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In this Issue
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Howdy Beer is Coming Back at Single Hill Brewing
- 2026 Careers In Conservation Summer Program in the Books
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Let 'Em Pass by NOT Building Rock Dams
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Meet the Bull Trout Task Force Summer Crew
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Project In Focus - Mercer Creek
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Mid-Columbia Fisheries received WDFW Conservation Award
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Mid-Columbia Fisheries' Board on Walkabout!
- Ways YOU can help Mid-Columbia Fisheries
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Howdy Beer Makes a Comeback at Single Hill in August
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It's back by popular demand! The Howdy Beer, brewed by Single Hill in Yakima, celebrates the fish and the river community that calls our rivers home!
This is one of Single Hill's “Our Beer Grows Community” beers, with 10% of the sales of this beer donated to Mid-Columbia Fisheries. We’ll be celebrating the release in August - details to come.
| | | 2026 Careers in Conservation Summer Program in the Books! | | |
Now that our team has finally come up for air after another remarkable summer season, we want to wrap our arms around everyone who made this year's Careers in Conservation Summer Program possible. From the bottom of our hearts — thank you!
What began as a graduating class of four in 2022 has blossomed into 43 scholars drawn from six school districts supported by the Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center (YV-TECH) across the Yakima Basin in 2026.
Watching these young people find their footing in the field is a joy every single year, and this program is truly transformational for the students it serves — so much so that we had the privilege of hiring two of its graduates onto the MCF team last summer.
None of this magic happens without the partners who share their knowledge and pour their time into these students. Our deepest thanks to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Yakama Nation, Washington Department of Natural Resources, the Yakima Basin Environmental Education Program, the Benton Conservation District, the Teanaway Community Forest Advisory Committee, and our own Mid-Columbia staff for hosting students in the field. And to the Seattle Foundation — representing a generous private donor whose last-minute support let us move forward this year — we are more grateful than words can hold.
The real reward is in the students' own words. As one Yakima cohort scholar reflected:
"I got out of my shell and made new friends and collaborated with others... I also learned restoration techniques that are important for salmon habitat and how one small change could have a huge impact on salmon." A Toppenish scholar shared that the program "gave me an opportunity to be outside with people within my age group who all share common goals."
Moments like these are exactly why we do this work.
We are especially grateful and proud to partner with the Pacific Education Institute (PEI). We are one strong thread in PEI's statewide Youth Engaged in Sustainable Systems (YESS program), standing shoulder-to-shoulder with partners who share our mission.
And already, with plenty of excitement, we're planning for 2027.
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| The Dangers of Rock Dams - Let 'Em Pass | | |
On Apr 8, 2026, the Washington State Department of Ecology declared a drought for the fourth consecutive year in the Yakima Basin. A combination of low snowpack and consecutive years of precipitation deficit has left our streams and rivers highly vulnerable to rising temperatures and drying up.
This serves as our annual reminder to recreationists to treat the waterways shared by fish and humans with respect.
While gathering rocks to construct small dams might seem like a fun way to cool off on a hot afternoon, these structures block fish migration and increase local water temperatures. A single dam might seem harmless, but when hundreds of visitors build and leave them behind, the river becomes a challenging obstacle course for fish.
This summer, please leave no trace. You can fully enjoy our rivers and streams without impacting critical fish habitats.
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On July 5th, our Forest Outreach Crew removed this rock dam from the Teanaway River. By the following weekend — July 11th — someone had rebuilt it in the same spot, spanning the full channel again, so we took it out a second time. Dams like this are complete passage barriers for juvenile salmon and steelhead.
Thanks to the Western Native Trout Initiative for funding our new signs visible in the following picture of the Bull Trout Task Force.
| | Meet the 2026 Bull Trout Task Force Team | | |
Bull trout are one of the Pacific Northwest's most sensitive native fish — a cold-water char that needs clean, cold, connected habitat to survive, and a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. That makes them both a signal of watershed health and a recovery priority across our region.
In the Yakima basin, the Bull Trout Task Force is Mid-Columbia Fisheries’ seasonal field program dedicated to supporting bull trout recovery. Each season, our crew restores fish passage, educates river users and anglers, and collects important data, while giving early-career conservationists a place to grow real skills in the field.
Welcoming our 2026 team from above left:
- Kaila Akina — third season
- Olivia Tyrnauer —third season
- Hannah Campbell — second season
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Ainsley McGregor — first season
We are thrilled to have this crew carrying the work forward — protecting one of our region's most vulnerable native fish and growing the next generation of people who will keep that work going.
| | Project In Focus:
Mercer Creek | | |
A Milestone on Mercer Creek.
The time has finally come for the removal of a dilapidated house along the left bank of Mercer Creek in Ellensburg! After careful planning, permitting, and budgeting, Mid-Columbia Fisheries has removed the old house that was harming water quality and habitat, and contributing to flooding.
