Whatcom Salmon Recovery

Many organizations and individuals are helping to recover salmon runs in WRIA 1. They include:

The Salmon Co-managers
Federal Agencies
State Agencies
Local Governments
Local Partners

The Salmon Co-managers

In the state of Washington, federally recognized Indian tribes, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) make joint decisions about harvest and hatchery policies. In WRIA 1, the salmon co-managers are Lummi Nation, Nooksack Indian Tribe, and WDFW.

The salmon co-managers were established by a 1974 decision by U.S. District Court Judge George Boldt in the case United States v. Washington. The Boldt decision also established a strategy under which the fish harvest is managed in common between the tribes and the state of Washington, and in which the harvest is allocated half to the treaty Indian tribes and half to the state. This is the origination of the phrase "salmon co-managers."

For more information about the co-manager relationship, read the WDFW fact sheet How Tribes and State Co-Manage Salmon and Steelhead.

Federal Agencies

The National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Region (NMFS) is charged with conserving, protecting, and managing marine and anadromous fish species and their habitats in the Pacific Northwest. NMFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service share responsibility for administering the Endangered Species Act. In 1999, NMFS listed chinook salmon and bull trout in the Nooksack basin as "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act. NMFS is now overseeing local efforts to recover salmon.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) works with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. It is the federal agency with jurisdiction over bull trout recovery in WRIA 1. Bull trout were also listed under the ESA in 1999.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans, designs, builds, and operates water resources and other civil works projects, including navigation and flood control projects. Recently the Corps has branched out into habitat restoration with a particular emphasis on the nearshore marine areas of Puget Sound. The Corps' regulatory branch evaluates applications for permits for work in waters of the U.S. The Corps decision to issue or deny a permit is considered a Federal action that must comply with the Endangered Species Act. The Seattle District's web site has information about Corps permits and ESA.

The Environmental Protection Agency administers the Federal Clean Water Act, which requires major industries to meet performance standards to ensure pollution control; charges states and tribes with setting specific water quality criteria and developing pollution control programs; provides funding to states and communities to help them meet their clean water infrastructure needs; and protects valuable wetlands and other aquatic habitats through a permitting process that ensures development and other activities are conducted in an environmentally sound manner. The Clean Water Act is a tool for restoring quality fish habitat.

State Agencies

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) promotes sound stewardship of fish and wildlife. WDFW is one of the salmon co-managers. WDFW has developed a wild salmonid policy to guide harvest and hatchery managers in protecting wild fish stocks. In addition, WDFW and the tribes have developed a statewide Salmonid Stock Inventory (SaSI) that assesses stock status statewide, and have compiled the Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Inventory & Assessment Project (SSHIAP), a key database for habitat status information.

The mission of the Washington Department of Ecology is to protect, preserve and enhance Washington's environment, and promote the wise management of our air, land and water for the benefit of current and future generations. Ecology does not have a direct role in salmon recovery, but does have programs with important effects on the health of salmon that include water quality protection, allocation of water rights, and promotion of local watershed planning.

Local Partners

The City of Bellingham is a partner in the WRIA 1 Watershed Management Project, which is developing plans for allocating water, protecting water quality, and restoring fish habitat throughout the WRIA. In addition, the City of Bellingham is writing a Habitat Conservation Plan for endangered fish species that may be affected by the operation of the water supply diversion in the Middle Fork. The City is also developing programs and projects to protect and restore fish habitat in the streams inside city limits.

Lummi Nation is one of the salmon co-managers. In addition to operating hatcheries and rearing ponds to supplement wild salmon runs, Lummi Nation has implemented many restoration projects, with a recent emphasis on the South Fork Nooksack and the Nooksack River estuary, and is conducting assessments to determine the type and extent of future restoration efforts.

The Nooksack Recovery Team is a forum for coordinating and discussing restoration projects in the Nooksack Basin. Team members include agencies, business representatives, tribes, nonprofit organizations, and private citizens. To date, more than 500 restoration projects have been coordinated under the umbrella of the NRT, including closures of unused logging roads, culvert replacements, streamside plantings, and placement of woody debris habitat structures in stream channels. The NRT also hosts the annual Salmon Summit held in the late fall each year. Information about the NRT, including a map showing where the projects have taken place, can be found on the Whatcom Conservation District web site.

The Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association is a non-profit working to return naturally spawning salmon to Whatcom County streams by habitat restoration and monitoring, community education, and salmon production.

Nooksack Tribe is one of the salmon co-managers. The tribe is working to assess and restore salmon habitat with a particular emphasis on understanding chinook salmon habitat needs and habitat restoration priorities. The tribe has several on-going assessments and is working with other restoration partners to use this information to guide where and what kind of habitat projects should be done.

Public Utility District #1 of Whatcom County (PUD) is actively involved in watershed planning and in maintaining utility services to its current service area in the industrial zones at Cherry Point and Grandview. The PUD also encourages all its customers to maintain environmental awareness and to practice water conservation and re-use. As a member of the Nooksack Recovery Team, the PUD maintains an active role in fish and wildlife habitat recovery efforts.

Whatcom Conservation District educates landowners and farmers about conserving natural resources and protecting water quality. The CD also sponsors a stream team for the Bertrand and Fishtrap creeks. The CD is currently coordinating the development of Comprehensive Irrigation District Management Plans for the Bertrand and Tenmile watersheds. These plans will provide a way to coordinate and implement actions for efficient agricultural water use that also promote clean water and salmon recovery.

Whatcom County is a partner in the WRIA 1 Watershed Management Project, which is developing plans for allocating water, protecting water quality, and restoring fish habitat throughout the WRIA. Whatcom County also administers the funding process in WRIA 1 for the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board. The county public works department is rerouting stormwater from bridges, conducting an inventory of culverts [link to culvert inventory project page] on county, state, and privateroads and their effects on fish passage, and replacing culverts that block fish. The county parks department is working with the Whatcom Land Trust, the Nooksack Tribe, and others to restore salmon habitat on hundreds of acres along the South Fork of the Nooksack River.

The Whatcom Land Trust works to preserve and protect wildlife habitat, scenic, agricultural and open space lands in Whatcom County for future generations by securing interests in land and promoting land stewardship. Among other projects, several acquisitions in the past few years have focused on protecting and restoring critical salmon habitat in the South Fork of the Nooksack River.

Larson's Log Jam

Canyon Creek Fish Passage
The lower 4.5 miles of Canyon Creek [link to Canyon Creek Watershed of the Month], a major tributary to the North Fork Nooksack, are important spawning habitat for North Fork early chinook, which are listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act. (At river mile 4.5, there is a natural waterfall that prevents further migration upstream.) The creek is also considered a priority area for a second threatened species, bull trout.

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