Post by: bigtex on October 18, 2024, 10:33:04 AM
By Andy Walgamott October 17, 2024
A public boat launch on the lower Snoqualmie River that’s provided access to the upper Snohomish and its popular coho and pink salmon fisheries for decades may be acquired by the Tulalip Tribes in the near future, a move that will leave anglers anxious about continued use of the site.
WDFW has been trying to acquire the 1.78-acre launch and parking area located a couple hundred yards from its Crescent Lake Unit of the Snoqualmie Wildlife Area since 2018, when its donation to the agency was supported by DOC. And last year, WDFW received the green light from the Fish and Wildlife Commission to proceed on that front.
That, however, was unable to be acted on this year due to “administrative delays” at WDFW that involved consultation with area tribes and neighboring landowners.
Then, last month, officials at the agency’s North Sound Region office in Mill Creek were informed that the Tulalip Tribes were proceeding with acquiring High Bridge.
According to WDFW, the transfer is currently under consideration by the tribal council and afterwards it will be reviewed by DOC and the state Attorney General’s Office for final approval.
In May, when rumors of a sale came to this reporter’s attention, DOC denied it was being sold, but subsequently acknowledged, “DOC is in the process of transferring the property, but we are not at liberty to discuss the transfer until it is complete.”
DOC spokesman Chris Wright reiterated that this afternoon.
Snohomish County Assessor records today value the parcel at $10,700. WDFW records show that on September 13, 1954, the Snohomish County Commission granted the old Department of Game a special use permit there “for the purpose of parking fishermen’s cars and launching boats, and access to the park area.” At some point the land shifted hands from the county to DOC, with whom WDFW has had a subsequent access agreement.
Fast forward to the 2000s and the Tulalip Tribes have since acquired several adjacent DOC properties informally known as the Prison Farm and which once hosted public duck hunting but are now home to Qualco Energy, which uses cow poop to generate electricity. Qualco and its Anglicized spelling Tualco are Lushootseed for “meeting place of two rivers,” the Snoqualmie and nearby Skykomish, which form the Snohomish.
Perhaps still stinging from lost fishing access on the Skokomish and a failed bid to put a new single-lane concrete ramp in at Point No Point, WDFW states that it is “disappointed” not to be able to acquire High Bridge from DOC but says it has begun talks with the Tulalips to preserve public fishing and boating access there.
That’s the firm hope of Gabe Miller, a fishing tackle buyer at Farwest Sports, which includes Outdoor Emporium in Seattle and Sportco in Fife.
“The High Bridge ramp is a very important access point that the recreational fishing community uses during the fall salmon season,” Miller said. “My hope is that the recreational fishing and boating community can partner with the tribe to ensure access remains open. With the majority of the coho opportunity occurring in the upper Snohomish, losing access to that ramp would be a major blow to anglers who have already seen dramatic fishing reductions due to the need to meet conservation objectives in the Snohomish Basin.”
Snohomish coho were declared overfished in 2018 by federal overseers, requiring a rebuilding plan and fishery restrictions, and the species has since recovered. However, the past two springs and summers have seen major closures and sharply limited opportunities to fish for otherwise plentiful hatchery summer Chinook, as well as coho, pink salmon and hatchery summer steelhead, up and down the system due to very low expected wild king returns, primarily in the Snoqualmie but also the Skykomish.
Still, High Bridge is unique because it provides those in smaller, lower powered boats access to the upper Snohomish salmon fishery, which remains open through Halloween this season.
Other nearby WDFW ramps include the rough Tualco put-in 2.5 miles up the Skykomish and the better Lewis Street launch 4 miles upstream at Monroe, both better suited to drift boats if one is continuing down to the Snohomish and the city of Snohomish’s new ramp 8 miles downstream from the confluence at the Pilchuck, which is good for larger sleds that can push through the head of tidewater at Douglas Bar to Crabb Bar and the waters above and below Highway 522.
WDFW says that in the event the Tulalip Tribes decide against acquiring High Bridge, it is still interested in the parcel for public access.
From my perspective, I’d strongly agree with Miller and WDFW that hopefully something can be worked out to continue public access to High Bridge if DOC transfers it to the Tulalips. There’s a lot of really good synergy around fish and wildlife issues between tribal and nontribal fishermen these days, including against Fish and Wildlife Commission overreach. It’s a notably different environment than days of yore and the Fish Wars, Boldt and all that, so I’ve been watching this situation on the banks of the lower Snoqualmie anxiously. Here’s to a win that works the whole way around.
https://nwsportsmanmag.com/lower-snoqualmie-boat-launch-may-be-acquired-from-state-by-tulalip-tribes/
Post by: pianoman9701 on October 18, 2024, 12:44:06 PM
Post by: bigtex on October 18, 2024, 01:21:40 PM
Seems strange that DOC held onto management of that parcel after the prison farm was closed. And how many years has the DFW had to procure it? That would be a big kick in the teeth to fisherman to lose that ramp. Let's hope the Tulalips will cooperate with the fishing public.DOC holding on to it doesn't seem that strange. You had several parcels owned by DOC for the farm and the one parcel for the boat launch. They closed the farm so they got rid of the farm pieces only. I think one of the biggest failures is that in 70 years WDFW couldn't have approached DOC to just transfer the launch parcel over to WDFW?
I think this should be a wakeup call for WDFW and sportsmen. WDFW manages a ton of land that is actually owned by other state/federal agencies, you don't know it until you look at things like OnX or WDFW management plans. The majority of WDFW Wildlife Areas in the Columbia Basin are actually US Bureau of Reclamation lands which have been managed by WDFW since the 50s. Basically BOR has the deed to the land but allows WDFW to manage it under a management agreement. What if one day BOR, or Congress said "hey lets transfer all those lands to the Yakama Tribe?"
Acre by acre tribes are buying up land in this state, and good for them, if I had their money I would too. The state (or feds) doesn't have the land purchasing revenue stream like the tribes do. There are some people who think the state/federal government shouldn't be buying more lands, well if govt doesn't buy it there is a good chance a tribe will, and lets face it once a tribe buys it that land will never be sold again.
Post by: pianoman9701 on October 18, 2024, 02:19:26 PM
Post by: bigtex on October 18, 2024, 02:25:24 PM
70 years. OMG! Thanks for the detailed explanation, BT. Appreciated, as always. :tup:I think it comes down to complacency. When WDFW was making all of these agreements in the 50s and 60s to manage other agencies lands they wouldn't have even thought that a tribe would one day take over the lands, so why not just manage it under this sort of agreement. Most probably didn't even think that in the 90s. But we're in a different world now, tribes have the $$ and they're not afraid to use it.
Post by: Katmai Guy on October 18, 2024, 06:00:57 PM
Post by: Elkaholic daWg on October 20, 2024, 07:27:29 AM
Sportsmen F'd again!When Bureaucrats rule.....YES!