Second annual Lamprey Celebration a hit

NIKA BARTOO-SMITH

OREGON CITY, Ore. – On a hot July day, Umatilla youth scrambled over the rocks at the base of Willamette Falls. There was thick moss, dry and scratchy like a Brillo pad, the smell of fish heavy in the air, and the sound of laughter carrying across the roar of the water as the kids harvested Pacific lamprey at the falls.

That there even was a harvest underscored work the Umatilla and other tribes have led to restore the eel-like fish’s population.

“This work we’re doing, it’s not for us,” Umatilla board member Corinne Sams said to the group of children circled around her. “It’s for your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren.”

Sams led the youth in song, honoring the lampreys’ gift of their lives, before the group began to search the base of the falls for pockets of lamprey to harvest.

A crew harvested approximately 200 lamprey in the morning before

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Merkley and Wyden secured investments for 22 community-initiated projects in an Interior spending bill, including $3 million for the CTUIR to install a wastewater treatment plant that will produce recycled water for non-potable uses. This localized treatment facility will produce water for irrigation needs, reducing the amount of groundwater that needs to be drawn from the community’s aquifers.

“The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are extremely grateful to Senators Merkley and Wyden for their support of this important water quality project. Increasing the water treatment capacity for the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Umatilla County will allow both to grow, expand housing opportunities and to do so in an ecologically renewable manner,” said Kat Brigham, CTUIR Board of Trustees Chair.

Another $2 million was included for the Wallowa Lake Irrigation District to continue its work with partners to create safe passage for fish listed under the Endangered Species Act. Funding will also be

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