Donald Sampson, the new executive director for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal
Fish Commission, says it will be his job to build consensus among tribes
and other entities gridlocked over salmon recovery.

"Restoring salmon means now more than ever that we will have to
find ways to work together rather than against each other," Sampson
said in a lengthy interview published in the March edition of the Confederated
Umatilla Journal. "We need to be willing to make honest ...

A "good faith" effort to create a new regional forum for coordinating
Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife management activities will move
ahead despite a failed first attempt at unanimity.

The Columbia River Basin Forum became official last Friday (Jan. 29)
after 14 of 23 entities -- states, federal agencies and Indian tribes --
involved in Basin fish and wildlife management signed a memorandum of agreement.
Another six parties, including the Yakama Indian Nation and the ...

Ted Strong, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission for 10 years, will leave office in March 1999.

Strong said he has decided to move back to the Yakama Reservation. "When
I came to the Commission, I expected to stay for about three years,"
he said. "The tribal members who encouraged me to accept this position
gave me all the reason in the world to want to succeed. My board, the commissioners,
gave me the greatest support and highest ...

Using $3.9 million in Bonneville Power Administration fish and wildlife
mitigation funds, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
have purchased an 8,441-acre ranch in southeastern Washington for fish
and wildlife habitat. The sale closed Sept. 11.

The "Rainwater Ranch," previously owned by Miller Shingle
Co. of Granite Falls, Wash., includes 5,500 acres of timber, plus rangeland,
and about eight miles of anadromous fish spawning and rearing habitat ...

A Washington city, a tribal leader and a federal energy official are among those the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission honored Saturday with its annual Spirit of the Salmon Award.

"This year's award recipients represent the best in community activism and public involvement," said Olney Patt Jr., CRITFC executive director, who presented the awards. "They are all truly Wy-Kan-Ush-Pum. They are all salmon people."

Tribal fishers are currently harvesting the first spring chinook salmon of the season in preparation for ceremonial events planned this week. A salmon feast at Celilo Village along the Columbia River is scheduled Saturday with annual Root Feasts on the Umatilla Indian Reservation and at the Longhouse at Satus, Wash., are planned Sunday.

Donald Sampson is leaving his position as executive director for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission for a similar position on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon.

Northwest Indians have opened dialogue among tribal members that presents a paradox: Eating salmon, a traditional food with religious significance and many health benefits, in the face of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study that says consumption of polluted Columbia River fish likely causes illness.

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announced Tuesday that senior
Interior Department officials will meet soon with the Klamath Tribes to
work on long-term solutions to an entire range of water, land and
wildlife issues facing the people of the Klamath Basin.