Monday January 16, 2023
The News Review Today —
Almost eight months after the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 4-3 to end the summer steelhead hatchery program at Rock Creek, the commission met Friday with representatives from interested federally recognized Tribes to gather additional information regarding the program’s termination.
Representatives from the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Coquille Indian Tribe, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians all provided information in-person or remotely.
“Visiting the Rock Creek Fish Hatchery during the summer, field trips, outdoor school … those were significant moments in our lives,” Colby Drake, a member of the Grand Ronde Tribe, said at the Commission’s meeting Friday. “That fishery is very important to me and my family. Not just as a Native American and natural resource manager, but as a native Oregonian.”
Drake cited seven generations which could be impacted by the ending of the program: those his age and their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents which came before, and the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren which may come.