00:00:12.491 --> 00:00:15.820
(peaceful music)

00:00:15.820 --> 00:00:19.513
- In somebody else's world view,
this is the Garden of Eden.

00:00:21.580 --> 00:00:22.413
The land,

00:00:23.940 --> 00:00:25.043
the waterways,

00:00:26.620 --> 00:00:28.270
it's all right here.

00:00:28.270 --> 00:00:29.763
It's always been right here.

00:00:30.770 --> 00:00:33.163
We have so much to be thankful for.

00:00:34.024 --> 00:00:35.400
- Here in the Pacific Northwest,

00:00:35.400 --> 00:00:38.250
there's something unique and
an unusual about where we live,

00:00:38.250 --> 00:00:40.443
having these salmon, having these streams.

00:00:41.540 --> 00:00:46.050
- Such an abundance of
resources and connections

00:00:46.050 --> 00:00:47.323
for time and memorial.

00:00:48.310 --> 00:00:51.123
- [Lois] All of those
sacred cycles are gifts,

00:00:52.350 --> 00:00:56.113
Lake Sammamish kokanee are
that unique kind of gift.

00:01:00.878 --> 00:01:01.749
(thoughtful music)

00:01:01.749 --> 00:01:03.360
- [Meteorologist] Good
morning, this is your forecast

00:01:03.360 --> 00:01:05.550
for Sammamish, Issaquah, and Bellevue,

00:01:05.550 --> 00:01:07.877
one more dry day before
the rain does come back

00:01:07.877 --> 00:01:09.500
for much of western Washington,

00:01:09.500 --> 00:01:11.240
so enjoy the sunshine while we have it.

00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:12.090
Have a great day!

00:01:16.070 --> 00:01:18.240
- [Lois] Puget Sound is estimated to grow

00:01:18.240 --> 00:01:20.863
by several million people by 2050.

00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:26.860
- We wanna live in a place where we have

00:01:26.860 --> 00:01:29.110
native salmon and we
wanna be able to coexist

00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:31.603
with those populations.

00:01:32.460 --> 00:01:35.893
Lake Sammamish kokanee is one
of those unique populations.

00:01:39.180 --> 00:01:42.440
How to manage the aquatic biological world

00:01:42.440 --> 00:01:45.483
with these other, very real needs?

00:01:47.330 --> 00:01:50.387
- Their name in Lushootseed
is (speaking foreign language)

00:01:50.387 --> 00:01:52.107
"the little red fish."

00:01:54.410 --> 00:01:56.290
We're trying to keep that connection,

00:01:56.290 --> 00:01:58.330
because it's in them,
it's ingrained in them

00:01:58.330 --> 00:02:01.823
to come back and return,
but they need help.

00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:07.540
- [Man] We're not simply
helping to recover a fish,

00:02:07.540 --> 00:02:10.120
we're helping to reconnect
the community itself

00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:11.650
with these lands and these waters

00:02:11.650 --> 00:02:13.250
that actually define the region.

00:02:23.675 --> 00:02:27.508
(singing in foreign language)

00:02:39.455 --> 00:02:43.142
(people applauding)

00:02:43.142 --> 00:02:45.470
- We're here today to honor
the extraordinary effort

00:02:45.470 --> 00:02:48.010
to save our little red
fish from extinction.

00:02:48.010 --> 00:02:50.690
This is a great example
of government agencies,

00:02:50.690 --> 00:02:54.800
non-profit groups, citizens,
and other organizations

00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:56.776
working together for a good cause.

00:02:56.776 --> 00:02:58.090
(people applauding)

00:02:58.090 --> 00:03:00.210
- Today's about bringing
everybody together

00:03:00.210 --> 00:03:03.960
to recover the kokanee salmon
that lives in Lake Sammamish,

00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:05.410
and is a resident of this community

00:03:05.410 --> 00:03:07.133
along with our residents here.

00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:13.320
- We're releasing kokanee
fry into this creek,

00:03:13.320 --> 00:03:14.820
so give them words of encouragement

00:03:14.820 --> 00:03:17.053
to return in three or four years, okay?

00:03:18.510 --> 00:03:21.350
- We're here today to offer
our prayers and blessings

00:03:21.350 --> 00:03:25.210
to these little kokanee fry,
as they begin their journey.

00:03:25.210 --> 00:03:28.580
These little red fish
do not swim out to sea.

00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:30.633
Their fate lies in our hands.

00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:34.440
Their success will be
a result of the choices

00:03:34.440 --> 00:03:36.653
that we make now and in the future.

00:03:42.170 --> 00:03:45.680
- Lake Sammamish kokanee
are a life history variant

00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:47.600
of Sockeye salmon.

00:03:47.600 --> 00:03:50.690
The other Pacific salmon
spend 90% of their life

00:03:50.690 --> 00:03:52.400
in the ocean.

00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.603
Kokanee spend their entire
like in a lake system.

00:03:56.836 --> 00:04:00.035
(water rushing)

00:04:00.035 --> 00:04:02.952
(thoughtful music)

00:04:04.530 --> 00:04:06.610
Imagine a watershed

00:04:08.790 --> 00:04:11.193
that contains two lowland lakes.

00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:17.300
Lake Sammamish captured a lot of water

00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:19.743
coming out of the mountains and foothills.

00:04:23.900 --> 00:04:28.320
The outlet of that lake
flowed through a wetland

00:04:28.320 --> 00:04:33.320
for 12, 13, 14 miles,
down to Lake Washington,

00:04:34.200 --> 00:04:38.660
and then the same type of
wetland that the outlet

00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:40.873
into the Duwamish basin.

00:04:43.290 --> 00:04:46.380
Now, imagine a sea run Sockeye

00:04:47.580 --> 00:04:50.053
moving up into Lake Washington,

00:04:51.940 --> 00:04:54.767
through that longer wetland
into Lake Sammamish.

00:04:56.010 --> 00:04:59.350
Spawning and then those juvenile fish

00:04:59.350 --> 00:05:03.063
able to stay in that
lake their entire life.

00:05:05.020 --> 00:05:09.450
They become isolated
for thousands of years

00:05:09.450 --> 00:05:12.613
and develop their own genetic identity.

00:05:13.530 --> 00:05:16.210
What remains today is this

00:05:16.210 --> 00:05:19.473
genetically distinct
and special population.

00:05:27.880 --> 00:05:32.290
They're one of the only
native populations of kokanee

00:05:32.290 --> 00:05:34.220
in the state of Washington.

00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:36.580
What makes it special is
that it's right in the middle

00:05:36.580 --> 00:05:39.263
of an urban, suburban area.

00:05:40.100 --> 00:05:42.624
And so it's got its own challenges.

00:05:42.624 --> 00:05:45.541
(thoughtful music)

00:05:55.663 --> 00:05:58.394
- [People] I pledge allegiance to the flag

00:05:58.394 --> 00:06:00.679
of United States of America,

00:06:00.679 --> 00:06:03.407
and to the republic for which it stands,

00:06:03.407 --> 00:06:06.642
one nation, under God, indivisible,

00:06:06.642 --> 00:06:09.392
with liberty and justice for all.

00:06:10.994 --> 00:06:11.827
- [Chairwoman] I'm gonna go ahead

00:06:11.827 --> 00:06:13.053
and open the public hearing.

00:06:14.070 --> 00:06:15.760
- Good evening, Council.

00:06:15.760 --> 00:06:20.180
A monthly magazine and
realtor.com just named Sammamish

00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:22.920
as the 9th best places
to live in the nation.

00:06:22.920 --> 00:06:24.960
We've heard these things before.

00:06:24.960 --> 00:06:27.763
Is it any wonder that we all came here?

00:06:28.700 --> 00:06:32.170
But when we came here, did we
say, "Close the gates"? No.

00:06:32.170 --> 00:06:35.340
Did we say, "No more development"? No.

00:06:35.340 --> 00:06:36.570
- The biggest challenge right now

00:06:36.570 --> 00:06:40.563
for the Lake Sammamish basin
is where will the density go.

00:06:41.490 --> 00:06:46.490
2010, we had 35,000
residents here in Sammamish.

00:06:46.930 --> 00:06:49.830
Today we have 65,000.

