In the late 1990s, the future of Okanagan salmon appeared bleak. Indigenous salmon populations had either been completely wiped out or were at alarmingly low levels. The loss of these salmon would have significant repercussions.

What led to this decline?
In the early 1900s, extensive flooding disrupted colonization efforts. To address this, the river was straightened, narrowed, and diked. A dam was constructed to regulate the flow from Okanagan Lake into the Okanagan River, altering the riverbed from gravel—ideal for salmon nests (redds)—to larger cobbles and sand. Essential habitats such as pools, riffles, eddies, and riparian zones were destroyed, resulting in a 50% reduction in the river’s length and the loss of 90% of riparian habitat.

With the river disconnected from its floodplain, it could no longer perform its ecological functions. The construction of McIntyre and Skaha Dams in the southern Okanagan further impeded salmon migration upstream. This transformed ecosystem could no longer sustain a large salmon population.

Restoring Salmonid Passage into kłusxnitk Okanagan Lake:

The main project goals are to enhance passage for indigenous salmonids throughout all migration periods, spanning from February to November, to ensure access to their historical spawning grounds. Additionally, the project aims to increase food security for all species, including humans, by fostering a sustainable and thriving ecosystem.

kł cp̓əlk̓ stim̓, cause to come back is an initiative to return salmon back to their waters, that were near the brink of extirpation. This has required tremendous effort. During 1996 ONA, with foresight, determination and resiliency, began years of advocacy, gathering partners and finding support, the end goal being to return the salmon to their historical territory. Over the last 20 + years, ONA has completed a 12-year Sockeye reintroduction program into Skaha Lake, which saw little impact on other species and completed about 50 habitat restoration and fish passage projects including building spawning beds, reconnecting the river with oxbows and side channels, modifications to McIntyre Dam (Oliver) and Skaha Dam (Okanagan Falls), increasing river bed diversity, and reconnecting former floodplains, all mitigating habitat lost during river channelization. To further assist rebuilding Okanagan salmonid populations, the ONA built a sockeye salmon conservation hatchery, kł cp̓əlk̓ stim̓, for release of fry into historical spawning areas.

Cultural Significance: 

For the Syilx Okanagan people, this project is much more than infrastructure; it is a cultural reconnection of siwɬkʷ, water and the tmixʷ all living things. To have salmon be able to freely make their way into kłusxnitkʷ   a reflection of deep responsibilities and relationships. Salmon, or ntytyix, are sacred to the Syilx people. They are considered relatives, not resources, and their return marks a powerful act of environmental and cultural healing.

The Bessette Creek is located in Lumby, BC and supports at-risk kisúʔ (Coho) ntityix (Chinook) populations. Bank erosion is a common problem in the watershed and contributes large amounts of sediment into the watercourse, which degrades downstream fish habitat. Furthermore, areas of erosion lack overhanging riparian shade cover which contributes to higher stream temperatures during the summer.

The Syilx territory has historically been maintained by cultural fire events. Active fire suppression tactics have led to vegetation ingrowth and extreme fuel loading throughout Syilx Territory. Combined with climate change, fire suppression has led to longer, more intense, and more destructive wildfire seasons and a less resilient forest ecosystem. A less resilient forest ecosystem degrades cultural, ecological and social values, increases threats to communities and infrastructure, and provides fewer natural resources, including timber supply.

The success of this project is the product of hard-earned relationships between local First Nations (PIB and ONA), local industry (Gorman’s), the Provincial Government and FESBC. It has successfully combined timber harvesting in the Timber Harvesting Land Base (THLB) with Syilx cultural-ecological restoration at a landscape level and has provided a template to model and improve on as the forestry sector, Indigenous rights and reconciliation and ecosystem stewardship continue to innovate.

Syilx Territory has historically been maintained by fire events. Since colonizaiton, active fire suppression tactics have led to vegetation ingrowth and extreme fuel loading throughout Syilx Territory. Combined with climate change, fire suppression has led to longer, more intense, and more destructive wildfire seasons and a less resilient forest ecosystem. A less resilient forest ecosystem degrades cultural, ecological and social values, increases threats to communities and infrastructure, and provides fewer natural resources, including timber supply.

