The Lummi Nation was one of four tribes to get millions of dollars of federal funding for habitat conservation projects in the state.
The Lummi Indian Business Council received nearly $5 million for a project designed to boost chinook salmon populations in the South Fork Nooksack River, according to an announcement by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) on Thursday, Dec. 5.
“This funding will allow the Lummi Nation to create diverse and resilient habitats by restoring the South Fork Nooksack River and Skookum Creek — cooling the water temperature to help juvenile salmon survive,” said Cantwell, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
The deaths of chinook salmon attempting to migrate to spawning grounds upstream in the South Fork in September 2020 put sluggish flow and water temperatures in the spotlight. Lummi Natural Resource staff found about 2,300 dead adult chinook in the waterway that fall, according to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
“The salmon were killed by high water temperatures and low flows that greatly stressed the fish and increased the prevalence of naturally occurring pathogens that can cause disease in fish,” Lummi hatchery program manager Tom Chance said in 2021.
The high-priority projects will be along 4 miles of waterways. They are slated to benefit native, early Chinook populations seen as essential to the recovery of at-risk Puget Sound chinook.
“This funding is a vital component of salmon recovery,” Lummi Indian Business Council council member Lisa Wilson told Cascadia Daily News.
“Lummi Nation has proven that we can bring our salmon back through hatchery production — but we need the habitat to sustain them. This critical funding helps make that habitat restoration possible,” she explained.
Additionally, the Lummi Nation received $382,000 to monitor 2,754 acres of forest pre- and post-vegetation treatment in the North Fork Nooksack River watershed.
The project will use autonomous recording units and point-count surveys for birds, as well as monitor trail cameras and scat to identify ungulates, such as elk and deer, to evaluate the effectiveness of efforts to create diverse and resilient habitats.
“We have been making great strides restoring habitat in the North Fork Nooksack River watershed — but it’s crucial we take stock of these efforts and confirm our progress strengthening our ecosystems so the animals that make our state so special continue to thrive,” said Murray, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“These funds will help evaluate vegetation treatments and help us continue charting a course to maintain diverse, resilient habitats that support the wildlife we all cherish,” she added.
Other tribes receiving funding are the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Skokomish Indian Tribe and Colville Tribe.
Both the Skokomish Indian Tribe and Colville Tribe projects are also focused on riverine habitat restoration. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s project is designed to increase “wildlife connectivity and ecological resilience on the Olympic Peninsula.”
Additional funds announced on Thursday were provided to the Chelan County Natural Resource Department and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, including $3.8 million for a project designed to revitalize 5 miles of steelhead, chinook and coho spawning and rearing habitat in the West and Middle Fork Teanaway River.
“Salmon are so important to our culture and our economy in Washington state and this project will be transformative for endangered salmon and steelhead in the Teanaway River — revitalizing miles of spawning habitat and helping to create a healthier and more robust ecosystem,” Murray said.
Overall, the senators announced $18.5 million in federal funding for the conservation projects. The money is part of the $1 billion America the Beautiful Challenge, which was launched in 2021 with the goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
