Upper Columbia United Tribes receive salmon reintroduction funds

(Editor’s note: In August 2019, 30 spawning adult chinook salmon were released in the Columbia River above Chief Joseph Dam by the Colville Confederated Tribes and the Colville Tribes Fish and Game Department as a major first step to reintroduce the salmon to their native waters in the upper Columbia River system)

SPOKANE – The Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT) secured more than $3 million in funding in the Washington State supplemental budget for salmon reintroduction in the upper Columbia.

These monies will go to three member tribes (Colville, Spokane, and Coeur d’Alene) to invest in efforts they are leading to restore salmon, revitalize tribal culture, and strengthen the region’s economy by implementing salmon reintroduction activities in the Spokane and Columbia rivers and their tributaries. The majority of these funds will be provided through the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, according to the supplemental budget that was signed by Governor Inslee on March 31.

“The understanding that our old ones had when they put their pride aside and settled on our respective Reservations was that we would always be who we always were,” said Hemene James, Secretary-Treasurer of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and UCUT Chairman. “At the center of that was the gift that the returning fish had always provided for us. We the Nations of the Upper Columbia River System have never forgot that most basic idea.”

Salmon have been blocked from their historic habitat in the upper Columbia for up to 110 years due to the development of five hydropower dams without fish passage facilities in the upper Columbia Basin. Since 2015, the tribes in the upper Columbia have been leading an effort with state and federal partners to develop a phased approach to reintroduce anadromous fish to areas upstream of Chief Joseph, Grand Coulee, and Spokane River dams.

“Our ancestors were a river people, a salmon people, and we know it is necessary to bring back the salmon so our people can heal,” said Carol Evans, Chairwoman of the Spokane Tribe of Indians. “Passage will reconnect our people to the salmon spirit so we can heal. This is a great step in returning salmon to our waters and beginning the healing process.”

After completing initial feasibility studies in 2019 as part of the (UCUT) Phase 1 activities, the UCUT organization and its member tribes developed the Phase 2 Implementation Plan (P2IP). The P2IP is a stepwise and scientifically adaptive approach to test the feasibility of restoring salmon to the upper Columbia River Basin that is focused on collaboration, cost effectiveness, and benefits to the entire region. The first several years of the 20-year implementation plan focus on fisheries research, developing local rearing facilities, and expanding fish transport capacity to support current and future reintroduction activities. The funds provided by the State of Washington will enable the tribes to purchase needed research and transport equipment that will be used throughout the lifetime of Phase 2 implementation.

Last month, the UCUT organization and its member tribes, with the help and support of the U.S. Geological Survey and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, kicked off the second phase of reintroduction with the implementation of a pilot study that involves releasing thousands of juvenile Chinook salmon throughout the upper Columbia blocked area so tribal scientists can learn how these fish move through the Columbia River’s dam system during their migration to the ocean.

“The Upper Columbia Tribes and our partners are committed to leading this effort with sound science,” said Jarred-Michael Erickson, Colville Confederated Tribes Natural Resource and Fisheries Committee Chairman and UCUT Vice-Chair. “Our approach to Phase 2 studies will ensure that we obtain the scientific information necessary for future decisions about restoring salmon populations in the Upper Columbia.”

To learn more about salmon reintroduction efforts in the upper Columbia, including the UCUT’s Phase 1 Report, please visit the UCUT organization's website at ucut.org/fish/restoring-salmon-upper-columbia-river-basin/.