Agenda Item E.2.f Supplemental Tribal Report April 2012 TESTIMONY OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY TRIBES BEFORE PACIFIC FISHERIES MANAGEMENT COUNCIL April 2, 2012 Seattle, WA Good day Mr. Chairman and members of the Council. My name is Herb Jackson. I am a member of the fish and wildlife committee of the Nez Perce Tribe. I am here with Bruce Jim, Wilbur Slockish Jr., and Chris Williams to provide testimony on behalf of the four Columbia River treaty tribes: the Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla, and Nez Perce tribes. Our four tribes would like to show these photos of some of the habitat restoration work the tribes are involved in. These projects represent just a tiny portion of the restoration activities the tribes are involved in. We have hundreds of other habitat projects that we are involved in. There are too many to show today. We wanted to give the Council and its ocean fishing constituents a chance to see some of the work we do. Some of these projects are work our tribes are doing on our own and many are joint projects done with our co-managers. While these projects along with the research, monitoring, and evaluation programs that go with them are expensive and difficult, we are strongly committed to carrying this work out. In many areas, these types of restoration activities have already shown considerable benefit in increasing survival and opening up previously blocked and unusable habitat. We have a series of photos, we wanted to share with you today. We believe these types of activities are the types of things that increase fish abundance and productivity and help us all be able to fish into the future. These habitat restoration projects work in conjunction the hatchery production that releases millions of juvenile fish in the Columbia. Many of the fish returning from this production are allowed to spawn naturally in these areas with restored habitat. This has helped increase the numbers of fish in the Columbia River. This concludes our statement. Thank You. C:\Users\JJ.DISCO\Documents\!SJK_PFMC_MTGS\April_2012\CRITFCApril0212Testimony.doc 1
Habitat Restoration Activities of The Columbia River Tribes Presented to the Pacific Fishery Management Council April 2, 2012
Tribal Habitat Restoration Work All four Columbia River Tribes actively engaged in numerous habitat restoration projects, throughout their ceded area Habitat restoration is a key part of salmon recovery efforts Many projects carried out with co-managers The following slides show a few of the numerous habitat restoration activities the tribes are involved in
Umatilla Project: Wood Placement in Dark Canyon Creek, Grande Ronde Basin, North East Oregon Photos from Umatilla Tribe
Umatilla Project: Wood Placement in Dark Canyon Creek, Grande Ronde Basin, Northeast Oregon Photos from Umatilla Tribe
Umatilla Project: Mine Tailing Removal Upper Grande Ronde River, Oregon (cooperative project with USFS) 60,000 cubic yards of mine tailings from the floodplain followed by planting willows and dogwoods and seeding with a native riparian mix of grasses. Photos from Umatilla Tribe
Meacham Creek, Umatilla River Stream Channel had been straightened and diked by Railroad Umatilla/USFS project restored one mile of stream to previous sinuous channel while protecting railroad right of way. Restored Channel Straightened channel
Photos from Warms Springs Tribes Warm Springs Tribal Project Fencing Tieman Creek, Oregon
Photos from Warm Springs Tribes Warm Springs Tribal Project Placing large wood in McGee Creek, Oregon
Yakama Nation Project Replanting Native Riparian Vegetation along Klickitat River Above: June 2006 (2 months after planting) Side: July 1, 2008, two years later Photo from Yakama Nation
Photo from Yakama Nation Yakama Nation Project Improving Fish Passage at Culverts, Klickitat Basin, Washington
Photo from Yakama Nation Yakama Nation Project Repair incised streambed, Klickitat Basin, Washington
Photo from Yakama Nation Yakama Nation Project Repairing Stream Incision Klickitat Basin
Nez Perce Project Road Decommissioning Cow/Calf/Maverick Creek Watersheds
105 Acres treated for noxious weeds 15 reaches monitored 43 culvert sites monitored 22 road decommissioning sites monitored
Nez Perce Projects in Clearwater Basin Streambank Stabilization Culvert Inventory 4/2/2012 15 Culvert Replacement
Since 1996 Nez Perce Tribe has worked to accomplish the following projects on Forest System Lands Removed 88 culverts Opened 200 miles of stream habitat Decommissioned 625+ miles of roads 300K trees planted in riparian areas 50 miles of fence to protect riparian areas Treated weeds on 1,500 acres of NF lands