Tulalip News

Earth Day and Sex: Watch Director’s Cut of Documentary on Global Population and the Environment, Livestreamed

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

What is the true cost of overpopulation on the environment? In a world containing seven billion people needing food, energy and other means to survival, the question is ever more urgent as the effects of human-fueled climate change close in.

A 2011 documentary examines every facet of this question, from the point of view of those who serve as the gateway: women.

In honor of Earth Day the makers of the award-winning environmental documentary Mother: Caring for 7 Billion are livestreaming the hour-long film starting on Friday April 19. It will run continuously on the filmmakers’ website and on YouTube through the end of May.

“We want Mother to be viewed by as many people as possible for Earth Day because Mother holds up a mirror and shows people a very different way to look at their role on this planet,” said director and co-producer Christophe Fauchere in a statement.

“This is not your father’s population documentary,” wrote Grist senior editor Lisa Hymas upon the film’s release. “Mother takes a feminist/humanist view as it explores the issues of our exploding numbers.”

The opening sequence is stark, a black-and-white pile of squalling infants being powdered and diapered en masse by hands as big as they are. Between this sight and the camera, a row of bellowing babies files by on a conveyor belt. American Beth Osnes, the youngest of 10 children, serves as a protagonist of sorts, discovering along with the viewer her role in the population crisis. It makes her rethink her entire family-planning philosophy.

Simply put, “Our demand for resources is increasing, but the size of the planet is not,” says Mathis Wackernagel, executive director of the Global Footprint Network, an organization devoted to creating sustainability.

“We have reached a real important threshold in our relationship with the planet,” intones a voiceover. “We are the major agent of change.”

View the full film below as it is livestreamed, through the end of May.

National Park Week: Visit Parks for Free

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

It’s National Park Week, and the National Park Service is throwing a party. All week there will be opportunities to hike, explore, learn, share, bird-watch, view wildlife, and give back–all for free.

From today, April 22, through Friday, April 26, all entrance fees are waived at the national parks.

From morning birding tours at Padre Island National Seashore to reef bay hikes at Virgin Islands National Park to a wetlands walk at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Peserve, there are hundreds of special events going on at the parks this week to celebrate. To search for an event, click here.

To find a national park near you, click here. For more info on National Park Week, click here.

An Inuksuk in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska. An inuksuk, or a stone stood on end to help herd caribou, stands on the tundra in front of a mountain. (NPS)

Did you know…America’s 401 national parks include more than:

84 million acres of spectacular scenery, historic landmarks and cultural treasures
17,000 miles of trails
43,000 miles of shoreline
27,000 historic and prehistoric structures
100 million museum items
12,000 campsites

Grand Canyon National Park (NPS)

An Emmy-Winning Producer’s Doc About Lacrosse’s Native Origins

By Vincent Shilling, Indian Country Today Media Network

Dennis Deninger, an Emmy-winning production executive, was one of the first coordinating producers of ESPN’s SportsCenter. He has produced live sports television from six continents and across the United States; he has currently set his sights to produce a documentary entitled America’s First Sport, on the history of lacrosse.

In an interview with ICTMN, Deninger, who is also a professor of practice in sports management at Syracuse University, talked about what he has learned in the process of making the documentary, and where he sees lacrosse going in the future.

How did your film get started?
I started teaching a course in the fall semester of 2012 called the History of Sport. We took students from the first accounts of sport being observed in the United States—which was lacrosse, when the Jesuits saw it in the 1630s for the first time—all the way up through the first Kentucky Derby, the origins of baseball, the invention of basketball, Teddy Roosevelt’s role in founding the NCAA and up to the present

Legends of the sacred game: Deninger with Jacques, left, Chief Powless, top, and Stenersen. (Courtesy Dennis Deninger)

day. That was the first two months of the semester—the last month of the semester, we focused on one topic. This year it was lacrosse. Each of our 15 students had to do a final research project that focused on lacrosse, and we’ve taken that research and hired a production company to work with us.

Who have you interviewed for the documentary?
We are not completely done, but we have interviewed 46 people so far. It’s going to be tough because this is only a one-hour documentary, so nobody gets to talk for more than a minute. We have strict rules here. [Laughs.] We’ve been to Baltimore to interview Steve Stenersen, the president and chief executive officer of U.S. Lacrosse. I interviewed Neal Powless who is an assistant director of the Native Student Program here at Syracuse; I also interviewed [Onondaga] Chief Irving Powless. There is a long list of lacrosse standouts in the Powless family. We also visited Alf Jacques, an Onondaga lacrosse stick-maker. It’s amazing to watch the stick being created—we were in the workshop for a few hours.

