Wednesday May 10, 2023
Native News Online —
A California Tribe is officially teaming up with the state and a federal agency to restore endangered salmon populations in the state’s northern region.
Winnemem Wintu Tribe, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries signed agreements on May 1 to restore Chinook salmon to the mountains north of Redding, Calif.
The agreements support a joint effort to return Chinook salmon to their original spawning areas in cold mountain rivers now blocked by Shasta Reservoir in northern California. The agreement’s goal is ecological and cultural restoration to renew fishing opportunities for the tribe that depended on the once-plentiful salmon for sustenance and cultural practices.
The tribe signed a co-management agreement with CDFW and a co-stewardship agreement with NOAA Fisheries, reflecting the way the two agencies describe accords with tribes. The agreements call for the agencies to include the tribe in decisions for salmon that have implications for the Winnemem Wintu.