FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2017
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Mount Si takes out Bothell, Inglemoor in dual meet Page 7
Human remains identified
BY STUART MILLER smiller@snovalleystar.com
Male human remains found Dec. 2 in Snoqualmie have been identified as 62-year-old Tiffany Galsworthy of Snoqualmie Valley, according to authorities. Crews hired by the City of Snoqualmie were clearing a prospective Riverwalk path with machetes, doing plotting work, when they came upon the remains in a wooded area north of State Route 202 and Snoqualmie Parkway. According to Snoqualmie Police Capt. Nick Almquist, the Snoqualmie Police Department had contact with the deceased on a rainy night February 2016, when Galsworthy was taken to the Snoqualmie Valley winter shelter. Galsworthy was known to be transient. Almquist said based on the timeline provided by the medical examiner’s office, Galsworthy probably wandered off into the forest shortly after the shelter visit. A small shopping cart was found in the area where the remains were recovered, Almquist said. An assortment of clothes was found spread around the area as well. Forensic analysis found that no foul play was involved. The Medical Examiner’s Office said that heart disease likely contributed to Galsworthy’s death. Occasionally, remains of hikers are found on mountain trails, Almquist said, but very rarely near developed areas. “I can think of only one other time in my 27-year career where actual bones were located,” he said. “It just doesn’t happen, especially this close to town.”
STUART MILLER | smiller@snovalleystar.com
The rearing troughs inside a building at the Tokul Hatchery await thousands of steelhead eggs to begin the first stage of their growing cycle before being released.
Conservation efforts hit snag as groups debate priorities
BY STUART MILLER smiller@snovalleystar.com
SPECIAL REPORT
A split mandate the Department of Fish and Wildlife has been operating under for years is showing signs of splintering, and the fractures have worked their way to Tokul Creek Hatchery. Puget Sound steelhead, including Snoqualmie River and Tokul Creek populations, are at the forefront of a polarization of public opinion regarding the future management of the salmonid species. Pressure from conservationists and fishing enthusiasts are exposing an identity crisis at Fish and Wildlife. The department’s mission
TROUBLE AT TOKUL Today: A strained relationship between the hatchery and the Wild Fish Conservancy has muddied the waters as both look for a path forward.
statement starts with the goal, “To preserve, protect and perpetuate fish, wildlife and ecosystems…” Wild Puget Sound steelhead populations are currently hanging on at 3 to 5 percent of their 1895 population numbers, and were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in
2007. To many people and organizations, that listing was when the second half of the mission statement — “…while providing sustainable fish and wildlife recreational and commercial opportunities” — should have taken a back seat to protecting wild fish. “At this point, especially with the decline in the Snoqualmie wild population, we think it’s time to go all-out with recovery,” said Kurt Beardslee, the executive director of Wild Fish Conservancy. The views of the conservancy, and the lawsuits that have backed them up, have some recreational anglers feeling targeted.
“They have these kind of people taking away … something that they’ve done for generations,” Tokul Creek Hatchery specialist Debi Sanchez said. “They’ve fished with their grandpa, they’ve fished with their great-grandpa, they want to take their kids fishing. It’s a generational, cultural privilege. SEE TOKUL, PAGE 6
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