Tribal State

Collaborative efforts for Elwha River freshwater mussel rescue

[display_podcast] PORT ANGELES (October 16, 2008) – There was a sense of urgency when tribal, state and federal biologists recently snorkeled for 5,000 freshwater mussels along the bottom of a 300-foot-long shallow side channel of the Elwha River. A dredge was slated the next day to dig up the side channel as part of construction of the Elwha Water Treatment Facility.

This mussel rescue was part of larger efforts to prepare the Elwha River for the removal of its two fish-blocking dams; the 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam and the 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon Dam will be removed starting in 2012. The new treatment plant will help filter out river sediment that will be released after the dams are removed. (more…)

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Framework

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The SSHIAP approach to characterizing freshwater salmon and steelhead habitat conditions relies on information derived from 1:24,000-scale maps and GIS coverages, aerial photographs, field surveys, existing databases, historical records, and…

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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.

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All Habitat Is Critical

January 3, 2004

Habitat is the key to wild salmon recovery in western Washington.
That’s why the treaty tribes who have always called this region
home were surprised by the Bush Administration’s plan to reduce
by more than 80 percent the critical habitat needed to recover wild
salmon.

We know that harvest and hatcheries also are critical to recovering wild salmon stocks, of which three in western Washington have been listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species
Act. Tribes have stepped up to the challenge by reducing their harvests up to 80 percent over the past two decades. Together with our co-managers, the State of Washington, we are in the fifth year of a hatchery reform project that is helping to recover wild salmon while supporting sustainable fisheries.

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$1.1 Million Grant Boosts Sauk-Suiattle Tribe’s Fisheries, Wildlife Enforcement

DARRINGTON (September 19, 2003) — Treaty Indian tribes in Washington state are already leaders in fisheries and wildlife enforcement. Now, the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe is taking those existing anti-poaching efforts to the next level.

This week, the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe received a $1.1 million Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) tribal resources

grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The money will allow Sauk-Suiattle to add four new natural resources officers, three full-time and one part-time, to the tribe’s enforcement staff – and purchase vehicles and technology needed to make a difference in the fight against poaching.

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