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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2012)
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon May 2, 2012 Fishing by Bonneville 35 years dedicated to fisheries The Columbia River In ter-Tribal Fish C om m is sion and its m em ber tribes, re c e n tly m ark ed th e ir T hirty-Fifth Anniversary o f service. CRITFC and its mem ber tribes— Warm Springs, Yakama, Umatilla and Nez Perce— are key advocates o f treaty-reserved rights to salmon. C R IT F C w as e s ta b lished on April 27,1977 by the four tribes. T h e com m ission was tasked with protecting the tribal fishery, restoring fish runs and establishing an in tertribal enforcement p ro gram. C R IT F C serves as a technical and coordinating agency fo r th e m em b er trib es w h en ad d ressin g salmon policy and treaty fishing rights throughout the Columbia Basin. Gravel to gravel Lyle Rhoan Sr. and Devere Charley (picture at top) land a salmon, one of several they caught that day at the tribal fishing site by the Bonneville Dam. The site, on the Washington side, drew several fishermen that day (picture above). Meanwhile, off-shore, a government boat was attempting to drive sea lions away from the area. An enforcement officer would fire an explosive device at a sea lion (picture at right). The sea lion would swim away from the boat under water, only to appear minutes later some distance away. 2 T ata a f w Snake dams should come down, former salmon judge says (AP) — A federal judge who presided over the Columbia River Basin salmon case. for years told a public television station that the Snake River’s fo u r h y d ro e le c tric dam s should be breached to help wild salmon. U.S. D istrict Judge James Redden’s comments to Idaho P ublic T elevision w ere re corded for an upcoming O ut door Idaho documentary and b rief video and audio clips, were released last week. “I think we need to take those dams down,” Redden said in the interview. “Trying to take out a dam is not, not very difficult,” Red den added. “I t’s a lot easier than it is putting them up. You don’t just take the whole thing down, you just let the water go around it. You just dig out the ditch and let it go around.” T he 83-year-old Portland judge to o k him self o f f the case last fall after earlier re jecting a third federal govern m ent plan to balance hydro- p ow er operations w ith the needs o f salmon and steelhead listed under the federal E n dangered Species Act. U.S. D istrict Judge Michael Simon now oversees the mat ter. Redden is still practicing, th o u g h w ith a re d u c e d caseload. L D efenders o f the Snake R iv er dam s say th e y are n eeded for reliable p ow er production. O pponents say the harm they do to imper iled fish runs outweighs their benefits. R edden rejected salmon restoration plans, known as bio lo g ical o p in io n s, fro m three presidents: Bill Clinton, G eorge W. Bush, and now Barack Obama. Last August, he ruled that the O bam a administration's update o f the last Bush plan was too vague to m eet the demands o f the Endangered Species Act. Redden added that he didn’t think habitat im provem ents alone w ould do th e job and said it was time to consider new options, including removing some o f the dams. H e left the plan in force through 2013, when a more specific plan is due. Redden’s 2006 order that water, be diverted from tur bines to spill over dams and help young salmon migrating to the ocean is his top contri bution, Pat Ford, executive director o f the conservation c o a litio n Save O u r W ild Salmon, said last fall. T hat order has resulted in increased returns o f wild and hatchery salmon alike, Ford said. Page 7 W orking u n d e r th e ir mission o f “ensuring a uni fied voice in the overall m anagem ent o f the fish eries resources,” CRITFC fo resaw th e n eed fo r a holistic, life-cycle approach to salmon management. C R IT F C in tro d u c e d the innovative gravel-to- gravel management strat egies for salmon through Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish- Wit, the tribal salmon res toration plan. This plan has helped to re v e rse th e d eclin e o f salmon populations in the Columbia Basin. Last year, CRITFC de veloped a similar compre hensive plan for th e re- c o v e ry ’ d f P acific L am prey. W o rk in g to g e th e r th ro u g h C R IT F C , th e tribes obtained fisheries harvest agreements under the US v. Oregon Manage m ent A greement and the Pacific Salmon Treaty, and . Hit Squad enchi lada feed at the Com munity Center on Fri day, May 4, from 11 “ We need to find a solution to manag ing the sea lion predation that takes 15-20 percent o f the (Endangered Species A.ct)-listed salmon. ” secured funding for habitat im p ro v em ent. T hey have utilized sources such as the Pacific Coastal Salmon Re c o v ery F u n d , an d th e Bonneville Power Adminis tration Fish and Wildlife Miti gation Program. “This is an exciting time for fisheries throughout the Columbia River Basin,” said G e ra ld L ew is, C R IT F C ’s chairman. “T he tribes have accom plished a lot for the region’s fish populations over the past 35 years, but there is a lot o f work that needs to be done. O ur w ater is contaminated, fish are still listed under ESA, an d th e re g io n ’s lam p rey p o p u lations are in serious trouble. These issues m ust be addressed as we look forward to the next 35 years.” Era of conflict CRITFC was form ed dur ing an era o f conflict in Co lumbia Basin fisheries. .The c o m m issio n w as form ed after federal courts ruled th at the tribes’ treaty fishing right entitled tribal fishermen to a “fair share,” or 50 percent o f the harvestable fish destined for their usual and accustomed fishing areas. Com m itted to workforce d ev elo p m en t in th e trjb al communities, tribal fisheries programs began with a hand ful o f em ployees 35 years ago. Today, tribal fisheries pro grams are among the largest fisheries em ployers in the Columbia Basin. ~ Mothers Day Sale ~ 2521 Ollgllïe U ne CPO Box 6) Warm Springs, OR 97761 < D ue in large p a rt to tribal actions, some areas o f the Basin are currently experiencing the largest salmon runs that have oc curred in recent decades. B oth tribal and non- tribal harvest opportuni ties have increased accord ingly. “ C R IT F C em b o d ies unity .through action/’ said Paul Lumley, C R IT F C ’s executive director. “We have d em onstrated th at there is strength In num bers. The past 35 years are a true testam ent to w hat we can accomplish for a com m on goal.” Future priorities C hairm an Lewis said, “We need to look towards the future and w hat we w ant to accomplish in the next 35 years. T he com m ission is setting priori ties and they are num er ous. We need to reduce ' toxic c o n ta m in a tio n in our water. “We will continue to -' ed u cate th e B asin th a t mass m arking and m ark selective fisheries will not increase natural spawners. We w ill w ork w ith o u r partners to redirect hatch- . ery policies so they rebuild , salm on runs throughout the Colum bia Basin. We need to find a solution to managing the sea lion pre- . d ation th a t takes 15-20 p ercen t o f the (E n d an gered Species Act)-listed salmon.” CRITFC is supporting a, U.S.-Canada Colum bia River T reaty reso lu tio n th at respects salm on and o th e r trib a l tr u s t r e sources. “A nd we will com bat the continuous efforts to- decrease federal funding levels that im pact our ef fo rts to rebuild salm on runs to their full produc tivity,” Lewis said. , The Warm Springs Recreation Depart ment is hosting a Mothers Day Sale on Friday, May 4 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Community Center. Vendors: To reserve your table, call Carol at 541-553-3243. Call 541-553-1182 Owned and Operated by the Confederated Tribes o f Warm Springs J
