About Us
With salmon as our guide, we’ve created programs that span from watershed level in-stream recovery, to basin-wide planning efforts, to major international research initiatives.
From our earliest days as a single project in one coastal watershed, through our work as a pioneer of conservation fish rearing in Hood Canal and the San Juan Islands, to our coordination of many impressive regional recovery efforts, LLTK has become an international leader in the improvement of science and management for salmon in Northwest waters.
Our driving force and our central motivation has always been the fish itself. Our founder, Jim Youngren, had a clear vision from day one – to restore salmon and steelhead for the Pacific Northwest. Migrating from remote wild streams through estuaries like the Puget Sound, to the Pacific Ocean and back, salmon connect our communities, bringing the mountains to the sea. Along their journey, they interact with fishers, ferries and freighters, with boaters and swimmers, and with the multitude of other species that inhabit our waterways.
Protecting and preserving salmon requires connecting the dots between the myriad impacts they face during their epic life-cycles, and bringing together the people whom they encounter at each stage to work collectively toward mitigating those impacts. LLTK has been doing just that since 1986: building a brighter future for fish and people.
Our History
LLTK Founded
An Innovative Question
LLTK is founded in 1986 by Jim Youngren (pictured) and a group of salmon enthusiasts alarmed by the decline of wild salmon.
LLTK’s founders, convinced of the long-term need for habitat protection and restoration, were intrigued by the potential for rebuilding and sustaining wild salmon populations in the near term via artificial propagation. Could hatcheries, they wondered, work in concert with habitat restoration to help restore wild salmon populations and support sustainable fisheries?
Our First Project
Wishkah River Hatchery Opens
Our first wild fish recovery project begins on the Wishkah River.
LLTK’s first project was to transform a traditional hatchery on the Wishkah River near Grays Harbor into a workshop for multiple fish-rearing strategies targeting wild fish recovery. The pioneering work at Wishkah, focused on refining rearing techniques that mimicked nature, bolstering depressed wild Chinook and coho populations by supplementing them with hatchery-reared fish, and creating and restoring habitat: all to support wild salmon recovery and sustainable fisheries in Grays Harbor. LLTK managed Wishkah Hatchery, in partnership with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Quinault Indian Nation, Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force, and others, until 2007, when we returned management to WDFW.
Bringing Salmon to the San Juans
Glenwood Springs Field Station Supports Sustainable Fishing
LLTK takes over their founder's hatchery facility on Orcas Island to build a Chinook run where non existed before.
LLTK’s founder, Jim Youngren, built Glenwood Springs Hatchery on Orcas Island in 1978 with his own money. He utilized springs on his land and created natural rearing ponds. On Orcas Island, isolated from spawning wild salmon, Jim then established a Chinook salmon run. In 1986, LLTK staff assumed operation of the facility and its Chinook program. The program continues to this day, supporting sport and commercial fishers from Washington to Alaska. Learn More >
Recovering Wild Salmon in Hood Canal
Lilliwaup Field Station Opens as Center for Salmon Recovery
Lilliwaup Field Station opens as a new center for salmon recovery.
LLTK created Lilliwaup Hatchery on private land along the west side of Hood Canal. Lilliwaup hatchery has served as an emergency room for wild salmon populations at the brink of extinction. Steelhead and summer chum populations that numbered in the tens have been restored to the hundreds and thousands. Lilliwaup Hatchery and its staff also support collaborative research to assess the efficacy and improve the use of hatcheries as one of many tools for recovering wild salmon. Click here for more information about our ongoing Hood Canal Steelhead Project and our success at bolstering Hood Canal summer chum.
A Broadening Mandate
Helping Local Governments Respond to Salmon Federal Protections
As salmon begin to receive federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, LLTK initiates a new strategy as a trusted third-party convener to help navigate complex salmon recovery issues.