I talked to a number of Native American players and coaches, including Darris and Rich Kilgour [Tuscarora Nation] of the Buffalo Bandits in the National Lacrosse League. We’ve talked to women and men players. There is a young man who is a freshman at Onondaga Community College, Warren Hill, a goalie for the Iroquois Nationals. He grew up on Six Nations in southern Ontario. He is an all-world goalie and so humble about his accomplishments.

We sat down with Stan Cockerton, the president of the Federation of International Lacrosse. We found out about the effort to make lacrosse an Olympic sport again. We spoke with Jim Calder who is a co-author of Lacrosse, The Ancient Game. I spoke with Curt Styres, the owner of a Major League Lacrosse and a National Lacrosse League franchise. I also talked to him about the Lacrosse for Development Program, which is helping to fund an effort to put hundreds of sticks into the hands of indigenous young people to develop their knowledge of the ancient and sacred origins of the sport.

I have heard [Onondaga Turtle Clan Faithkeeper and Iroquois Nationals honorary chairman] Oren Lyons speak, and we are still waiting to interview him. I don’t want to go on without having his voice in this.

One of the longest interviews was with Chief Powless in his home. He is in his 80s now and confined to a wheelchair. We talked for over an hour and he told me wonderful stories of when he was 144 pounds playing against [NFL and lacrosse legend] Jim Brown. He talked about his knowledge of the hip bump and how he knocked Jim Brown on his back. When we stopped the interview, he says ‘Dennis, is that it? There’s so much more to tell!’ And that is true, there is so much more to tell.

When is this film due to be finished?
It will serve as the centerpiece for a symposium we are planning at Syracuse University on April 22 (Read more: ‘America’s First Sport’ Lacrosse Documentary Premiere and Symposium TODAY). We will play the film and have guests talk about the current state of lacrosse and the issues it faces, and where it is headed. We are hopeful to get an air date on the local PBS station and beyond that. We set our standards pretty high. If it goes beyond the local PBS station, that would be wonderful.

Where do you see lacrosse going?

I see a distinct trend toward making it more diverse. It separated in the 1860s and 1870s, when the Europeans set down rules. They said the Natives are professionals and professionals can’t play—because they were too damn good! The sport separated at that time.

What is encouraging to me is to see lacrosse programs get diverse youth involved, the recognition Native players are getting and how there is an opportunity for the Iroquois Nationals to compete as a team at the Olympics beginning in 2024. How exciting would that be?

I think there are wonderful things that lie ahead for lacrosse.

Traditional Cultural Tourism Growing in Alaska

Source: Native News Network

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – Alaska Native villages in the rural 49th state of Alaska are in pursuit to increase tourism. Their culture is an important component in their approach to attract tourists to the Alaska Native villages.

Chickaloon Native Village Ya Ne Dah Ah School students
with teachers Tina Farley and Daniel Harrison

American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association Executive Director Camille Ferguson gave a keynote presentation on growing cultural tourism in Indian Country at the Chickaloon Native Village Traditional Cultural Tourism Summit, held in her home state of Alaska on April 17 – 19.

“Alaska is making waves in the tourism industry, especially Alaska Native tourism,”

said Ferguson.

“Creating educational tourism summits, like the Chickaloon Native Village and Chickaloon Native Village Council have done here, demonstrates a commitment to growth and sustenance of American Indian and Alaska Native tourism.”

The Summit, “The Power of Place – Strength, Survival and Culture,” was held at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage and presented by the Tene’ Ninicezet project under the Chickaloon Native Village Traditional Council’s Environmental Stewardship Department.

Ferguson was invited to present at the event, where she explained how the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association is working to grow cultural tourism across the six regions of Indian country.

Ferguson also educated attendees on how the international tourism market is bringing new opportunities for tourism growth to the United States and Indian country.

Summit sessions also addressed cultural program development, ways to offer culturally sensitive authentic experiences, how to develop cultural tourism businesses, cultural tourism training options and statewide cultural tourism opportunities.