00:06:49.830 --> 00:06:52.100
If you start to look at Puget Sound,

00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:55.500
the expectation is that
we will have two million

00:06:55.500 --> 00:06:58.143
more people coming here by 2050.

00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:02.870
The state of Washington has
the Growth Management Act,

00:07:02.870 --> 00:07:05.440
which is trying to
preserve the rural areas.

00:07:05.440 --> 00:07:07.880
So they drew the urban growth line.

00:07:07.880 --> 00:07:10.870
We are inside that urban growth line.

00:07:10.870 --> 00:07:13.640
There's a lot of pressure
for the Lake Sammamish basin

00:07:13.640 --> 00:07:15.353
to take more of these numbers.

00:07:16.440 --> 00:07:17.810
And so you're trying to lay out

00:07:17.810 --> 00:07:19.302
something that's sustainable.

00:07:19.302 --> 00:07:22.957
- In everyone around us, there's
no office space available.

00:07:22.957 --> 00:07:25.850
Amazon is building, Google is building.

00:07:25.850 --> 00:07:28.040
The residents of this town have lost out

00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:30.911
on an economic boom
that's been taking place

00:07:30.911 --> 00:07:33.870
over the last 10 years in
every other city close by.

00:07:33.870 --> 00:07:36.276
- The whole region has to
work collaboratively together

00:07:36.276 --> 00:07:38.620
to accommodate that growth.

00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:42.420
And how are we gonna do it to
protect our urban forestry,

00:07:42.420 --> 00:07:44.833
and our lake, and the
ecology that we have here?

00:08:00.410 --> 00:08:04.473
- This population of kokanee
has fluctuated quite a bit.

00:08:05.700 --> 00:08:08.570
We've had years with
really strong returns,

00:08:08.570 --> 00:08:11.470
and years with very, very low returns.

00:08:11.470 --> 00:08:14.620
the last year, the winter of '15-'16,

00:08:14.620 --> 00:08:19.370
we had about 6,000 fish return
across all the tributaries.

00:08:19.370 --> 00:08:22.450
You might think, "Okay, everything's okay,

00:08:22.450 --> 00:08:24.810
we have good years,
and we have bad years."

00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:29.110
But when we really drill
down into the details,

00:08:29.110 --> 00:08:33.100
even the most simple models suggests that

00:08:33.100 --> 00:08:37.460
this population is trending
downward, toward zero,

00:08:37.460 --> 00:08:39.363
if the current trends continue.

00:08:42.220 --> 00:08:44.893
Development can certainly have impacts.

00:08:46.150 --> 00:08:49.970
There's a number of other
factors or stressors

00:08:49.970 --> 00:08:51.370
to the population.

00:08:51.370 --> 00:08:53.300
It's always easy to name just one

00:08:53.300 --> 00:08:55.000
and say that's the culprit,

00:08:55.000 --> 00:09:00.000
but we have predation,
non-native and native fish,

00:09:00.364 --> 00:09:02.420
disease,

00:09:02.420 --> 00:09:03.433
bacteria,

00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:06.340
parasites,

00:09:06.340 --> 00:09:07.253
viruses.

00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:11.973
So there's a whole host of
other issues or concerns.

00:09:13.560 --> 00:09:16.490
Having a closed system,
that really makes it

00:09:16.490 --> 00:09:20.570
uniquely ours to manage,
which is completely different

00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:23.173
than almost all the other Pacific salmon.

00:09:26.380 --> 00:09:30.820
If we can get this
population back to stable,

00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:35.350
between 1,000 up to 10,000 or so fish,

00:09:35.350 --> 00:09:38.013
that would be a huge success story.

00:09:39.260 --> 00:09:43.543
The stakes are high, because
it's a rare native species,

00:09:44.560 --> 00:09:47.003
and it's important
culturally and socially.

00:09:52.640 --> 00:09:54.534
- [Navigation App] Proceed to
Southeast Mountainside Road,

00:09:54.534 --> 00:09:55.899
then turn right.

00:09:55.899 --> 00:09:59.566
(speaking foreign language)

00:10:01.900 --> 00:10:04.800
- Hello, my name is McKenna Sweet Dorman,

00:10:04.800 --> 00:10:05.803
I'm from Snoqualmie.

00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:09.530
It is a teaching of my people,

00:10:09.530 --> 00:10:11.990
it's important to know who you are,

00:10:11.990 --> 00:10:13.830
and where you come from.

00:10:13.830 --> 00:10:16.610
I work out of our Environmental
and Natural Resources

00:10:16.610 --> 00:10:20.150
for the Snoqualmie Indian
Tribe, and our outreach program.

00:10:20.150 --> 00:10:22.070
Snoqualmie are from here.

00:10:22.070 --> 00:10:23.743
We have always been here.

00:10:25.339 --> 00:10:27.740
In our creation story for this region,

00:10:27.740 --> 00:10:32.490
the transformer came through
and created those waterways.

00:10:32.490 --> 00:10:34.650
We're taught that on every waterway,

00:10:34.650 --> 00:10:38.860
peoples were created, and
likewise he created the fish

00:10:38.860 --> 00:10:41.531
for those locations and for the people.

00:10:41.531 --> 00:10:45.110
In Lake Sammamish we have
the wonderful, miraculous

00:10:45.110 --> 00:10:47.690
kokanee salmon, or little red fish.

00:10:47.690 --> 00:10:50.410
(thoughtful music)

00:10:50.410 --> 00:10:53.610
For time and memorial peoples
came to Lake Sammamish

00:10:53.610 --> 00:10:56.890
to fish the kokanee because
they were so coveted,

00:10:56.890 --> 00:10:58.653
and they were plentiful back then.

00:10:59.670 --> 00:11:04.120
In recent years though, this
population has dwindled,

00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:06.570
so we are working with community members

00:11:06.570 --> 00:11:09.123
to help restore the kokanee.

00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:13.670
There is an unbroken
connection to these places,

00:11:13.670 --> 00:11:17.560
and to all of the animals and spirits

00:11:17.560 --> 00:11:19.173
that are in these areas.

00:11:20.250 --> 00:11:25.080
We have that duty to advocate
for those who have no voice,

00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:30.080
the fish, and making sure
that others are able to know

00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:34.120
that story and that
history and to join in.

00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:36.510
We hope to continue these efforts

00:11:36.510 --> 00:11:38.130
with our surrounding communities,

00:11:38.130 --> 00:11:39.630
who also call this place home.

00:11:47.292 --> 00:11:50.042
(rain pattering)

00:11:53.902 --> 00:11:56.819
(thoughtful music)

00:12:05.074 --> 00:12:06.890
- Okay, let's get rolling.

00:12:06.890 --> 00:12:08.850
We formed the Kokanee Work Group

00:12:08.850 --> 00:12:11.290
in 2007 to get more focused,

00:12:11.290 --> 00:12:13.780
in identifying what the
problems are for kokanee

00:12:13.780 --> 00:12:15.610
and then going to fix those problems.

00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:17.500
We're gonna talk about
about some background...

00:12:17.500 --> 00:12:20.420
We've been at work since
then to prevent extinction,

00:12:20.420 --> 00:12:23.180
to rebuild the population,
and eventually reestablish

00:12:23.180 --> 00:12:26.293
a fishery for kokanee on Lake Sammamish.

00:12:28.067 --> 00:12:29.440
The Kokanee Work Group includes

00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.060
the four cities around the watershed,

00:12:31.060 --> 00:12:33.610
the county non-governmental organizations,

00:12:33.610 --> 00:12:35.610
the state agencies, federal agencies,

00:12:35.610 --> 00:12:37.690
residents around the watershed,

00:12:37.690 --> 00:12:39.480
and tribal participation as well,

00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:42.500
which is really important
to what we need to get done.

00:12:42.500 --> 00:12:44.450
It's a voluntary group,

00:12:44.450 --> 00:12:46.510
we don't have contractual obligations

00:12:46.510 --> 00:12:47.840
that drive folks to the table.

00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:50.603
Folks are there because
it's the right thing to do.

00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:55.430
We identify the problems,
we set priorities,

00:12:55.430 --> 00:12:57.890
and we rely on the
wisdom and the resources

00:12:57.890 --> 00:13:00.670
of the folks who come to the
table to get those things done.

