The Osprey Winter 2023

By Mark Rockwell

By Brian Morrison and Kathryn Pieman

By Dave Thomas and Arlen Thomason

THE OSPREY Chair

Pete Soverel Editor

Jim Yuskavitch

Editorial Committee

Pete Soverel • Dave Peterson • Greg Knox

Brian Braidwood •Rich Simms

Ryan Smith • Guy Fleischer

Scientific Advisors

Rick Williams • Jack Stanford

Jim Lichatowich • Bill McMillan

Bill Bakke • Michael Price

Design & Layout

Jim Yuskavitch

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The Osprey is a joint publication of not-for-profit organizations concerned with the conservation and sustainable management of wild Pacific salmon and steelhead and their habitat throughout their native and introduced ranges. This unique partnership includes The Conservation Angler, Fly Fishers International, Steelhead Society of British Columbia, SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, Wild Salmon Center and Wild Steelhead Coalition. Financial support is provided by partner organizations, individuals, clubs and corporations. The Osprey is published three times a year in January, May and September. All materials are copyrighted and require permission prior to reprinting or other use.

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By Bill Bakke

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The Powerful Partnership of Science and Activism

by Jim Yuskavitch

"Science without activism is dead science.”

—Yvon Chouinard

There has been big news in the world of wild Pacific salmon and steelhead conservation lately. Just a couple of days before writing this column, the Environmental Protection Agency vetoed the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region over concerns about violating the Clean Water Act. Although the Canada-based company, Northern Dynasty Minerals, Ltd., that proposed the mine is threatening to bring a lawsuit against the US federal government, most wild fish advocates believe the mine’s fate is sealed.

This action protects the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run (56.5 million in 2019) and a fishery that is worth $1.5 billion and creates some 14,000 jobs, as well a supporting indigenous culture that relies on salmon.

The operation would have occupied 20 square miles, a milelong, 1,700-foot-deep mine, and a 10-square-mile containment pond filled with 10 billion tons of mining waste.

Arguably, the biggest news for wild fish was the recent sealing of a deal to finally remove four dams on the Klamath River — Iron Gate, COPCO 1 and 2, and J.C. Boyle — by the end of 2024. This opens 400 miles of the river’s best spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead previously blocked by the dams. It will be the largest dam removal project in the world to date. With the dams out, the Klamath’s long-absent wild salmon and steelhead will eventually return to the upper basin.

What these two great victories for wild fish have in common is the application of scientific data in combination with unyielding activism against powerful corporate forces and bureaucracies.

Equally significant is the fact that a diverse group of people came together, with different views and values for wild fish, but recognizing their importance to everyone in their own way.

The coalition that worked to broker the Klamath dams removal agreement included scientists, wild fish advocates, commercial and recreational fishers, the Klamath River tribes and unaffiliated members of the general public.

That combination — of science, people and advocacy who vowed to never give up — proved to ultimately be unstoppable.

How The Osprey Helps Wild Fish

The Osprey has been bringing the latest science, policy, opinion and news stories to its readers supporting wild Pacific salmon and steelhead conservation and management for 35 years. But we are much more than a publication that you subscribe to because of your own interest in wild fish conservation. The funds we receive from our subscribers allows us to send The Osprey to wild fish conservation decision-makers and influencers including scientists, fisheries managers, politicians and wild fish advocates.

So when you subscribe/donate to The Osprey, you not only receive a subscription yourself, but you also help us put The Osprey into the hands of the people we need bring to our side to save our wild fish.

Please go to the subscription/donation form on page 23 or on-line at www.ospreysteelhead.org/donation and donate whatever you are able. Thank you.

Jim Yuskavitch Editor, The Osprey

Sending The Osprey to decision makers is key to our wild fish conservation advocacy. Your support makes that possible.

Wild steelhead leaping over a falls. Photo by John McMillan

Whether Fish or Politics, Those Who Ignore History Are Doomed to Repeat It

By Pete Soverel

“Prevent your taking the wrong course on matters of great importance by yielding too readily to the persuasions of your allies.”

Thucydides, 450 BC

—

In the past several Hits & Misses, I have mused about my conservation/angling experiences over the past 50-some years in the hopes those experiences will shed some light on how dire the threats to our steelhead are, call attention to the small number of conservation successes and encourage all to never accept the current state of affairs as acceptable outcomes. Paraphrasing Thucydides’ admonition twenty-five hundred years ago, those who ignore history are destined to repeat it. This applies equally to fish management as well as political history. I am reminded frequently of these truisms.

Readers will recall our jubilation last year when the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission courageously voted to terminate hatchery supplementation of North Fork Umpqua River summer steelhead over objections from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, some recreational anglers and nontreaty Indian bands. The Commission terminated this harmful hatchery program only after careful vetting and consideration of sound, irrefutable scientific evidence presented by the North Umpqua Coalition that was not included by ODFW’s own staff. In any event, predictably, a lawsuit promptly ensued. Several Indian bands (without treaty secured hunting/fishing rights) recently begged the Commission to rescind their decision, arguing, in essence, that the cessation of hatchery releases was the functional equivalent of the end of the world.

