Tag: Nisqually

EATONVILLE (December 4, 2006) – During the last seven winters over 60 tons of chinook salmon carcasses – plus almost 30,000 pounds this year – have been tossed in streams around the Nisqually River watershed through the Nisqually Tribe’s carcass distribution program.

The tribe takes carcasses from their two hatcheries, and with help from volunteers, distributes them throughout the watershed, adding much needed marine nutrients to the eco-system. Salmon carcasses bring nutrients back from the ocean that are food for over 147 species of wildlife.

EATONVILLE (August 22, 2006) – The Nisqually Tribe and the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group are removing a rock berm at Smallwood Park to improve salmon habitat by replacing it with a series of logjams.

The 10 foot tall berm was built along 300 feet of the river to prevent erosion of Smallwood Park, but at the same time has impeded salmon spawning and rearing in the Mashel River. “The habitat around Smallwood Park isn’t good at all for salmon,” said Jeanette Dorner, salmon recovery manager for the Nisqually Tribe. “The berm constricts the river, intensifying flow, making it hard for salmon nests to survive, and there isn’t anywhere for young salmon to rest or feed.”

NISQUALLY (June 16, 2006) – Steelhead have been slowly disappearing from the Nisqually River for at least the last decade and the Nisqually Indian Tribe wants to know why. “There is plenty of good habitat for steelhead in the Nisqually watershed, so we think they’re running into problems in saltwater,” said David Troutt, natural resources manager for the Nisqually Tribe. “But, we don’t know that for sure.”

Tribal and state co-managers would like to see just under 2,000 steelhead return to spawn every year to the Nisqually, but since 1993, fewer than 1,000 have come back. Decades ago, the Nisqually River had the strongest run of steelhead in Puget Sound; over 6,000 would return every year. Nisqually River steelhead are part of a stock that is currently being considered for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act.

EATONVILLE (June 14, 2006) – Engineered logjams on the Mashel River are leading to more salmon and a natural increase of their habitat.

Two years ago logjams were constructed along a one mile stretch of the Mashel by the Nisqually Tribe and the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group. “While the initial restoration work added some habitat to what had been a river lacking many habitat features, nature has been building on our work,” said Jeanette Dorner, salmon recovery manager for the Nisqually Tribe.