Yakamas file suit to stop Rattlesnake wildflower tours

The Yakama Nation is asking a federal judge to stop the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from conducting wildflower tours on Rattlesnake Mountain starting this weekend. Fish and Wildlife has finished a lottery to award seats on two bus tours a day today, Sunday, May 8 and May 10 to a portion of the Hanford Reach National Monument closed to the public. Fish and Wildlife had not received official notice of the lawsuit Wednesday and told the Herald that it had no plans to alter the tour schedule. No hearing is set in U.S. District Court on the injunction request. It’s the third year that Fish and Wildlife has offered the tours. This year, like last year, stops are planned on the Arid Land Ecology Reserve, as well as a possible trip up Rattlesnake Mountain on the reserve if the weather is good. The Yakama Nation told Fish and Wildlife two years ago that the cultural significance of the Rattlesnake Mountain area “is not conducive to tourism and recreation” and that tours would adversely affect it. Rattlesnake Mountain, the highest point in the Mid-Columbia, was designated at a Traditional Cultural Property by the Department of Energy in 2007, recognizing its religious and cultural importance to the Yakama Nation...more