Let’s look at the evidence. Rock Creek summer steelhead hatchery program (North Fork Umpqua River) began 64 years ago. Six decades later, the wild return has plummeted from 4,000 to

5,000 to less than 330 (2022 update). Belatedly, but thankfully, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to shutter the program. The official “Desired Abundance Target” is 4,200 and Critical Abundance level is 1,200. In other words, the current return is 7.7% of De-

North Fork Umpqua summer steelhead is certainly way below 8% of the Desired Abundance goal.

Predictably, the Commission’s decision provoked howls of protest predicting the end of Western civilization. Incredibly, this proven record of sharply declining wild returns failure notwithstanding, ODFW, some anglers and the tribes argue to keep on doing what has driven wild steelhead populations lower and have gone to court to ask a judge — not a fisheries expert— to re-instate the hatchery program. Stay tuned.

The North American Journal of Fisheries Management recently released a groundbreaking study reporting the drastic decline of wild winter run steelhead on the storied steelhead rivers of the Olympic Peninsula. As detailed in Historical Records Reveal Changes to the Migration Timing and Abundance of Winter Steelhead in Olympic Peninsula

sired Abundance and only 27% of critical abundance. I suppose the opponents to the hatchery closure want ODFW to persist with the program until the wild fish are finally extirpated. We can be certain that reproductive potential of

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The Osprey

Rivers, Washington State, authored by John McMillan (formerly with Trout Unlimited and now Science Director with The Conservation Angler), Matt Sloat, Martin Liermann and George

I have been mystified why agencies persist with policies that by all objective measurements and data, are harming the populations and stocks they manage.

Hatcheries are a prime example of fisheries agencies’ insistence on using ineffective, and even harmful, management strategies. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

Pess is the particularly alarming virtual eradication of early returning (November - February) wild winter runs in the storied rivers of the Olympic Peninsula. This component of the population historically represented about 60% of the total return. Their work shows starkly why The Conservation Angler petitioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to list Olympic Peninsula steelhead as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. See: https://issuu.com/the conservationangler/docs/tcawfc_op_ste elhead_petition_faqs_final

Over my several decades of salmon and steelhead conservation advocacy, I have been consistently mystified why agencies doggedly persist with policies which, by all objective measurements and irrefutable data, are harming the populations/stocks they manage. I am reminded of the track record of the Nooksack steelhead hatchery program, which continues unabated, and it exemplifies this mysterious behavior. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife routinely releases about 150 pounds of hatchery steelhead smolts to get back one to two adults. Talk about upside down and backwards. Instead of the natural anadromous model where the weight of returning adults is orders of magnitude greater than the weight of out-migrating smolts, the Nooksack program merely subsidizes the ocean nutrient load! In a similar vein, consider the current uproar over the closure of Gulf of Alaska king and snow crab fisheries with the predictable finger pointing every which way except to the most obvious — sustained over-harvest by commercial fishers who demand financial compensation for the closures for which they are largely responsible?

The latest twist in the tortured saga to remove four Klamath River dams: Anthony Intiso, Siskiyou County Water Users Association board member, personally filed suit to block removal, which is scheduled to commence later this year. Antiso alleges that the secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency lacks authority to use taxpayer money to fund the historic dam removal project. Be sure to read Dr. Mark Rockwell’s article on recent progress towards finally breaking cement on the Klamath in this issue of The Osprey.

Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel: both Washington and Oregon

are actively considering closure of commercial gillnet fisheries in the lower Columbia River. While this may end one aspect of the mixedstock, non-selective fisheries in the lower river, the intensive sport fishery will then have to confront its own power and impact on ESA-listed wild salmon and steelhead populations that are failing to recover. We can hope.

Pete Soverel is Chair of The Osprey Management and Editorial Committee and founder and President of The Conservation Angler, one of The Osprey’s supporting partner organizations.

www.theconservationangler.org

NOAA Accepts Olympic Peninsula Steelhead ESA Petition — “Listing May be Warranted”

On Friday February 10, NOAA announced that a petition submitted by The Conservation Angler and Wild Fish Conservancy to list Olympic Peninsula steelhead as a Threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act presented “substantial scientific and commercial information indicating the listing may be warranted.” Now that NOAA has made this positive 90-day finding, they will conduct a status review of OP steelhead to determine whether the listing is warranted. They are soliciting scientific and commercial information relevant to OP steelhead from any interested party to ensure that the status review is comprehensive. Scientific and commercial information relevant to the petitioned action must be received by April 11, 2023. You can find complete information at this link:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/10/2023-02849/endangeredand-threatened-wildlife-90-day-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-olympic-peninsulasteelhead

The Osprey has published several recent articles about Olympic Peninsula steelhead by John McMillan – these can be found in The Osprey Archives at www.ospreysteelhead.org/archives

Attention Wild Fish Researchers and Advocates

Previous issues of The Osprey, going back to 2008, are now available on our new website, providing access to years of in-depth science, policy and legal articles pertaining to wild Pacific salmon and steelhead, their management, research and conservation written exclusively for us by experts in their fields.

Access back issues of The Osprey at: https://www.ospreysteelhead.org/archives

Older issues available by request.

