Makah NFH’s Marsha McGee Ready to Retire After 33 Years of Helping People, Salmon
By Brent Lawrence, a public affairs officer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Columbia Pacific Northwest Region.
Marsha McGee has been connected to salmon for her entire life.
A Makah Tribal member living on the extreme northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula, salmon played a significant role in her heritage and for her family. Marsha and her husband, Mitchell, used salmon to feed themselves and their family. “We were young and poor, and we would fish on the river,” Marsha said. “It gave us an opportunity for fresh food a lot of times.”
But she didn’t realize how salmon were about to become an even more important part of her life … and Marsha would become a huge part of their life.
In early 1988, Marsha had lost her job. She had to apply for the few available local jobs as part of the requirement to qualify for unemployment benefits. There was an open position at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Makah National Fish Hatchery.
The sticking point for Marsha was simple: Mitchell already worked at the hatchery as a fish culturist, and that would mean a lot of together time. But she had few other options, so Marsha applied … and got the job.
“I tried to get a waiver because my husband worked at the hatchery, and I didn’t want to work with him,” Marsha said. “They denied the waiver and, well … the rest is history. I was able to work with him for 27 years, which turned out really great. We had a blast. He has been retired for two years now after working there for 38 years. Now in the mornings he’s like, ‘Oh, you really have to go to work today?’”
Now, more than 33 years after she started, Marsha’s ready to join her husband again. But this time it’ll be in retirement, though Marsha doesn’t expect to slow down.
“Honestly, I don’t know when I find time to work now,” Marsha said. “I have four children and 12 grandchildren who live within three minutes of the house and they’re here almost every day, and my four great-grandchildren are here at least a couple times a week. Plus I help my mother who is 87 years old. I’ll be busy. I love to quilt and will be doing a lot of sewing.”
Marsha’s career, all at Makah National Fish Hatchery, has taken her down a long path after starting as a typist. When office work was slow, she would help with the fish. That earned her a promotion to the unusual position of animal caretaker/typist.
“That just meant I did everything,” Marsha said.
From there Marsha continued in administrative roles, handling everything from payroll, contracts and purchasing to travel arrangements. And, you guessed it, still helping with the fish.
“Anytime we did something with the fish, I was outside taking down numbers and helping. I did that for 27 years,” Marsha said.
In 2016, Marsha was promoted to the administrative officer for the Puget Sound/Olympic Peninsula Complex, which includes the Olympic Peninsula’s three national fish hatcheries — Makah, Quilcene and Quinault and the Western WA Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office. When hatchery managers or staff would leave, Marsha would help carry the load in their absence and then help new staff get acclimated to the hatchery.
“I would pick up extra duties when we’d have an opening and help out. The staff kind of looked up to me. I’m just a naturally born bossy person, and the staff just looked to me for guidance and I was willing to give it,” Marsha said with a laugh.
Denise Hawkins, the Puget Sound/Olympic Peninsula Complex manager, had a different word to describe Marsha — “indispensable.”
“She knows the people, she knows the process and the hatchery,” Denise said. “She just takes care of everything. I know she’s got it all under control. It’s her longevity of relationship building and technical knowledge that has made her indispensable. She has taught many new project leaders and staff. Marsha just brings everyone up to speed, and patiently works with people. If you need to know something about the water temperature at Makah, she’s got that too.”
While staff came and went during Marsha’s 33 years at Makah NFH, there was one constant — the salmon. Marsha was always there for them, too.
The hatchery raises about 2.6 million Chinook, coho, and winter-run steelhead annually, releasing them into the Tsoo-Yess River. The hatchery’s primary role and responsibility lies in maintaining the Tribal Trust responsibilities between the United States and federally recognized Pacific Northwest Native American Tribes.
The fish produced by the hatchery provide important commercial and subsistence fisheries to Tribal members and offer quality sport fishing opportunities available to the general public in saltwater and on the Tsoo-Yess River. Some of the salmon released provide food for the southern resident killer whale population, which is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
The importance of salmon really hits home for Marsha and the Makah Tribe.
“My husband would always fish after work, and we have one son who is a commercial fisherman. So the resource is extremely important,” Marsha said. “We are a very small Tribal community; very remote. Fishing — both commercial and sport — is huge. It seems like our whole life has been involved in raising the fish and making sure they have a good return, not only on the ocean but the rivers, too.”
As the spawning season at Makah NFH winds down for the year, so does Marsha’s career with the Service. Once the calendar flips to 2022, Marsha will stay home instead of making the short drive to work. She says she’ll miss the challenges, the people and the fish.
“Over the last 33 years, I’ve had some wonderful, wonderful supervisors and the crew was outstanding,” Marsha said. “We both enjoyed our time with the Fish and Wildlife Service. It was an experience to watch the fish from spawning them, to rearing them, to releasing them, and then seeing them come back. The cycle of it all was rewarding. I’ve really wrestled with retiring because I really enjoy my job. But it’s time … it’s time to retire.”