To learn more about the Chickaloon Native Village and the Chickaloon Native Village Council visit www.chickaloon.com »

Book Review: Avoid Asking Strange & Embarrassing Questions about Indians by Reading Anton Treuer

Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians
But Were Afraid to Ask
By Anton Treuer
Borealis Books|184pp |$12.59
ISBN: 9780873518611

By Levi Rickert, Native News Network

American Indians are familiar with awkward encounters with non-Natives who sometimes ask strange and embarrassing questions.

Do you simply ignore, laugh or try to forget about
the strange and embarrassing questions?

I once was asked by a high school English teacher if I could come speak to her students about contemporary American Indian literature and if I could come dressed in my costume. I told her I don’t have a costume, but would be happy to wear a bolo tie. Realizing it was an opportunity to educate her, I did take the opportunity to explain to her that what American Indians wear at powwows is called regalia, not costumes.

She called the next day my office to ask my administrative assistant if I was coming because she thought maybe she had offended me. My administrative assistant assured the teacher I would be there.

At the appointed time, I went to the high school wearing a bolo tie and presented a lecture on contemporary American Indian authors before an English literature class.

This encounter happened several years before Anton Treuer, Leech Lake Ojibwe, wrote “Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask.” Had it been written then, I would have brought it with me to be part of the mix of what non-Natives should read if they want to learn about American Indians.

“Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask” made me think about the incident and about how non-Natives ask us strange questions.

Treuer writes in the book how “a profoundly well-educated Princetonian” asked him:

“Where is your tomahawk? ”

For the most part I think American Indians simply ignore, laugh or try to forget about the strange and embarrassing questions asked by non-Natives.

Treuer, on the other hand, has written an informative book that answers over 100 questions about Indian people, Native culture and belief systems. His answers are on target, well thought out and educational. Sometimes they are laced with Indian humor.

Treuer is the executive director of the American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State University. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and a master’s of art degree and a PhD from the University of Minnesota.

In “Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask,” he covers a wide range of topics, such as terminology, history, religion, culture, powwows, politics, economics, casinos and education. The book can be read from front to cover or can be read by subject.

The chapter on history is a treat because it presents accurate accounts about Columbus, the first Thanksgiving and real story of Pocahontas that school aged never learn in America about the nation’s first people.

The author of nine books, his “Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask” will not disappoint American Indians or non-Natives who want to learn more about American Indians so that they don’t end up asking strange and embarrassing questions.

This book was shared with Native News Network by Chicago’s Saint Kateri Center’s White Cedar Room Library.

Doctors warn teens: Don’t take the cinnamon challenge

By Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press

CHICAGO — Don’t take the cinnamon challenge. That’s the advice from doctors in a new report about a dangerous prank depicted in popular YouTube videos but which has led to hospitalizations and a surge in calls to U.S. poison centers.

The fad involves daring someone to swallow a spoonful of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds without water. But the spice is caustic, and trying to gulp it down can cause choking, throat irritation, breathing trouble and even collapsed lungs, the report said.

Published online Monday in Pediatrics, the report said at least 30 teens nationwide needed medical attention after taking the challenge last year.

The number of poison control center calls about teens doing the prank “has increased dramatically,” from 51 in 2011 to 222 last year, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

“People with asthma or other respiratory conditions are at greater risk of having this result in shortness of breath and trouble breathing,” according to an alert posted on the association’s website.

Thousands of YouTube videos depict kids attempting the challenge, resulting in an “orange burst of dragon breath” spewing out of their mouths and sometimes hysterical laughter from friends watching the stunt, said report co-author Dr. Steven E. Lipshultz, a pediatrics professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Cinnamon is made from tree bark and contains cellulose fibers that don’t easily break down. Animal research suggests that when cinnamon gets into the lungs, it can cause scarring, Lipshultz said.

Dr. Stephen Pont, a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics and an Austin, Texas pediatrician, said the report is “a call to arms to parents and doctors to be aware of things like the cinnamon challenge” and to pay attention to what their kids are viewing online.

An Ypsilanti, Mich., teen who was hospitalized for a collapsed lung after trying the cinnamon challenge heartily supports the new advice and started her own website — http://nocinnamonchallenge.com — telling teens to “just say no” to the fad.

