NWFE- Northwest Fisheries Enhancement

08/11/2026

🎣 COWLITZ RIVER UPDATE — It's been a minute, here's where things stand

A lot has moved since our last post. Quick rundown:

FERC/Docket P-2016: Our non-compliance complaint remains under formal review by FERC's Division of Hydropower Administration and Compliance (DHAC) out of Washington, DC. Tacoma Power filed a categorical denial in June, and we've since filed a formal reply addressing it point by point. The review process continues.

Congressional engagement: We've had substantive conversations with staff from both Washington U.S. Senators — Patty Murray's office (locally and in D.C.) and Maria Cantwell's office — as well as Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez's office, her district staff here and her D.C. team. State Senator John Braun's office has also engaged directly, writing to FERC's Chairman requesting investigation and enforcement. Grateful for every office taking the time to listen.

Tacoma Public Utilities Board: Public comments were delivered at the most recent TPU Board meeting, with Randy LeDuc, Chris Vandenberg, and Wade Coates all submitting testimony alongside ours. Afterward we had the chance to speak directly with TPU Director Jackie Flowers, Tacoma Power GM Chris Robinson, and Natural Resources Director Matt Bleich. Worth noting — they thanked us more than once for bringing these issues forward and for our willingness to keep commenting. We appreciate that, and we hope it translates into real engagement with the concerns themselves.

Water quality: We've been working with the WA Department of Ecology on two fronts — investigating hatchery effluent and "attraction water" discharge into the river, and flagging unusual algae/growth we and other anglers have observed coating rocks on the riverbed this year. Timing matters here: the hatcheries' discharge permits (NPDES) are up for renewal this year, so now's the moment for these concerns to be on the record.

Fisheries Technical Committee: Raised concerns again at FTC about low Springer catches — this year and in years past — a pattern we and other anglers have been flagging for a long time without much movement. To be candid, our confidence in the FTC as a body that actually drives change has worn thin over the years of raising the same issues without action. We keep showing up and commenting anyway, because it builds the record and because these fish are worth the effort — but we're not going to pretend the process has been working.

You can help: A number of concerned community members have already filed public comments with FERC on this docket — and we need more. If you fish this river, guide on it, or just care about it, your comment matters and becomes part of the official record. You can file one directly at elibrary.ferc.gov, referencing Docket P-2016.

Curious how everyone's doing: We're hearing mixed reports on Summer Run Steelhead this season — some of you struggling to find fish, others doing well. What's your report from the river? Drop it in the comments, we'd love to hear how it's going for you.

We've also had some outside legal interest reach out to us as this has progressed — nothing to report yet, just something we're keeping in mind as options going forward.

More to come as DHAC's review progresses. Thanks for sticking with us — the Cowlitz deserves better.

07/02/2026

🚨 FERC wants to hear from YOU about the Cowlitz River — this actually matters 🚨
If you've fished the Cowlitz River, watched the runs decline, or just care about this river — here's your chance to be heard.
We've filed formal complaints against Tacoma Power with FERC (their federal regulator) and NOAA. FERC is now asking for public comments, and small communities like ours don't usually get much attention against a big city like Tacoma... UNLESS enough of us show up on the record.
Takes 5 minutes:
👉 Post your comment here: https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx
(quick registration, then just write what you've seen/experienced)
Need help writing it? Use AI — ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Grok, whatever you've got. Seriously, it helps.
Kurt Wallace and family posted theirs on 6/30 and it was live on FERC's site the same day. We've already got hundreds of comments and shares on this issue — let's keep it going. 💪
Want to see the actual complaints? Search docket P-2016 here: https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search
Tips for writing a strong comment: https://www.ferc.gov/submitting-effective-comments
Every voice on this record helps. Let's make it count. 🎣

Public comments are critical to FERC’s decision-making process. Public comments can have specific to far-reaching impacts on individuals, communities, industries, and the environment. Through comments, the public provides Commission staff information that adds important context, detail, or data th...

07/02/2026

🚨 FERC wants to hear from YOU about the Cowlitz River — this actually matters 🚨
If you've fished the Cowlitz, watched the runs decline, or just care about this river — here's your chance to be heard.
We've filed formal complaints against Tacoma Power with FERC (their federal regulator) and NOAA. FERC is now asking for public comments, and small communities like ours don't usually get much attention against a big city like Tacoma... UNLESS enough of us show up on the record.
Takes 5 minutes:
👉 Post your comment here: https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx
(quick registration, then just write what you've seen/experienced)
Need help writing it? Use AI — ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Grok, whatever you've got. Seriously, it helps.
Kurt Wallace and family posted theirs on 6/30 and it was live on FERC's site the same day. We've already got hundreds of comments and shares on this issue — let's keep it going. 💪
Want to see the actual complaints? Search docket P-2016 here: https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search
Tips for writing a strong comment: https://www.ferc.gov/submitting-effective-comments
Every voice on this record helps. Let's make it count. 🎣

Public comments are critical to FERC’s decision-making process. Public comments can have specific to far-reaching impacts on individuals, communities, industries, and the environment. Through comments, the public provides Commission staff information that adds important context, detail, or data th...