In the late 1990s, when the threat to wild salmon was underscored by multiple listings under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), LLTK’s scope of work expanded. We began facilitating workshops for local and tribal leaders to build support for salmon recovery in the Hood Canal watershed. In 1998, we helped form the Skagit Watershed Council. In 1999, LLTK was appointed to the executive committee for the Snohomish/King/Pierce tri-county salmon recovery effort. We also developed the ESA Handbook for local governments in Western Washington, the first handbook of its kind to help local governments respond proactively to the listing of salmon as threatened under the ESA.
Reforming Hatcheries to Support Wild Fish Recovery and Sustain Fisheries
Puget Sound and Coastal Washington Hatchery Reform Project
LLTK is appointed by US Congress to facilitate a scientific review of the largest hatchery system in the world.
In 1999, Congress created and funded the Puget Sound and Coastal Washington Hatchery Reform Project: a groundbreaking effort to rethink how hatcheries can be managed to both conserve naturally spawning populations and support sustainable fisheries. Congress mandated the project be driven by science and established the Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG), an independent panel of nine highly regarded scientists. Congress also designated LLTK as the project’s independent, third-party facilitator. The result was a comprehensive review of 200 hatchery programs, providing over 1,000 recommendations to improve their operations. This Project resulted in a paradigm shift in how hatcheries are managed in the Pacific Northwest.
Bringing Hatchery Reform to all Northwest Federal Salmon Hatcheries
USFWS Pacific Region Federal Hatchery Review
LLTK is contracted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to help reform all federal hatcheries in the Pacific Region: from the mountainous Snake River in Idaho through the Columbia River basin and to the Olympic Peninsula.
From 2005-2010, LLTK managed the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Pacific Region Federal Hatchery Review. Tailored after a Puget Sound and Coastal Washington Hatchery Reform Project, the goal of the Pacific Region Federal Hatchery Review was to assure that all federally funded and operated hatchery programs in the Northwest were scientifically-sound and consistent with State, Tribal, and other Federal objectives for conserving wild stocks and managing fisheries. A total of 53 hatchery programs at 24 federally-owned hatcheries in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington were examined, resulting in actions that ranged from minor program adjustments to the discontinuation of some programs either deemed to high risk to wild salmon or not meeting conservation or harvest objectives.
Integrating Hatchery Reform with Harvest and Habitat Management
The 21st Century Salmon and Steelhead Project
LLTK is entrusted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to lead the development of a new integrated, goal-oriented agency salmon management framework.
From 2005-2009, LLTK worked with a diverse, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) senior Planning Team to create the 21st Century Salmon and Steelhead Framework and institutionalize its use. The 21st Century Salmon and Steelhead Framework is a decision-making tool to drive All-H (hatcheries, harvest, and habitat) management of salmon and steelhead. The framework has integrated decision-making about hatcheries, harvest, and habitat at multiple scales, setting out what is necessary to meet the goal of conserving wild salmon and providing sustainable fisheries. WDFW continues to use this framework to assess progress toward long-term management goals and affiliated benchmarks.
Recovering Steelhead in Hood Canal
The Hood Canal Steelhead Project
LLTK, NOAA Fisheries and six other partners collaborate to assess the effectiveness of hatcheries as a tool for recovering steelhead in Hood Canal.
In 2007, LLTK partnered with NOAA Fisheries and six other entities to test and assess an innovative approach to boost the abundance of steelhead in Hood Canal: low-impact, time-limited hatchery intervention. This one-of-a-kind, 16 year study will provide crucial information about the efficacy of hatcheries as conservation tools throughout the Northwest. The innovative rearing techniques used in this effort were piloted by LLTK and NOAA Fisheries on the Hamma Hamma River, where we tripled the abundance of a steelhead population once at the brink of extinction. Learn More >
Addressing a Major Information Gap in Salmon Recovery: Marine Survival
The Salish Sea Marine Survival Project
LLTK joins forces with the Pacific Salmon Foundation of Vancouver, Canada and 60 other entities to determine why juvenile Chinook, coho and steelhead are dying in our combined waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia.
