Nooksack Tribe awarded Salmon Recovery Fund grant for habitat restoration

DEMING (December 7, 2006) – The Nooksack Tribe has been awarded $617,500 from the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board for the construction of four engineered logjams in the lower South Fork Nooksack River, near the mouth of Todd Creek.

The work, slated for summer 2008, is part of continuing habitat restoration aimed at recovering self-sustaining stocks of South Fork Nooksack River chinook and other wild salmon.

Last summer the Nooksack Tribe constructed six logjams and relocated a levee near the mouth of Hutchinson Creek, to provide refuge and lower temperatures for salmon. The logjams withstood the recent flooding on the Nooksack River.

“We’re laying the building blocks for natural habitat that will enable the recovery of native salmon stocks,” said Bob Kelly, natural resources director for the Nooksack Tribe.


Wetland, floodplain and streamside restoration projects already have begun on the tribally-owned property near the mouth of Todd Creek. The tribe will work with Herrerra Environmental Consultants of Seattle, a firm that specializes in engineering logjams to withstand high flow conditions.

“This project will not increase flood hazard in the area,” Kelly said. “We have a long history of natural resource management and we’re committed to cooperating with our neighbors.”

For more information, contact: Bob Kelly, Natural Resources Director, Nooksack Tribe, 360.592.2632; Kari Neumeyer, Information Officer, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, 360.424.8226, [email protected].