treaty rights

After an extended — and unprecedented process — NOAA Fisheries has granted the Makah tribe’s request for a waiver under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The tribe hopes to exercise their treaty right to whaling next spring.

In 1974, Judge George H. Boldt handed down a landmark ruling affirming Indigenous fishing rights in Washington state. Here's how the Boldt decision came about and what it means today.

After decades of courtroom drama, a document leak and years of negotiation, federal officials agreed with six Northwest tribes to restore salmon, build-up clean energy and begin studying how to replace services the Lower Snake River dams provide.

In a strong sign that the U.S. will consider breaching four controversial dams on the Snake River, a leaked Biden administration document says the government is prepared to help build clean energy projects to replace the power generated by the dams.

More than 15 tribes joined together last week in Tulalip, Wash., to demand the federal government uphold their treaty obligations.

President Biden today directed federal agencies to restore healthy and abundant wild salmon populations to the Columbia River Basin. The presidential memorandum says tribal treaties need to be honored.

A final decision on the Makah whale hunt was expected from the head of NOAA Fisheries by the end of June. An administrative law judge recommended approval two years ago, but the agency has still not released its final environmental impact statement.

A long-awaited decision on the Makah tribe’s application to conduct a whale hunt will come within a year, according to federal regulators with NOAA Fisheries who issued a supplemental environmental impact statement on July 1. The supplemental EIS includes a new preferred alternative that the agency is recommending for approval.

A federal official has issued his recommendation regarding the Makah whale hunt. Judge George G. Jordan, administrative law judge with the U.S. Coast Guard, says he recommends granting the waiver the tribe has requested under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

166 years ago this past Friday, on Jan. 22, 1855, the Treaty of Point Elliott was signed in what is now Mukilteo, Washington. The document is the source…