REGION
THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022
THE OBSERVER — A3
Return of the eels
Nez Perce Tribe
releases Pacific
lamprey into Asotin
Creek as part of
program to help the
ancient fish survive
By ERIC BARKER
Lewiston Tribune
ASOTIN, Wash. —
Charles “Chuck” Axtell
rang a bell and Shannon
Wheeler rapped a drum as
part of an extended blessing
and welcoming ceremony
for about a dozen Pacifi c
lamprey just upstream from
the mouth of Asotin Creek.
One by one, members
of the Nez Perce Tribe
and their guests delicately
released the squirming
fi sh into the cold rushing
water. Moments earlier,
Axtell sang the tribe’s
“Circle of Life’’ song in
the Nez Perce language.
“That song is blessing
them, that they will com-
plete the circle,” he said.
The fi sh, with some help
from humans, are close to
doing just that and helping
ensure the species retains
its fragile grip in the vast
Snake River ecosystem.
The eel-like fi sh with
a toothy disc mouth,
known as heésu, were once
common. Nez Perce people
came to the creek to catch
lamprey, which were an
important source of food
and medicine. The creek
and the town of Asotin
would eventually take their
name from a mispronun-
ciation of Hesuutin, a Nez
Perce word that means
“place of the eels.”
But the scaleless fi sh
are now rare here and
everywhere in the Snake
River basin. Dams on the
Columbia and Snake rivers
make it nearly impossible
for adult lamprey to reach
spawning grounds.
“Lamprey are an anad-
romous fi sh. They migrate
to the ocean and return,”
said Samuel N. Penney,
chairman of the Nez Perce
Tribal Executive Com-
mittee. “At each of the
dams, at least 50% are lost.”
In 2007, the tribe began
collecting lamprey at dams
on the Columbia River and
trucking them to Snake
River tributaries for release.
In all, about 6,000 of the
fi sh have been moved
upriver and released in
places like Asotin Creek,
the south fork of the Salmon
River, the south fork of the
Clearwater River and tribu-
taries to the Grande Ronde
River.
“We just let them hitch
a ride with us. We get them
up past the barriers and
then we release them to
do their thing,” said Todd
Sween, a lamprey biolo-
gist with the tribe’s Depart-
ment of Fisheries Resources
Management.
Jon Hess, a scientist with
the Columbia River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission,
of which the Nez Perce
Austin Johnson/Lewiston Tribune
Nez Perce tribal elder and spiritual leader Charles Axtell speaks words of admiration and encourage to a
Pacifi c lamprey fi sh before release it into Asotin Creek in Asotin, Washington, on Thursday, April 14, 2022.
Lamprey, an eel-like fi sh, hold a strong historic and medicinal reverence to the Nez Perce and other Native
American tribes in the region, but their numbers have declined signifi cantly over recent decades.
Outdoor school plans
50th session celebration
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — A
celebration is in the works
to mark the 50th session
of the Pendleton Outdoor
School Program.
The event is Friday,
April 29, at Buck Creek
Cabins on the Umatilla
National Forest and open
to former ODS campers,
counselors, fi eld study
volunteers, teachers and
community supporters.
The planning committee
is working to connect
with these groups and
individuals to invite them
to the event.
Since the early 1970s,
Pendleton sixth graders
have ventured to Buck
Creek Cabins and the U.S.
Forest Service’s Corpora-
tion facility on the banks
of the Umatilla River.
There, students have
applied skills developed in
the classroom to real-life
situations in the natural
environment.
The event includes ded-
ication ceremonies to name
three buildings in honor of
individuals who contrib-
uted their time, talents and
skills to the program: the
Cookhouse will honor Bob
McMillan, the Bunkhouse
Jim Christensen and
the Ranger Cabin the late
Vern Willcox.
Due to limited parking
at the ODS site, the Inter-
mountain Education Ser-
vice District is providing
transportation via Mid
Columbia Bus Com-
pany from Pendleton for
the event.
The schedule for the day
follows:
11:30 a.m. — Bus leaves
Pendleton (from IMESD
parking lot, 2001 SW Nye
Ave.).
12:30 p.m. — Bus
arrives at Outdoor School
site.