06/23/2026

COWLITZ RIVER ANGLERS — WE NEED YOUR HELP AND YOUR STORIES

If you've fished the Cowlitz in recent years, you already know the fishing has been tough. This spring's Chinook season said it all — 1,064 anglers on the water in May, total catch for the entire month: 32 fish. Meanwhile the hatchery separator was counting hundreds of adults per week.

Where are the fish going?

We've been asking that question for years. Now we're investigating it formally.

Yesterday, Northwest Fisheries Enhancement Group filed Amendment No. 13 to our formal FERC complaint against Tacoma Power (Docket P-2016), along with Public Records Act requests to both Tacoma Power and WDFW. The subject: attraction water.

Here's the short version of what we found in Tacoma Power's own FERC-filed engineering documents:

The Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery fish ladder uses hatchery raceway drain water — water that carries the chemical scent of hatchery fish — deliberately mixed into the ladder flow to draw adult fish into the hatchery. Tacoma Power's own 2005 remodel plan states that "at all times, approximately half of the hatchery drain water discharges above the Barrier Dam to maintain desired fish ladder attraction." Their 2006 trap and haul plan describes an adjustable system specifically run at maximum settings when fish counts are low — to pull in as many fish as possible.

Every major dam on the Columbia River uses attraction water to guide fish to their ladders. None of them mix hatchery-scented effluent into that flow. Washington state law actually prohibits fish ladder water supplies that "could confuse the homing instinct of fish." Nobody has ever checked whether this practice violates that law. Nobody has ever studied whether it's pulling fish past where you're fishing and straight into the hatchery.

We think it is. And we think it's been happening across all five runs — spring Chinook, fall Chinook, winter steelhead, summer steelhead, and coho — for at least 16 years since the 2010 remodel.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:

— Have you noticed the bite going dead on the Cowlitz even when you know fish are in the system?
— Have you ever watched fish stacking up near the Barrier Dam and then disappearing?
— Have you ever noticed fishing improving or declining around the same time hatchery operations change?
— Do you have any firsthand knowledge — as an angler, a guide, a former hatchery worker, or anyone with inside knowledge of how the hatchery manages its water — about attraction water operations, raceway sweeps, or how the system actually works day to day?

Any information helps. You can comment here, send us a message, or email Larry Pryor directly at [email protected].

If you want to add your voice to the federal record, you can file a public comment directly with FERC at no cost — go to elibrary.ferc.gov, search docket P-2016, and click "Add Comment." Your fishing experience on the Cowlitz is exactly the kind of public input FERC needs to hear.

The Cowlitz used to be one of the best fisheries in the Pacific Northwest. We're fighting to get it back — and we need your help to do it.

— Larry Pryor, Chairman
Northwest Fisheries Enhancement Group
www.nwfe.org | [email protected]

To Create a Sustainable Culture of Salmon Fisheries Enhancement, Fishing Opportunities and a Positive Economic and Enviromental Impact

06/13/2026

UPDATE: FERC HAS FORMALLY OPENED A COMPLIANCE REVIEW
Big news for everyone following the Cowlitz River fisheries situation.
On June 11, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sent formal written confirmation that they are treating our complaint — filed under FERC Docket No. P-2016 — as a non-compliance allegation against Tacoma Power, and that FERC's Division of Hydropower Administration and Compliance is now formally reviewing it.
In FERC's own words: "We will review the matter and request additional information from you or the licensee, if necessary, and provide a written response concerning our findings regarding the allegations."
This is the same FERC division (Aquatic Resources Branch) that wrote to Tacoma Power back in November 2025 raising concerns. Now they have twelve formal amendments and an updated summary — including the May 2026 data showing 1,064 anglers and 32 Chinook in peak springer season — and have committed in writing to investigate and issue findings.
This doesn't mean the fight is over. FERC hasn't made any findings yet, and there's no set timeline. But it means the federal record — built entirely from Tacoma Power's own data and WDFW's own biologists — has been formally received, formally referred to the right office, and formally opened for review. That's not nothing. That's the system responding to a documented record.
📋 The complete record remains public: elibrary.ferc.gov → search P-2016
👍 If you've experienced the decline of this fishery, your voice still matters. File an e-comment at the link above — every comment becomes part of the permanent federal record.
— Larry Pryor, NWFEG

