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
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