12:30 p.m. — Hot dog
lunch is served.
1:15 p.m. — Bus shut-
tles visitors to Buck Creek
area.
1:30 p.m. — Flagpole
ceremony at Buck Creek.
1:50 p.m. — Bus shut-
tles visitors back to
Corporation.
2 p.m. — Building dedi-
cations at Corporation.
3 p.m. — Bus departs
ODS.
4 p.m. — Bus arrives
back in Pendleton.
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Austin Johnson/Lewiston Tribune
Elder and spiritual leader Charles Axtell, left, sings alongside Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee
Vice-Chairman Shannon Wheeler and Treasurer Casey Mitchell during the opening ceremony of a Pacifi c
lamprey release into Asotin Creek in Asotin, Washington, on Thursday, April 14, 2022.
Tribe is a member, has used
genetic testing to docu-
ment that the translocated
lamprey have successfully
spawned and their off spring
have migrated to the ocean.
“Everywhere we have
put them, everywhere we
have released adults, we
have documented suc-
cessful reproduction,’’
Sween said.
That is important
because unlike salmon and
steelhead, lamprey do not
have fi delity to the partic-
ular streams where they
were hatched. Instead,
mature adults key in on
pheromones released by
larval lamprey to fi nd suit-
able spawning habitat. So
while a lamprey from the
Snake River basin could
return to the river to spawn,
it might also return to
another Columbia River
tributary or any river on the
West Coast.
Once a river becomes
devoid of juvenile lam-
prey, little remains to attract
adults to spawning areas,
no matter how pristine they
may be.
“That is the primary
objective of our work —
getting the adults up here,
getting the young estab-
lished so they can give off
that pheromone plume,”
Sween said.
The fi sh released
Thursday, which also
included about 100 more
that were placed farther
upstream, are part of that
stopgap program.
“We understand this
is a Band-Aid approach
and there is a long-term
fi x that needs to be done,”
Penney said.
The Army Corps of
Engineers has exper-
imented with ways to
improve lamprey passage
at dams but the work has
just begun and yet to prove
successful. Last year, only
31 lamprey were counted
passing Lower Granite
Dam. The 10-year average
is 102.
The tribe supports
breaching the four lower
Snake River dams as a
means to saving lam-
prey and threatened and
endangered stocks of
salmon and steelhead.
The Snake River and its
nearly pristine tributaries
are viewed by scientists as
an important stronghold
for salmon and steelhead
that could be unleashed
through breaching.
Sween said that same
high-quality habitat could
also be key to saving lam-
prey. As juveniles, lamprey
spend years fi lter feeding
in the sand and silt of river
beds. They are especially
vulnerable to pollution and
need clean water to survive.
“Here in Nez Perce
country,” he said, “we are
blessed with just relatively
pristine watersheds.”
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Reelect David Baum
Oregon Trail Electric Board, Position 8
STATEMENT TO VOTERS: The electric utility industry is seeing significant changes due to increased demand, new
technologies, government mandates, high prices of natural gas and oil, and weather renewables (solar and wind).
Weather renewables work only when the Sun is shining and the Wind is blowing.
Currently OTEC purchases 100% of its electrical power from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and some of the
lowest electrical rates in the country. But BPA is being challenged with increasing costs, reduced revenue, and threat
of the removal of the four lower Snake River dams. As the board member involved with the Wildfire Mitigation Plan, we
have aggressively pushed forward with the drafting and finalization of a Wildfire Plan.
As we negotiate a new contract with Bonneville (BPA), my legal experience is a valuable evaluation tool. My focus will be to
continue to work diligently in areas of Power Supply, Transmission and Distribution. I will strive to keep your electrical rates
low.
Our CEO, Les Penning and staff with board support will not be raising your electrical rates for 2022.
It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to serve as your representative on the board of Directors. I have grained a signifi-
cant knowledge and experience about cooperatives during this time. I will continue to work hard at keeping electric
rates low while providing safe and reliable electricity to our members along with excellent customer service. I have
knowledge, experience, energy and time to serve.
I ask for YOUR VOTE and look forward to our future challenges.
Paid For By David Baum / The Committee to Reelect David Baum
2022
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