Cedar River has been closed to ALL nontribal sport fishing for more than a decade. Muckleshoots have sportfished it the last two winters. Last winter they were frequently observed fishing during the time steelhead were in the river. Escapement of steelhead in 2000 was estimated to be 48 fish. In 2001 escapement was estimated to be 46 fish, and in 2002 the total estimate of returning Cedar River steelhead was 44 fish. These are hardly the kind of numbers that justify having a fishing season during the months winterruns are returning. There will probably be some nontribal CnR fishing allowed on the Cedar River in the near future: not so much because the fish populations can sustain the fishery, but because of the politics involved.