At the McCloud Bridge Campground on now-full Lake Shasta on May 1, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries signed what they described as “historic agreements” to restore Chinook salmon to the McCloud River.
The Tribe signed a “co-management” agreement with CDFW and a “co-stewardship” agreement with NOAA Fisheries, reflecting the way the two agencies describe accords with tribes.
“This is an historic agreement that moves us one step closer to our goal of returning wild salmon from New Zealand and creating a volitional passage around Shasta Dam,” said Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk. “It’s incredible that we can now share this vision with CDFW and NOAA. We have a long way to go, but there are now more good people working on it.”
After the agreements were signed at a table beneath a canopy on a chilly spring day with the McCloud River in the background, the tribe and state and federal officials exchanged gifts. The state and federal officials presented framed paintings of salmon to Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk, while Sisk gave tribal necklaces to representatives of the CDFW, NOAA Fisheries, and other officials who helped with the salmon reintroduction project that began last year.
The fish, an integral part of the culture and livelihood of the Tribe since time immemorial, weren’t present in the river for 80 years since Shasta Dam was built until last year when in an experimental program, 40,000 fertilized eggs from Livingston Stone Fish Hatchery were transported by truck and helicopter to the McCloud River above Shasta Dam in a collaborative project between the Tribe, state and federal governments.
35,313 of the fish made it to fry stage before they were released into the river. The tribe joined agency staff in collecting the juvenile fish before they reached the reservoir, which is populated with predators. A total of 4,400 juveniles were recaptured and a total of 1627 fish were finally released into the river. Biologists then moved them downstream at the Posse Grounds in Redding to continue down the Sacramento River to the ocean.
“The agreements support a joint effort to return Chinook salmon to their original spawning areas in cold mountain rivers now blocked by Shasta Reservoir in northern California,” according to a joint statement from the Tribes and federal and state agencies. “The goal is ecological and cultural restoration which will one day renew fishing opportunities for the tribe that depended on the once-plentiful salmon for food and much more.”
“The agreements call for the agencies to include the tribe in decisions for salmon that have great meaning for the Winnemem Wintu. Three years of drought have taken a toll on endangered winter-run Chinook salmon, which migrate and spawn in the lower Sacramento River. The river can warm to temperatures that are lethal to their eggs,” the statement continued.
The parties said the agreements will advance recovery plans for the crucial species. .
“This is an historic day and it’s long overdue,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “We can’t change the wrongs that were done in the past, but we have an obligation in the present to make it better. With this agreement we are bringing life back to the McCloud River.”
“I am hopeful,” noted Bonham before he signed the agreement. “I can’t fix, Chief, what happened before I was in this position. I think you must be nervous to sign a piece of paper with a white man because of the past. It’s never too late to do the right thing and I’m very thankful that our Department could be present to sign an agreement with you to start a different future that covers so much opportunity. You’ve given us a lot of inspiration.”
In response to Bonham, Chief Sisk said, “When the salmon come back to spawn, they change in the estuary. The salmon teaches us that we, too, can change.”
Cathy Marcinkevage, Assistant Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region also spoke at the signing event about the necessity of reintroducing winter-run Chinook salmon to the McCloud River.
“NOAA Fisheries is pleased to partner with the Tribe and CDFW to plan and implement a variety of short- and long-term actions to restore and reintroduce Nur and winter-run Chinook salmon to the McCloud River,” said Marcinkevage. “Winter-run Chinook salmon cannot be recovered and delisted from the Endangered Species Act without successfully reintroducing them to the McCloud River.”
“As the Central Valley continues to experience a changing climate with warmer and drier conditions, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to manage winter-run on the valley floor. When the construction of Shasta Dam blocked access to the McCloud River in the early 1940s, the fish started spawning in the less-suitable habitat of the Sacramento River on the valley floor near Redding. Rising water temperatures, especially during drought years, has killed many of the eggs, threatening the species with extinction,” she explained
The winter-run Chinook salmon, the only one of its kind in the world, was first listed as “threatened” under the California Endangered Species Act by the California Fish and Game Commission in May 1989. The species was listed as “endangered” under the federal Endangered Species Act on August 4, 1989 and reclassified as Endangered on January 4, 1994 (59 FR 440).
Hal Bonslett, the late publisher of the Fish Sniffer magazine, this journalist, and members of the Sacramento River Preservation Trust, the Tehama Fly Fishers and other fish advocates spent many hours at meetings to make these listings happen. Hal and I also wrote article after article exposing the decimation of the winter run by water exports from the Delta, the construction and operation of the Central Valley dams and water diversions by corporate agribusiness.
Even after Shasta Dam was built and the fish prevented from ascending to their natal streams, the Sacramento River below Shasta Dam saw a run of 117,000 winter run Chinook in 1969. But decades of water exports by the State Water Project and federal Central Valley project resulted in the decline in the population under 2,000 by the late 1980s. At one point, only 200 winter run Chinook returned.
According to the joint statement, “The new agreements call for the tribe to contribute traditional ecological knowledge, sharing insight as the tribe once did for Livingston Stone, who established the nation’s first Chinook salmon hatchery(opens in new tab) on the McCloud in 1872. The tribe's oral history and Stone’s reports from the time recount the tribe’s deep cultural connection to winter-run Chinook salmon, as well as practical knowledge of the species.:
The agencies agreed to make the tribe a “co-equal decision-maker” and CDFW has awarded a $2.3 million grant to support the tribe’s participation in salmon measures.
The agencies also agreed to evaluate the potential reintroduction of the original strain of winter-run Chinook salmon from New Zealand back to the McCloud River. Over 100 years ago, the original run of winter Chinooks were introduced to the Rakaira and other rivers in New Zealand from the Livingston Stone Fish Hatchery on the McCloud River. The fish are now thriving in New Zealand — and the New Zealand and Maori governments have agreed to work with the Tribe to reintroduce the original strain of salmon back to the McCloud.
Sisk said the current plan is to bring back salmon eggs from New Zealand in three years as soon as the pathogen issues with the salmon can be answered.
Last year, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) tested an experimental system(opens in new tab) for collecting juvenile winter-run salmon that hatch in the McCloud River as part of a larger-scale future reintroduction program. DWR plans continued testing late this year.
Recovery plans for the species call for an ongoing program of annual transplants of winter-run Chinook salmon to spawning habitat in the McCloud River, where they will be safer from the rising air and water temperatures expected with the acceleration of climate change, according to the parties.
A key component of the Tribe’s restoration plan is to build a fishway that would connect the McCloud River above Shasta Dam to the Sacramento River below Shasta Dam. The fishway would be constructed between Dry Creek, now a tributary of Shasta Lake, and Cow Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River.
Unfortunately, at the same time that these long-awaited agreements are moving forward. Governor Gavin Newsom is attempting to fast-track the environmentally devastating Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and the voluntary agreements via his plan to eviscerate the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other environmental laws.
More information:
Read the co-management agreement between CDFW and Winnemem Wintu Tribe (PDF)(opens in new tab)
Read the co-stewardship agreement between NOAA and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe (PDF)(opens in new tab)
Winter-run Chinook Salmon: 2021-2025 Action Plan