From time immemorial, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) culture, traditions, and economy have been interconnected to natural resources. The CTUIR retains aboriginal and treaty-reserved rights for fishing, hunting, pasturing of livestock, and gathering plant food and medicine throughout its Aboriginal Use Areas. Traditional access and use of available resources continue to be threatened by land and water development, watershed degradation, and climate change.

Efforts under this project provides support towards the overall Fisheries Habitat Program goal to protect, enhance, and restore functional floodplain, channel and watershed processes to provide sustainable and healthy habitat for aquatic First Food species (http://fisherieshabitat.ctuir.org/). Our Fisheries Habitat Program’s hierarchical approach to restoration strategic planning, project development, and implementation and monitoring is guided by the CTUIR Department of Natural Resources (DNR) “First Foods” Mission and Policy (Quaempts et al 2018), which identifies physical and ecological processes (“key touchstones”) of a highly functional and dynamic watershed important for providing water quality and fish habitat that supports First Foods integral for Tribal ceremonies and traditions (Umatilla River Vision, Jones et al. 2008; Upland Vision, Endress et al. 2019).

The CTUIR manages and implements multiple programs in the Grande Ronde, Umatilla, John Day, Walla Walla, and Tucannon River Basins under the Northwest Power Conservation Council (NPCC), Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Fish and Wildlife Programs and the Columbia Basin Fish Accords  (2008, 2018, and 2023) to restore habitat that supports fishery resources including Threatened Snake River spring-summer Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), summer steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus).

The CTUIR Grande Ronde Watershed Restoration Project (Project) (1996-08-300) was initiated in 1996 to engage the CTUIR in basin conservation planning and restoration of fish and water resources. The CTUIR is a core partner with Grande Ronde Model Watershed (GRMW) Project (1992-026-01) and basin resource managers with representation on the GRMW Board of Directors and technical teams and committees involved in basin planning and project prioritization through the GRMW Atlas.

Notable CTUIR efforts in the Grande Ronde Basin include: fee title land acquisitions in the Catherine, Meadow Creek/Dark Canyon, and Lookingglass watersheds and implementation of floodplain and fish habitat projects along Catherine Creek (CC44 including Southern Cross) and the Grande Ronde River (Rock Creek, Bird Track Springs, Middle Upper Grande Ronde, and Longley Meadows). Since 2014, the project has sponsored multiple watershed projects in cooperation with partners, including the GRMW, OWEB, BPA, Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), Wallowa-Whitman National Forest (WWNF) and private landowners, encompassing over 4,135 acres of permanent habitat conservation (fee title acquisitions and permanent easements), 606 acres of term conservation easements, over 14 river miles of floodplain and habitat restoration and enhancement, and multiple fish passage improvement projects coordinated through the CTUIR Umatilla Tribe Ceded Area Juvenile and Adult Passage Improvement Project (2009-026-00).

Future project efforts include continuation with technical assistance on partner-sponsor projects (ODFW Catherine Creek Hall Ranch, WWNF Vey Meadows Grande Ronde River Design and design and implementation of the following projects: 1. Middle Upper Grande Ronde River Phase 2 & 3 (2023), 2. Catherine Creek RM43 Fish Passage Planning and Design, 3. McCoy Meadows Restoration project planning in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, and 4. Lookingglass Restoration Planning and Design. Additional project opportunities for conservation/protection, restoration, and passage will be ongoing and adjust to priorities and schedules with coordination through the GRMW partnership.  Future project planning and development includes headwater spawning and rearing reaches and planning and strategizing project planning and prioritization of opportunities along Catherine Creek and Grande Ronde River in the Grande Ronde Valley.