00:13:00.670 --> 00:13:01.940
That's how we have to work.

00:13:01.940 --> 00:13:03.300
The most optimistic scenario,

00:13:03.300 --> 00:13:05.200
and we talked about this before-

00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:08.483
We have to be really thrifty
and smart and focused.

00:13:09.900 --> 00:13:11.660
We always have to ask ourselves,

00:13:11.660 --> 00:13:13.740
are we doing the right thing for the fish

00:13:13.740 --> 00:13:15.630
with the resources that we have?

00:13:15.630 --> 00:13:19.805
We have to mobilize resources
to get those things moving.

00:13:19.805 --> 00:13:22.555
(rain pattering)

00:13:36.950 --> 00:13:39.433
- We do these surveys three days a week.

00:13:41.640 --> 00:13:44.890
Go down to the lake and start
working your way up slowly,

00:13:44.890 --> 00:13:48.440
and look for live fish, dead fish.

00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:50.390
I'm not seeing any, are
you seeing any, Dan?

00:13:50.390 --> 00:13:51.223
- No, no.

00:13:54.180 --> 00:13:56.330
- This population of
kokanee, they'll spawn

00:13:56.330 --> 00:13:58.700
in these small creeks during the winter

00:13:58.700 --> 00:14:00.293
when the flows are up,

00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:04.470
they'll build reds, which are egg pockets,

00:14:04.470 --> 00:14:08.030
and then those egg pockets incubate

00:14:08.030 --> 00:14:09.730
throughout the rest of the winter.

00:14:12.730 --> 00:14:15.520
We're about halfway
through the spawning period

00:14:15.520 --> 00:14:16.603
for this season.

00:14:18.150 --> 00:14:20.308
Unfortunately, we really haven't seen

00:14:20.308 --> 00:14:21.890
too many fish this year.

00:14:22.984 --> 00:14:25.773
I'm hoping to get a few more fish today.

00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:32.140
Two years ago we probably
had about 300 reds,

00:14:32.140 --> 00:14:34.943
and going up here, maybe 2 or 300 feet.

00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:41.980
Up until around 2003 there were two runs

00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:46.570
of genetically distinct
kokanee in Lake Sammamish.

00:14:46.570 --> 00:14:49.290
The early, or summer run, that was the run

00:14:49.290 --> 00:14:50.663
that was most well-known.

00:14:51.640 --> 00:14:55.030
By the time people realized
there was a problem

00:14:55.030 --> 00:14:58.030
with the summer run, it
was too little, too late,

00:14:58.030 --> 00:15:00.603
and that population died out in 2003.

00:15:01.780 --> 00:15:04.640
We learned our lesson the hard way.

00:15:04.640 --> 00:15:07.590
We don't want the same thing
to happen again with this run.

00:15:10.712 --> 00:15:13.720
- Hey Jim, I think we
might have one up here.

00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:15.737
That looks like kokanee red.

00:15:15.737 --> 00:15:16.942
- Oh, there's a nice red.
- Yeah.

00:15:16.942 --> 00:15:18.770
(thoughtful music)

00:15:18.770 --> 00:15:21.390
That's a textbook kokanee red.

00:15:21.390 --> 00:15:24.683
The dimensions, the particle size.

00:15:25.640 --> 00:15:28.640
The red, or the egg pocket, is right here.

00:15:28.640 --> 00:15:32.270
And you can see this small gravel mound,

00:15:32.270 --> 00:15:35.983
it's been scoured out to
cover that egg pocket.

00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:41.930
Ideally, there are maybe 900 or 1,000

00:15:41.930 --> 00:15:44.620
fertilized kokanee eggs.

00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:49.037
Those embryos will incubate in
there for about five months.

00:15:50.350 --> 00:15:51.500
- [Dan] Red number one.

00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:55.070
- This is nice to have it,

00:15:55.070 --> 00:15:57.633
at least one red in the system so far.

00:15:59.900 --> 00:16:02.680
Folks are getting a little
nervous about this year,

00:16:02.680 --> 00:16:06.646
this is the second year
in a row where we've had

00:16:06.646 --> 00:16:11.618
very low returns of spawning adult fish.

00:16:11.618 --> 00:16:14.060
We're trying to figure out reasons why,

00:16:14.060 --> 00:16:18.320
we've tried to take a really
close look at the numbers

00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:21.733
and conditions in the
lake and in the streams.

00:16:23.060 --> 00:16:25.160
The fish that produced this red,

00:16:25.160 --> 00:16:30.160
had to work their way up
through two culvert systems,

00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:34.700
numerous bridges, a number of predators,

00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:38.460
bobcats and otters, herons, you name it.

00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:41.713
So, they're fighters to get up here.

00:16:45.560 --> 00:16:48.303
If next year is another very low year,

00:16:49.570 --> 00:16:51.253
it'll be a real crisis.

00:16:53.350 --> 00:16:55.410
We'll keep putting our heads together

00:16:55.410 --> 00:16:58.500
and trying to think creatively,

00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:02.280
and use all the resources
that we have to do what we can

00:17:02.280 --> 00:17:04.483
to preserve this native
kokanee population.

00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:10.600
- Most people think about
when you think about salmon

00:17:10.600 --> 00:17:13.840
in the area is Coho and Chinook.

00:17:13.840 --> 00:17:15.680
But the real historic Seattle,

00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:18.010
the kinda thing that the Native
Americans took advantage of,

00:17:18.010 --> 00:17:20.370
or that the early pioneers saw here,

00:17:20.370 --> 00:17:22.620
were these little red fish.

00:17:22.620 --> 00:17:24.610
There were kokanee all
through the Lake Washington,

00:17:24.610 --> 00:17:27.270
Lake Sammamish basin, and
there were a lot of early

00:17:27.270 --> 00:17:30.890
historical accounts about
just how abundant those were.

00:17:30.890 --> 00:17:33.940
The kokanee in Lake Sammamish
are what's left of the kokanee

00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:34.993
in this basin.

00:17:34.993 --> 00:17:37.910
(thoughtful music)

00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:43.190
A lot of these early
scientists were collecting

00:17:43.190 --> 00:17:46.000
these fish and trying to
document what was here.

00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.220
And we have, very fortuitously,

00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:50.440
kokanee that were
collected from the 1800s.

00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:51.273
Can you believe it?

00:17:51.273 --> 00:17:52.850
Somebody was out there collecting fish

00:17:52.850 --> 00:17:54.270
and putting them in a museum.

00:17:54.270 --> 00:17:56.866
So those fish are available
for us to get genetics from.

00:17:56.866 --> 00:18:00.350
(thoughtful music)

00:18:00.350 --> 00:18:02.300
so we're just at the really early stages

00:18:02.300 --> 00:18:04.730
of trying to get DNA out
of these historic samples

00:18:04.730 --> 00:18:07.670
from the 1880s, but it's
clear that we're getting

00:18:07.670 --> 00:18:09.380
the genes that we were trying to sequence,

00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:10.520
which is really exciting to me,

00:18:10.520 --> 00:18:13.240
because that's going to be
our connection to the genetics

00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:15.570
of the original populations here.

00:18:15.570 --> 00:18:18.270
The oldest specimens that
I've been able to find

00:18:18.270 --> 00:18:20.773
come from 1888.

00:18:24.800 --> 00:18:29.790
It looks very much like a
kokanee you might find now.

00:18:29.790 --> 00:18:30.840
A little bit smaller.

00:18:32.550 --> 00:18:34.580
A lot of these early scientists that were

00:18:34.580 --> 00:18:36.790
collecting these fish
didn't have a good sense

00:18:36.790 --> 00:18:40.580
of life history information,
about seasons of spawning,

00:18:40.580 --> 00:18:41.890
how big do they get.

00:18:41.890 --> 00:18:44.210
So very often these Western scientists

00:18:44.210 --> 00:18:46.050
would go the people who
had been living there

00:18:46.050 --> 00:18:49.330
for thousands of years who
had a much keener sense

00:18:49.330 --> 00:18:51.803
and connection to the biology of the area.

00:18:55.180 --> 00:18:59.683
- My mom said I was born a kokanee salmon.

00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:06.373
14,000 years we have been there,
walking, hunting, fishing.

00:19:10.290 --> 00:19:12.320
- That's our connection.