Dejah Reed, 16, said she took the challenge four times — the final time was in February last year with a friend who didn’t want to try it alone.

“I was laughing very hard and I coughed it out and I inhaled it into my lungs,” she said. “I couldn’t breathe.”

Her father, Fred Reed, said he arrived home soon after to find Dejah “a pale bluish color. It was very terrifying. I threw her over my shoulder” and drove to a nearby emergency room.

Dejah was hospitalized for four days and went home with an inhaler and said she still has to use it when she gets short of breath from running or talking too fast. Her dad said she’d never had asthma or breathing problems before.

Dejah said she’d read about the challenge on Facebook and other social networking sites and “thought it would be cool” to try.

Now she knows “it’s not cool and it’s dangerous.”

New farmers market anchors larger project

EVERETT — If all goes as planned, Everett should have its own indoor, year-round farmers market as early as summer 2014.

Products at the Everett Farmers Market are likely to include fruits and vegetables, meats and fish, milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream, as well as fresh-cut and dried flowers, local honey, soaps, beer and wine.

The market is part of a larger development on Grand Avenue with 220 apartments and underground parking. The development includes a 115-room Hampton Inn & Suites hotel that will face West Marine View Drive.

“This is an incredible project,” said Lanie McMullin, the city’s economic development director. “It supplies much needed downtown housing. The more residents downtown, the more everything downtown: the more services, restaurants, wine bars and retail.”

The 60,000-square-foot agriculture center would go far beyond fresh veggies. Fresh crops could be turned into products on site at a commercial kitchen and processing facility.

The commercial kitchen would serve as a job incubator, helping entrepreneurs get started making value-added products such as tamales and selling them on the spot without the expensive investment of a full storefront, McMullin said.

The market also would function as a distribution center, allowing farmers to more easily ship produce to Seattle restaurants and other customers.

The market could give downtown Everett a boost by drawing shoppers and getting a nucleus of people living in the area. The project also calls for restaurants, and the layout of the market should allow for special events such as fundraisers.

“People would have a place to walk to downtown,” McMullin said. “They can sit and listen to buskers, eat something, get a cup of coffee.”

Developer Lobsang Dargey of Dargey Enterprises is paying for the project using private investment money. No public money is being used to build or operate the market.

The developer will get a tax break from the city because the project qualifies for a multiple housing tax exemption meant to encourage that type of development downtown.

Dargey is the same developer behind Potala Village, one block southeast on the corner of Rucker and Pacific avenues. Potala Village includes apartments above street-level retail and restaurant space.

The farmers’ market development includes apartments that are on average 800 to 850 square feet, Dargey said. Inside, the apartments will be outfitted with what he called “condo-grade” amenities such as granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Tenants of the building would have access to a conference room, fitness room and recreation area.

Outside the market, the developer plans a 4,000-square-foot public plaza at the main entrance, according to plans filed with the city of Everett.

A rooftop garden is planned and below the street-level market, the developer plans two levels of parking, including 229 parking spots for residents and 86 more for the public.

$300k Northwest Area Foundation Grant to Help Launch Native-Owned Businesses

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

Native Americans would learn skills to launch employee-owned businesses under a pilot program the Northwest Area Foundation is funding. A $300,000 grant to the Democracy Collaborative Foundation Inc. (DCF) of Cleveland will provide six Native American organizations with deep, hands-on learning in the Evergreen Cooperatives model of worker-owned enterprises. The grant to DCF is one of 48 worth $4.9 million the Foundation announced in the first quarter of 2013 aimed at building assets and wealth through job creation, small business development, and personal financial education.

“Employee-owned cooperatives have shown great success in moving low-income workers to living wage careers. We believe that such community wealth-building strategies offer great potential for prosperity in Native American communities,” said Kevin Walker, president and CEO of the Northwest Area Foundation. “The portfolio of grants we’ve announced include many innovative approaches to creating new jobs and financial opportunities to reduce poverty in Latino, refugee, minority, immigrant, and low-income communities within our region.”

The Foundation has committed a minimum of 40 percent of its grant portfolio in 2013 to Native American programs and Native-operated nonprofit organizations working to build community and individual financial know-how, access to capital, and entrepreneurial skills. A copy.5 million grant to the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development Inc. is aimed at strengthening the influence of a nonprofit network of Native American organizations in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. This pilot program will offer small grants, project training, advocacy, and peer-centered learning.

