Remembering Boldt Decision 40 years later
Judge Boldt (Photo courtesy of Washington State Historical Society) Wednesday marks the 40th anniversary of a landmark tribal fishing rights ruling by a federal judge that pleased Native Americans and shocked and angered non-Indian fishermen around the Northwest. The polarizing decision unleashed both celebrations and protests on Washington rivers. Major court opinions rarely carry the name of the judge, but the case U.S. v. Washington is commonly known as the Boldt Decision, after George Hugo Boldt (right), a federal district…