This project is the product of hard-earned relationships between Okanagan Nation Alliance, Penticton Indian Band, local industry (Gorman’s), the BC Provincial Government and Forest Enhancement of BC (FESBC). It has successfully married timber harvesting in the THLB with cultural-ecological restoration at a landscape level, and has provided a template to model and improve on as the forestry sector, Indigenous rights and reconciliation and ecosystem stewardship continue to innovate.

The Okanagan Nation Alliance Natural Resource Department is pleased support the important role of Syilx (Okanagan) communities’ responsibility to re-establish prescribed fire on the Okanagan Landscape. Active fire suppression has led to extreme fuel loading and vegetation ingrowth throughout Syilx (Okanagan) Territory. Combined with climate change, fire suppression has led to longer, more intense, and more destructive wildfire seasons and a less resilient forest and grassland ecosystem. A less resilient ecosystem degrades cultural and social values, increases threats to communities and infrastructure and provides fewer natural resources.

Traditionally, the open forest and grassland ecosystems found in the Okanagan-Similkameen areas were maintained by low intensity, controlled burns, lit and managed by the Syilx (Okanagan) people. cikilax^wm is the word for traditional burning of the land for the health of our tmixʷ, which is our land and resources. In today’s climate, we also burn for the safety and security of our communities and the people who live on this landscape.

Syilx (Okanagan) communities will work to re-establish prescribed fire on the Okanagan landscape in Syilx (Okanagan) Territory. On April 25^th, the Penticton Indian Band successfully ignited the first prescribed burn through this program, enhancing important wildlife habitat and reducing the risk of fire to nearby communities in the Garnet Valley. Syilx communities have begun to put ‘good fire’ back on the landscape, thanks in part to support and collaboration from FESBC, the Ministry of FLNRORD and the BC Wildfire Service throughout 2016 and 2017.

In the fall of 2017, Syilx (Okanagan) communities worked together with the ONA Natural Resources Department to develop a project that will move Cikilax^wm back onto the landscape on a meaningful, Territory wide scale. The project has a number of 2018 objectives, including continued support for the Lower Similkameen Indian Band in the Ashnola Valley and Penticton Indian Band in the Garnet Valley. The project also supports the development of a Syilx (Okanagan) Prescribed Fire Working Group and a collaborative Okanagan Prescribed Fire Steering Committee. Over the 2018 season, the working group and committee will aim to develop phase 1 of a Syilx (Okanagan) prescribed fire framework, while continuing to support Syilx (Okanagan) communities in the development and implementation of priorities related to Cikilax^wm.

Project goals can be broken down into three categories:

• To establish a Syilx Cikilax^wm working group, and a collaborative Okanagan Prescribed Fire steering committee, led by Syilx communities.
• To support Syilx communities to develop and implement prescribed fire objectives and projects.
• To provide a platform for relationship building and meaningful, collectively developed landscape management objectives, specifically as they apply to the use of prescribed fire to protect and enhance values and resources.

“The reasons we used to be able to walk through these kinds of forests with just moccasins on is because we used to keep it so clean” –Pierre Kruger, speaking in the Garnet Valley in 2016 about the cleaning the forest using controlled fire.

The goal of this project is to redesign the current sediment basin to create fish passage year round and improve overall creek habitat. This project will also make the creek function more effectively, allow the Ministry to do their routine sediment extraction without disturbing fish passage, and provide a more natural and healthy ecosystem for the community to enjoy.

