The Yakama Nation of Washington is on a 30-year-plan to restore its wetlands.
The tribe started to lose its wetlands with the arrival of non-Indian farmers in the late 1800s. The creation of hydroelectric dams in the 1900s also contributed.
But the tribe is slowly restoring 21,000 acres of river and creek floodplain. With funding from the Bonneville Power Administration and other sources, the tribe is buying land to make way for native vegetation and wildlife.
"Even though we can't duplicate 150 years ago ... we're trying to fix it the best we can," Arlen Washines, a wildlife manager for the tribe, told The Yakima Herald-Republic.
Get the Story:Restoring nature (The Yakima Herald-Republic 8/30) $rl Yakama Nation Wildlife, Range, & Vegetation Program - http://www.ynwildlife.org
