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The Plan: Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit

The Columbia River Watershed is world renowned for its salmon populations. Historical estimates of average annual salmon runs exceeded 5-11 million fish in the portion of the watershed now above Bonneville Dam. When Lewis and Clark reached the Columbia River, they were amazed by the abundance of the salmon. Yet today, fewer than 500,000 fish return above Bonneville and approximately 80% of these are produced in hatcheries. Some stocks have already been lost, three have been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act by the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the majority of the remaining stocks are declining. These reduced runs of salmon are surely cause enough for alarm, yet the issue comprises far more than salmon. Tribal culture, the identity of all the people, and many of the species that constitute the Pacific Northwest—essentially the integrity of the entire Columbia River Watershed—are at stake.

If salmon are to survive in the Columbia River Watershed, we must face the challenges before us with our goals clearly in mind, in heart, and in spirit. We must now begin to respect, to reestablish, and to restore the balances that once enabled this watershed to perform so magnificently.

Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit: The Columbia River Anadromous Fish Restoration Plan of the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama Tribes provides a framework to restore the Columbia River salmon, simply stated: put the fish back into the rivers. Yet making this happen has become increasingly difficult because of the decades of poorly guided and deeply entrenched fish management policies. More than science and its limits, the problems have almost always involved people and their institutions—whether government, business or otherwise.

Much of what is recommended to benefit salmon is what has been needed and known for a long time. More than 50 years ago, federal biologists warned that the consequences of continued habitat degradation and additional hydroelectric development would be devastating to salmon populations. They were joined by tribal leaders and through the years, by government commissions and citizen groups.

The Columbia River treaty tribes take a holistic “gravel-to-gravel” approach to the management of the salmon, which differs from approaches of many other groups in a variety of respects. This approach focuses on the tributary, mainstem, estuary, and ocean ecosystems and habitats where anadromous fish live. This focus on passage, habitat, harvest and production requires substantial changes in current practices and specific actions to recover from historical destructive impacts.

Plan Goals and Objectives



Goals

  • Restore anadromous fishes to the rivers and streams that support the historical cultural and economic practices of the tribes. (These are generally areas above Bonneville Dam.)
  • Emphasize strategies that rely on natural production and healthy river systems to achieve this goal.
  • Protect tribal sovereignty and treaty rights.
  • Reclaim the anadromous fish resource and the environment on which it depends for future generations.

Objectives

  • Within 7 years, halt the declining trends in salmon, sturgeon, and lamprey populations originating upstream of Bonneville Dam.
  • Within 25 years, increase the total adult salmon returns of stocks originating above Bonneville Dam to 4 million annually and in a manner that sustains natural production to support tribal commercial as well as ceremonial and subsistence harvests.
  • Within 25 years, increase sturgeon and lamprey populations to naturally sustainable levels that also support tribal harvest opportunities.
  • Restore anadromous fishes to historical abundance in perpetuity.