Ellis Creek sediment catchment basin, located near the creeks mouth is bordered on the downstream end by a rock weir that was constructed to retain transported sediment and prevent it from entering Okanagan River. The rock weir is not passable by fish species year round (Walsh et al., 2006). In addition, the ongoing process of sediment extraction over time negatively impacts the local environment and initiates extensive maintenance requirements. Modifying the sediment basin would rectify these issues and would open up 4 km of potential salmon spawning habitat in Ellis Creek (Walsh et al., 2006). This project was modeled after a similar project carried out on Shuttleworth Creek’s sediment basin in 2015. Construction works are completed; next steps include replanting vegetation in the spring and postconstruction monitoring to ensure that restoration is successful.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Riffle was built successfully
• Bypass system is functional
• Many cottonwoods and willows were salvaged
  before construction and replanted or staked along
  the bank of the basin
• No wildlife salvage was required
• There were no public safety concerns, despite the
  popularity of the area for walking
• Banks were graded and left rough and loose in
  anticipation of planting during the spring of 2019

The Okanagan Chinook Restoration Program is a long-term effort to restore Okanagan chinook salmon, which include sk’lwist (summer-run salmon) spawning in the mainstem Okanagan River and ntitiyx (spring-run salmon) spawning in its tributaries.

sk’lwist primarily have a four-to-five-year life cycle.  They return to the Okanagan River as adults in July/August and spawn in October in the mainstem of the river. These fry emerge in the following spring and usually leave the basin within 3-6 months, though some remain up to a year. They then migrate to the ocean for 1-3 years and return to spawn again. The scientific description of this life history is a 4sub1 life history (spends one year of its life in freshwater).

Spring Chinook primarily have a four-year life cycle.  They return to the Okanagan River as adults in May/June, and spawn in early September in the tributaries of the basin. These fry emerge in the following spring and typically spend one year in the tributary or mainstem river or lake of the basin.  They then migrate to the ocean for 1-2 years and then return.  The scientific description of this life history is a 4sub2 life history (spends two years of its life in freshwater).

ONA has been monitoring live adult chinook and carcasses for over 15 years to gather information on abundance, distribution and biological population characteristics. Conservation status assessments for Okanagan sk’lwist were completed in 2006 and 2016 in collaboration with our communities and the En’owkin Centre. sk’lwist were designated as Threatened in 2006 and re-assessed as Endangered in 2016. ONA’s Okanagan Chinook Recovery Action Plan (2016) outlines recovery goals and proposes specific actions to achieve those goals.

Beginning in June 2017, juvenile hatchery-reared sk’lwist have been released into the Okanagan River annually to rebuild the population. Releases have ranged from 3,400 – 22,000 chinook. The eggs were provided by Chief Joseph hatchery and reared at ONA’s kł cp̓əlk̓ stim̓ hatchery in Penticton. In 2020, we were able to collect eggs from Chinook spawning in the Okanagan River for the first time. Juvenile chinook may spend several months to up to two years in the Okanagan River and lakes before migrating out through the Columbia River to the ocean. A portion of our hatchery-reared chinook receive Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags that enable biologists to track their movement and survival from release to return as spawners. In addition, ONA is undertaking a juvenile chinook survival study to identify possible areas and causes of low survival, as well as extensive habitat inventories aimed at protecting existing and restoring additional nursery habitats for juvenile chinook.

Until recently, ntitiyx observations in the Okanagan were rare. The Upper Columbia ntitiyx are listed as endangered in the U.S., which makes it difficult to move hatchery fry or eyed eggs into Canada for recovery. Local abundances in the Canadian Okanagan are currently too low to collect broodstock in Canada. However, Colville Confederated Tribes have been releasing experimental hatchery Methow Spring Chinook at locations in the U.S. Okanagan River since 2013. As returns in the U.S. Okanagan River increase, we anticipate that spring chinook will move upstream (stray – they tend to wander) into the Canadian tributaries to slowly repopulate their former range.  There are about 3-5 suitable tributaries in the U.S. Okanagan and 20-25 suitable tributaries in the Canadian Okanagan. ntitiyx observations have increased in recent years and ONA and its communities have seen ntitiyx in tributaries as far north as Whiteman Creek at the north end of Okanagan Lake. We are collaborating with Colville Confederated Tribes and the U.S. Geological Survey to monitor Okanagan tributaries for ntitiyx presence using Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods. It is hoped in time ONA will be able to collect broodstock from those tributaries to begin local recovery.

Okanagan River channelization resulted in 50 % loss of length, 93 % loss of riparian habitat, and isolation from floodplains. The EPLL site is the only remaining portion of floodplain in snpintktn (Penticton) area restorable without major infrastructure changes.