Puyallup Tribe

The Puyallup Tribe lives in one of the first areas in Puget Sound that was settled by Euro-Americans. For years, they were unable to exercise their fishing rights, until the U.S. vs. Washington court decision, which allowed them access to the usual and accustomed areas.

Puyallup Tribe Area of Concern:

Timber harvest and high road density around the Puyallup River has created channel instability and resulted in high levels of sediment. Major concerns in the watershed are loss of access to spawning and rearing habitat, loss of floodplain processes, water quality, and alteration of flow regimes. The tribe has been working with Pierce County and the Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop recover plans for the watershed. Flow management and restoration of floodplain and estuary habitat are key priorities. Population growth and land-use regulations continue to jeopardize water quality and aquatic habitat, and the Washington Department of Ecology lists more than 60 miles of streams in the watershed as "impaired waters".

Natural Resource Management

  • For over 18 years, the Puyallup tribe has been releasing juvenile spring Chinook into ponds in the upper White River, where they can acclimatize. This spring, the state could not afford to clip the fins of young salmon (which aids in identification), so the tribe paid for the procedure. The juvenile salmon will contribute to the recovery of the endangered spring Chinook population in the White River. Returns have risen from six salmon in 1986 to an average population in the thousands.
  • The tribe’s elk study, completed in 2011, summarized nearly a decade of GPS and radio telemetry data. Increasing complaints about elk damage could be mitigated by giving the herd more space to roam, tribal biologists pointed out. The tribe plans to develop a holistic management approach for the South Mt. Rainier elk herd. A paper published during the study is available here.
  • The tribe reconnected Sha Dadx lake, an old oxbow lake, to the lower Puyallup river in 2008, and began monitoring coho in the reconnected wetland and main river in 2010. Coho stay in freshwater for a year, so quality habitat is crucial for their survival.

Map of Tribal Lands

Puyallup Tribe of Indians
3009 East Portland Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98404

Phone: (253) 573-7800

Puyallup Fisheries
6824 Pioneer Way West
Puyallup, WA 98371

Phone: (253) 845-9225
Fax: (253) 593-0103, (253) 573-7850

Tribal Chair: Herman Dillon, Sr.
Natural Resources Director: Bill Sullivan
Fisheries Director: Joe Anderson

Website: www.puyallup-tribe.com

Source: NWIFC