Day 7 Sunday

Our first morning of camping in the town of Wallowa was very nice because there was not as much dirt, just grass. We woke up at 6:00am and left around 7:00am to go with the Nez Perce fisheries Manager. It was really chilly this morning I forgot my sweater in my tent. We went to the Lostine river. There was a small fish hatchery that had prevented the extinction of the fish that lived in the river. We talked with the Nez perce fisheries employees.  There they informed us that many of the salmon habitats are being destroyed by the dams on the columbia river. Also the salmon that come through the ladder at the hatchery, were being tested on by the scientist. During those tests they measured the length, the age, and the weight. They even put a tracker on the fish which would track them through their whole life span. Some salmon were traced as far as Alaska. This is important because if we can find the routes that salmon take. Maybe they can figure out where the salmon are getting stuck at. Also to track where they go to spawn and compare it to the last generation of salmon. This program is funded by the Bonneville Dam Association. That means that the dam is trying to help restore the affects of the dams that were put all along the columbia. After we left the fish hatchery we went to the manager's office and where comes up with the weeks plan to trying to bring back the salmon population. Also there he showed us around the complex, and offices. He introduced what they do to bring back the salmon population. Also all the vehicles that are used to travel the rough terrane of the mountains. They for lunch we went to Wallowa lake. They we went swimming and the water was like perfect temperature. The water was clear, but we only had like 30 minutes to swim and that is not a lot of time for anybody to swim. I enjoyed the lake, but after that we went to the pow wow grounds and there they had a feast.That is where we had lunch at. The food was awesome. They served buffalo, elk, moose, and salmon. There were tons of people that wanted to eat. After that we had a elder speak to us about his time in on the reservation and how it changed since then. His name is Elmer Crow, he is a artiest in making old indian weapons. He even had some jewelry that he made out of ram horns. They were very beautiful, He only traded for other items. He could also make a bow out of wood and he made them from a piece of wood. Overall it was a good day and I have learned a lot of new information.