The Yakama Nation of Washington will release a few thousand sturgeon into the Columbia River basin next month, the fruits of the tribe's successful hatchery.

Biologist Donella Miller started the hatchery two years ago. The fish are important in tribal culture but this is the first time the tribe has started a program to restore them.

"Sturgeon have kind of taken the back burner to salmon all these years," Miller told The Yakima Herald-Republic. "There hasn't been much restoration efforts. I think if it weren't for the extended life cycle of them -- they can live a hundred years -- they'd be extinct on the Columbia River."

Miller visited other tribes in the Pacific Northwest to learn about their sturgeon restoration efforts.

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Fish biologist helps Yakamas create first sturgeon recovery program (The Yakima Herald-Republic 3/22)