06/09/2026

SOMETHING'S WRONG ON THE COWLITZ RIVER. Formal FERC filed Complaints of Non-Compliance City of Tacoma,- The peak of springer season on one of Washington's most storied salmon rivers.. In April, May & June of 2026, of 2,255 anglers/rods, 123 Chinook kept, 56 Jacks. THAT's IT? Official WDFW creel survey data. The months when the Cowlitz River springer run is supposed to be at its peak — when guides should be booked solid, when boats should be lined up at the launches, when the Cowlitz should be doing what it once did better than almost any river in the Pacific Northwest. 2,255 anglers/rods. 123 Chinook. , May 2026 had 675 Creel interviews with just 31 Adults Spring Chinook Kept. WDFW's own numbers. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ HERE'S WHAT MAKES THIS WORSE. The hatchery is reporting returns. If you look at the official escapement reports, fish are returning to the Cowlitz hatchery, 5,623 adult & 2,697 jacks. So why can't 2,255 anglers/rods in the peak of springer season catch more than 123 Chinook between them? We know the answers. And they are all documented in formal federal complaints now pending before FERC. The Coho won't bite — WDFW's own biologists documented 6-12% harvest rates for 9 straight years. Fish are present. They won't take a hook. The jacks come back instead of adults — hatchery Spring Chinook jack rates hit 81% in some years. Small fish that count in the hatchery numbers. The majority of "spring" Chinook return AFTER springer season — in 2020, only 19% of the annual total returned by end of May. Tacoma counts fish through October and calls it a successful spring program. They're managing for pounds released, not for fish you can catch. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ THE COWLITZ WAS ONCE ONE OF THE GREAT RIVERS. Not long ago, the Cowlitz was a premier salmon and steelhead destination in the Pacific Northwest. Anglers came from across Washington and Oregon for legendary springer runs. Guides were booked weeks out. Lewis County businesses counted on it. The Cowlitz was mentioned in the same breath as the Hoh, the Skykomish, the Eel. Now 1,064 checked people fish it for an entire month during peak springer season and take home 32 Chinook between them. Tacoma Power spent $13,411,157 on Cowlitz fisheries in 2024. $6,147,423. of that to WDFW. That's $36,743 every single day. These are numbers reported directly from Tacoma staff and WDFW's own biologists who presented the numbers at Tacoma Power's own Annual Program Review. Something is very, very wrong. We Should be expecting more!!!━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ WHAT'S BEING DONE ABOUT IT. Formal federal complaints — three original complaints and twelve amendments — are now permanently in the federal record at FERC, Docket No. P-2016. Every complaint is documented with Tacoma Power's own records and WDFW's own data. These are not angry fishermen making accusations. This is the City of Tacoma's and WDFW's own data documenting their own failure. Both Washington State senators, multiple Members of Congress, NOAA Fisheries, the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

Bonneville Power Administration, the Tacoma Mayor and City Council, and Washington State legislators are formally engaged. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ IF THIS MATTERS TO YOU: LIKE AND SHARE THIS POST, Comment, 2,255 people fished the Cowlitz in April, May & June and took home 123 adult Sprin Chinook. Every person who sees this post should know that. Share it to every fishing group, guide page, and outdoor community you know. COMMENT BELOW Were you one of those 2,255 anglers? Did you fish the Cowlitz this spring? What did you see? Your experience on the water belongs in the federal record. FILE AN e-COMMENT WITH FERC (5 minutes) ▸ Go to: elibrary.ferc.gov

▸ Search: P-2016 ▸ Click: Add Comment ▸ Write what you've experienced on the Cowlitz No lawyer needed. No technical knowledge required. Just your story. CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS ▸ Senator Cantwell: [email protected] | (202) 224-3441 ▸ Senator Murray: [email protected] | (202) 224-2621 ▸ Find your US rep: house.gov/representatives/find

▸ Find your WA legislators: app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder

Tell them: "2,255 anglers on the Cowlitz in April, May & June 2026. just 123 Chinook. Tacoma Power spent $13.4 million. $6,109,424 of that to WDFW in 2024. Something is wrong!!!

The Legislature website will be unavailable intermittently this Saturday, June 6th, from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM during scheduled server maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience. 

