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Portland, Oregon
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Officials today recovered the body of Yakama Nation tribal fisherman,
James Peter Jr., who went missing along with two other Yakama Fishers
on May 7th, 2008. The body was discovered at approximately 8:00
am this morning and recovery made by officials from the Yakama Nation,
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Enforcement and Skamania County.
They were assisted by Natural Resources research staff and volunteers
from the Warm Springs tribe participating in search efforts.
The body was discovered in the Columbia River approximately 1⁄2
mile west of the mouth of the Wind River.
Two fishers, also Yakama Nation members, remain missing. They are:
• Gailen Espirito
• Rommel Strom
The three men were engaged in a brief commercial fishery when
they were reported missing the morning of May 7th. Their fishing
boat along with personal effects was recovered later that day near
Home Valley State Park seven miles East of Stevenson, Washington.
Family members, tribal spiritual leaders and volunteers have kept
a vigil at the park since they were reported missing.
Multiple local and tribal agencies, along with hundreds of volunteers,
have conducted daily searches focusing on both Oregon and Washington
shorelines as well as surface water searches ranging from river
mile 153 (2 miles east of the mouth of the Wind River) downstream
to Bonneville Dam.
Anyone with information of the missing fishermen is asked
to call the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Enforcement at
1-800-487-3474 or the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office at
1-509-427-9490.
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About CRITFC
The Portland-based Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is
the technical support and coordinating agency for fishery management
policies of the Columbia River Basin's four treaty tribes: the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes
and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Nez Perce Tribe.
CRITFC, formed in 1977, employs biologists, other scientists, public
information specialists, policy analysts and administrators who work
in fisheries research and analyses, advocacy, planning and coordination,
harvest control and law enforcement. |
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