With a higher than average number of spring Chinook salmon forecasted to return to the Columbia River and pass Bonneville Dam this year, Oregon and Washington approved start and ending dates for recreational fishing in the river.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public comment on a draft policy to guide management of hatcheries in cooperation with tribal co-managers.
Leaders of Northwest tribes on Wednesday welcomed new commitments from President Joe Biden and members of his administration at the first in-person Tribal Nations Summit held by the White House in six years.
The Biden Administration Wednesday issued new guidance for federal agencies regarding the use of Indigenous Knowledge in decision-making and issued new policies and procedures to fulfill the federal government’s responsibility for meaningful consultation with American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes.
The Burns Paiute Tribe, a federally-recognized Indian tribe, signed an agreement this month with the state of Oregon and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to collaborate on reintroducing salmon and steelhead to the Malheur River, a tributary of the Snake River. Construction of the Hells Canyon dams in 1958 blocked all anadromous fish from the Upper Snake River basin and Malheur River system.
The Department of the Interior this week released new guidance to improve federal stewardship of public lands, waters and wildlife by strengthening the role of Tribal governments in federal land management.
An Idaho U.S. District Judge Wednesday approved a consent decree between Snake River Waterkeeper and Idaho Power Company that will see more than $500,000 go to the Nez Perce Tribe for projects enhancing water quality in the Snake River basin.
In the outer reaches of the Columbia River Basin, in central Idaho, a proposed open pit gold mining project has received its first significant permit from the state. And it is being challenged by the Nez Perce Tribe and others.
At a signing ceremony on Saturday, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the five Tribes of the Bears Ears Commission formalized and celebrated their partnership for co-management of the Bears Ears National Monument.
The Department of the Interior today transferred fish production at Dworshak National Fish Hatchery to the Nez Perce Tribe, which the agency says is “an important move underscoring the Biden Administration’s commitment to empowering Indigenous communities and supporting Tribal trust responsibility.”
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission this week presented its “2022 Energy Vision For The Columbia River Basin” to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, with recommendations to get “energy production off the backs of salmon.”
Swift action and an inclusive cleanup process were the two main takeaways from a meeting between the Yakama Nation and officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers about the Bradford Island Superfund Site at the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam.
The U.S. Senate last week unanimously approved the nomination of Charles “Chuck” Sams III as National Park Service director, which will make him the first Native American to lead the agency.
Alongside national tribal leaders and federal partners at this week’s 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit, the Environmental Protection Agency announced renewals of the Tribal Treaty Rights Memorandum of Understanding and the Sacred Sites Memorandum of Understanding.
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission announced that Aja K. DeCoteau was selected as the organization’s new executive director at its October meeting, effective November 1.
Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland has signed the Confederated Salish and Kootenai-Montana Compact, formally executing the Montana Water Rights Protection Act enacted by Congress late last year.
The abundance in the Columbia River basin of a fish species rich in nutrients that provides a source of food for numerous riverine birds and animals, as well as Native Americans, has been in decline over the past 20 years, according to a presentation this week at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee meeting.
Lorraine Loomis, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission chairperson and Swinomish fisheries manager, passed away August 10 at the age of 81.
Act now and act together, or watch salmon runs continue to plummet in the Northwest. That was the message Wednesday (July 7) when tribal leaders from throughout the Columbia Basin gathered for a “salmon and orca summit” organized by the Nez Perce Tribe and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.
In an important move to restore Tribal homelands, the Department of the Interior announced this week the transfer of all lands comprising the National Bison Range, approximately 18,800.22 acres, to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be held in trust for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation in Montana. The lands, which are completely within the boundaries of the reservation, were transferred to the Bureau from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In an effort to return numbers of bull trout to self-sustainable levels, Yakama Nation Fisheries and their partners last week released 531 bull trout into Kachess Reservoir and 61 bull trout into Gold Creek, a tributary to Keechelus Reservoir.
On April 23, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice will convene the first White House Council on Native American Affairs meeting of the Biden-Harris administration. Secretary Haaland will serve as the Council’s Chair.
The eighth battle of the BiOp has been underway in federal court since mid-January and two groups are joining in on the debate, one to join as an intervenor plaintiff and one to throw the entire lawsuit out.
The Department of the Interior announced this week that it will host initial consultations with Tribal leaders next month.
Many of the 100 tagged, hatchery surplus adult summer chinook salmon released in August by the Colville Tribes in the Sanpoil River above Grand Coulee Dam built nests and through tracking have provided important baseline information for the possible reintroduction of salmon and steelhead above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
