This is ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity’ to help reconnect salmon habitat | Opinion

The history of the Nooksack people goes back thousands of years and is woven through every creek, stream and river in Whatcom County. We have always lived here. We occupied the watershed of the Nooksack River from the salt water of Bellingham Bay to the mountains of Mt. Baker, and from an area north of Lynden and Sumas down into Skagit County to the south. While most of our villages were along the Nooksack River and its forks, we hunted, gathered and fished throughout Whatcom County.

Salmon and fishing have always been an important source of culture and income to our people. Today — as we all know — salmon are in decline and our tribe works hard to restore habitat and ensure that salmon have the cold, clean water they need to thrive.

In 1855 we joined other tribes in signing the Point Elliott Treaty. In signing, we reserved our right to hunt and fish and in return, our historic lands became cities, timberlands and farms. In order to fish, there must be salmon in our rivers. Some salmon runs are listed under the Endangered Species Act and some runs are now close to extinction. We have to do more.

These past few years we have seen Washington State increase its effort to meet its obligation to restore fish passage, by replacing and repairing areas under roads and bridges that block salmon from migrating upstream. In response, the federal government is stepping forward with significant funding to support this work.

This came about due to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In 2007 the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington determined that the state built culverts that blocked salmon to and from the Nooksack Indian Tribe’s usual and accustomed fishing places, depriving us of the fishing rights reserved in the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855. In 2013 the court ordered the state to fix barrier culverts and restore fish passage to more than 90% of the blocked habitat by 2030. In 2018 this ruling was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. It is past time to move forward and open up the habitat to allow salmon to recover.

Nooksack, Lummi and the state of Washington have signed a memorandum of understanding with the city of Bellingham to actively support each other on fish passage and continue moving forward with opening-up streams once more for salmon to migrate upstream. We applaud their vision and continuing willingness to restore and reconnect salmon habitat.

Now we call on Whatcom County to do the same. The recent federal bipartisan infrastructure bill is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to receive funding to do this work. The legal and moral responsibility to open up blocked streams for salmon passage won’t change, but federal funding is limited and is not likely to come again. These funding opportunities are critical to building staff capacity and developing projects that can be funded under a wide variety of local, state and federal programs.

This is a vision we all share: A vibrant county with abundant salmon in our streams and rivers, healthy cities for people, and productive farmlands. We are doing well on two of those measures — cities and farms — but failing the salmon. We need to work together to ensure that abundant populations of salmon are restored. That means having enough cold, clean water in our streams, and removing the barriers so that salmon can go up and down those streams. We urge people to support the recovery of salmon populations and habitat and to call on Whatcom County to focus on the work of opening up blocked streams. There will never be a better time to do this work.