00:19:12.320 --> 00:19:14.373
Our connection as Snoqualmies.

00:19:16.340 --> 00:19:20.323
We need to be there for
the health of the land,

00:19:22.090 --> 00:19:26.143
in such a short period of
time that's been interrupted.

00:19:27.360 --> 00:19:30.490
Those connections are so important.

00:19:30.490 --> 00:19:31.763
They're so important.

00:19:33.930 --> 00:19:37.000
(thoughtful music)

00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:39.330
We were one of the largest
tribes in the area,

00:19:39.330 --> 00:19:41.503
the most powerful tribes in the area.

00:19:42.380 --> 00:19:44.893
Beautiful Lake Sammamish was our home.

00:19:47.230 --> 00:19:51.353
The kokanee are how we
survived year round.

00:19:53.700 --> 00:19:56.910
Kokanee are deeply part of our culture,

00:19:56.910 --> 00:19:58.665
part of our traditions, so much so that

00:19:58.665 --> 00:20:02.323
you would have this
reflected on dance regalia.

00:20:04.080 --> 00:20:08.143
We are made of, we are
not separate from kokanee.

00:20:09.615 --> 00:20:12.703
We've been here for thousands of years.

00:20:13.580 --> 00:20:17.000
Everything around us is
us, everything around us

00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:19.343
is made up of our living and dying.

00:20:20.264 --> 00:20:24.770
Just like the salmon coming
and offering their bodies,

00:20:24.770 --> 00:20:26.650
they're giving everything,

00:20:26.650 --> 00:20:28.400
everything for the next generation.

00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:37.920
(crickets chirping)

00:20:39.092 --> 00:20:41.842
(drill whirring)

00:20:47.869 --> 00:20:50.702
(people chatting)

00:20:55.290 --> 00:20:57.503
- We're here at Salmon Days in Issaquah.

00:20:58.510 --> 00:20:59.900
We're doing outreach.

00:20:59.900 --> 00:21:01.603
Hi! Would you like a sticker?

00:21:02.730 --> 00:21:04.250
The story that we're telling this year

00:21:04.250 --> 00:21:06.920
is that tribal presence in this location,

00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:08.830
specifically, living culture,

00:21:08.830 --> 00:21:11.600
the fact that we're still here today.

00:21:11.600 --> 00:21:12.980
There's also some more information here

00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:14.880
about the tribe, if you're interested.

00:21:16.370 --> 00:21:19.593
Not many people walking
through know who the tribe is.

00:21:20.490 --> 00:21:23.634
I think that their eyes are
opened a lot of the time.

00:21:23.634 --> 00:21:25.740
(people cheering)
(Indigenous drum music)

00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:28.150
We've always been here, we've never left,

00:21:28.150 --> 00:21:31.088
and these kokanee have never
left, this is their home.

00:21:31.088 --> 00:21:35.620
(singing in foreign language)

00:21:35.620 --> 00:21:37.530
Through the restoration
work that we're doing,

00:21:37.530 --> 00:21:39.370
the partnerships that we've built,

00:21:39.370 --> 00:21:40.950
we're helping to return those kokanee

00:21:40.950 --> 00:21:42.203
and the tribe home, too.

00:21:48.397 --> 00:21:51.097
- There it is!
(men cheering)

00:21:51.097 --> 00:21:52.950
- Good job! Good job!

00:21:52.950 --> 00:21:54.580
- Here we really identify ourselves

00:21:54.580 --> 00:21:57.223
with salmon, Northwest culture.

00:21:58.850 --> 00:22:00.980
If we can show people that, you know,

00:22:00.980 --> 00:22:04.330
this is something unique and
unusual about where we live,

00:22:04.330 --> 00:22:06.950
having these salmon, having these streams.

00:22:06.950 --> 00:22:09.760
You develop a sense of, you
know this is where I live,

00:22:09.760 --> 00:22:12.160
this is what's natural for the area.

00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:13.390
So I think it's been very helpful

00:22:13.390 --> 00:22:15.940
having a Native American component to lead

00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:17.150
what's going on here.

00:22:17.150 --> 00:22:19.810
(Indigenous drum music)

00:22:19.810 --> 00:22:21.810
- [Announcer] They're
also our major sponsors

00:22:21.810 --> 00:22:25.253
again this year, thank
you, thank you, thank you,

00:22:25.253 --> 00:22:29.523
Snoqualmie tribe.
(people applauding)

00:22:30.870 --> 00:22:33.300
- The work that I think we
all do as part of the tribe

00:22:33.300 --> 00:22:36.290
in this education process is

00:22:36.290 --> 00:22:38.530
something very, very close to home.

00:22:38.530 --> 00:22:41.730
This needs to be carried on,
and I'm carrying that on,

00:22:41.730 --> 00:22:44.399
and prepping for the
next seven generations.

00:22:44.399 --> 00:22:48.232
(singing in foreign language)

00:22:49.210 --> 00:22:51.870
I was very fortunate in my upbringing,

00:22:51.870 --> 00:22:56.840
to be raised with my people,
to be raised in my culture.

00:22:56.840 --> 00:22:59.700
Hearing the language, hearing the names

00:22:59.700 --> 00:23:03.683
of the plants, the
animals, and the places.

00:23:04.690 --> 00:23:07.070
There was never a time in my life

00:23:07.070 --> 00:23:09.520
that I didn't know where I was,

00:23:09.520 --> 00:23:12.223
that I didn't know my connection there.

00:23:14.410 --> 00:23:17.523
It wasn't until I got
older that I recognized

00:23:17.523 --> 00:23:20.873
that that was not everyone's experience.

00:23:22.220 --> 00:23:24.790
If I was to keep that to myself,

00:23:24.790 --> 00:23:28.430
or keep it alive only within
my family, or the tribe,

00:23:28.430 --> 00:23:32.330
I could, but it's very
important in our culture

00:23:32.330 --> 00:23:36.640
to acknowledge, to make
sure that there is that

00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:41.640
shared exchange and that the
surround communities recognize

00:23:41.700 --> 00:23:44.050
that they're now part of
something much larger.

00:23:44.940 --> 00:23:48.513
To have an understanding of
everything that's happened,

00:23:49.370 --> 00:23:53.303
what the history actually is,
and the complexities of that.

00:23:57.467 --> 00:24:01.070
(thoughtful music)

00:24:01.070 --> 00:24:04.790
In the mid-1800s there was a huge influx

00:24:04.790 --> 00:24:09.080
of people moving from
all over into this area.

00:24:09.080 --> 00:24:11.930
We had to change from our traditional ways

00:24:11.930 --> 00:24:15.290
of gathering food and being able to travel

00:24:15.290 --> 00:24:17.630
as we would in our homeland.

00:24:17.630 --> 00:24:19.260
We couldn't sustain ourselves that way

00:24:19.260 --> 00:24:22.940
with the people coming in
and so we had to get jobs,

00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:25.763
to earn money, to live
in this new society.

00:24:26.790 --> 00:24:28.623
We worked in the lumber mills,

00:24:30.550 --> 00:24:32.343
in the farming and hops.

00:24:37.010 --> 00:24:41.470
We were transitioned out of
living in our longhouses.

00:24:41.470 --> 00:24:44.360
We were able to move to Lake Sammamish,

00:24:44.360 --> 00:24:47.110
which is still traditional for us.

00:24:47.110 --> 00:24:50.090
There was still space
on the eastern shore,

00:24:50.090 --> 00:24:51.690
where we were able to homestead.

00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:55.530
But in order to legally homestead,

00:24:55.530 --> 00:24:58.833
we had to build white-styled homes.

00:25:00.770 --> 00:25:03.873
All that time we were able to
keep certain traditions alive.

00:25:05.470 --> 00:25:07.960
The kokanee provided that food source

00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:11.653
for us to be able to stay
in that location year round.

00:25:13.010 --> 00:25:15.420
Over time people continued to move here.

00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:17.563
The homestead land was taken.

00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:22.530
And by the 1920s, I believe,
are the first cottages

00:25:22.530 --> 00:25:26.193
within that homestead area
that were built and sold.

00:25:29.790 --> 00:25:32.540
(birds chirping)

00:25:36.150 --> 00:25:39.010
- I live in Sammamish, Washington,

00:25:39.010 --> 00:25:41.693
on the east side of Lake Sammamish,

00:25:42.990 --> 00:25:44.363
on Ebright Creek.

