Stillaguamish Tribe

Tribes Minimize Elk Damage with Cost-Effective Fence

Assistant fisheries manager for Stillaguamish, Jeff Tatro, left, and Shawn Yanity, who is both chairman and fisheries manager for the tribe, attach a strand to an elk exclusion fence in Acme.
Assistant fisheries manager for Stillaguamish, Jeff Tatro, left, and Shawn Yanity, who is both chairman and fisheries manager for the tribe, help install an elk exclusion fence in Acme.

The Stillaguamish and Tulalip Tribes collaborated recently with a dairy farm in Acme to put up an elk exclusion fence to minimize pasture damage.

“They have serious damage issues on some of their properties,” said Jennifer Sevigny, wildlife biologist for the Stillaguamish Tribe. “There appear to be a lot of elk spending the majority of the year in and around their farm. This is one way as co-managers we can help address the problem.”

Property owners and farmers in Whatcom and Skagit counties have complained that the recovering Nooksack elk herd destroys fences and devours crops.

“Obviously, the elk want the best feed source, and that’s usually our field,” said Galen Smith, who operates Coldstream Farm with his father-in-law, Jeff Rainey. “We like the elk, but we have to manage them.” (more…)

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Tribes monitor Puget Sound for toxins

Nisqually natural resources technician Jimsan Dunstan samples water at Johnson Point in Olympia
Nisqually natural resources technician Jimsan Dunstan samples water at Johnson Point in Olympia.

The Jamestown S’Klallam, Nisqually and Stillaguamish tribes are participating in the SoundToxins monitoring program to provide early warning of harmful algal blooms (HAB) and outbreaks of bacteria that could sicken humans.

“We want to make sure shellfish are safe to consume, not just for tribal members, but for all seafood consumers,” said Sue Shotwell, shellfish farm manager for the Nisqually Tribe.

During the shellfish growing season from March to October, tribal natural resources staff sample seawater weekly at designated sites. Additional sites across Puget Sound are monitored for toxin-producing algae by various citizen beach watchers, shellfish farmers, educational institutions and state government agencies. The monitoring results are posted in an online database.

The SoundToxins program helps narrow down the places where shellfish should be sampled for toxins, which is more expensive and time-consuming than testing the water. (more…)

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Stillaguamish Tribe sponsors salmon habitat restoration on Cherokee Creek

cherokee creek
Coho salmon swim in newly restored habitat in Cherokee Creek.

The Stillaguamish Tribe recently partnered with the state Department of Natural Resources Family Forest Fish Passage Program to restore access to Cherokee Creek, near Darrington.

Cherokee Creek provides spawning, rearing and refuge for coho and other species of Pacific salmon, as well as cutthroat and bull trout. However, the creek also was home to a deteriorating metal culvert that had been poorly installed and was too small to withstand floods.

“The culvert had created an artificial waterfall that was too high for salmon to swim or jump past on their way upstream,” said Scott Rockwell, Forest and Fish biologist for the tribe. “It was also interfering with natural stream ecology, interrupting the downstream movement of water, fallen trees and gravel.” (more…)

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Stillaguamish Tribe’s canoe debuts at First Salmon Ceremony

Stillaguamish tribal chairman Shawn Yanity, left, and assistant fisheries manager Jeff Tatro use the new canoe to return the remains of the first salmon to the Stillaguamish River.
The Stillaguamish Tribe celebrated its First Salmon Ceremony on Saturday. A highlight of the event was a shovel-nosed canoe, carved for the tribe from an old-growth cedar by Lummi Nation master carver Felix Solomon.

The Daily Herald:

ARLINGTON — The guest of honor was the first chinook salmon of the season, but the focus of the day was the launch of the Stillaguamish Tribe’s first shovel-nose dugout river canoe in a century.

Continuing on its path to cultural restoration, the tribe on Saturday welcomed hundreds of people from other Northwest Indian tribes and the Arlington community for a day-long celebration at the Victoria Ranch northwest of Arlington. (more…)

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Stillaguamish Tribe looks at contaminants that could inhibit salmon breeding

stilly endocrineARLINGTON — Something in the water could be slowing salmon reproduction rates.

Wastewater containing pharmaceuticals and other products that mimic estrogen can interfere with the endocrine system of fish, potentially resulting in males displaying both male and female characteristics, which inhibits breeding.

The Stillaguamish Tribe has partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Water Science Center in Tacoma and the city of Arlington to look at contaminants in the wastewater that winds up in the Stillaguamish River and Port Susan Bay. (more…)

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Arlington Times: Stillaguamish Tribe celebrates culture at Festival of the Salmon

The Arlington Times covered the Stillaguamish Tribe’s Festival of the Salmon:

Stillaguamish Tribe Chair Sandy Klineberger explained that she and the Tribal Council saw the 20th annual Festival and pow wow as an opportunity to refocus on “the traditional culture that’s been missing from the Tribe for the past 30 years,” which the Tribe also did recently by performing its first salmon ceremony in more than 150 years, by Klineberger’s estimate. (more…)

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