12/12/2012 – Large-scale Cooperation for Small Fish Project
With this many entities and this many levels of government, communication and cooperation were essential to obtaining the money and deciding where it will go. The result is a project that will benefit the entire Yakima Valley.
12/12/2012 – Grant will help Cowiche Creek fish
An estimated 25 miles of prime fish habitat will be opened to migratory fish in the creek’s upper reaches by the spring of 2014, culminating an effort that has taken a decade.
12/10/2012 – State Awards more than $19 million in Grants for Salmon Recovery
The Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board today announced the award of $19.2 million in grants to organizations around the state to restore and protect rivers and other waterways in an effort to bring salmon back from the brink of extinction.
10/25/2012 – Beavers Enlisted as Engineers
Beavers identified as problematic are being taken from urban and agricultural areas in the Yakima Basin, where they are currently being lethally removed, and relocated in upper Yakima River tributaries with the intent of improving fish habitat, water quality and hydrograph function, as well as restoring riparian areas.
9/21/2012 – The Port of Sunnyside Receives $1 Million for Wastewater Expansion
The Port of Sunnyside received nearly $1 million in state funding for a new pumping station and pipeline that would at least double the discharge capacity of its industrial wastewater treatment facility.
9/28/2012 – Yakima Basin Bull Trout Action Plan
The final version of theaction plan is newly released. Thank you to all who contributed andprovided feedback. We look forward to good things for the future of bulltrout in our region.
9/20/2012 – Salvelinus confluentus Curiosity Society Meeting
The annual meeting was held at Lake Crescent on the Olympic peninsula on August 15-17, 2012.
9/19/2012 – Spawning Sockeye Return to the Yakima River
“The best places to observe the fish are the bridges over the Cle Elum River at the Cooper River turn-off and at Salmon La Sac – look downriver from both bridges. Sockeye are likely to be spawning for a couple of more weeks, but hurry to see them because their bright red color will soon start to fade.”
9/6/2012 – Washington State Awarded $22 Million for Salmon Recovery
The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board has received a $22 million federal grant to continue the state’s salmon recovery efforts in Washington. Of the $22 million, $15 million will be awarded by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board as competitive grants for projects statewide that will restore and protect the rivers, streams and bays that salmon need to recover. Grant applications need to go through local lead entities.
7/18/2012 – Kittitas County Seeking Volunteers for Citizen Advisory Committee
The County and Cities/Town are seeking volunteers from the communities of Ellensburg, Cle Elum, South Cle Elum, and the unincorporated County to participate in the shoreline Citizen Advisory Committee. The jurisdictions hope to achieve a diverse mix of interest, including agriculture, recreation, real estate/development, environment, sporting, and conservation.
7/10/2012 – Yakima Basin Water Plan to Benefit Fish, Farmers
Those designing the new water enhancement plan hope that after the implementation of the plan, hundreds of thousands of fish could migrate to the Yakima Basin.
7/7/2012 – Advocates Seek Wider Support from Public
Proponents in support of the Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resources Management Plan ramp up outreach efforts.
6/30/2012 – Restoring Lamprey in the Yakima River Basin
A sense of urgency has emerged as the Pacific lamprey faces extinction, prompting five states along with federal agencies and several tribes to adopt a conservation strategy.
6/19/12 – Wapato Reach Assessment Report
Technical working groupand ICF worked together to complete analysis of possible restoration activities in the Wapato Reach (the mainstem Yakima River from Union Gap to Mabton). Review the Wapato Reach Assessment Report.
6/14/12 – Yakima Basin Science and Management Conference
YBFWRB staff, Yuki Reiss and Alex Conley, each presented at the Yakima Basin Science & Management Conference on June 13-14 at CWU. The two-day conference addressed local studies and projects as well as the issues surrounding your favorite native fish.
6/7/2012 – Major Sunnyside Irrigation Upgrades Celebrated
The division agreed to give up 30,000 acre-feet of water that will remain in the Yakima River annually to improve fish habitat below Sunnyside Dam at Parker.
6/1/12 – Yakima Bull Trout Action Plan
We are pleased to announce the release of the final review draft Yakima Bull Trout Action Plan. The plan is intended to complement and support the pending USFWS bull trout recovery plan by providing detailed population information and proposing actions to benefit bull trout in the Yakima basin.The comment period is open June 1 – July 1.