00:25:45.600 --> 00:25:50.600
I moved here in 1973, it was quite rural.

00:25:50.835 --> 00:25:54.500
A little over six acres, with
a house and a sort of a barn

00:25:54.500 --> 00:25:57.823
on a creek and we purchased the property.

00:25:58.666 --> 00:26:01.400
(imitates chickens)

00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:05.080
Shortly after we arrived
here in the late fall,

00:26:05.080 --> 00:26:09.527
my son, I think he was five at
the time, he came running up,

00:26:09.527 --> 00:26:11.997
"Daddy! Daddy! There's
red fish in the creek!"

00:26:11.997 --> 00:26:14.930
And I went down and looked, and
immediately when I saw them,

00:26:14.930 --> 00:26:17.257
I said, "My gosh! It's Sockeye salmon!"

00:26:18.410 --> 00:26:20.500
Upon further examination
I found out though,

00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:23.990
this was a freshwater
race of Sockeye salmon

00:26:23.990 --> 00:26:25.883
that lived in Lake Sammamish.

00:26:26.910 --> 00:26:30.083
I became fascinated with the kokanee.

00:26:31.500 --> 00:26:33.530
The people that owned the home before,

00:26:33.530 --> 00:26:36.930
they used to be unhappy about
the kokanee that come up

00:26:36.930 --> 00:26:40.820
because the fish die after they spawn,

00:26:40.820 --> 00:26:44.150
and their dogs would
roll in them. (chuckling)

00:26:44.150 --> 00:26:46.380
They did everything they
could to block the kokanee

00:26:46.380 --> 00:26:48.460
from getting up the creek.

00:26:48.460 --> 00:26:51.130
Of course, the dying of the
kokanee in the spawning creeks

00:26:51.130 --> 00:26:55.653
has a central place in the
web of life in this area.

00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:59.030
During the 1990s when there was

00:26:59.030 --> 00:27:01.010
a fair amount of development
that was taking place,

00:27:01.010 --> 00:27:04.160
Zaccuse Creek had a nice run of kokanee.

00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:08.930
There was some developers
that came in and absolutely

00:27:08.930 --> 00:27:10.730
devastated the creek.

00:27:10.730 --> 00:27:11.563
Over there.

00:27:12.530 --> 00:27:15.300
They ran bulldozers down
the side of the hill

00:27:15.300 --> 00:27:17.247
and across the creek,
they cut the trees down,

00:27:17.247 --> 00:27:20.410
and there was a great
deal of gravel and sand

00:27:20.410 --> 00:27:23.269
that came down the creek
as a result of that,

00:27:23.269 --> 00:27:25.319
and the run in Zaccuse Creek petered out.

00:27:27.120 --> 00:27:30.810
That was the same time when
the run into Issaquah Creek

00:27:30.810 --> 00:27:34.720
was dwindling rapidly
and it was obvious to me

00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:37.813
that these kokanee
population was in trouble.

00:27:41.746 --> 00:27:46.200
- We just got the geotech
report back from the consultant.

00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:47.607
My name is Tawni Dalziel,

00:27:47.607 --> 00:27:49.210
I'm the Storm Water Program Manager,

00:27:49.210 --> 00:27:51.140
with the city of Sammamish.

00:27:51.140 --> 00:27:54.580
Right now, we're trying to
restore spawning habitat

00:27:54.580 --> 00:27:55.913
on Zaccuse Creek.

00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:01.350
My first introduction
to the Zaccuse project

00:28:01.350 --> 00:28:04.210
was at a council meeting,
hearing public testimony

00:28:04.210 --> 00:28:06.562
from these two amazing individuals.

00:28:06.562 --> 00:28:08.370
(gavel pounding)

00:28:08.370 --> 00:28:11.920
First was a private property
owner, Wally Pereyra.

00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:14.070
- Thank you, Mr. Mayor,
my name is Wally Pereyra,

00:28:14.070 --> 00:28:17.320
I've been a resident of
Sammamish since 1974.

00:28:17.320 --> 00:28:20.120
- He described two streams.

00:28:20.120 --> 00:28:23.870
One stream on his property had the culvert

00:28:23.870 --> 00:28:27.140
that was a barrier and he
had replaced it in 2013

00:28:27.140 --> 00:28:29.470
with his own fish passage culvert.

00:28:29.470 --> 00:28:33.540
He described how that year
there were thousands of kokanee

00:28:33.540 --> 00:28:35.993
running through his
newly replaced culvert.

00:28:37.840 --> 00:28:41.460
The second stream that he
described was Zaccuse Creek.

00:28:41.460 --> 00:28:45.650
The culvert there was
trying to drain 245 acres

00:28:45.650 --> 00:28:48.422
into a 30 inch pipe, it
was constricting flows,

00:28:48.422 --> 00:28:50.663
it was a fish passage barrier.

00:28:51.840 --> 00:28:54.400
So the second person who
came to make public testimony

00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:56.930
that night was McKenna Sweet Dorman.

00:28:56.930 --> 00:28:59.210
- With us tonight is McKenna Dorman,

00:28:59.210 --> 00:29:00.410
from the Snoqualmie tribe.

00:29:00.410 --> 00:29:03.900
- She brought old
photographs of her ancestors

00:29:03.900 --> 00:29:08.160
and described them living and subsisting

00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:09.750
on the shores of Lake Sammamish,

00:29:09.750 --> 00:29:12.360
and specifically on Zaccuse Creek.

00:29:12.360 --> 00:29:14.950
- Along the creeks that
today bear our family names,

00:29:14.950 --> 00:29:17.860
such as George Davis, and Zaccuse Creeks.

00:29:17.860 --> 00:29:20.423
- Using kokanee as part of their survival.

00:29:21.290 --> 00:29:26.210
And the city council was so
moved by these testimonies

00:29:26.210 --> 00:29:28.380
that they immediately asked staff

00:29:28.380 --> 00:29:33.380
how fast we could get the culvert
replaced on Zaccuse Creek.

00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:36.420
And Zaccuse Creek is the first barrier

00:29:36.420 --> 00:29:39.277
that the city has identified for removal.

00:29:39.277 --> 00:29:40.979
- [Woman] Everyone say, "kokanee!"

00:29:40.979 --> 00:29:43.181
- [People] Kokanee!

00:29:43.181 --> 00:29:46.014
(water trickling)

00:30:02.285 --> 00:30:04.889
(rain pattering)

00:30:04.889 --> 00:30:06.853
(thoughtful music)

00:30:06.853 --> 00:30:09.053
- This population was
already in bad shape,

00:30:10.210 --> 00:30:11.984
and then by December 2017,

00:30:11.984 --> 00:30:14.833
that situation had gotten markedly worse.

00:30:15.830 --> 00:30:19.260
We were starting to see
data about lake conditions,

00:30:19.260 --> 00:30:23.100
we were seeing so many fewer
fish than we anticipated.

00:30:23.100 --> 00:30:26.460
We're pretty conservative
about what we expect to see,

00:30:26.460 --> 00:30:29.310
and it wasn't coming close to
our conservative estimates.

00:30:31.290 --> 00:30:34.580
- We just are not seeing the kokanee.

00:30:34.580 --> 00:30:39.540
I was expecting 1000-2000
fish coming back this year,

00:30:39.540 --> 00:30:41.910
and today we've seen six,

00:30:41.910 --> 00:30:45.743
which is an incredible disappointment.

00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:50.900
But the current situation
has really opened up

00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:53.210
the entire toolbox to try and figure out

00:30:53.210 --> 00:30:54.470
what's happening with these kokanee,

00:30:54.470 --> 00:30:57.540
so new technologies, strategies,

00:30:57.540 --> 00:31:00.480
techniques that have worked for other fish

00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:03.500
and their recover are all on the table,

00:31:03.500 --> 00:31:06.913
and we'll be meeting
soon to talk about it.

00:31:09.873 --> 00:31:11.100
- You guys ready?

00:31:11.100 --> 00:31:13.430
Okay, what we need to do with the next

00:31:13.430 --> 00:31:16.230
hour and 15 minutes or so,

00:31:16.230 --> 00:31:20.050
is talk about what are
our options for action.

