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Tribes Help Reopen Shellsh BedsElwha Hatchery Breaks GroundMelting Glaciers Impact Fish HabitatTribes, State Battle Fish VirusTribal Research Guides Estuary ProjectRadio Collars Aid Elk Research

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Inside:

Spring 2010

nwifc.org

NWIFC News

Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

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Strength, Courage Bring Down Dams

Being Frank

NWIFC Chairman

Billy Frank Jr.

Executive Director

Mike Grayum

Information and Education ServicesDivision Manager

Tony Meyer

Regional Information Ofcers

Debbie Preston, CoastEmmett O’Connell, South SoundTiffany Royal, Hood Canal/Strait of Juan de FucaKari Neumeyer, North Sound

Editorial Assistant

Sheila McCloud

NWIFC News

On the cover:

Lummi Nation master carverFelix Solomon, left, shows Stillaguamish tribalmember Jeff Tatro how to round the edges of a at-bottom shovel-nosed canoe. See relatedstory on page 3.

Photo: K. Neumeyer

Northwest IndianFisheries Commission6730 Martin Way E.Olympia, WA 98516(360) 438-1180NWIFC Member Tribes:

Hoh,

Jamestown S’Klallam, Lower Elwha Klallam,Lummi Nation, Makah, Muckleshoot,Nisqually, Nooksack, Port GambleS’Klallam, Puyallup, Quileute, QuinaultIndian Nation, Sauk-Suiattle, Skokomish,Squaxin Island, Stillaguamish, Suquamish,Swinomish, Tulalip and Upper SkagitTribal contact information is availableunder

Member Tribes

at nwifc.org.Follow us on Facebook:

facebook.com/nwifc

and on Twitter: @NWIFC

am excited that those two Elwha River dams will begin to come down nextyear, and you should be excited too. It’s been a long time coming. After more than a century, the Elwha River will run free again and provide a goodhome for salmon.

NWIFC News

is published quarterly. Freesubscriptions are available. This edition isalso online at nwifc.org. Articles in

NWIFC News

may be reprinted.

Built without fish ladders about a cen-tury ago, the two dams cut salmon off fromnearly 100 miles of excellent habitat. Todaya lot of that habitat is protected in Olympic National Park, and that’s a good thing for the future of the river, the salmon and allof us.The idea that those dams are really, trulycoming down was driven home for me atthe recent groundbreaking ceremony for theLower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s new salmonhatchery.The new hatchery will be built during thenext 18 months and will help support salm-on and steelhead recovery efforts on theriver. The tribe has a steelhead broodstock program that will make sure native Elwha River steelhead aren’t wiped out by the dam removal.Another fish I hope we haven’t lost is the 100-pound chinook that the ElwhaRiver used to produce before the dams were built. Imagine that, 100-poundsalmon!Of course, building a new hatchery alone won’t bring the salmon back.There’s a lot of work to be done.The tribe has been working hard to get the river valley ready for the in-creased water flow and sediment that are coming. They’ve been putting inengineered logjams and removing dikes to slow down the river. Undersizedculverts are being removed and replaced with larger culverts or bridges. It’sa long list.We’re happy for the tribe and its federal and state partners that PresidentObama’s stimulus funding could speed up the date for tearing down the dams.It can’t happen soon enough.Removing the Elwha dams is the dream of a lifetime come true. None of us is here very long. We’re just kind of passing through, and what we do withour time is important.I can remember way back when the tribe first started talking about takingout the dams. A lot of people told them it couldn’t be done. That was manyyears ago, but the Elwha people never gave up. They stayed the course andthey are putting this watershed back together.That’s the kind of strength and courage we need to tackle other issues thatseem impossible to solve, such as stormwater runoff, shoreline developmentand fish-blocking culverts. If we can tear down those Elwha dams, we sure ashell can tackle those problems.

By Billy Frank Jr.NWIFC Chairman

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tillaguamiSh

ribe

About 1,800 acres of shellfish beds in Port Susan reopenedto tribal harvest recently, after years of work by the Stillagua-mish Tribe.“This is a great accomplishment,” said Shawn Yanity, thetribe’s fisheries manager. “Last year, we had a First SalmonCeremony for the first time in as long as anyone can remember. The opening of Port Susan gives us another opportunitythat we haven’t had for ages – to provide more traditional foodfor our ceremonies.”Port Susan is a protected bay where the Stillaguamish Riv-er meets Puget Sound. Threats to its water quality include adozen dairy operations, three wastewater treatment facilitiesand a densely developed residential community called WarmBeach.The state Department of Health closed the area to shellfishharvest because of fecal pollution in 1987, and for years noth-ing was done to clean it up.The Stillaguamish Tribe has limited opportunities to harvestshellfish, so the natural resources department made it a prior-ity to reopen the Port Susan beds. In 1998, the tribe startedsampling the water to determine and address sources of fe-cal coliform contamination, with the help of the Warm Beachcommunity, Snohomish County Surface Water Division, Still-aguamish Diking District and the Snohomish County Conser-vation District.The tribe shared its data with the Snohomish County HealthDistrict, which investigated and corrected problems, such asleaky septic systems and illegal sewer hookups.The state Department of Health completed a sanitary surveyreport this winter, finding that the most recent water samples passed the shellfish water quality standard.

– K. Neumeyer

A canoe is being carved for the Still-aguamish Tribe for the first time in whatis believed to be 100 years.Lummi Nation master carver FelixSolomon is carving the canoe at his stu-dio, while teaching the craft to Stillagua-mish tribal members, including fisheriesmanager Shawn Yanity and assistantfisheries manager Jeff Tatro.“I have to give thanks to Felix for allhis work and the knowledge of canoecarving that he is sharing with us,” Yan-ity said.The Stillaguamish Tribe lost its fed-eral recognition shortly after the PointElliott Treaty was signed in 1855, anddidn’t regain it until the 1970s.“A lot of us grew up away from our culture,” Yanity said. “We need to bring back the tradition of carving canoes, justas we need to continue our culture of fishing and hunting.”They are carving a flat-bottom shovel-nosed canoe from a 300-year-old cedar log that was buried 100 years ago under a road in the Stillaguamish watershed.The tribe plans to use the canoe in itsFirst Salmon Ceremony this summer.“I received a grant to research thistype of canoe specifically,” Solomonsaid. “I’m honored to be able to do thiswork and bring a shovel-nosed canoe tolife.”Members of the Stillaguamish Tribealso have been taking carving lessons atthe tribal center.“We have a responsibility to our an-cestors to keep their teachings going,”Yanity said.Embracing his new skills, Yanity took a carved-off section of the log home tocreate a small canoe to hang in a CampFire USA pavilion that the tribe is fund-ing in Snohomish County. He also hascarved a paddle to display at a localBoys and Girls Club.

– K. Neumeyer

Stillaguamish natural resources staff members Franchesca Perez,left, and Robbie Hutton sample water in Port Susan.

Shellfsh Bed Cleanup Leads To Harvest

Restoring Canoe Culture After 100 Years

Lummi master carver Felix Solomon, center, teaches assistant sheries manager Jeff Tatro,left, and sheries manager Shawn Yanity, both of Stillaguamish, to carve a shovel-nosedcanoe.