This project offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate how urban riparian buffers can enhance a property's aesthetics while protecting water quality and, most importantly, fish and wildlife habitat. So far, we have removed the house and two large crack willow trees from the left bank. We also completed site preparation and cleanup along 170 feet of creek, readying the area for 100 native trees and shrubs that will further enhance the habitat. Planting will begin soon.
A million thanks to our landowner partner for their vision and collaboration, and for the WA Department of Ecology for funding this work.
Stay tuned for more updates, and enjoy watching this site evolve!
| | Mid-Columbia Fisheries Receives
Washington Fish and Wildlife Conservation Award | |
| From Left: WDFW Region 3 Fish Program Manager Trevor Hutton, WDFW Region 3 Director Mike Livingston, Chris Perra of the Yakama Nation Fisheries Program, Outreach and Communications Director Merritt Mitchell, WDFW Lead Planner Solar & Wind Energy Mike Ritter, WDFW Habitat Biologist Troy Maikis, WDFW Communications Lead Jennifer Johnson, US Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District Planner & Project Manager Kathryn Herzog, US Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District Chief of Planning Cindy Boen, and WDFW Deputy Director Amy Windrope. | | |
Mid-Columbia Fisheries was honored to have received a Conservation Award from the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) in recognition of our role on the core team that completed the removal of the Bateman Island Causeway this year.
Constructed between 1939 and 1940, the causeway obstructed flow around the south side of Bateman Island at the mouth of the Yakima River, converting a dynamic river channel into a stagnant backwater. Summer water temperatures in the impounded area routinely exceeded 77°F, well above the threshold that migrating adult salmon and steelhead can tolerate, and in some years the resulting thermal barrier proved lethal. The same conditions favored non-native predators — smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye, and catfish — that fed heavily on juvenile salmonids moving downstream each spring.
With the causeway removed, the river has begun to reoccupy its historical channel. According to NOAA Fisheries, reconnection is expected to improve access to more than 1,500 miles of tributary spawning and rearing habitat and 214 miles of mainstem spawning habitat in the Yakima River, to extend the number of weeks each summer when salmon can safely migrate upstream, and to reduce predation on migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead by approximately 30 percent. Removal is also anticipated to diminish toxic algal blooms, invasive vegetation, and mosquito populations that have affected both fish and public health.
Our appreciation goes to our Outreach and Communications Director, Merritt Mitchell, for her work on this project. Across a decades-long process involving tribal, federal, and state partners, Merritt adeptly kept team members moving in the same direction toward shared project goals — a contribution central to the outcome we celebrate today. This achievement also reflects the sustained commitment of many organizations. We are grateful to the Yakama Nation, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA Fisheries, Washington Department of Ecology, the partners of Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, and the numerous community partners and organizations who remained engaged year after year.
We appreciate this recognition and are thankful, above all, that adult salmon and steelhead returning to the Yakima Basin now have a clearer path to their spawning grounds.
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| Aerial image of the now owned Yakima Delta Courtesy of Michael David Bushman, Yakama Nation Fisheries | | | |
At the end of June, our Board of Directors spent a day in the Wind River watershed touring restoration projects and learning about ongoing conservation efforts. They were joined by two former board members, making it a wonderful opportunity to reflect on past accomplishments while seeing current projects in action.
The tour began with a visit to the U.S. Forest Service's side channel restoration project on the Wind River downstream of Beaver Campground. This project is improving rearing and refuge habitat, and is supported by a Salmon Recovery Funding Board grant held by Mid-Columbia Fisheries (MCF).
The group visited the Hemlock Dam removal site on Trout Creek, where MCF held grants to support the dam removal project in 2009. They also stopped at Dry Creek to view the site where the Yakama Nation is now adding large wood to enhance stream habitat, as well as the fish passage barrier at the Dry Creek culvert on the Forest Service's arterial road.
Additional stops included the former Wind River Nursery, where participants learned about the Wind River Trust's work and toured the Underwood Conservation District's native plant nursery. The day concluded at High Bridge Park to see restoration work that protects water quality and the riparian area.
These field visits provide valuable opportunities for our Board to see the impact of restoration investments firsthand, deepen their understanding of watershed priorities, and engage with the partners making this work possible.
We are grateful for the time, expertise, and leadership our Board of Directors brings to advancing our mission.
| | Budget Cuts Threaten Progress on Salmon Recovery | | |
The groups restoring salmon habitat across Washington just lost 35% of their base funding. Federal dollars disappeared in 2025. State support was cut but not eliminated in 2026. The complicated work of salmon recovery continues, with your support.
If you've been thinking about giving, volunteering, or speaking up, now is the moment.
→ Make a donation
→ Volunteer with Us!
Thank you for staying the course with us.
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| Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group is dedicated to protecting and restoring wild salmonid populations, their habitats, and ecosystem functions that support native fish species through restoration, protection, education, and community involvement throughout our region. | |
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