Washington’s Icicle Creek has its fair share of management challenges: cumulative demands on water from agriculture, municipal use and a large national hatchery facility are just some of the factors that take a toll on flows and fish here. But a broad-based effort is underway to re-calibrate and balance those demands and accommodate the needs of fish and tribal and recreational fishing.
Science Friday: How dam construction — and removal — changed genetics of O. mykiss in the Elwha River
Have you ever wondered how installing a dam, and later removing it, can influence the genetics of a population of migratory fishes? A new study sheds some light on a possible answer.
Washington state legislative preview: What’s in it for steelhead?
Monday the 11th marked the start of the 2021 legislative session in Olympia, with important implications for steelhead in Washington State. Washington operates on a biennial budget system, and this year — a budget year — the state must fund its state agencies and programs for the next two years.
It’s time for the lower Snake River dams to go
“It is our collective opinion, based on overwhelming scientific evidence, that restoration of a free-flowing lower Snake River is essential to recovering wild Pacific salmon and steelhead in the basin.”
So reads a remarkable letter recently sent to the governors of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana by 10 of the finest and most-respected salmon and steelhead scientists in the world.
Washington TU launches B.A.T. Team
Washington Council of Trout Unlimited has launched a new and exciting habitat initiative to improve opportunities to recover our iconic but threatened wild steelhead and salmon.
An unfortunate reality: Depleted Olympic Peninsula steelhead and emergency conservation measures
Last week, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) enacted new regulations coast-wide with the stated goal of reducing our encounter rates on these last, best wild runs here in Washington. This includes some serious changes to the way we fish for steelhead.
Elwha River update: habitat restoration on Little River
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has completed a two-year restoration project of Little River recently, making it more salmon and steelhead friendly. We go in-depth with this part of the tribe’s Elwha River watershed restoration work.
The Elwha: Rising From the Ashes
2020 has been noteworthy in many ways. Some of this year’s offerings (megafires, Covid-19) have been unwelcome. But for steelhead anglers and advocates, one highlight was the release of a new film in April documenting the return of summer steelhead to Washington’s Elwha River.
Our failure to remember affects salmon and steelhead conservation
We’ve all heard stories from our grandparents of unbelievable abundance and sizes in their fishing forays — the salmon so numerous it boggled the mind, and those Lahontan cutthroat trout so big you couldn’t wrap your arms around them. Yet even with these anecdotes it’s still hard to internalize just how different our experience of today is from way back when. That’s just human nature: memory is hard to maintain, especially across generations.
New WA Regs Need Support
Urgent Request! We’re sorry for the last-minute request, but if we want to fix the failing status quo and prevent our fisheries from closing completely, we could really use your help before this tomorrow (Dec. 11) at 1 p.m. In short, new regulations have been introduced that need our support. To help,all you need to do is send an email. Background, and email details are all below. …