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Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
January 17, 2018
Coming up in Buffs hoops
The Madras High School boys
varsity basketball team has a home
game this Friday, January 19,
against Estacada. On Tuesday,
January 23, the boys are away at
Gladstone.
The girls play January 19 away
at Estacada, and at home on Janu-
ary 23 against Gladstone.
Some of the girls varsity games
in so far January: Madras over
Sisters, 63-33; and Madras over
Mountain View, 59-46.
The girls are in control of the
4A Tri-Valley League, five games
ahead of second-place Molalla, and
seven games ahead of third-place
Crook.
Council approves smelt harvest
Tribal Council approved regu-
lations regarding smelt harvest in
the Cowlitz and Sandy rivers.
Harvest may take place seven
days per week from 6 a.m. to 6
p.m. This is a subsistence fishery,
and there is a limit of 2,000 pounds
for each river but no individual
limit. Sales are not allowed.
Gear is limited to dipnets and
the nets must be attended continu-
ously.
The Branch of Natural Re-
sources will have creel technicians
to check your harvest. If you are
not checked, you are required to
report your catch to Natural Re-
sources office within 24 hours.
Tribal members must have their
enrollment cards on their person
while fishing. If asked you must
allow your catch to be inspected by
federal, state or tribal officers.
According to the Tribal Council
resolution approving the smelt sea-
son:
“In recognition of the traditional
methods, smelt may be harvested
with dipnets seven days a week
during the run. Fish may be present
through May, with the peak months
of February and March. March is
expected to be the best harvest
month in the Sandy River. Fishing
may take place between 6 a.m. and
6 p.m.”
More youth sports in January
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
Madras High School sophomore Cole White, 5’4”, was able to reject this shot against a 6’2”
opponent in junior varsity play.
Court approves plan to help salmon
by spilling more water over dams
A federal judge has approved a
plan to spill more water through
dams in the Columbia River Basin
this spring.
It’s part of an ongoing lawsuit
over how to manage dams to pro-
tect threatened and endangered
salmon and steelhead.
Last year, U.S. District Court
Judge Michael Simon ordered dam
managers to develop a plan to spill
more water on the Columbia and
Snake rivers to help fish.
Spilling more water means gen-
erating less power, which could
raise the price of electricity.
EarthJustice attorney Todd
True represents the plaintiffs in the
lawsuit, including conservation
groups, the state of Oregon and
the Nez Perce Tribe. He says spill-
ing more water will help move baby
salmon downriver toward the
ocean while avoiding dangerous
turbines.
“It’s something we can do im-
mediately that will help salmon that
are on the brink of extinction,” he
said. “The federal agencies have
refused to provide spill at this level
in the past so the court has ordered
them to do that.”
The court ordered as much spill
as the law allows. State laws set lim-
its on how much water can be
spilled over dams before the gases
produced in the process may be-
come harmful to fish.
Dam managers with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers submit-
ted their new spill plan to the court
last month. They will start spilling
more water through dams in April.
Scientists: shrinking salmon gene pool
As Chinook salmon populations
declined across the Pacific North-
west, scientists suspected the fish
lost a great deal of genetic diver-
sity, too.
But until recently, the theory
hadn’t been tested. Ancient salmon
bones are hard to come by, and it’s
even harder to extract workable
DNA samples from them.
“Science finally caught up with
what we already believed and al-
lowed us to test it,” said Bobbi
Johnson, the lead author of a new
Washington State University study
that raises concerns about the Chi-
nooks’ ability to respond to envi-
ronmental change.
Starting in 2010, Johnson’s team
collected hundreds of salmon
bones from Native American ar-
cheological sites – some more than
twice as old as the first Egyptian
pyramid – and compared their
DNA with modern samples from
the same areas.
The researchers found that Chi-
nook in the upper Columbia
River—where the Grand Coulee
Dam cut off about 40 percent of
the species’ historic habitat—have
lost about two-thirds of their ge-
netic diversity. In the Snake River,
they lost about one-third, a differ-
ence that surprised the research-
ers.
That basically supports the
longstanding assumption that the
Chinook gene pool was much
larger before European settlement
in the Pacific Northwest.
The researchers also analyzed
ancient samples from Spokane
River Chinook, finding that
population had a large gene pool
and at least six lineages. They had
no modern samples for compari-
son. The Little Falls Dam has
blocked salmon migration on the
Spokane River since it was built
in 1911.
Genetic variation is critical for
the survival of any species. It
would enable salmon to pass on
needed traits if disease strikes,
water levels drop or temperatures
rise.
“You want there to be differ-
ences between individuals, so that
when change does happen, there’s
room for adaptation and natural
selection,” Johnson said.
Movin’ Mountains registrations
and initial assessments are this
Friday, January 19 today from
8-6 a.m. and Saturday, January
20, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the
Jefferson County Public Health
Department in Madras.
In Madras High School sports
this Friday, January 19: Boys’ JV
and varsity basketball will host
Estacada. Games are at 5:30 and
7. Girls’ JV and varsity teams
travel to Estacada.
Saturday, January 20, Madras
High School wrestlers host the Ma-
dras Invitational, starting at 10 a.m.
Warm Springs Academy girls
basketball plays at Elton Gregory
in Redmond on Monday, January
22. Seventh-grade plays at 3:30,
and the eighth-grade at 4:30.
In Madras High School sports
on Tuesday, January 23: Freshman,
JV and varsity girls’ basketball will
host Gladstone. Games are at 4,
5:30 and 7 p.m. The boys travel to
Gladstone.
The Warm Springs Academy girls
basketball team plays at Obsidian
Middle School in Redmond on
Wednesday, January 24. The Acad-
emy wrestlers travel to Crook
County Middle School for a meet
at 4 p.m.
Madras High School freshman
girls basketball plays at Mountain
View on Tuesday, January 24.
Tourney
winners,
awards
Swantown, from White
Swan, won the Warm Springs
Indian Holiday Basketball
Tournament. Swantown beat
United Tribes, of War m
Springs, in the championship
game.
Warm Springs Recreation
hosted the Fifty-Fourth Annual
Holiday tourney. Here are
some more results:
Warm Springs team took
third place; fourth, Northwest
Hoopers of Celilo; and fifth,
Chi-Hills of Chiloquin.
The Most Valuable
Player award went to Darrin
Six, Swantown.
High Scorer: Damean
Frank, Money, Warm Springs,
41 points.
Mr. Hustle was Aquino
Brinson, Swantown. Top
Rebounder: Dyami Thomas,
Portland.
The All-Tourney team:
Tyson Fryburg, Swantown.
Aquino Brinson, Swantown.
Scott Riddle, United Tribes.
Jansen Harrington, United
Tribes. Chad Marks, Warm
Springs. Dave Smith, Warm
Springs.
All Tour ney: Keno
Gamboa, Northwest Hoopers.
Jason James, Northwest
Hoopers. Jered Hall, Portland.
Chuck Shields, Portland. Jo-
seph Arthur, Tygh Valley. Bad-
ger Kimbol, Chi-Hills.
Coach Awards: Dar ryl
Smith, United Tribes. Arthur
Mitchell, Warm Springs. Chris
Jones, Swantown. JT Ball,
Portland.
Joseph Arthur, Tygh Valley.
Steven Begay, Northwest
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
Championship game, Swantown over United Tribes.
Hoopers. Derek Kimbol, Chi-Hills.
Delbert Bishop, NOW Nevada.
Andrew Beers, Bur ns. Harr y
Hisatake, Medicine Society.
Aaron Winishut, ‘Money,’
Warm Springs.