00:31:20.050 --> 00:31:22.590
What can we do in
preparation for the return

00:31:22.590 --> 00:31:24.180
that we're anticipating next fall

00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:26.950
to optimize the success of those fish?

00:31:26.950 --> 00:31:28.690
- Let's just plan worst case scenario.

00:31:28.690 --> 00:31:32.240
What if we only get 25
fish back next year?

00:31:32.240 --> 00:31:34.000
What are we gonna do?

00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:36.970
We think, as resource managers,

00:31:36.970 --> 00:31:39.450
it must be easy to figure out this lake.

00:31:39.450 --> 00:31:41.010
We know where all the streams are,

00:31:41.010 --> 00:31:43.680
there's a ton of monitoring information.

00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:46.250
But really, there's still
a lot of complex things

00:31:46.250 --> 00:31:49.710
that we just cannot figure
out about this lake.

00:31:49.710 --> 00:31:51.700
It just really surprises you.

00:31:51.700 --> 00:31:53.930
- What's really happening
to them in the lake?

00:31:53.930 --> 00:31:56.930
We've got water quality,
predation, disease.

00:31:56.930 --> 00:31:58.940
How are we gonna hold the species

00:31:58.940 --> 00:32:01.590
so that we can work on some
of the longer term trends?

00:32:01.590 --> 00:32:04.160
- Think of major predatory birds.

00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:05.687
If it was as easy as saying,

00:32:05.687 --> 00:32:09.900
"Okay, if we get rid of the
DDT, everything will be great."

00:32:09.900 --> 00:32:13.260
Our problem is much
more compound than that,

00:32:13.260 --> 00:32:16.660
and it's really hard to
pick out which impacts

00:32:16.660 --> 00:32:19.070
do we really try and tackle.

00:32:19.070 --> 00:32:20.590
- We've been doing the
supplementation program.

00:32:20.590 --> 00:32:21.423
- Yes.

00:32:21.423 --> 00:32:22.740
- And the Zaccuse culvert project

00:32:22.740 --> 00:32:25.070
will be very important for us to finish,

00:32:25.070 --> 00:32:27.910
because we need more habitat,
we know that long term.

00:32:27.910 --> 00:32:29.530
I guess what we have to decide is

00:32:29.530 --> 00:32:32.670
what are those extraordinary
measures that we need to take?

00:32:32.670 --> 00:32:34.330
- What if we went ahead and took

00:32:34.330 --> 00:32:36.139
some of the males that
come back next year,

00:32:36.139 --> 00:32:39.950
and save those gametes in
a fertilization program

00:32:39.950 --> 00:32:42.580
to keep that population going while we

00:32:42.580 --> 00:32:43.970
come up with longer term solutions?

00:32:43.970 --> 00:32:47.230
- I think cryopreservation
is a real thing for us

00:32:47.230 --> 00:32:48.460
at this point.

00:32:48.460 --> 00:32:52.610
- I think have to have multiple
strategies for what we do.

00:32:52.610 --> 00:32:54.040
The fish that come back next year,

00:32:54.040 --> 00:32:55.850
they're gonna be the most fit fish,

00:32:55.850 --> 00:32:58.860
so they're gonna be extremely
valuable going forward.

00:32:58.860 --> 00:33:02.370
- We trap on every tributary that we can

00:33:02.370 --> 00:33:03.500
and check daily.

00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:04.450
- What do you with them?

00:33:04.450 --> 00:33:07.120
We don't wanna put all
our eggs in one basket,

00:33:07.120 --> 00:33:08.220
no pun intended.

00:33:08.220 --> 00:33:11.120
But do we let 10% spawn naturally,

00:33:11.120 --> 00:33:14.560
25% put them at the hatchery at Issaquah,

00:33:14.560 --> 00:33:17.610
25% in remote incubators.

00:33:17.610 --> 00:33:21.033
Do we take 30% and put
them into brood stock?

00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:24.415
Can we get that going?

00:33:24.415 --> 00:33:28.340
Let's all agree that
next year is gonna be,

00:33:28.340 --> 00:33:29.690
it's either all or nothing.

00:33:39.450 --> 00:33:40.780
- Good morning.

00:33:40.780 --> 00:33:43.730
The alliance of tribal
and local governments,

00:33:43.730 --> 00:33:46.730
of cities, and state,
and federal agencies,

00:33:46.730 --> 00:33:50.100
of land owners and residents
has worked together

00:33:50.100 --> 00:33:54.530
with the shared goal of
restoring healthy, resilient

00:33:54.530 --> 00:33:56.170
kokanee population.

00:33:56.170 --> 00:33:57.800
- [David] We need as
many people to know about

00:33:57.800 --> 00:34:00.830
the precarious situation
for kokanee as possible.

00:34:00.830 --> 00:34:04.730
- We must take concerted action right now.

00:34:04.730 --> 00:34:07.680
- When we have the opportunity
to share news about

00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:11.620
what we're doing, whether it's
happy news, or it's bad news,

00:34:11.620 --> 00:34:13.660
it's important that folks hear that,

00:34:13.660 --> 00:34:15.363
and that we address that together.

00:34:16.240 --> 00:34:18.610
- Our emergency actions will include

00:34:18.610 --> 00:34:21.020
using the latest technology to protect

00:34:21.020 --> 00:34:25.304
the unique genetic stock
of Lake Sammamish kokanee.

00:34:25.304 --> 00:34:29.160
- We've decided to do several
things that are new for us.

00:34:29.160 --> 00:34:31.180
One is that we will be using special traps

00:34:31.180 --> 00:34:32.700
to catch returning spawners and take them

00:34:32.700 --> 00:34:34.890
to the hatchery to spawn them.

00:34:34.890 --> 00:34:36.990
We also will be using
what we call egg boxes,

00:34:36.990 --> 00:34:38.660
or remote site incubators,

00:34:38.660 --> 00:34:39.820
where we can put eggs,

00:34:39.820 --> 00:34:42.623
and those fish will hatch
out and go into the lake.

00:34:45.010 --> 00:34:48.550
We're also going to initiate
at captive brood stock program,

00:34:48.550 --> 00:34:50.750
and raise those fish in that facility

00:34:50.750 --> 00:34:53.420
to preserve that portion
of the population.

00:34:53.420 --> 00:34:56.860
- Together, we can and we will ensure

00:34:56.860 --> 00:34:59.560
that this little red fish will once again

00:34:59.560 --> 00:35:01.715
flourish here, in King County.

00:35:01.715 --> 00:35:04.715
(people applauding)

00:35:07.901 --> 00:35:10.984
(machinery whirring)

00:35:13.290 --> 00:35:15.690
- We are in our second
week of our road closure.

00:35:16.570 --> 00:35:19.190
We spend the last couple
of days excavating out

00:35:19.190 --> 00:35:23.930
the existing culvert, and
excavating a 20 foot deep hole

00:35:23.930 --> 00:35:25.230
in the middle of the road.

00:35:26.150 --> 00:35:30.030
Today we are seeing
the box culvert pieces.

00:35:30.030 --> 00:35:33.103
This is going to provide our
fish passage on their trail.

00:35:34.670 --> 00:35:35.763
It is a big deal.

00:35:39.420 --> 00:35:41.760
In the next few months,
this project will be done,

00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:44.740
and the Snoqualmie tribe,
they're gonna help us

00:35:44.740 --> 00:35:48.090
with the restoration native plantings,

00:35:48.090 --> 00:35:49.760
putting in the stream bed gravel,

00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:53.303
and then eventually sending
the stream back through it.

00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:57.700
I feel like we're doing our small part

00:35:57.700 --> 00:36:00.833
in the kokanee restoration efforts.

00:36:00.833 --> 00:36:03.750
(thoughtful music)

00:36:11.112 --> 00:36:13.945
(wheels whirring)

00:36:15.900 --> 00:36:19.163
- We're on Zaccuse Creek
at a restoration event.

00:36:21.370 --> 00:36:23.720
It's the most wonderful feeling to see

00:36:23.720 --> 00:36:26.853
how much support we have and
how much excitement there is.

00:36:28.860 --> 00:36:30.297
It's wonderful.

