ARCHIVED NEWS RELEASE

• Colville Fishing Permits Maine
• Colville River Fishing
• Colville Fishing Permits 2019
• Colville Tribal Hunting Permits

Colville Fishing Permits Maine

This document is provided for archival purposes only. Archived documents do not reflect current WDFW regulations or policy and may contain factual inaccuracies.

OLYMPIA - Anglers could gain additional fishing access to Rufus Woods Lake on the Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT) reservation under a pilot project agreement signed today by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and tribal officials.

Colville River Fishing

Colville Confederated Tribes Fish and Wildlife Department.Colville Confederated Tribes PO Box 150 Nespelem, WA 99155. (509)634-2110 Subject: Grand Coulee Dam Fishing on Reservation side Fishing is. Access to the shoreline near the net pens is allowed through the cooperation of the Tims Ranch, Columbia River Fish Farms and the Colville Indian Reservation. It is important to note that fishing in this location, in fact the entire west shore of Rufus Woods requires a Colville Tribal permit. The Colville Tribal Fish and Wildlife announced today the closure of non-member sport fishing on the Colville Indian Reservation in response to COVID-19 until further notice. A short memorandum on the CCT F&W Facebook reads, 'In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Colville Business Council (CBC) closed the reservation to all visitors on.

If legislative funding for the project is approved, the agreement would allow non-tribal anglers to fish with either a Washington state fishing license or a Colville tribal fishing permit while they are fishing from a boat or from one of three proposed fishing access areas on the reservation. Under the agreement, non-tribal anglers fishing in non-designated, undeveloped areas within the reservation must carry a tribal fishing permit. All non-tribal anglers fishing with a Colville tribal fishing permit also must carry a Colville transport permit if catch is going to be taken off the reservation.

Rufus Woods Lake is a 51-mile-long, 7,800-acre reservoir on the upper Columbia River, created by Chief Joseph Dam. It forms the boundary between Douglas and Okanogan counties in North Central Washington, and the southern boundary of the Colville Indian Reservation. Open year-round, Rufus Woods Lake provides fishing for walleye, kokanee, and triploid rainbow trout. The state's last three record rainbows were caught in the lake.

'Rufus Woods has become a high-quality fishery, and angler interest in the lake has increased substantially over the last seven years,' said WDFW North Central Regional Director Dennis Beich. 'But access to the lake is primarily limited to two public boat ramps at either end. If funding is provided by the Legislature, up to three designated fishing access areas will be developed along the center of the lake's north shore on the Colville Indian Reservation.'

The boundary of the Colville reservation is the center of the Columbia River bed, however determining and enforcing the actual boundary is difficult because the river has been inundated by dams, said Joe Peone, director of the CCT Fish and Wildlife Department. Through various agreements over the past 15 years, non-tribal anglers have been required to hold both a Colville tribal fishing permit and a Washington state fishing license when fishing Rufus Woods and Lake Roosevelt.

'This agreement is the product of a lot of hard work by both the Colville Tribes and WDFW to better serve the public who have come to regard Lake Rufus Woods as one of the premier fishing locations in the state,' said Peone. 'The Colville Tribes have put a great deal of effort into developing and managing this fishery, and we are pleased to have worked out a good agreement with the state. We believe it is something that the Legislature can support as a genuine public benefit.'

WDFW Director Jeff Koenings applauded the cooperative effort.

'We greatly appreciate the Colville Tribes working with us to both simplify fishing license requirements and improve access to the lake,' Koenings said. 'Increased access is important to future fishing and hunting opportunities throughout Washington state. This agreement is a good example of how we can work together to increase recreational opportunities for our citizens.'

WDFW will request $423,000 from the Legislature to fund the first year of the project, and will submit additional requests over the next four years.

Pending legislative funding, new fishing access areas will be developed over the next five years. Limited access could be available as early as 2008, with additional capital funding in future years for complete development of shoreline docks, boat ramps, restrooms and camping facilities.

The agreement also provides for increased WDFW and CCT enforcement and fish management staff in the area, including portions of the upper Columbia River's Wells Pool and the Okanogan River, and provides additional fish stocking for Rufus Woods Lake.

The agreement is the result of several years of negotiation, and has recently gained impetus from the Governor's Columbia River Water Management Program (CRWMP), which is developing additional Columbia River water supplies for irrigation and other purposes, including fishery needs. The agreement will be in effect and monitored for five years. If goals are being reached and both parties agree, it will be automatically renewed for an additional five years.