In 2011, LLTK and the Pacific Salmon Foundation introduced the concept of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project: an ambitious, broadly collaborative effort to shed light on an issue that was largely a black box, juvenile salmon mortality in the marine environment. Data suggested that the mortality of juvenile Chinook, coho, and steelhead had increased over the past 30 years in our combined waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia, collectively known as the Salish Sea. In 2014, with $5 million in seed money provided by the Pacific Salmon Commission, LLTK and PSF launched the project. Today, LLTK and PSF have raised $17.5 million dollars and coordinate over 60 organizations, conducting a holistic study of the physical, chemical, and biological factors impacting salmon and steelhead survival. This project serves as a model for ecosystem-scale collaborative science; its results will facilitate smarter management and stronger returns. Learn More >
Bringing a Common Framework to Salmon Recovery
Chinook Monitoring and Adaptive Management
LLTK works with the Puget Sound region to align its watershed-based recovery plans via a common language and a contemporary, adaptive management framework.
In 2013, LLTK was hired by the Puget Sound Partnership to bring a common language, a shared set of metrics, and coordinated recovery strategies to the Puget Sound Chinook recovery plan. This work has been critical to addressing inconsistencies in recovery plans that were initially created at the watershed level, to creating a way for the Puget Sound to communicate progress at the regional level, and to establishing a feedback mechanism so that recovery plans are informed and updated based upon information gathered along the way. This work is based upon the Common Framework developed by the Puget Sound Chinook Recovery Team and Open Standards for Conservation. Learn More >
Developing the Technical Basis for a Steelhead Recovery Plan in Hood Canal
Hood Canal Steelhead Recovery Planning Pilot Project
LLTK works with salmon recovery partners in Hood Canal to use a standard planning tool to document existing information for four populations as a pilot project for Puget Sound Steelhead recovery planning.
In 2014, LLTK received funding from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the Puget Sound Partnership to utilize and approach and planning tool, Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation, being used to improve Chinook recovery planning. LLTK facilitated a technical and advisory group to collate all existing data on four steelhead populations in Hood Canal, identify the priority human pressures, and compile GIS information for existing habitat. LLTK continues to be engaged in Steelhead Recovery Planning for Puget Sound via a NOAA-led recovery team. Learn More >
Determining How a Floating Bridge is Affecting Passing Steelhead and the Hood Canal Environment
Hood Canal Bridge Ecosystem Impact Assessment
LLTK assembles a team of scientists and managers to pinpoint the causes of high fish mortality at the Hood Canal Bridge and determine whether the bridge is lowering water quality throughout Hood Canal.
Recent studies show that one barrier continues to affect steelhead—and perhaps all salmon—as they migrate from their natal rivers to the Pacific Ocean: the Hood Canal Bridge. In 2015, LLTK began coordinating a team of federal, state, tribal, and nonprofit scientists and managers to pinpoint the causes of high fish mortality at the Hood Canal Bridge and determine whether the bridge is lowering water quality throughout Hood Canal. Solutions will then be identified and tested based upon results of this assessment. Learn More >
Convening Salmon Recovery Partners to share New Science and Best Practices
Salmon Recovery Conference
LLTK co-convenes the biennial Salmon Recovery Conference with the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Salmon Recovery Funding Board has hosted a statewide conference every two years since 2007 to highlight projects and share lessons learned. In 2015, Long Live the Kings, along with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, partnered with the Salmon Recovery Funding Board as co-conveners of the conference with over 700 salmon recovery professionals in attendance – the largest ever. LLTK hosted several sessions to showcase our work on Salish Sea Marine Survival and brought in partners working on specific areas of emerging science such as climate change and hatchery reform to broaden the scope of the historically habitat restoration-focused conference. As the only non-agency partner organizing the conference, LLTK hosted an evening screening of Return of the River and a series of short films at the historic Kiggins Theatre in Vancouver, Washington.