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Crystal Springs Hatchery Program by Staff BPA Journal, August 2016

[Bingham, Lemhi and Custer Counties, Idaho]

BPA is proposing to fund the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation's Crystal Springs Hatchery Program. The program would involve the construction of a hatchery in Bingham county to rear Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon and Yellowstone cutthroat trout as well as the construction of two fish trapping (weir) facilities in Custer and Lemhi counties. BPA, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and the tribes, plans to release a draft environmental impact statement evaluating the potential impacts of the proposed Crystal Springs Hatchery Program this fall. The public comment period will be open for 45 days. For information, go to: www.bpa.gov/efw/Analysis/NEPADocuments/Pages/ Crystal-Springs.aspx.

BPA pledges funding for Spokane tribal hatchery

During a late June celebration and signing ceremony, Administrator Elliot Mainzer pledged to continue BPA financial support for a trout hatchery belonging to the Spokane Tribe of Indians. Mainzer and Carol Evans, chair of the tribe's business council, agreed on a 20-year deal that promises to fund hatchery operations, maintenance and improvements.

The hatchery produces approximately 100,000 kokanee salmon and 750,000 rainbow trout annually for Grand Coulee's Lake Roosevelt as well as other lakes on Spokane tribal land.

"Historically, the Spokane Tribe was known as a river and fishing people, culturally defined in part by the bounty of salmon that returned annually to tribal fishery grounds," says Tim Peone, Spokane Tribe member and hatchery manager. "The hatchery program is meant to be more than just a fish production facility; it provides a remembrance and pathway for tribal members to reconnect with the river and its fisheries."

Today, the Spokane Tribe manages the hatchery in coordination with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sherman Creek Hatchery and the Lake Roosevelt Rainbow Trout Net Pen Rearing Project.