00:36:30.297 --> 00:36:33.214
(thoughtful music)

00:36:37.740 --> 00:36:40.555
(water trickling)

00:36:40.555 --> 00:36:43.180
- I'll try it again, too.

00:36:43.180 --> 00:36:47.520
My name's Maria, and I'm eight years old.

00:36:47.520 --> 00:36:49.410
I like digging stuff.

00:36:49.410 --> 00:36:51.010
It's really fun for me.

00:36:51.010 --> 00:36:55.440
And I also like helping the salmon, too,

00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:57.603
which we're doing today.

00:36:57.603 --> 00:37:01.330
I've planted five trees,

00:37:01.330 --> 00:37:03.440
had a snack break,

00:37:03.440 --> 00:37:05.893
and made a couple friends.

00:37:08.850 --> 00:37:12.010
I hope that the trees grow,

00:37:12.010 --> 00:37:15.570
and that it can make a better
environment for the salmon

00:37:15.570 --> 00:37:17.620
while they're going down the stream.

00:37:17.620 --> 00:37:19.380
I hope that the salmon can also

00:37:19.380 --> 00:37:21.373
come back in bigger numbers, too.

00:37:26.860 --> 00:37:30.390
- I'm Shuo, I come from Beijing, China.

00:37:30.390 --> 00:37:33.120
We live here just for two years.

00:37:33.120 --> 00:37:34.650
That was so amazing!

00:37:34.650 --> 00:37:37.000
A lot of forest, a lot of tree.

00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:37.833
But after that I found that I found

00:37:37.833 --> 00:37:40.400
that there are a lot of new building,

00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:42.000
a lot of people move here,

00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:44.970
so the environment got a lot of change.

00:37:44.970 --> 00:37:48.503
So I want to do something
for this new home.

00:37:50.050 --> 00:37:53.020
Kokanee is meaningful to this area.

00:37:53.020 --> 00:37:55.280
I want to know more about them.

00:37:55.280 --> 00:37:59.020
I hope what we do today
can give them help.

00:37:59.020 --> 00:38:00.510
- This is called red osier dogwood.

00:38:00.510 --> 00:38:01.840
- That one?

00:38:01.840 --> 00:38:03.900
I brought my daughter with me.

00:38:03.900 --> 00:38:04.893
She's five.

00:38:05.740 --> 00:38:10.575
I just want her generation
can protect the whole world.

00:38:10.575 --> 00:38:13.223
Your life depends on this environment!

00:38:14.450 --> 00:38:16.357
You need to protect your home.

00:38:19.127 --> 00:38:22.827
- It's easy to blame,
but we are all stewards.

00:38:24.350 --> 00:38:26.383
We have to do something.

00:38:28.080 --> 00:38:30.430
- [Lois] It's necessary
for a healthy system

00:38:30.430 --> 00:38:33.870
to have a healthy connection to that land,

00:38:33.870 --> 00:38:35.273
and respect for that life.

00:38:38.924 --> 00:38:43.924
(rain pattering)
(thoughtful music)

00:39:02.760 --> 00:39:05.263
- Today's my day to the surveys.

00:39:06.470 --> 00:39:08.240
It's very early in the return.

00:39:08.240 --> 00:39:10.554
It's just the end of the first week.

00:39:10.554 --> 00:39:11.804
All right, run.

00:39:16.520 --> 00:39:19.120
We had a real nice rain even last night.

00:39:19.120 --> 00:39:20.313
It really came down.

00:39:22.340 --> 00:39:24.790
When winter rains start to kick in,

00:39:24.790 --> 00:39:27.290
flows will come up in these streams.

00:39:27.290 --> 00:39:30.283
It will make upstream
migration a little bit easier.

00:39:31.430 --> 00:39:34.087
We're hoping that pulled in a few fish.

00:39:34.087 --> 00:39:37.087
(suspenseful music)

00:39:41.700 --> 00:39:43.393
Nice, there's a red right here.

00:39:44.430 --> 00:39:45.263
Brand new.

00:39:46.520 --> 00:39:48.080
That's really encouraging.

00:39:48.080 --> 00:39:50.030
Didn't see too many of those last year.

00:39:55.180 --> 00:39:57.653
Yeah, there's another two
egg pockets right here.

00:39:58.510 --> 00:40:00.660
And there's a female sitting

00:40:00.660 --> 00:40:02.883
just upstream of this egg pocket.

00:40:04.149 --> 00:40:07.183
A little flash of red
right behind those bubbles.

00:40:08.256 --> 00:40:11.173
(thoughtful music)

00:40:16.570 --> 00:40:19.680
It's pretty rewarding to see
some fish back right now,

00:40:19.680 --> 00:40:22.213
even though it's very early in the return.

00:40:24.780 --> 00:40:27.280
These surveys will help and form,

00:40:27.280 --> 00:40:29.540
you know where we collect fish

00:40:29.540 --> 00:40:31.570
we use for the supplementation program,

00:40:31.570 --> 00:40:33.570
and how many fish we might collect

00:40:33.570 --> 00:40:35.633
in a really low return year.

00:40:37.660 --> 00:40:39.180
It's good to see some fish in there.

00:40:39.180 --> 00:40:43.421
It'd be a lot better if
there were 50 or 100 fish,

00:40:43.421 --> 00:40:45.993
but, you know, we'll take what we can get.

00:40:50.891 --> 00:40:53.891
(crickets chirping)

00:40:56.715 --> 00:40:58.050
(thoughtful music)

00:40:58.050 --> 00:41:01.693
- We are in the process of
trying to catch kokanee spawners.

00:41:03.370 --> 00:41:06.523
Kokanee move at night, so
we're out here at night.

00:41:08.650 --> 00:41:09.780
We've got a weir.

00:41:10.680 --> 00:41:13.110
A weir is basically a fish trap.

00:41:13.110 --> 00:41:14.853
Closes off most of the stream.

00:41:15.880 --> 00:41:18.577
Funnel them into a catch box
so we can easily net them out

00:41:18.577 --> 00:41:21.177
and take to the hatchery
to get them ready to spawn.

00:41:23.310 --> 00:41:26.000
We set the weirs on
three different streams.

00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:28.820
We'll rotate checking all
three throughout the night

00:41:28.820 --> 00:41:31.270
to see if we've got fish
in the catch boxes here.

00:41:34.742 --> 00:41:36.892
- [Jim] All right,
let's go get these fish.

00:41:41.989 --> 00:41:43.489
- [Mark] I don't see anything.

00:41:45.050 --> 00:41:46.163
Yeah, nothing.

00:41:47.543 --> 00:41:49.143
- All right, next spot.

00:41:50.335 --> 00:41:53.752
(music turns purposeful)

00:41:57.450 --> 00:41:58.283
- Nada.

00:42:00.540 --> 00:42:01.373
No fish.

00:42:04.180 --> 00:42:06.950
- Now there's not as much
life around as there was,

00:42:06.950 --> 00:42:08.123
even 10 years ago.

00:42:11.010 --> 00:42:13.119
We'll do what we can do.
- Yeah.

00:42:13.119 --> 00:42:14.202
Onto Ebright.

00:42:17.646 --> 00:42:19.979
- So we're at Ebright Creek.

00:42:29.967 --> 00:42:32.536
Oh! Look at the size of that one!

00:42:32.536 --> 00:42:33.369
Nice!

00:42:34.280 --> 00:42:35.113
- Sweet!

00:42:37.160 --> 00:42:38.150
- [Man] It's beautiful!

00:42:38.150 --> 00:42:41.067
(thoughtful music)

00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:46.144
That's a female.

00:42:46.144 --> 00:42:49.423
- I think so.
- Yep.

00:42:49.423 --> 00:42:52.340
- The mother of future generations.

00:42:53.843 --> 00:42:56.510
- Get ready, though.
- I'm ready.

00:43:02.926 --> 00:43:04.009
- [Jim] Nice!

00:43:06.314 --> 00:43:07.147
All right.

00:43:07.147 --> 00:43:10.564
- I'm gonna let her up and...
- Yep.

00:43:10.564 --> 00:43:12.870
- [Mark] All right.

00:43:12.870 --> 00:43:13.770
- [Jim] Well done.

00:43:18.740 --> 00:43:19.790
- There you go, baby.

00:43:20.840 --> 00:43:21.763
Nice!

