Richland, Wash., Dec. 24, 2012: Lamprey habits: discovering the unknown. Researchers are trolling the bottom of rivers to find where lamprey live and grow.
Boise, Ida., Dec. 17, 2012: Feds hope for collaborative process in long-term salmon planning. Read story from public radio about NOAA's goals for an assessment that will gather stakeholder views about long-term planning for Columbia Basin salmon recovery.
Yakima, Wash., Dec. 12, 2012: Large scale cooperation for small fish project. Irrigators, conservation groups, states, federal agencies and tribes partner to remove irrigation diversions, open up 25 miles of new spawning habitat.
Lewiston, Ida., Dec. 9, 2012: Nez Perce Tribe restores coho to Idaho waters. Once extinct, coho are now returning to the tributaries of Idaho. The progeny of lower river coho, these fish are now swimming hundreds of miles and through eight dams to return home to spawn.
Cle Elum, Wash., Dec. 6, 2012: Yakama Tribe restores sockeye to Cle Elum Lake. Yakama Tribal Council member Virgil Lewis writes about how the Tribe is helping wild sockeye to spawn naturally in Cle Elum Lake and Cle Elum River for the first time in a century.
Stanley, Ida., Oct. 29, 2012: National Rivers Initiative In The Northwest Puts Emphasis On Salmon Habitat. Cleaning up mining tailings high in the mountains of Idaho Range will greatly improve important chinook salmon habitat.
Portland, Ore., Oct. 28, 2012: Conference highlights fish stock restoration. Spealers at the Future of Our Salmon conference, sponsored by the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, show that tribes are using hatcheries to bring the salmon back.
Bridgeport, Wa., Oct. 23, 2012 - Colville Tribes building state-of-the-art hatchery. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation are completing a state-of-the-art hatchery near Chief Joseph Dam. They expect that tens of thousands of additional summer chinook will be available for harvest in the Pacific Ocean from Vancouver to Alaska, and in the lower and upper Columbia River as a result of the hatchery.
Bonners Ferry, Ida., Sept. 9, 2012 - Feeding the river. After three years of adding nutrients to the Kootenai River below Libby Dam, the mountain whitefish population in roughly a mile section of the river went from 4,000-6,000 fish in the 1990s, to 14,000-17,000. A habitat project is also underway there to revive the river’s endangered white sturgeon.
Lake Wenatchee, Wa., Sept. 6, 2012 - Yakamas develop long-term plan for Wenatchee River coho. Last year, due to the Yakama tribe’s coho reintroduction project, Washington State allowed coho fishing in the Wenatchee and Methow rivers for the first time in decades. This year, the Tribe has purchased 155 acres near the Lake to build a small coho hatchery.
Corvallis, Ore., August 26, 2012 - Horseshoe Lake extends protected corridor along the Willamette. A new conservation acquisition along the Willamette River will permanently protect important habitat for chinook salmon, Pacific lamprey and other species.
Portland, Ore., Aug. 23, 2012 – Habitat restoration creates jobs, restores local economies. Ecotrust released data today that demonstrates how watershed and fish habitat restoration in Oregon creates jobs. Ecotrust found that restoration projects generated $977.5 million in economic activity and as many as 6,483 jobs between 2001 and 2010.
Foster, Ore., Aug. 20, 2012 - Study looks at fish survival over Foster Dam. Juvenile steelhead and chinook salmon appear to have a greater chance of survival when passing over Foster Dam through a weir than through the turbine system, according to biologist David Griffith of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Although the final results of the first phase of a long-term study at the reservoir won’t be ready for a couple months, Griffith said early indications are encouraging.
Blue River, Ore., Aug. 20, 2012 - Tanker trucks get salmon past dam. Slides and tanks await swimmers in the foothills of the Cascades. This isn't a water park for kids, though: it's a means for endangered Northwest Chinook salmon to make it around Cougar Dam.
Foster, Ore., Aug. 17, 2012 - $18.6 million contract awarded for Foster Dam hatchery, fish ladder project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded an $18.6 million contract to the Natt McDougall Company of Tualatin to construct a large new fish-handling facility at Wiley Park on the south bank of the South Santiam River.
Pendelton, Ore., Aug. 14, 2012 - Tribes, biologists work to halt slide of lampreys. Lamprey planted in tributaries can help researchers determine exactly how many are stopped by the dams and what other factors might be in play.
Priest Rapids Dam, Wash., July 11, 2012 - Yakama Nation works on sockeye reintroduction. In its fourth year of a program to reintroduce sockeye salmon to the Yakima River Basin, the Yakama Nation plans to wrap up the process Thursday of collecting thousands of adult fish for release in Lake Cle Elum on the east slope of the Cascades.
Portland, Ore., June 21, 2012 - Corps focused on improving dams for fish. Fish in the Willamette River Basin are dying and biologists aren’t exactly sure why. A big problem is something called pre-spawn mortality.
Sweet Home, Ore., May 9, 2012 - Saving smolts. Foster study seeks to determine best ways to keep young fish alive. South Santiam Hatchery steelhead smolts are busy taking one for their wild kin this month as they slide down a tube into and through the Foster Dam powerhouse turbines or over the spillway gates this month. Researchers are trying to find the least harmful way for the young fish to make their way downstream.
Foster, Ore., May 08, 2012 - Fishing for answers. For the next few weeks, biologist Robert McDonald’s job will be to stand near the spillway at Foster Dam and herd 5- to 6-inch steelhead and chinook salmon smolt into a basket attached to a long rope.
Lewiston, Ida., Dec. 10, 2011 - Nez Perce hatchery yields big returns for Snake River fall chinook. Wild Snake River fall chinook returns are way up due to a scientifically managed hatchery program in the Clearwater River of Idaho.
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