Additional grants to support asset building in Native American communities include:

Economic Policy Institute of Washington, D.C., received copy00,000 for policy research that will call attention to unemployment rates and the need for job creation for Native Americans.

Makoce Wasté Development Corporation of Rapid City, S.D., received copy00,000 through its fiscal sponsor United Tribes Technical College to create jobs, fund economic development, and purchase lands in the Black Hills for the Lakota-Dakota-Nakota people.

Minnesota American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Minneapolis received copy00,000 over two years to develop a comprehensive Minnesota American Indian Business Directory and to create a “Buy Indian Policy.”

Grants to build assets and wealth in other communities include:

Amos Institute of Public Life of Des Moines, Iowa, received $200,000 over two years to expand the Project IOWA program that helps low-income workers move to living wage jobs.

Craft3 of Ilwaco, Wash., received $350,000 to strengthen the leadership and organizational ability. Funding will also increase financial services, including business and consumer loans, provided to rural and Native American communities.

Hacienda Community Development Corporation of Portland, Ore., received $200,000 over two years to build assets of low-income Latinos through micro-enterprise, home ownership, savings, and strong credit scores.

Mountain States Group Inc. of Boise, Idaho, received copy80,000 over two years for the Micro Enterprise Training and Assistance (META) program which provides business training and assistance to low-income and refugees entrepreneurs in the green energy industry.

Nexus Community Partners of St. Paul, Minn., received $500,000 over two years for an initiative to create living-wage jobs and build the financial abilities of low-income workers on St. Paul’s East Side.

OneAmerica of Seattle received $200,000 over two years to launch a pilot program that combines financial literacy training for low- and moderate-income immigrants pursuing citizenship, with the goal of improving prospects for economic opportunity and full integration for this growing community, including eventual access to business training, loans and partnerships with financial institutions.

Stairstep Foundation of Minneapolis received copy00,000 over two years to recruit, support, and advocate for low-income people of color to work in living-wage construction industry jobs.

Grants to support leadership and organizational ability include:

Headwaters Foundation for Justice of Minneapolis received $500,000 for collaborative planning, leadership development, community problem-solving and collective action among five regional networks of African American Leadership Forums in five cities: Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.; Seattle; Tacoma, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; and Des Moines, Iowa.

For a full list of the 48 grants the Northwest Area Foundation announced in the first of 2013 quarter, visit www.nwaf.org/content/firstqgrants13.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/04/19/300k-northwest-area-foundation-grant-help-launch-native-owned-businesses-148903

A Traditional Story of Picking Strawberries, Redheads and Love

By Dale Carson, Indian Country Today Media Network

Lenonah and her family lived by a wide creek; they had all the water and natural foods they needed to survive and be happy. Lenonah was known for her beautiful, long, almost black hair and for her very good foraging skills. She could pick baskets and baskets full of berries faster than her sisters and her mother.

There were many berry-pickin’ places near their lodge, and the girls knew them all, except for a couple only Lenonah knew about. Lenonah was quite fond of wild strawberries and ate most of what she picked. One day, her sisters noticed that her beautiful long hair was getting lighter and lighter—nearly red! They were worried, but Lenonah didn’t think anything of it. She thought it could only be the strawberries making this so.

In those times, humans and animals could speak to one another. She talked with her friends muskrat and frog about what was happening to her hair. Frog was not alarmed, but muskrat was concerned and told her she should stop eating so many berries. He thought her hair color would make it too easy for those who wished her harm to find her, or worse, her secret picking places. From that day on, she never ate another wild strawberry, but she always wanted to. One day she was foraging near one of her old secret wild strawberry places and saw a handsome young red-haired man in the middle of the patch. He waved to her. They saw each other again, many times and fell in love. He told her his hair had once been long and nearly black but he loved wild strawberries so much he couldn’t stop eating them. She told him of her talk with frog and muskrat and why she stopped eating her beloved wild berries. He said if she would marry him he would protect her and she could eat all the berries she wanted; he would love her whether her hair was black or red. They married and had many children and grandchildren. So every time you see people with strawberry red hair, think of Lenonah, her husband and their happy life near a strawberry patch.

Strawberry Leaf Tea

Pick leaves from the strawberry plant late in the summer. Put them on paper towels on a screen and dry in the sun or a 125-degree oven overnight. When thoroughly dry, crumble the leaves and put in a clean airtight container.

