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SKAGIT RIVER HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT

APRIL 2022 RELICENSING NEWS

This newsletter provides updates about the federal relicensing of the Skagit Hydroelectric Project. More information is available on the project website or by emailing the project team at scl_skagitrelicensing@seattle.gov.

Cultural Resources Management on the Skagit Relicensing Project 

Did you know that Seattle City Light recently helped return ancient artifacts that were unearthed during the renovation of a building in Newhalem to the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe? There’s been a lot of interest in this work recently, and we wanted to shed additional light on how City Light works continuously to document and safeguard the historic, cultural, and traditional resources of the Skagit watershed.  

Q: What are cultural resources?

A: Simply put, cultural resources are pieces of the past that have historical, cultural, or traditional significance. To technical experts and as stated in relevant laws and regulations, “cultural resources” include tangible remains of past human activities that can be identified and documented. They could be districts, buildings, structures, sites, or objects spanning from 50 years old to thousands of years old, before the written record.


Tribes and First Nations can have a broader view of cultural resources that recognizes the less tangible aspects of culture. Communities are intertwined with modern and ancient landscapes, and plants, animals, bodies of water, viewscapes, mountains, caves and trails can have cultural, emotional and spiritual significance that is reflected through stories, language, art, song, dance, and ceremony.

Q: What is cultural resources management and why is it important?

A: Cultural resources management (CRM) involves identifying, assessing, researching, and avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating development impacts to properties with historic, cultural, or traditional importance.


Cultural resources are connections to a community’s heritage. Through CRM work, we gain a deeper understanding of history, preserve pieces of our story for future generations, and honor those whose history the cultural resources belong to.


CRM work is a key focus of City Light’s partnership with Tribes. Cultural resource specialists work closely with Tribes to identify historically significant archaeological sites and tribally important places, protect those that could be at risk of looting or destruction, and plan City Light operations to avoid or minimize impacts. Consulting with Tribes in advance can keep artifacts of deep importance from being disturbed or can ensure their protection.

Q: Who is involved in cultural resources management?

A: City Light considers cultural resource impacts at all of its projects—from installing a utility pole, to replacing a building like the Gorge Inn in Newhalem, to relicensing the Skagit Hydroelectric Project. We work with a broad range of experts including archaeologists, ethnographers, historians, and other technical experts.



In the case of the Skagit relicensing, we also partner with experts hired by Tribes who bring unique skill sets to this work. Tribes and First Nations have ancient and lasting cultural relationships to the place where the Skagit Project is located, and we have worked with them from the early stages of the project. The Project extends through traditional territories of at least 15 Indian Tribes and First Nations, including:

  • Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
  • Upper Skagit Indian Tribe
  • Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe
  • Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
  • Lummi Nation
  • Muckleshoot Indian Tribe
  • Nlaka’pamux Nation Bands Coalition
  • Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council
  • Nooksack Indian Tribe
  • Samish Indian Nation
  • Snoqualmie Indian Tribe
  • Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians
  • Stó:lō Nations
  • Suquamish Tribe
  • Tulalip Tribes of Washington



The Tribes’ and First Nations’ concerns are critical to consider during the relicensing process, implementation of studies, and during ongoing operations and maintenance activities.

Q: What role does cultural resources management play in relicensing the Skagit Project?

A: The ultimate goal of CRM is for cultural resources to remain undisturbed and safeguarded. If there is an unanticipated discovery—the term used when someone comes across a potential cultural resource—we work to handle it carefully, respectfully and appropriately, and follow state and federal processes.


To ensure this happens, everyone working on relicensing has completed training on the cultural importance of the region, the types of cultural resources they may encounter, and how to manage an unanticipated discovery. If an unanticipated discovery occurs, the finder contacts a cultural resources professional who consults and coordinates with the Tribe or First Nation whose history may be connected to the area. Usually, multiple Tribes or First Nations are involved.


City Light’s CRM experts also proactively seek out and identify cultural resources to ensure they are protected during relicensing. The cultural resources-related studies in the Revised Study Plan include existing data—such as existing cultural reports, historic maps, and photographs—to build an inventory of potentially significant resources, and new investigations such as on-the-ground surveys and interviews with tribal elders and knowledge-keepers. Later in the relicensing process, the CRM team will do a formal evaluation of the Project’s effects on those resources which were identified to be significant and retain several aspects of integrity. Simultaneously, the cultural resources considerations are integrated into other relicensing studies to ensure they do not disturb potentially significant resources.


Consulting Geomorphologist Kathy Dubé (left) and City Light Archaeologist Andrea Weiser (right) decide where soil probes can be placed to assess reservoir deposition while avoiding archaeological sites (Photo by Ron Turner)



You can learn more about cultural resources and the work of City Light archaeologist Andrea Weiser in this Powerlines blog post.

Wildlife Research Grants Awarded

During Earth Month and year-round, Seattle City Light is dedicated to enhancing, protecting, and preserving the environment for future generations. Our commitment to environmental stewardship is present throughout our work, from our investments in hydropower infrastructure to our wildlife conservation and management efforts. City Light’s Wildlife Research Program (WRF) exemplifies this commitment. Through the WRF, City Light offers research grants in support of projects that aim to better understand, manage, and protect wildlife resources in the North Cascades ecosystem. 

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Photo Credit: Eric Kilby from Somerville, MA, CC BY-SA 2.0

Since 1999, the WRF has awarded more than 70 grants totaling more than $2.5 million. Grants have been awarded to a wide range of research projects on topics like riparian plant communities, aquatic invertebrates, shorebirds in the Skagit Delta, lynx ecology, land bird monitoring, mountain goats, American pika, wolverines, amphibians and grizzly bears.


Last month, City Light selected project recipients for the 2022 Wildlife Research Grants. Project focus areas include man-made beaver dams’ ability to restore ecosystem function in wildfire impacted watersheds; to the protection and enhancement of the North Cascades’ Canada lynx population; to streamfly diversity in glacier-fed streams.


Learn more about this year’s grant recipients on City Light’s Powerlines blog.

Project Update: Initial Study Report Filed

Seattle City Light filed the Initial Study Report (ISR) with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 8, 2022. The ISR provides initial results from 33 studies that are being done to inform the actions that City Light will take to manage and protect the cultural, environmental, and recreational resources of the Skagit River watershed under the next license. To access the filing documents, go to the Skagit Relicensing Public Documents Library and search under Relicensing Documents > Licensing & Regulatory > Initial Study Report (ISR).

Clearing the North Cascades Highway

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The annual spring clearing of the North Cascades Highway began in early April. This effort typically takes 4-6 weeks to complete, depending on weather and avalanche conditions. You can learn more about what’s involved in spring clearing on the Washington Department of Transportation’s blog.

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Photo credits: WSDOT

Learn More

City Light's Hydroelectric Resources

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Learn more about the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project and other City Light hydroelectric resources.

Skagit Tours and Recreation

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Explore the Skagit River and the beauty of the North Cascades.

Skagit Relicensing Project Page

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Learn more about the relicensing process, including the library of public documents.

OUR MISSION

Seattle City Light provides our customers with affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible energy services.

City Light Website | Powerlines Blog

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