on the latest project of Tacoma Power’s hydroelectric program on the North Fork of the Skokomish River, as part of the 2009 settlement with the Skokomish Tribe. While adjustments have made to the dams on the river to allow for improved fish passage, a natural feature called Little Falls, two miles downstream […]
The Kitsap Sun reports that Suquamish Tribe has applied for a grant from Department of Ecology to update an overall assessment of the health of the Blackjack Creek watershed in Port Orchard. From the story (subscription may be required): The tribe Monday applied for a grant through the state Department of Ecology that would provide […]
Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe natural resources director Scott Chitwood spoke with the Sequim Gazette recently about the tribe’s concern for water supply and salmon this summer following 2014-15’s mild winter and low snowpack in the Olympic Mountains. “We’re thinking about surface flows,” Scott Chitwood, natural resources director for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, said. “What influences groundwater influences surface […]
Farming interests in Skagit County often seem at odds with salmon habitat restoration, but an ongoing project by the Swinomish Tribe aims to show that it doesn’t have to be that way. The tribe owns the land known as the Smokehouse tidelands along the Swinomish Channel south of the Swinomish Casino and Lodge. Historically, the […]
The United States Geological Survey announced this week that five papers revealing results of several studies of the effects of dam removal on the Elwha River were published recently in the science journal, Geomorphology. Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe habitat program manager Mike McHenry contributed to one of the papers discussing the significant changes in the river channel […]
The Lummi Nation has written a formal letter urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reject the permit to build the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point. “The impacts on the Nation’s treaty rights associated with this project cannot be mitigated,” wrote Lummi Chair Tim Ballew II. From EarthFix: Corps spokeswoman Patricia Graesser responded […]
Work will begin this week on the final phase of a major eelgrass restoration project located just outside Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island. The project is at the site of the former Milwaukee Dock, near Pritchard Park. The dock, removed in the early 1990s, historically served the Wyckoff creosote plant; the area is now a […]
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Washington Sea Grant are observing an increase of forage fish and Dungeness crab near the mouth of the Elwha River since the river’s two dams have been demolished. Divers have noted continuous sand deposits in the Elwha nearshore, covering formerly cobble-dominated sub-tidal areas. This has […]
The Kitsap Sun (subscription required) reported on the removal of a partial fish-blocking culvert on Chico Creek, under Kittyhawk Drive. Under the direction of the Suquamish Tribe, the 50-year old culvert is being removed, fully allowing the mouth of the estuary to return to a more natural state. From the story: Removing the Kittyhawk culvert is an important […]
The Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal posted a story about Kitsap County purchasing 535 acres of forestland and 1.5 miles of shoreline on Port Gamble Bay for conservation. Initiated by the Kitsap Forest and Bay Project, this purchase is one of several forested properties in Kitsap that the group, which includes the Port Gamble S’Klallam and […]