My own grandmother swore they would cure anything, especially a cold. They contain a lot of vitamin C, so she may have been right. The tea likes to be sweetened with honey. The Wampanoag word for strawberry leaves is wuttahimnasippa-quash.

Strawberry Bread Pudding

This is a VERY rich dessert and wonderful for special occasions as a memorable treat. First is the pudding recipe; the sauce recipe follows.

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

½ cup honey

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

6 cups day old bread, cubed

2 cups strawberries, hulled

Sauce:

1 cup heavy cream

3 egg yolks

¼ cup real maple syrup

Pinch salt

Bring sauce ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly. Remove from heat, put pan in a larger pan of ice water to cool.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Use a large bowl to mix eggs, sugar, honey, spices, salt and cream. Fold in the bread and let it set for 15 minutes. Pour this into a greased 9X13-inch cake pan and gently fold in the strawberries. Cover with foil. Bake 45-50 minutes. Let cool. Serve the sauce on the side or pour over individual servings.

Dale Carson, Abenaki, is the author of three books: New Native American Cooking, Native New England Cooking and A Dreamcatcher Book. She has written about and demonstrated Native cooking techniques for more than 30 years. Dale has four grown children and lives with her husband in Madison, Connecticut.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/04/20/traditional-story-picking-strawberries-redheads-and-love-148866

Larsen Leads Effort to Secure Funds for Pacific Salmon Recovery

Rep. Rick Larsen and Skagit County Commissioner Sharon Dillon watch juvenile fish swim in a new channel of Hansen Creek, in Upper Skagit in 2010. Photo: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

WASHINGTON—Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, led an effort this week to request $65 million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund which is vital to supporting salmon recovery in the Pacific Northwest. In a letter to House appropriators, Larsen and nine other members of the Pacific Northwest delegation made the request to continue supporting the recovery of Pacific salmon which are vital to the region’s economy and ecology.

The text of the letter follows:

April 16, 2013

The Honorable Frank R. Wolf, Chairman

The Honorable Chaka Fattah, Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

Committee on Appropriations

H309 Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representatives Wolf and Fattah:

We are writing to thank you for your strong past support of the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) and ask you to continue your support by providing $65 million for this critical and successful program in FY 2014.

PCSRF was established by Congress in Fiscal Year 2000 to reverse the decline of salmon in the region. The goal of PCSRF is to restore, conserve, and protect Pacific salmon and steelhead and their habitats. PCSRF also seeks to maintain the healthy populations necessary for exercising tribal treaty fishing rights and native subsistence fishing. Under PCSRF, the National Marine Fisheries Service provides competitive funding to the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Nevada, and tribes of the Pacific Coast region to implement habitat restoration and recovery projects that contribute to the sustainability of the species.

PCSRF provides a critical source of stable funding that supports the ability of managers to conduct all phases of restoration and recovery activities, including assessment, planning, implementation, and monitoring. States and tribes have undertaken 10,214 projects, resulting in significant changes in habitat conditions and availability, as well as establishing concrete planning and monitoring programs that support prioritization and tracking for salmon and steelhead population conservation. Significant accomplishments from the program include:

· 879,194 acres of habitat improved or added for salmonid use

· 5,336 miles of stream made accessible to spawning populations

· Marking programs tagging 238,643,775 fish, improving stock identification and supporting more effective fishery management practices

These accomplishments contribute to the protection and restoration of these important species of fish that are integral to the economic and ecological well-being of the states where the Pacific salmon thrive. These efforts aid salmon and steelhead populations through PCSRF and are supporting jobs and providing economic benefits to the communities throughout the region. Continued commitment, collaboration and resources are required to achieve the overarching goal of full recovery and sustainability.

Thank you again for your consideration of this request. We look forward to working with you to ensure the long-term future of salmon in our region.

Sincerely,

Rick Larsen

Member of Congress

Peter DeFazio

Member of Congress

Jim McDermott

Member of Congress

Earl Blumenauer

Member of Congress

Adam Smith

Member of Congress

Kurt Schrader

Member of Congress

Suzan DelBene

Member of Congress

Suzanne Bonamici

Member of Congress

Denny Heck

Member of Congress

Derek Kilmer

Member of Congress