In June of 2022, led by Matt Baerwalde, the ENR Department, in collaboration with other Tribal Departments, published the Upper Snoqualmie Resilient River Corridor Management Plan. The Plan proposes a community-led vision for the Snoqualmie River, including 22 recommendations for restoration and activities to increase river and community resiliency against current and future threats.

The focal planning area for the project comprises the Snoqualmie River corridor and floodplain, from around Snoqualmie Falls up to the Three Forks area. In the Plan, the Snoqualmie Tribe also asserts that tribal community access is an integral part of a resilient river corridor, and it encourages continued physical and spiritual connections with this important landscape.

To learn more about and view the Upper Snoqualmie Resilient River Corridor Management Plan, please click on the button below.

Prepared in 2024 for the Snoqualmie Tribe by Kindred Hydro, Inc.

Fall City Floodplain Restoration Final Groundwater Monitoring Report

After extensive restoration work on Zackuse Creek by the Snoqualmie Tribe and other local governments and organizations, kokanee salmon have been spotted in the creek for the first time in roughly 40 years! It’s exciting to see these “little red fish” returning to their native spawning grounds after so many years!

As of November 15, 2021, the Snoqualmie Tribe’s Environmental & Natural Resources Department and other local organizations have observed 45 kokanee salmon in Zackuse Creek, though the total could be more. This has been one of the most productive returns that has been observed on Lake Sammamish in the past 5 years. And the return season for the kokanee isn’t over yet!

To see some of the first footage of these kokanee salmon visit the Snoqualmie Tribe’s Facebook Page or watch the following video credited to David Kyle of Trout Unlimited.

To learn more about the partnership that is behind this success, please visit the Lake Sammamish Kokanee Work Group page of the King County website.

The ENR Department keeps a look out for opportunities that apply to or seek out Snoqualmie Tribal Membership and Tribal Youth. These opportunities include volunteer, employment, and board member positions that often work towards bettering our community and shared environment in the Pacific Northwest. To find out more, click the link below.

Opportunities for Snoqualmie Tribal Membership & Youth

Here in the Puget Sound we commonly see high mortality in Coho salmon due to stormwater exposure when adults migrate up urban creeks to reproduce. Though there is a large spectrum of urban pollutants, a highly toxic 6PPD quinone product commonly used in tire rubber has now been identified in creeks at toxic levels. This breaking research will hopefully lead to regulation and consumer products that do not contain this toxic chemical as we rely on cars for transportation in our society and cannot escape the fact that tires are an important part of that.

“A ubiquitous tire rubber-derived chemical induces acute mortality in coho salmon”

Z. Tian et al., Science 10.1126/science.abd6951 (2020).

After years of advocating for regulatory reform of suction dredge mining in Washington State’s streams and rivers, the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe is celebrating progress in Olympia. Prior to the passing of HB 1261, Washington State regulations on suction dredging were the laxest of many Western states, including Idaho, Oregon, California, and Montana. After many previous attempts, and years of hard work to raise awareness of this outdated and habitat-destroying practice, suction dredge reform finally passed both houses of the Legislature and was signed into law by Governor Inslee on March 18th, 2020. Suction dredge mining will now be banned from 11,000 miles of Washington stream habitat designated as ‘critical’ for salmon and trout, while remaining legal on 61,000 miles of ‘non-critical’ stream habitat.

Suction dredging is a motorized method that mineral prospectors use to search for gold in the bottoms of waterways. Imagine a giant, floating vacuum that sucks up streambed gravels, then spits the tailings back out after sifting for precious metals. Miners say it’s a quick and effective way of covering ground, but the process damages in-stream habitat. Photo courtesy of Kim McDonald; originally published in the Yakima Herald.