Port Gamble Tribe FY 2020 Salmon Recovery Planning

The Natural Resource Director represented the tribe in various local, regional, and statewide salmon recovery and planning forums. The Director oversaw the implementation of the Puget Sound Chinook and Hood Canal Summer Chum Recovery Plans in collaboration with other tribes, WDFW, HCCC, NOAA and other agencies. The Director worked closely with PGST policy and leadership to help inform relevant decision-making by the Port Gamble Tribal Council and community members as it pertained to salmon recovery issues. The project scope included the development of salmon recovery recommendations developed through various resource management processes while considering climate change impacts. The Director was involved with watershed planning activities, including coordinating habitat assessments and restoration project planning, resulting in identifying and then preparing to address factors that may have been constraining the recovery of healthy natural salmon production in the Tribes Usual and Accustomed (U&A) area. The tribe continued working with state and county officials for watershed planning and instream flow rules that were especially needed based on their climate change studies.



An updated assessment, the Recovery Goal Review and Updated Guidance for the Hood Canal Summer Chum Salmon ESU (Review), was completed in 2018. This project addressed priorities for recovery detailed in the recovery plan following the recommendations provided in the Review, specifically focused on nearshore habitat restoration and climate change adaptation. The project scope included assessing the current status of threats and limiting factors to the ESU and identifying data gaps; investigating recent research results concerning juvenile chum habitat preference and developing effective habitat restoration strategies based on their new understanding; and expanding the monitoring and adaptive management plan for climate-change related factors affecting the ESU.

The project will provide the opportunity for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe to participate in the salmon recovery planning process and to coordinate with federal, state, and local recovery planning agencies. The recovery planning process will benefit from having the Tribes expertise and technical input that can be applied to directly benefit the salmon and the habitat they occupy. Our assessment shows major issues are likely to get worse over the decades ahead and the more we can push for ecological gains in our important salmon streams and rivers, including nearshore habitat, the better.