Page 21 - Pierce County Lawyer - September October 2025

we were denied standing and that ended my participation.
I attended several of the rallies that can be seen in these
photographs and I can tell you that the chanting of these
various demonstrators was not directed to Senators Magnuson
and Jackson requesting that Judge Boldt’s name be advanced
on the list of potential appoints to the Supreme Court. There
have been few decisions which have caught the attention of
residents of the Puget Sound area to the extent that Judge
Boldt’s decision did.
For purposes of this article, I contacted the fish biologist for
one of the tribes which participated in the Boldt decision for
his view of the decision. His response to me was as follows:
“Most of my references and those from a quick search
looked at the decision from a tribal perspective – where
it was considered a “win” as they felt the Treaties they
signed were real. The state did not feel the Treaties meant
anything to them and did what they wanted or, more
accurately, what the fishing interest wanted. This lasted
until major declines in fish presence were observed with
the first near loss of salmon occurring in the 1890s with
largely unregulated fish wheels on the Columbia River
feeding the new salmon canning industry. The fish wheels
were outlawed and for a time salmon recovered, but then
the dams and other actions reduced the populations once
more.
By the 1970s, tribal fishing was severely reduced with the
state maintaining that the tribes were only allowed to fish
within their reservations. There were incidents of violence
with tribal fishers being assaulted while fishing traditional
sites and being arrested by game wardens and local
authorities who maintained that the tribal fisheries were
confined to only on reservations.”
And, to present the sport fishery point of view, I consulted a
fairly widely circulated publication “Northwest Reel Life” from
which the following is quoted:
“Historical Decline of Salmon. It’s no secret that salmon
runs were much healthier than they are today... early
settlers took advantage of the fish for sustenance use and
soon savvy entrepreneurs seized what was viewed as a
highly profitable market opportunity. Taking advantage
of the great numbers of salmon in the Columbia, early
commercial fishing companies constructed fish wheels...
it was said that some of these fish wheels were known to
harvest up to 70,000 salmon per day.
Then came the dams. All these dams, in some form,
inhibited salmon and other fish from reaching miles of
prime spawning habitat.
Water pollutants are believed to have a detrimental effect
on salmon health, size, mortality and reproductive success.
Though the effects of pollution and salmon survival can be
hard to quantify, it is well-accepted among scientists that
pollutants from a variety of sources like storm runoff from
vehicles and improperly disposed industrial waste are
contributing factors to the decline in salmon stock.
On the West
Coast, there
are currently
17 salmon
populations listed as
threatened or endangered
under the Endangered
Species Act.”
While initially the Boldt decision was only
concerned with interpretation of Treaties
with local Indian Tribes, it has brought to light
other areas of concern for revitalizing returns of
anadromous salmon and steelhead. Personally, I
continue to be hopeful that these special fish might
one day return to their plentiful numbers in these local rivers
and rivers throughout Western Washington. There will have
to be attention given to the necessity for industrial wastes to
enter these rivers, the nature of logging practices in their upper
reaches where spawning occurs, the amount of silt permitted
to enter the rivers, especially in the spawning areas, etc.
As previously stated, this opinion, with its Appendix, covers
101 pages. Due to space restrictions, my effort to comment
on this momentous decision covers only the highlights and
in particular the relationships developed along the Puyallup
and Nisqually Rivers. Judge Boldt’s decision is much more
extensive. For one interested in the history of the various
tribes and their inter-relationships on this fishery resource
the entire decision makes for an interesting read.
Included in the photographs from the
exhibit at the Historical Society, is a
picture in which a major movie actor is
portrayed. If anyone can identify him
(or her) and be the first to email Kit at
the Bar Office (director@tpcba.com) I
will underwrite that person’s lunch at
the newest restaurant across from the
courthouse, Chez Lafayette.
Richard DeJean is a long-time member of the
TPCBA and Pierce County Lawyer Magazine
Committee. He was an elected District Court Judge
for 40+ years in District 4. His practice in Sumner
emphasizes personal injury and employment
discrimination. He also sits on the Board of
Directors for the Sumner Food Bank.
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