Colville Fishing Permits 2019

Water Resources Use & Permitting

Colville Tribal Hunting Permits

• Process temporary and full-time water permits

• Perform water permit and water rights investigations

• Coordinate with State regarding boundary waters and state permitting issues

• Create and maintain a water permit/water use data base

• Perform water availability and need studies for reservation watersheds

• Regulate and permit on-site waste water systems

Examples of uncapped well and illegal diversions.

CHAPTER 4-10 WATER RESOURCES USE AND PERMITTING
GENERAL PROVISIONS
4-10-1 Link Declaration of Rights and Purpose
(a) In order to: promote the general welfare of the Colville Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
(“Colville Tribes” or “Tribes”); develop, manage, and preserve the waters and other resources of the Colville Reservation; facilitate the United States’ compliance with its trust duties to preserve and protect in perpetuity all waters reserved for the Colville Tribes and the Colville Reservation; provided for the exercise of the inherent sovereign power of self-government by the Colville Tribes, acting by and through the Colville Business Council, hereby asserts its prior, exclusive and supreme rights in, ownership of, and jurisdiction over, the waters of the Colville Reservation and lands held in trust off-Reservation for all jurisdiction over, the waters of the Colville Reservation and lands held in trust off-Reservation for all purposes.
(b) The Colville Tribes hereby affirms that the water resources of the Colville Reservation and the Colville Tribes have been of fundamental importance to the Colville Tribes since time immemorial and must be preserved and protected in perpetuity for the best interest of the Colville Tribes. The Business Council finds that the rights and authorities of the Colville Tribes with respect to the water resources of the Colville Reservation are set forth in the decision in Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation v. Walton, 647 F. 2d 42 (9th Cir. 1981), and hereby enacts this comprehensive revision of this Chapter to facilitate the exercise of the Tribes’ authority and to protect and preserve the Tribes’ rights in water resources to the maximum extent permitted under tribal law and any federal law that may be applicable. Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as acknowledging that the Walton case restricts the water rights or regulatory authority of the Colville Tribes in any way.
4-10-2 Link Nature of Ownership
(a) The Colville Tribes holds the full equitable title to the rights to the use of all of the water of the Colville Reservation. The United States holds the legal title to those waters solely as trustee for the Colville Tribes.
(b) All rights to the use of the waters of the Colville Reservation are held by the Colville Tribes in perpetuity, for the use and benefit of the Colville Tribes, its members, other persons as authorized herein, and the lands and other resources of the Colville Reservation. To the maximum extent permitted by federal law, no right or privilege of any kind, from whatever sources, shall be recognized or granted unless the same shall be subject to the overriding, prior and supreme right and interest of the Colville Tribes, and the policy and provisions contained in this Chapter, amendments hereto, and administrative regulations and determination hereunder. No agent of the Colville Tribes, the Colville Business Council, or the United States shall take any action or grant to recognize any right affecting the water resources of the Colville Reservation that in any way infringe or threatens to infringe the prior and supreme rights and interests of the Colville Confederated Tribes.
4-10-3 Link Application of Chapter
It shall be unlawful to divert or withdraw or otherwise make any use of, or take any action of whatever kind substantially affecting, the waters of the Colville Reservation unless the applicable provisions of this Chapter and regulations and determinations made hereunder have been complied with. To the maximum extent permitted by federal law, no water rights, from whatever source, shall be recognized, except rights obtained under and subject to this Chapter.
4-10-4 Link Waters of the Colville Indian Reservation Defined
The waters of the Colville Reservation consist of:
(a) All waters located upon or bordering the Colville Reservation, whether flowing or stationary, whether above or below the surface of the ground, whether above or below the surface of the ground; whether percolating or non-percolationg groundwater, whether subflow, tributary or non-tributary groundwater, whethergroundwater hydraulically connected with surface water, or whether groundwater hydraulically of hydrologically connected with surface water; or whether diffused or contained within a defines water course or water body of any kind;
(b) All waters reserved at any time to the Colville Reservation by the United States or the Colville Tribes;
(c) All waters which, in the course of nature or as the result of artificial works, flows into or otherwise enhances such waters;
(d) All precipitation and atmospheric water; and
(e) The Colville Reservation for purpose of this Chapter shall have the definition set forth in section
1-1-362 of this Chapter.
4-10-5 Link through 4-10-99 [RESERVED]