• Accord Partner: Shoshone Bannock Tribes

     

    Yankee Fork: Before

    In 2012, the Shoshone Bannock Tribes worked with the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Forest Service and others to restore salmon and steelhead habitat in the Yankee Fork, one of the major tributaries to the Salmon River. Dredge mining in the 1940s and early 1950s left behind a series of ponds on the east side of the river that are connected to the Yankee Fork during the spring runoff period and thus accessible by Chinook salmon for a few weeks of the year.  

     

     

    Yankee Fork: After

    Approximately 20,000 cubic yards of existing tailings were re-graded, and the ponds were partially filled to create a free flowing side channel. The pond rehabilitation project provides year-round habitat for juvenile salmon as well as spawning habitat for returning adult salmon. Native fish, including bull trout, also benefit.    

     Salmon returned to the Yankee Fork this year. Click below to watch a video. 

     

     

      

      The Tribes are acquiring, restoring and managing land for wildlife and native fish. Shown to the left, Lavaside.
      Legacy Springs, another Shoshone Bannock acquisition. See more photos of Shoshone Bannock projects here.

      

  • Watch a video on a Shoshone Bannock Tribes project
    About the Shoshone Bannock Tribes and their Accord

    On Nov. 7, 2008, the Shoshone Bannock Tribes signed a Fish Accord with the Action Agencies.  The Accord funds a total of $61 million over 10 years for on-going and new projects to benefit Snake River spring/summer chinook, Snake River steelhead in the Salmon River basin, Snake River Sockeye and native yellow cutthroat in the Upper Snake River. 

     

    The Tribes will restore habitat, manage land for wildlife and native fish, supplement nutrients in streams and develop and operate scientifically-managed hatchery additions to contribute to the recovery of ESA-listed and non-listed fish and wildlife. 

     

    The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are located along the Snake River near the southeastern Idaho city of Pocatello at the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.  The Shoshone Bannock Tribe’s aboriginal territory includes the salmon-bearing headwaters of the Salmon River and other Snake and Columbia river tributaries, to the dry plains of the Central basin and Great basin. 

     

    The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes were the first to petition the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list Snake River Sockeye salmon as endangered.  NMFS officially listed Snake River sockeye salmon as endangered in November 1991 under the Endangered Species Act.  Since then, the Tribes have actively worked on programs to increase the population of Snake River sockeye salmon, seeking results that would warrant de-listing and provide for tribal harvest opportunities.

    Link to Shoshone Bannock Tribes' Website

    Link to Shoshone Bannock Tribes' Accord 

     

    Locations of Shoshone-Bannock Tribes' Fish Accord projects.

    Click here for larger view

    The Fish Accord Partnerships

    The Columbia Basin Fish Accords, first signed in 2008, establish a historic partnership among three federal action agencies (BPA, the Corps and Reclamation), six Northwest tribes and three states. 

     

     

    They provide firm commitments to hydro, habitat and hatchery actions, greater clarity about biological benefits and secure funding for 10 years.

     

    Under these agreements, the federal agencies, tribes and states work together as partners to provide tangible survival benefits for salmon recovery by upgrading passage over federal dams, restoring river and estuary habitat, and through scientific hatchery management.