Local News

Colville Tribes’ Fish and Wildlife Awarded BPA Contract for Restoration Work in the Methow

Sep 02, 2015

The Colville Tribes’ Fish and Wildlife (CTFW) Department was recently awarded a contract for over $417,000 from Bonneville Power Administration to continue habitat restoration work in the Methow Subbasin. The restoration work will benefit Chinook salmon, summer steelhead, bull trout, and Pacific lamprey.

The new award will allow fish biologists to install fencing to keep livestock out of the Methow River, develop an alternative water source for livestock, install a well, and replace an undersized culvert on Frazer Creek with a bridge to improve fish passage.

“Since there are already substantial existing restoration efforts in the Methow, I see our role at this point as to coordinate with these efforts, provide support where needed, and implement projects that will have the greatest biological benefit for the cost,” said Paul Wagner, fish biologist for CTFW. “Fish passage projects and livestock fencing projects are good examples of project types that have a relatively high biological benefit for a modest cost.”

Early efforts began in September 2014 when the department hired Wagner. He immediately focused on Beaver and Frazer Creeks, two tributaries that were severely impacted by the Carlton Complex fire.

“Two undersized road culverts have been replaced by a bridge on Beaver Creek to improve fish passage by allowing full conveyance of increased debris and sediment from the burned watersheds,” said Wagner.

Fish biologists from the Colville Tribe are coordinating their efforts with other groups such as the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife,U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Methow Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, U.S. Forest Service, the Yakama Nation, and others.