Thursday July 17, 2025
NOAA Fisheries —
To restore degraded fish habitat on private lands, NOAA partners with organizations that work directly with landowners to find solutions that benefit everyone. One such partner, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, is based in Eastern Oregon. They have spent decades building long-term relationships with farmers, ranchers, and irrigation districts in order to restore salmon and steelhead habitat. This work has led to the return of these iconic species to rivers where they once returned by the thousands, supporting tribal and other fisheries.
The Confederated Tribes are now implementing nine restoration projects in Eastern Oregon and Washington with $3.3 million in funding from NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation. These projects are removing barriers and reconnecting creeks and streams in the Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Grande Ronde subbasins of the Columbia River.
The Tribes and their partners say the funding is not just about helping fish. Much of it goes to local businesses, such as construction firms, that support jobs, representing an investment in the resilience of rural communities.
This work will allow adult fish to reach spawning grounds and enable juvenile fish to survive the hot, dry summers. When completed, the projects will open or improve access to critical habitat, including:
- 248 miles for threatened steelhead
- 158 miles for threatened bull trout
- 112 miles for threatened spring Chinook salmon
In the high desert of Eastern Oregon and Washington, the Columbia River’s tributaries have sustained fish, wildlife, and Indigenous communities for thousands of years. Since the mid-1800s, these same waterways have also supported agriculture and livestock.
However, irrigation diversions, dams, and erosion from grazing and other land uses have fragmented fish habitat and left some streams dry in summer. As fish populations declined, the Tribes lost the ability to harvest salmon and other native fish in significant numbers. The Tribes ceded 6.4 million acres of land to the United States in 1855. But they retained treaty rights to harvest traditional foods, including fish and culturally important plants, known collectively as “First Foods.”
Building Relationships to Bring Back Salmon and Steelhead
To restore their access to First Foods and support healthy ecosystems, the Tribes have cultivated trust with private land owners and local communities for generations. These relationships have been central to getting buy-in for restoration projects on private and community land.
At community meetings, Tribal elders share stories about the cultural significance of water and salmon. Restoration staff meet individually with landowners, listening to their concerns and learning about their water management challenges.
“It’s the relationships among the Tribes, the private landowners, and community members that really get the work done,” says Jerimiah Bonifer, a Tribal member and Department of Natural Resources fisheries program manager for the Tribes. “We demonstrate that we’re contributing to these basins and the community as a whole. For example, when we restore floodplain functions [which allows streams to spread out over a wider area], we increase groundwater levels. Water stays in the subbasins for longer periods, which is good for both agriculture and salmon.”
Meeting over Coffee Opens Door to Dam Removal
The Tribes’ relationship-building kick-started multiple projects now funded by NOAA. Last year, the Tribes and its partners removed two abandoned water diversion dams and a road culvert. These barriers were blocking fish migration through the Birch Creek watershed in the Umatilla subbasin. This watershed produces almost half of the subbasin’s Mid-Columbia River summer steelhead, a threatened species. Parts of the creek dry up in the summer, so juvenile steelhead must be able to migrate to areas with cooler water.
Mike Lambert, habitat program supervisor for the Tribes’ Department of Natural Resources, built a 20-year relationship with the owner of the Homer Peterson Dam. “He lived near the small community of Athena where I live, and he’d often have me over for morning coffee,” says Lambert. “I understood his interests for stream use, and we worked on multiple projects to restore [stream bank] habitat on his property.”
Although the dam owner passed away before the dam was removed, the estate allowed the Tribes to proceed with removal because of the owner’s relationship with them.
“The Birch Creek projects are an important success story for rural agricultural communities and healthy fish streams,” says NOAA Marine Habitat Resource Specialist Adrianne Grimm. “This partnership with the Tribes helped relocate the farmer’s water diversion and get rid of an unused concrete barrier that blocked fish from miles of cool water upstream. As one landowner sees their neighbor benefit, others become more open to having those initial conversations, too.”
Improving Steelhead Habitat and Water Management for Farms
The Tribes’ partners use similar approaches elsewhere. In the Grande Ronde subbasin, the Union Soil & Water Conservation District is working with the Hassinger family on a NOAA-funded project. It will improve fish passage and irrigation management on the family farm.
The project includes constructing a new fishway over an irrigation dam on Catherine Creek. It will give Chinook, steelhead, bull trout, and other native fish year-round access to the 120-mile creek and its tributaries. The team is also modifying the dam and irrigation pumps to enhance water efficiency and habitat quality.
“We’ve got some really great partners here on projects that benefit the farm operation and the environment,” says Jed Hassinger, the fifth-generation farm owner. “There are opportunities for irrigation efficiency improvements that will allow for better crop water management and save water for the stream. Our farm has some flood-prone areas, and restoration projects can help eliminate these problem areas while enhancing the areas that remain in the tillable farmland. This is profitable for the farm.”
“The partnership between the District and the Hassingers is a win-win,” says James Webster, Manager of the Union Soil & Water Conservation District. “This is going to be a very successful project for fish, wildlife, and a major agricultural producer.”
Beyond ecological benefits, the restoration work supports local economies.
“Of the $1.1 million we’ve spent so far on the NOAA-funded projects, about $910,000 has gone to local engineering and construction firms,” says Lambert. “This work isn’t just about restoring fish—it’s about investing in the resilience of the entire community.”
Construction on the Tribes’ NOAA-funded projects will continue this year and in 2026.
Additional project partners include:
- Trout Unlimited
- Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
- Umatilla County
- Umatilla Basin Watershed Council
- Grande Ronde Model Watershed Council
- Bonneville Power Administration
- Bureau of Reclamation
- Whitney Land Company
- Blue Mountain Wildlife
- Participating Landowners