Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Aja K. DeCoteau is the new
CRITFC executive director
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal
Fish Commission is pleased to an-
nounce that Aja K. DeCoteau was
selected as the organization’s new
executive director at its October
meeting.
“This is a great day for CRITFC
and its member tribes,” said
CRITFC Treasurer Jeremy Takala,
(Yakama).
“It is an honor as we see more
and more Native American women
take leadership roles nationally, in
our tribal governments, and in the
care and management of our First
Foods. I believe Aja will carry on
the tribal vision of putting fish back
in the rivers that this organization
has been working toward for nearly
50 years.”
DeCoteau had been serving in
the executive director role on an
interim basis since April; however,
this is the first time the organiza-
tion has a woman serving as its of-
ficial executive director.
“Our resilience is how the tribes
have overcome challenges,” said
CRITFC Vice-chair Ron Suppah
(Warm Springs).
“We bend and change, but always
stay true to our culture and values.
Our selection of Ms. DeCoteau is
a positive change and I know that
the future of CRITFC is in good
hands.”
The selection committee, com-
prised of leadership from all four
of CRITFC’s member tribes, was
impressed by Ms. DeCoteau’s ex-
pertise shown in her career, as well
as the leadership abilities exhibited
while serving as the organization’s
interim executive director.
“Aja has shown her skill in the
needs and demands of this role
over the past six months,” said
CRITFC Secretary Jeremy Wolf
(Umatilla). “I want to express my
pride and congratulations, not only
in her abilities, but also the unique
perspectives she will bring to our
work.”
DeCoteau is a citizen of the
Confederated Tribes and Bands of
the Yakama Nation and has other
tribal lineage with the Cayuse, Nez
Perce, and Turtle Mountain Band
of Chippewa Indians. She grew up
in Wapato, Washington on the
Yakama Reser vation. She has
worked in natural resources her
entire career.
For the past 12 years, she was
the manager of CRITFC’s Water-
shed Department, where she led a
team focused on the implementa-
tion of Wy-Kan-Ush- Mi Wa-Kish-
Wit—the tribes’ salmon restoration
plan, activities that impact ecosys-
tems at the watershed, river basin,
and regional landscape levels and
coordinated the organization’s cli-
CRITFC hiring
The Columbia River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission is hir-
ing for the following positions:
Accounting technician.
Salary: $42,731 - $55,546. Lo-
cation: Portland.
Staff accountant. Salary:
$44,155 - $67,946. Portland.
Genetics laboratory tech-
nician. Salary: $39,738 -
$45,035. Location: Hagerman,
Idaho.
Fishing site maintenance
worker, two positions. Salary:
$34,496 - $36,796. Location:
The Dalles.
Columbia River Inter-
Tribal Police Department
officer, multiple vacancies. Sal-
ary: $51,516 - $56,261. Loca-
tion: Hood River or Boardman.
Dispatcher. Salary: $39,937
- $43,661. Location: Hood
River.
The complete job descrip-
tion, minimum skills, applica-
tion requirements, deadlines,
and pay information are avail-
able on the CRITFC website:
critfc.org
Aja K. DeCoteau
mate change research and re-
sponse.
“Since I was a child, my family,
elders, and tribal leaders have
taught me the significance of
salmon as one of our First Foods
and the importance of tribal treaty
fishing rights,” Ms. DeCoteau said.
“As tribal people, our natural re-
sources are our cultural resources,
which is why I have dedicated my
career to protect them. I am hon-
ored and excited to lead CRITFC
and work together with our mem-
ber tribes to bridge traditional
knowledge, scientific expertise, and
cultural connection to ensure that
we have salmon and other natural
resources for generations to come.”
As CRITFC’s executive direc-
tor, DeCoteau will work closely
with its governing body to lead the
organization’s strategic direction
and a team of more than 130 em-
ployees in four locations in Or-
egon, Washington, and Idaho to
put fish back in the rivers, protect
treaty fishing rights, share salmon
culture, and provide direct services
to tribal fishers along the Colum-
bia River.