06/07/2026

SOMETHING'S WRONG ON THE COWLITZ RIVER. 1,064 anglers/rods. One entire month. The peak of springer season on one of Washington's most storied salmon rivers. 32 Chinook kept. 8 jacks. That's it. May 2026. Official WDFW creel survey data. The month when the Cowlitz River springer run is supposed to be at its peak — when guides should be booked solid, when boats should be lined up at the launches, when the Cowlitz should be doing what it once did better than almost any river in the Pacific Northwest. 1,064 anglers/rods. 32 Chinook. WDFW's own numbers. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ HERE'S WHAT MAKES THIS WORSE. The hatchery is reporting returns. If you look at the official escapement reports, fish are returning to the Cowlitz hatchery. So why can't 1,064 anglers/rods in the peak of springer season catch more than 32 Chinook between them? We know the answers. And they are all documented in formal federal complaints now pending before FERC. The Coho won't bite — WDFW's own biologists documented 6-12% harvest rates for 9 straight years. Fish are present. They won't take a hook. The jacks come back instead of adults — hatchery Spring Chinook jack rates hit 81% in some years. Small fish that count in the hatchery numbers. The majority of "spring" Chinook return AFTER springer season — in 2020, only 19% of the annual total returned by end of May. Tacoma counts fish through October and calls it a successful spring program. They're managing for pounds released, not for fish you can catch. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ THE COWLITZ WAS ONCE ONE OF THE GREAT RIVERS. Not long ago, the Cowlitz was a premier salmon and steelhead destination in the Pacific Northwest. Anglers came from across Washington and Oregon for legendary springer runs. Guides were booked weeks out. Lewis County businesses counted on it. The Cowlitz was mentioned in the same breath as the Hoh, the Skykomish, the Eel. Now 1,064 checked people fish it for an entire month during peak springer season and take home 32 Chinook between them. Tacoma Power spent $13,411,157 on Cowlitz fisheries in 2024. $6,147,423. of that to WDFW. That's $36,743 every single day. These are numbers reported directly from Tacoma staff and WDFW's own biologists who presented the numbers at Tacoma Power's own Annual Program Review. Something is very, very wrong. We Should be expecting more!!!━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ WHAT'S BEING DONE ABOUT IT. Formal federal complaints — three original complaints and twelve amendments — are now permanently in the federal record at FERC, Docket No. P-2016. Every complaint is documented with Tacoma Power's own records and WDFW's own data. These are not angry fishermen making accusations. This is the City of Tacoma's and WDFW's own data documenting their own failure. Both Washington State senators, multiple Members of Congress, NOAA Fisheries, the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Bonneville Power Administration, the Tacoma Mayor and City Council, and Washington State legislators are formally engaged. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 👍 IF THIS MATTERS TO YOU: 1️⃣ LIKE AND SHARE THIS POST, Comment, 1,064 people fished the Cowlitz in May and took home 32 Chinook. Every person who sees this post should know that. Share it to every fishing group, guide page, and outdoor community you know. 2️⃣ COMMENT BELOW Were you one of those 1,064 anglers? Did you fish the Cowlitz this spring? What did you see? Your experience on the water belongs in the federal record. 3️⃣ FILE AN e-COMMENT WITH FERC (5 minutes) ▸ Go to: elibrary.ferc.gov ▸ Search: P-2016 ▸ Click: Add Comment ▸ Write what you've experienced on the Cowlitz No lawyer needed. No technical knowledge required. Just your story. 4️⃣ CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS ▸ Senator Cantwell: [email protected] | (202) 224-3441 ▸ Senator Murray: [email protected] | (202) 224-2621 ▸ Find your US rep: house.gov/representatives/find ▸ Find your WA legislators: app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder Tell them: "1,064 anglers on the Cowlitz in May 2026. 32 Chinook. Tacoma Power spent $13.4 million. $6,109,424 of that to WDFW in 2024. Something is wrong!!!

Not sure of your congressional district or who your member is? This service will assist you by matching your ZIP code to your congressional district, with links to your member's website and contact page. Please review the frequently asked questions if you have problems using this service. Enter your...

02/20/2026

JOIN US FOR STEELHEAD SPAWNING!
Dworshak crews will be spawning big, BIG b-run Steelhead on tuesday, February 24! Starting around 9am, you can watch from the comfort of our indoor viewing balcony! ...also feel free to walk around the facility to see the Coho, Chinook and Steelhead smolts outside as they prepare for April release into the river! Dworshak Dam - WallaWallaUSACE Nez Perce Tribe Department of Fisheries Resources Management

02/20/2026