Page 16 - Pierce County Lawyer - September October 2025

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER EDITORIAL
SPECIAL
FEATURE
THE BOLDT DECISION
In its historical import, its capturing of the contemporary
interest of its time, the events leading up to it, and the
results that flowed from it, there have been few local court
trials and court judgements which compare to that which
occurred in the United States District Court for the Western
District of Washington 50 years ago last year in Tacoma in
the case which was to be known by the name of the jurist who
presided over it: The Boldt Decision. It was spoken about in
local restaurants, on the sidewalks of all towns in the Puget
Sound area, but especially in Sumner and Puyallup and on
local rivers and predominantly the Puyallup River and the
Nisqually River.
In the mid 1960s and early 1970s, groundwork was laid
along many rivers in the Puget Sound area which would lead
to this major legal decision. The groundwork was fishing
demonstrations throughout the region where members of
various Indian Tribes would place gill nets in rivers where
such were illegal, by state law. Their goal was to bring to the
forefront provisions of certain treaties negotiated between the
US Government and their tribes primarily in the 1850s when
Washington was being settled.
While these fishing rights had long been a bone of contention
between the tribes and especially the Washington Department
of Fisheries, they became particularly contentious during this
timeframe with increasing numbers of demonstrations. While
there were several Treaties involved, they often were subsumed
under the name of the one to gain the most notoriety, namely
the “Treaty of Medicine Creek”. (Medicine Creek is either now
called McAllister Creek or was close to McAllister Creek which
is in Thurston County near Olympia.) The Treaty was signed
beneath a grove of Douglas Fir trees and until 1979 there
was a single tree remaining known as the Treaty Tree which,
however, was declared dead in 1979. Seeds from the tree were
collected and planted as replacements, however, the tree which
grew from these seeds blew down during a winter storm in
2007.
The jurist assigned to the case was Judge George Boldt.
The decision has been commonly referred to as “The Boldt
Decision”, and last year, 2024, was the 50th anniversary of that
decision.
In the initial paragraph of his decision, Judge Boldt explains
the origin and purposes of the litigation as follows:
“In September, 1970, the United States, on its own behalf,
and as Trustee for several Western Washington Indian
Tribes, later joined as intervenor plaintiffs by additional
Tribes, filed the complaint initiating this action against the
State of Washington. Shortly later, the State Department
of Fisheries and the State Commission (Game), their
respective directors, and the Washington Reef Net Owners
Association, were included as Defendants. By state statute,
Fisheries is charged with exercising regulatory authority
over fishing for all anadromous food fish. Regulation of
anadromous steelhead trout is vested in game. Plaintiffs
seek a declaratory judgement pursuant to 28 U.S.C.,
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