Salmon Public Outreach and Education 2017

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) continues to support conservation efforts through public education and outreach about its First Foods management mission. The mission guides the tribe to protect, restore and enhance their First Foods for perpetual cultural, economic and sovereign tribal benefit. This goal is accomplished by utilizing traditional, ecological and cultural knowledge and science to inform the public about population and habitat management goals and actions and natural resource policies and regulatory mechanisms. CTUIR hosts two educational events and a series of excursions. Each event and excursion series included an educational component to inform the public about the ecological connections to the First Foods and aquatic species around them. Participants learn how the CTUIR is working toward protecting, enhancing and restoring these important resources and how it pertains to them.

CTUIR DNR utilized the 2017-Umat-04 funding to support education and outreach efforts for the March 2018 – February 2021 reporting period (but primarily for 2020 activities). DNR completed its goals to inform the CTUIR community and the general public about how DNR is working to: Protect, restore and enhance the First Foods which include Water, Salmon, Deer, Cous and Huckleberry – for the perpetual cultural, economic and sovereign benefits of the CTUIR by utilizing traditional ecological and cultural knowledge and science to inform:

1. The public about population and habitat management goals and actions; and
2. Natural resource policies and regulatory mechanisms.

The funding was utilized to successfully plan, coordinate and host the following Salmon Public Education and Outreach projects:
1. Make A Splash Salmon Expedition, 2018 & 2019
2. Return to the River Salmon Festival, 2018 & 2019
3. CTUIR First Foods Use and Access Project 2019 – 2021

In light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the CTUIR followed the Stay Home Stay Safe mandates in order to minimize the spread of Covid-19 within our community. From March 2020 – February 2021, as directed by the CTUIR’s Incident Command Team, most face-to-face public outreach and education events, excursions and presentations were postponed or cancelled due to the tribal and state-wide mandatory prohibitions against public gatherings. In response, all PCSRF – Salmon Public Outreach and Education was performed virtually. The team was planning for the Make a Splash 2020 but postponed due to pandemic lockdown mandates. All planning for the Return to River which was scheduled for May 2020 was also canceled for 2020. In spring of 2021 the CTUIR and WWCC Public Education and Outreach planning team hosted meetings bi weekly and decided to celebrate the Return to the River 2021 event by creating a YouTube channel. The channel is titled the Inland Northwest Natural Resource Management - YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/IixkQb3n_BI. The Public Outreach and Education Specialist provided education and outreach activities during 2020-21 by utilizing digital technology which has proven useful for engaging the public remotely and hosting online meetings, presentations and webinars. Outreach tasks were accomplished through the use of virtual platforms such as MS Teams and Zoom and this method will be the standard for ongoing and future outreach planning and organizing.

Species that would benefit from CTUIR DNR outreach program include federally ESA listed summer steelhead and bull trout, reintroduced spring chinook and Pacific lamprey, as well as inland redband trout and margined sculpin, listed as vulnerable under Oregon’s Sensitive Species rule. We will also include Wildlife and plant resource species that are directly connected to Salmon and other fish species. By educating the public about ESA species there will be gained support for habitat restoration projects and fish protection. Through education outreach efforts within the school’s students return home and share information with parents and family. This sharing of information supports restoration efforts by making other become aware of what their children are learning and hear about their natural environment. The Tribe also works in gaining public support and works to create stronger partnerships for salmon restoration and to continue to create future projects.