Fishing for salmon along the Klickitat River is in Ira Lee Yallup’s DNA. An enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Yallup catches salmon with dip nets, a method his family and ancestors have been using for generations. He stands on a hand-built wooden platform about 40 feet above Lyle Falls. Then he maneuvers a 30-foot pole with a large hoop and net at one end — imagine a butterfly catcher on steroids. With skill…
Category: Civil and Environmental Engineering
How a UW-created sensor is making roads safer for the Yakama Nation and Washington drivers
Washington state’s most dangerous intersection is where Larue Road and Highway 97 meet, just south of Toppenish. Two-lane HIghway 97 is one of the busiest north-south corridors in the state, second only to Interstate 5. Semitrucks carrying apples, hay and livestock turn right onto Larue Road to bypass Toppenish on their way east to the Tri-Cities and beyond, or turn left in the opposite direction heading south. These 18-wheeled behemoths need to slow down to make the turn, and fast-moving…