Page 6
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
February 27, 2019
Entries
open for
Cougars
tourney
Players and Coach on Seniors Night
The Twenty-Sixth Annual
Warm Springs Cougars All-
Indian High School Boys &
Girls Basketball Champion-
ships are coming up in early
April.
Warm Springs Recreation
will host the championships
April 5-7 at the Community
Center.
Recreation is taking en-
tries up until March 22.
Contact tournament di-
rector Austin Greene at the
Recreation Office for more
information, 541-553-3243.
Notes...
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
Madras High School seniors Byron Patt and Kahne Herkshan present the game ball, signed by the team, to their head coach Evan
Brown, who was coaching his last home game for the White Buffalos. The game that February evening was also Seniors Night at the
high school. Madras won the game over Estacada.
The next Fish
and Wildlife Com-
mittee meeting will
b e o n T h u r s d a y,
March 7 from 3-5
p.m. in conference
room 3 at the admin-
istration building.
There is a Path-
ways Home Native
Home Ownership
class this evening
from 5:30-7:30 at the
Credit building. They
will cover Module 6 –
‘Applying for a Home
Loan.’
Coho return could buck
trend among salmon
Coho salmon could be
big this year on the Colum-
bia. That’s the good news
The expected return of
coho salmon this coming
year to the Columbia River
is forecast to be well above
average.
It’s the only good news
for fishermen in an other-
wise dismal set of forecasts
that likely will bring sharp
restrictions on anglers.
About 900,000 coho are
expected to enter the Co-
lumbia River, based on the
Oregon Prediction Index, a
workgroup with contribu-
tors from the Washington
Department of Fish and
Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries
and the U.S. Oregon Tech-
nical Advisory Committee.
The expected return is
much higher than the pre-
dicted 286,200 fish in 2018,
and far more than the ac-
tual run of just 147,300
fish.
Computer models from
Oregon and Washington
fishery managers suggest
this year’s spring chinook,
summer chinook and sock-
eye salmon runs will be well
below the 10-year Columbia
River average. Those 2019
models predict: 157,500
spring chinook salmon,
35,900 summer chinook,
and just under 95,000 sock-
eye salmon.
The spring chinook fore-
cast is about 100,000 fish
fewer than 2018, and 20,000
below the actual number that
returned up the river. For
summer chinook in 2018,
the predicted run was
166,700. The actual return
was 115,081—about 50 per-
cent of the 10-year average.
The sockeye forecast is
close to 2018, when the re-
turn actually was about
211,000. It’s still less than a
third of the 10-year average.
Fishery managers in 2018
forecast about 190,350 steel-
head at Bonneville Dam.
The actual count was
100,483, about a third of
the 10-yr average of
308,000 fish.
Officials had not released
a predicted return of steel-
head for 2019.
Chinook sport fishery OK’d
State fishery managers
from Oregon and Washing-
ton have approved a sport
fishery for spring Chinook
salmon on the Columbia
River. With a significant re-
duction in fish available for
harvest this year, managers
were forced to restrict the
seasons.
Preseason projections are
for about 99,300 upriver
spring Chinook to reach the
Columbia this year, down 14
percent from last year and
50 percent below the 10-
year average. Those fish re-
turn to hatcheries and spawn-
ing areas upriver from
Bonneville Dam.
In addition, returns to
the Cowlitz and Lewis Riv-
ers in Washington are ex-
pected to especially poor,
and could fall short of
hatchery escapement goals.
On the Cowlitz, this
year’s spring chinook run is
projected to be just 11 per-
cent of the 10-year average.
The weak returns are the
result of poor ocean condi-
tions that have persisted for
years.
The Jefferson County Winter Shelter provides a
safe cold weather shelter this winter in Madras. The
shelter will be open at the Cornerstone Baptist
Church, located on Tenth Street, in March from 6 p.m.
to 7 a.m. on especially cold nights. Call 541-325-2478
to find out if the shelter will be open.
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
The best weather for winter sledding.
Rare Oregon fish proposed for removal from ESA list
Despite high levels of
chemicals toxic to other ani-
mals, the Borax Lake chub
thrived in the 10-acre lake,
keeping to the edges where
temperatures were more
suitable.
It is the only animal that
that is known to live in the
lake’s harsh environment.
Geother mal projects,
shoreline degradation from
off-road vehicle use and de-
velopment came to threaten
the unique fish.
In 1980, an emergency
listing was issued for the
fish and it was granted pro-
tection under the Endan-
gered Species Act.
More than 300 acres of
habitat, including the lake it-
self, were safeguared by the
designation and the listing
also limited damage to the
streams around the lake. In
2000, congress prohibited
geothermal exploration and
mining in areas around the
lake.
Since then, the popula-
tion has boomed. In the mid-
1980s, the Borax Lake chub
population dipped as low as
5,000. By 2015, that num-
ber approached 80,000, ac-
cording to the Center for Bio-
logical Research.
“The Borax Lake chub has
a bright future thanks to the
Endangered Species Act, and
I’m happy this unique little
fish will continue to thrive in
the wild,” Stephanie Kurose,
endangered species policy
specialist for the organization,
said in a statement.
Tribal fish commission hiring fishery, lamprey techs
Fishery Technician II (2 positions). Full time, tem-
porary, non-exempt, Salary/Wage: GS – 5-9 (DOQ).
Location: La Grande, Oregon, Closing date: April 13,
2019, Duration: 3-4 months, Start Date: July 8, 2019,
Assist the four tribes in the co-management of their
treaty fishing rights within the Columbia River Basin.
A complete application includes a cover letter, CV/
resume, completed job application and a list of at least
three professional references to: Columbia River In-
ter-Tribal Fish Commission
Attn: Human Resources
700 NE Multnomah Street, Suite 1200
Portland, Oregon 97232
Email: hr@critfc.org (please follow with mailed origi-
nal)
Fax: 503.235.4228 (please follow with mailed origi-
nal)
(available on our website at www.critfc.org/critfc-em-
ployment-opportunities/
Lamprey Collection Technician. Temporary, Full-
Time, Non-exempt (4-6-month duration); Salary/Wage:
equivalent to CRITFC GS 5; location: Portland. Closes
April 19. Primary on-the-ground contact for member
tribes (Warm Springs, Nez Perce, Umatilla and Yakama)
that have initiated supplementation (translocation)
projects within tributaries of their ceded areas; set, col-
lect, log, transfer adult Pacific lamprey from previously
determined dam locations to central holding site coor-
dinating with CRITFC member tribe lamprey collection
staff; responsible for lamprey health during trapping,
transferring, and holding making this an on-call posi-
tion.
Send complete application materials including: a
cover letter, CV/resume, three references, completed
job application . Email: hr@critfc.org (please follow with
mailed original), Fax: 503.235.4228 (please follow with
mailed original). Available on our website at
www.critfc.org/critfc-employment-opportunities/