“I thank Aja for her time, com-
mitment, and dedication, not only
the service to her tribe, but to Na-
tive Americans and the Columbia
River Inter-Tribal Fish Commis-
sion,” said CRITFC Chair Quincy
Ellenwood (Nez Perce).
“There is a long road ahead of
us and I have the ultimate confi-
dence in her and look forward to
working with her.”
DeCoteau also sits on the Board
of Trustees for Earthjustice, the
Board of Directors for the Colum-
bia Land Trust and the Portland
Energy Conservation, Inc, and the
Board
of
Advisors
for
WorldOregon. She received her
Bachelor of Arts in Environmental
Studies and Native American Stud-
ies from Dartmouth College and
holds a Master of Environmental
Management from Yale University,
School of the Environment.
November 3, 2021
Page 7
Spawning season on the Deschutes
A
fter a long, hot and
very dry summer, the region
is finally headed into fall. The
hope is for more rain, and
some cool weather.
Fall weather also means it’s
also spawning season on the
Deschutes.
The Confederated Tribes
and Pelton-Round Butte bi-
ologists have been busy in the
field conducting redd surveys
in the Metolius, and tracking
returning adult fish as they
travel through the upper ba-
sin.
The team recently received
some help in this work from
fellow fish biologists from
around the region at this year’s
conference for the Association
of Power Biologists.
Scientists attending the
event spent a day searching
for Chinook redds, kokanee
and sockeye in the Metolius
River.
This was a great chance to
connect with other experts
from around the country and
share some of our own research
and best practices.
Following the fish
Radio-tagging returning adult
fish at our Pelton trap allows us to
track where fish go as they migrate
upstream to spawn. Here’s the story
of one Chinook we’ve been moni-
toring this year:
This fish was captured at the
Pelton trap, radio-tagged and re-
leased into Lake Billy Chinook on
May 24.
Of the three tributaries—
Crooked, Deschutes or Metolius—
the fish chose to migrate up the
Crooked River.
On May 29, it passed through
the Opal Springs Fish Ladder and
continued its upstream migration
despite low flows in the Crooked.
In September, biologists tried to
get eyes on the Chinook again to
verify its location.
Fish biologist Terry Shrader op-
erated a radio-receiver and an-
tenna, guiding fellow biologist
Becky Burchell, equipped with
snorkeling gear, toward the
Courtesy Pelton-Round Butte newsletter
Fish biologist Gonzalo
Mendez flags bull trout redds
along a tributary of the
Metolius River. These efforts
are led by the Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife with support from the
Confederated Tribes, PGE, the
U.S. Forest Service and U.S.
Fish and Wildlife.
Chinook’s location. Unfortu-
nately, Becky was unable to spot
the fish due to poor visibility in
the water that day.
$760,000 funding for CRITFC program
The Columbia River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission is receiv-
ing $760,000 in funding to im-
prove and expand the Coastal Mar-
gin Observation and Prediction
program.
The funding is included in the
recent federal Commerce, Justice
and Science appropriations bill, as
supported by Oregon’s U.S. Sena-
tors Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden.
The Columbia River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission treaty
tribes—including the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Warm Springs— as-
sumed stewardship of the Coastal
Margin Observation and Predic-
tion program last year.
CRITFC and tribes see the fa-
cility as a perfect complement to
the effort to combine cutting edge
scientific research with traditional
ecological knowledge in the estu-
ary and ocean environments.
“Our co-management ethos dic-
tates that wherever the salmon go,
we go with them,” said CRITFC
chairman Quincy Ellenwood.
The work of the state’s senate
delegation to expand the important
work of Coastal Margin Observa-
tion and Prediction program is
greatly appreciated, Mr. Ellenwood
said.
The work furthers the under-
standing of the linkage between the
Columbia River and the Pacific
Ocean, both in terms of how it
impacts the region’s salmon runs
and how it helps quantify the ef-
fects of climate change on this im-
portant and delicate ecosystem.