We know that protecting and restoring habitat are the keys to wild salmon recovery. But how are we really doing on that front?

Puget Sound chinook and steelhead, Hood Canal summer chum and Lake Ozette sockeye are listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Meanwhile, our culture, treaty rights and way of life – everything that makes us Indian people – are disappearing…

The status quo jeopardizes wild salmon recovery. That’s what NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency in charge of implementing the ESA told the Federal Emergency Management Agency in reviewing FEMA’s floodplain management plan.

If status quo development, pollution and other ongoing factors damaging and destroying salmon habitat are allowed to continue, ESA-protected species such as threatened Puget Sound chinook and steelhead will not recover. …

Our five senses combine in another sense that is important to all of us as human beings: a sense of place. It is a powerful sense, it takes time to develop and can be lost when folks move around a lot from place to place and job to job.

I have been blessed with a strong sense of place for my home, the Nisqually River. I…

If you caught a fish this fall, chances are you have a salmon hatchery to thank.

Salmon hatcheries provide most of the salmon for harvest in western Washington. That’s because wild salmon habitat has been degraded to the point that few wild runs can sustain much harvest.

The combined tribal, state and federal salmon hatchery system in western Washington is the largest in the world. This…

I saw an ad on TV the other day. The theme was “Puget Sound Starts Here.” It’s a good ad because it reminds people that Puget Sound is sick. It recommended a lot of ways to help, such as fixing car fluid leaks and using less fertilizer on your yard. I like the ads because they remind people that Puget Sound starts right where we are…

The treaty tribes of the Pacific Northwest were honored recently to host Larry EchoHawk on his first official visit as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.

We’ve been waiting for someone like Larry for a long time. With Larry in the Department of the Interior, we have a great opportunity to get things done.

Larry is a member of the Pawnee Nation. He’s the former elected…

We’re starting to see some light on the horizon when it comes to restoring salmon, and we have good management to thank for it.

For the first time in nearly 25 years the Stillaguamish Tribe was able to harvest a chinook from the Stillaguamish River for a First Salmon Ceremony.

Sport fishermen on the Skagit River are getting a crack at summer and fall chinook for…

Tribes are steadfast about their treaty shellfish harvest rights. If we weren’t, our livelihoods and cultures would disappear. In Mystery Bay, off Marrowstone Island, several tribes are working hard to make sure that their shellfish harvesting rights aren’t hurt by pollution that could be prevented.

The state Department of Health has been monitoring the number of boats in the bay, some of them moored year round.…

The Hoh Tribe and the Hoh River are connected by a bond that can never be broken. Forever, as the river moved, so did the tribe.

But that came to a stop after treaty times, when the tribe was confined to a 640-acre reservation at the river’s mouth. Over the years the Hoh River has whittled the reservation to about 450 acres and much of the…

Cooperative natural resources co-management at its best was displayed during this year’s North of Falcon process for setting Indian and non-Indian salmon fishing seasons in western Washington. The results were protection of weak wild stocks and more fishing opportunity for everyone. We were able to once again fairly share the burden of conserving weak stocks while also sharing harvest opportunity where it exists.

Tribes modified their…