5/22/2012 – Yakima Fly Fishers Association Named “Organization of the Year” by WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife
The Yakima Fly Fishers Association won the award for sponsoring and raising funds for a local kids’ fishing event, teaching young people fly tying and fly fishing, and educating the public about the need to protect bull trout in the region.
5/17/2012 – A Water Plan for Fish, Families, Farmers
The Washington Department of Ecology has called this blueprint a model for future watershed management in the state. Other groups, like those in Oregon’s Deschutes and Hood River Basins, are also working together to manage water. Yakima Basin leaders hope these efforts can spread to the rest of the western United States.
5/7/2012 – Yakima Basin Water Supply – May Forecast Released
Above average snowpack and reservoir levels in early May will keep the Total Water Supply outlook above average even after the heavy runoff event we experienced in the last week of April.
4/16/2012 – Big Bites Await Area Fishermen
Rainbow trout are grown by the WDFW at the Naches Hatchery, located at 3410 Naches Road, for sport fishing at lakes in Kittitas, Yakima and Benton counties.
4/16/2012 – Advisors Sought for International Salmon Panel
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is seeking nominees to the advisory panel that counsels state representatives to the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC), an international body dedicated to protecting fish and wildlife on the high seas.Members of the state advisory council must be Washington residents, with knowledge of salmon, steelhead and other species associated with their lifecycles. Members serve four-year terms with a maximum of two consecutive terms.
4/13/2012 – Herbicide Regulations Tighten over Salmon Protection
A new biological opinion prescribes measures to keep three herbicides oryzalin, pendamethalin, and trifluralin out of salmon waters in Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho.
4/2012 – Bull Trout Conference
The Salvelinus confluentus Curiosity Society annual meeting this year will be held at Lake Crescent, on the Olympic peninsula on August 15-17, 2012. The goal of the conference is to share the latest information on bull trout among scientists and policy makers, and also to assist local biologists in the host watershed with bull trout projects and field work. The YBFWRB is helping to organize the conference this year, and we encourage anyone with an interest in bull trout conservation to consider attending.
3/7/2012 – WDFW Biologists Work with Landowners Highlighted
Habitat biologists who work directly with landowners to provide input and permits for projects that affect streams are a key part of bigger salmon recovery efforts. Here’s an article that highlights some of their work.
3/2/2012 – Yakima Basin Integrated Plan EIS Released
On March 2nd, the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Yakima Basin Integrated Water Resources Plan was released by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Ecology.
3/2012 – Steelhead Radio Telemetry Study
The Yakama Nation is thelead agency on a 3 year project (2011-2014) that will track steelhead throughout the Yakima basin. Starting in September 2011, adult steelhead returning to the basin have been trapped at Prosser Dam and have had a tag inserted into their stomachs that emits a radio signal. This allows biologists to track these fish, using mobile tracking equipment or stationary tracking sites located in key locations. The goal is to radio tag ~500 steelhead each year, and as of March 2012, 480+ have been tagged! The results of this study will be important for determining where steelhead in the basin overwinter and spawn.
3/2012 – Welcome Heather Hadsel
Heather joined the Board’s staff in March 2012 as our Operations Manager. She is jumping right in keeping on top of the Board’s logistics and leading outreach efforts like the release of this website.
3/2012 – Fish Finding Restoration Projects
It’s great when we can document that fish are finding and making use of streams restored by SRFB projects. Just last week, radio-tagged steelhead were found spawning in the middle of the Reecer Creek Floodplain Restoration Project near Ellensburg. Last year, redd surveys found 27 steelhead redds in Cowiche Creek, which was blocked by small dams until a series of projects removed them between 2004 and 2008, Anew PIT-tag detector on Taneum Creek shows a big uptick in the number of steelhead entering Taneum Creek since fish passage barriers were removed in 2010. This kind of progress is what will get us to the point when our steelhead’s Endangered Species Act listing can be lifted.
2/2/2012 – Return of the Wapato
Floodplain restoration projects along Toppenish Creek aren’t just benefiting the fish. They are also bringing back traditional foods that the Yakama people haven’t been able to gather locally for a century.
1/31/2012 – Good Prospects for Spring Salmon Fishing in the Yakima
Biologists are forecasting a strong return of spring chinook to the Yakima Basin in 2012, which should allow for another year of the popular spring fishing season.