Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
February 9, 2022
Page 5
Fisheries success at Pelton-Round Butte
Zone 6 tribal fishery
Last year was a big one at
Pelton Round Butte, with
record-breaking returns of
adult Chinook from the up-
per basin, and funding for
new restoration projects in
the Crooked River.
There was the ongoing suc-
cess of smolt acclimation,
and the Confederated Tribes
finalized plans to take addi-
tional ownership in the hydro
facilities.
At the same time, the co-
owner-operators—the tribes
and Portland General Elec-
tric—faced serious chal-
lenges, including extreme
drought and resulting low
flows in the Deschutes.
With snowpack building
up on the mountains and pre-
dictions of positive ocean
conditions, the patners are
heading into 2022 feeling op-
timistic about the months
ahead.
Scaffold, and hook and line fishing is open
through 6 p.m., Saturday, March 19 in all of zone
6. Allowed gear is hoop nets, dip bag nets and hook
and line.
Sales are allowed for salmon, steelhead, shad,
carp, catfish, walleye, bass and yellow perch. Stur-
geon between 43 and 54 inches fork length in The
Dalles and John Day pools; and between 38 and 54
inches fork length in the Bonneville pool, may be
kept for subsistence use. Sturgeon within the legal-
size limit, and caught in the platform and hook and
line fishery, may be sold only if caught during open
commercial gill net periods for that pool.
Sales of fish are allowed after the fishing period
as long as they were landed during the open com-
mercial season. Please call in and select number 9
for commercial fishing periods.
Fish ladder fresh fix
At one time in the past, the
Pelton Round Butte fish lad-
der was the longest in the
world.
For a little over a decade,
adult fish returning to the
Deschutes from the ocean
used the ladder, built in 1957,
to swim safely past the hydro-
power project. In the 1970s,
the ladder was converted to
a rearing facility for hatchery
fish—a purpose it has served
since that time.
In the summer of 2021,
the facility operating team
kicked into action to complete
Smelt fishing Cowlitz, Sandy rivers
Courtesy CTWS/PGE
repairs and upgrades to the
aging facility.
Engineers and contractors
performed a geotechnical sur-
vey of the entire two-mile
ladder, allowing the team to
identify the areas most at-risk
for potential landslides. These
sections were then piped and
buried, so that flow will still
be maintained even in the
event of a rockfall. Addition-
ally, the crew repaired the
concrete, removed vegeta-
tion and sealed cracks.
In November, Chinook
salmon were moved into the
restored ladder, where they
will remain until their release
into the Lower Deschutes
River in May. In two years,
the fish will return from the
ocean.
Nearly 800
redband
trout
entered
the Pelton
trap,
October to
December
2021
(above).
A large
portion of
the ladder
was
capped to
reduce the
risk of
damage
from
rockfalls
(left).
Local job growth continues
A Valentines Day Wish from artist Travis Bobb.
The Central Oregon re-
gion continues to post strong
hiring numbers, as 2022 is
under way.
Jefferson County includes
much of the reservaiton,
including the Warm Springs
area. The unemployment
rate for all of Jefferson
County has now fallen to 5.3
percent, fast approaching the
pre-pandemic low of 4.1 per-
cent.
Total nonfarm employ-
ment rose by 60 jobs. The
county added 210 jobs over
the past 12 months. The
single biggest gains were with
the tribes, including the en-
terprises.
Leisure and hospitality
added 80, and manufactur-
ing, 40.
Deschutes and Crook
counties are also seeing sig-
nificant employment gains
over the past year, accord-
ing to the latest number of
the Oregon Department of
Employment.
Tribal Council approved regulations regarding
smelt harvest in the Cowlitz and Sandy River. Har-
vest may take place seven days per week from 6
a.m. to 6 p.m. This is a subsistence fishery, and
there is a tribal limit of 2,000 pounds but no indi-
vidual limit. Sales are not allowed.
Gear is limited to dip nets and the nets must be
attended continuously. The Branch of Natural
Resources will have creel technicians to check your
harvest, if you are not checked, you are required
to report your catch to the harvest manager within
24 hours. The phone number is 541-460-0272.
Please leave a message if Resources are unable to
answer the phone in time. Tribal member who are
fishing must have his or her enrollment card on
hand. If asked, you must allow your catch to be
inspected by tribal, federal or state officers.
Tribes want to boost traditional
diets in federal food programs
A group of Native
American tribal advocates
are pointing out that food is
both identity and power.
And they would like Wash-
ington, D.C., to understand
this. The tribal group is seek-
ing more control to tribes in
the food program choices.
Specifically, they would like
more traditional foods in aid
programs.
The groups are eyeing not
only the Food Distribution
Program on Indian Reserva-
tions, or FDPIR, but also the
Women Infants and Children
nutrition programs, the Com-
modity Supplemental Food
Program, and even the
Supplemental Nutrition As-
sistance Program.
Greater tribal control
would encompass funding,
and include the right to buy
produce from tribal farm-
ers.
“Feeding your own people,
there’s nothing better than
that,” said Mary Greene-
Trottier, president of the Na-
tional Association of Food
Distribution Programs on In-
dian Reservations.
CRITFC seeking to fill positions
The Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Com-
mission is advertising for
the following positions:
Public information
specialist. This position
works to forward the cul-
ture, goals and aspira-
tions of the commission
and its member tribes to
the broader public
through media and out-
reach activities. The po-
sition will write press re-
leases, news stories,
website and social media
posts, and other creative
writing to share the
work, priorities, and
views of CRITFC and its
member tribes. Salary
$65,137–71,651. Port-
land. Closes February 22.
Treaty fisheries
community outreach liai-
son. This position will be
support outreach, contract
tracing and wrap around sup-
port services for tribal com-
munities along the Columbia
River gorge. $37,540–
39,520. Portland.
SCHISM Modeler/
Oceanographer. This po-
sition
will
work
collaboratively with fish sci-
entists and managers to in-
tegrate numerical hydrody-
namic modeling into conser-
vation and management pro-
grams for critical fish spe-
cies and stocks in the Colum-
bia River, focusing on Up-
per Columbia summer and
fall chinook and Snake
River fall chinook, but in-
cluding other salmonid spe-
cies, lamprey, and sturgeon.
$75,799-$80,854.
Fishing site mainte-
nance worker (2 posi-
tions). These positions will
provide the maintenance
of the 31 Tribal In-Lieu
and Treaty Fishing Access
Sites located along 150
miles of the Columbia
River. $34,496-$36,796.
The Dalles.
CRITPD-Police of-
ficer. Based in Hood
River. $51,516-$56,261.
Dispatcher. Hood
River. $39,937-$43,661.
HR
generalist.
$57,560-63,315.
The complete job de-
scription, minimum skills,
application requirements,
deadlines, and pay infor-
mation are available at
critfc.or