The Yakama Nation of Washington credits a federal judge's ruling with an increase in spring salmon and steelhead runs.

The tribe fought for adequate water in the Yakima River basin. In 1980, Judge Justin Quackenbush helped devise a plan to regulate flows for fish and for farmers.

"If it weren't for Quackenbush, there wouldn't be any fish in the river," Mark Johnston, a biologist for the tribe, told The Yakima Herald-Republic.

Since the decision, salmon and steelhead runs have increased from 300 to more than 19,000.

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1980 ruling spawned a steady comeback of fish (The Yakima Herald-Republic 4/28)