00:43:26.521 --> 00:43:29.245
- Look at the nice spotting on her.

00:43:29.245 --> 00:43:31.271
Well, let's get her over to the hatchery

00:43:31.271 --> 00:43:34.206
so she doesn't have to
sit there, wondering.

00:43:34.206 --> 00:43:37.681
- What the heck's going on.
- What the heck's going on.

00:43:37.681 --> 00:43:40.598
(thoughtful music)

00:43:50.690 --> 00:43:52.433
- Post it online.
- You know it.

00:43:53.480 --> 00:43:55.010
- Kokanee on board!

00:43:55.010 --> 00:43:56.483
Our first female kokanee.

00:43:57.400 --> 00:43:58.910
On the way to the hatchery now.

00:43:58.910 --> 00:44:00.780
- [Jim] That's a big thing.

00:44:00.780 --> 00:44:02.789
- I opened it and went, "Whoa!"

00:44:02.789 --> 00:44:04.257
(Jim laughing)

00:44:04.257 --> 00:44:06.972
- [Jim] I thought it was Coho at first!

00:44:06.972 --> 00:44:09.827
(Jim laughing)

00:44:09.827 --> 00:44:12.660
(inspiring music)

00:44:29.142 --> 00:44:31.975
(water trickling)

00:44:36.120 --> 00:44:38.800
- We are here today with
leaders and partners

00:44:38.800 --> 00:44:40.050
to make sure that folks know that this

00:44:40.050 --> 00:44:42.430
is really an extraordinary project,

00:44:42.430 --> 00:44:45.323
in some extraordinary
circumstances for this population.

00:44:46.310 --> 00:44:50.663
I do want to say that this
return is a bad return.

00:44:52.150 --> 00:44:55.610
We have not seen kokanee
in this creek this fall.

00:44:55.610 --> 00:44:59.037
We're probably gonna have a
run of fewer than 100 fish,

00:44:59.037 --> 00:45:00.940
which will give us three years in a row

00:45:00.940 --> 00:45:02.570
of fewer than 100 fish.

00:45:02.570 --> 00:45:05.520
That's never happened
before in our record.

00:45:05.520 --> 00:45:09.000
So it is a dire situation.

00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:13.220
But the fish that are returning
are tough, survivor fish,

00:45:13.220 --> 00:45:15.390
and we're banking on them
as being the launching point

00:45:15.390 --> 00:45:18.640
for the survival of the
population going forward.

00:45:18.640 --> 00:45:22.060
- If we do not do all the right things,

00:45:22.060 --> 00:45:24.500
they will be lost, forever.

00:45:24.500 --> 00:45:26.610
We're in an era where
we're seeing the beginnings

00:45:26.610 --> 00:45:29.410
of a global ecological collapse.

00:45:29.410 --> 00:45:32.900
We're identifying the
places where we can still

00:45:32.900 --> 00:45:35.940
rescue and restore and return
the natural environment

00:45:35.940 --> 00:45:37.320
that is our legacy.

00:45:37.320 --> 00:45:38.523
This is the work we have to do.

00:45:38.523 --> 00:45:40.313
This is our sacred obligation.

00:45:42.060 --> 00:45:47.060
- Without our salmon, it's
like losing one of your tribes.

00:45:47.090 --> 00:45:52.070
The work that's going on here,
it's just not for us today,

00:45:52.070 --> 00:45:54.510
it's for our future generations.

00:45:54.510 --> 00:45:56.560
There's nothing more important than that.

00:45:58.830 --> 00:46:01.080
- I think it's really
important that folks understand

00:46:01.080 --> 00:46:05.100
what we have and what's
at risk of being lost,

00:46:05.100 --> 00:46:07.940
and the role that every
person in this watershed,

00:46:07.940 --> 00:46:10.523
in the region, can play
in protecting that.

00:46:11.720 --> 00:46:13.530
Once you lose those things,

00:46:13.530 --> 00:46:16.410
it's really, really hard to get that back.

00:46:16.410 --> 00:46:19.010
So while you have it, you
should work to protect it.

00:46:22.650 --> 00:46:25.480
As bad as things are, the
strength of our partnership

00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:27.070
we're able to move quickly.

00:46:27.070 --> 00:46:29.880
We have an egg box, we have eggs in hand

00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:31.240
that we can put in that egg box,

00:46:31.240 --> 00:46:34.020
and that, we think, it's
going to be an important start

00:46:34.020 --> 00:46:37.203
to having fish back on
this stream in the future.

00:46:38.164 --> 00:46:41.081
(thoughtful music)

00:46:44.700 --> 00:46:46.960
- This is gonna be a
tough one for these fish

00:46:46.960 --> 00:46:50.770
to bounce back from,
but what energizes me,

00:46:50.770 --> 00:46:54.800
is that you've got folks at
every level, working together

00:46:54.800 --> 00:46:56.540
to make this happen.

00:46:56.540 --> 00:46:58.043
It's pretty incredible.

00:46:58.043 --> 00:47:00.960
(thoughtful music)

00:47:09.763 --> 00:47:12.050
- Hello, hello!
- Hello!

00:47:12.050 --> 00:47:13.241
How are you doing?

00:47:13.241 --> 00:47:14.362
- Very good, so good to see you!

00:47:14.362 --> 00:47:16.610
- Good to see you.

00:47:16.610 --> 00:47:19.000
- The babies!
- Yes.

00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:19.833
- Hi there.

00:47:19.833 --> 00:47:21.080
- Is everybody else down here?

00:47:21.080 --> 00:47:22.490
- Yep, they're all
milling around out there.

00:47:22.490 --> 00:47:23.513
- Okay.

00:47:23.513 --> 00:47:26.930
- Say, you lined up the
sunlight right on the egg box.

00:47:26.930 --> 00:47:29.000
- You guys wanna see them
before we get under way?

00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:29.917
The babies.

00:47:30.975 --> 00:47:32.780
- Say hello.
- Oh, wow!

00:47:32.780 --> 00:47:34.770
- Do you see their little eye spots?

00:47:34.770 --> 00:47:38.310
The white line on the top is
actually their spinal cord.

00:47:38.310 --> 00:47:40.900
- Our story is kind of a story of hope,

00:47:40.900 --> 00:47:43.980
that community working together

00:47:43.980 --> 00:47:45.993
can really accomplish something special.

00:47:50.920 --> 00:47:53.110
- This is our remote stream incubator.

00:47:53.110 --> 00:47:55.370
Water travels up through the bottom,

00:47:55.370 --> 00:47:58.417
and then exits through this hole.

00:47:58.417 --> 00:48:01.500
And the way it's designed is
that once these fish hatch

00:48:01.500 --> 00:48:03.740
and are ready to leave for the stream,

00:48:03.740 --> 00:48:05.590
they can actually release themselves.

00:48:06.497 --> 00:48:10.700
- [Lois] It just feels good
to see people working together

00:48:10.700 --> 00:48:12.460
on something that's important.

00:48:12.460 --> 00:48:15.093
And it's a shared importance.

00:48:17.640 --> 00:48:21.163
That connection, everybody feels it.

00:48:22.640 --> 00:48:24.283
It's whether you honor it.

00:48:25.170 --> 00:48:27.543
How will you honor it in your life?

00:48:30.250 --> 00:48:31.083
- We'll pinch eggs.

00:48:31.083 --> 00:48:32.197
- Here, I'll go.

00:48:36.770 --> 00:48:40.250
- [McKenna] The work represents
the shared commitment

00:48:40.250 --> 00:48:42.963
to these locations and to the fish.

00:48:45.880 --> 00:48:48.713
It is that foundation for our future.

00:48:51.630 --> 00:48:54.770
We're at praying and thinking
about those generations

00:48:54.770 --> 00:48:55.713
still to come.

00:48:57.600 --> 00:48:59.893
If we're not to carry
that on, then who is?

00:49:01.690 --> 00:49:03.963
Every one of us needs
to carry that forward.

00:49:09.730 --> 00:49:12.873
It's time to rebuild those connections.

00:49:14.659 --> 00:49:18.492
(singing in foreign language)

00:50:30.496 --> 00:50:33.996
(purposeful guitar music)

00:53:46.567 --> 00:53:49.317
(water bubbling)