As co-managers of the Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife resources, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC), who represents the Yakama Nation, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Nez Perce tribes, have developed some of the most comprehensive fishery programs in the world. This contract will provide leadership, management, coordination and implementation of watershed restoration programs to achieve the goals and objectives consistent with Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit, CRITFC's twenty-five year restoration plan, and the Northwest Power Council’s (NPCC) Fish and Wildlife Program. It will provide ongoing support and advocacy of CRITFC’s mission and Commission priorities for restoration and protection of fish habitat at the local, regional, national and international levels. The implementation of an effective public relations program will continue to be a key component to our coordinated outreach efforts.

The major efforts of the project continue to be: 1) the implementation, outreach and advocacy of Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit, 2) participation and coordination of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s processes 3) Fish and Wildlife Program Amendment process, 4) technical support and policy-level guidance and coordination on tribal and CRITFC Commission priorities as requested, 5) development and implementation of outreach and educational strategies, 6) continued follow-up actions from previous Future of Our Salmon (FOOS) conferences, and 7) drafting amendment of the next twenty-five year restoration plan of Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit (1995-2020).

Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit (Spirit of the Salmon) provides a holistic framework for restoring anadromous fish stocks, specifically salmon, steelhead, Pacific lamprey, and white sturgeon throughout the Basin and is at the forefront of our coordination strategies and activities. The principles of the are as follows: honor tribal culture and values; fulfill tribal sovereignty, treaty rights and trust responsibility; integrate the best science with traditional ecological knowledge; restore ecosystems that are holistic, sustainable and resilient; put fish back in the rivers; protect watersheds where fish live now and historically; manage gravel-to-gravel (at each stage of the anadromous life cycle); and use adaptive management. We are currently in the 23rd year of the twenty-five year plan, which began in 1995 and will end in 2020. In 2014, we updated the technical and institutional recommendations and created the Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit website, which includes the 1995 recommendations, the 2004 subbasin plans, the 2014 update, new community development recommendations, highlights of tribal projects, and hundreds of links to related materials. We will begin working and coordinating with our tribal and CRITFC staff on the amendment process for the next twenty five years beginning in 2020.