Inside the Saga of the Klamath Dams Removal Campaign

By Mark Rockwell

The Klamath River was once the third most productive Pacific salmon and steelhead river in the lower 48 states. Only the ColumbiaSnake and the Sacramento-San Joaquin river systems were more productive. It drains an area in northern California and south-central Oregon that is 12,000 square miles in size. (See map, page 8.)

When electric power became important to the expansion of the West and agriculture was the preferred way to do it, a 1906 Department of Interior policy began one of the largest Reclamation projects in history. It drained and channeled nearly all of the Upper Klamath basin turning 80,000 acres of lake into farmland. That destroyed most of Lower Klamath Lake — a lake once so large a paddlewheel ship was needed to cross it from Klamath Falls to the California side of the lake.

The Klamath Basin Project was authorized in 1905, and all the historical changes began. The first delivery of water to agriculture was in 1907. In 1917 homesteads were authorized in the basin, and Copco 1 was built in 1918. This was the beginning of the end for the Klamath River basin’s salmon and steelhead. J.C. Boyle dam in Oregon, and the uppermost of the four now scheduled for removal, started in 1918, and 1925 saw Copco 2 become operational. These three dams were operated for several years, but pulse flows from electrical generation made the river unsafe. In 1962, Iron Gate Dam, below Copco 1 and 2 in California was completed and is operated as a check and power dam, and is home to the only fish hatchery on the river.

It is of great importance to note that there was no fish passage required at that time, and from 1906 to the present anadromous fish have not had access to the entire upper Klamath Basin — 400plus miles of lost spawning and rearing habitat — the most suitable on the entire river. GONE! Nearly all of the entire run of spring Chinook salmon was

lost, as were most of the basin’s wild coho salmon and steelhead, all of which required the upper basin to sustain them through drought and hot weather.

In 1964, the Iron Gate Fish Hatchery became operational, benefitting the ocean commercial fishery but creating mixed genetic stocks of fish, further

putting the wild fishery in peril. Here’s the result of these changes on the fish:

gHistorical salmon populations: 500,000 to 1,000,000 spawning adults annually

gRecent returns: 27,000 to 50,000 spawners of which more than 45 percent are of hatchery origin

gSteelhead historical estimates were 300,000 summer & winter spawners annually

gSteelhead over past decade (per Cal Trout) is now around 2,000

Every 30 to 50 years, hydroelectric dams must be relicensed to operate, and the Klamath license was scheduled to end in 2006. Renewal was requested by PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Scottish Power, in April, 2004. That is when the major battles over the Klamath began. One week later, the Klamath River Tribes (Yurok, Hoopa, Karuk and Klamath), the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and Friends of the River filed comments with the

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Advocacy was the action that made the difference. Advocacy is activity that pushes others to consider another way forward. Without advocacy as a constant background, no change would have happened.

The Klamath River was once the third most productive salmon river on the West Coast. But a series of dams have blocked the salmon and steelhead from reaching more than 400 miles of upriver spawning habitat for decades. That situation is about to change. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) citing deficiencies in the license document. The Klamath Tribes filed suit against PacifiCorp for $1 billion in compensation for the lost salmon runs. In 2002, the largest fish kill in history happened on the Klamath and more than 70,000 salmon died in the river before they could spawn — a result of low water flows and resultant disease. It was clear, something must change.

We owe much of the progress to the Tribes, but, in the end, it took everyone doing their part to find success. In 2004, the lawsuit litigants all traveled to Scotland to attend the stockholders meeting and meet with Scottish Power leaders, and informing stockholders of the problems their dams were causing on the Klamath.

Some of the group of 20 traveled to Brussels to meet with European Union members. This effort in Europe proved to be successful because it got the attention of the media, and resulted in a major outcome: A motion by the Scottish Legislator Robin Harper who said, “I regard Scottish Power’s failure to include salmon restoration strategies in its future plans as a failure and call on Scottish Power to lead the way in taking active measures to reverse the decline in salmon numbers in what was once America’s third greatest salmon river.”

While this was happening, the tribal representatives gathered on the lawn outside the stockholder meeting for a

demonstration. They sang, drummed and had a salmon bake during the fourto five-hour demonstration. Inside the meeting, Jeff Mitchell, Intertribal Fish commissioner, and Leaf Hillman, vice chairman of the Karuk Tribe, spoke before the stockholders. The impact they had was immediate, with one stockholder saying, “I was shattered when I learned what has happened to you”. This became a leading media topic in Europe for months, and embarrassed Scottish Power.

As time passed, Scottish Power sold PacifiCorp to MidAmerican Energy, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, in 2005. This started the process with Warren Buffett’s company. In 2006, Klamath River Basin tribal leaders, Native American activists, commercial fishermen, recreational anglers and conservationists traveled to Nebraska to disrupt Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. See: http://www.eurocbc.org/scottishpower_pacificorp_fishing_damage_03j ul2004page1709.html

In 2007, The Yurok, Karuk and Hoopa Valley tribes and fishermen capped off their historic cross-country pilgrimage to Omaha, Nebraska on May 5 with a protest outside the shareholders meeting of Warren Buffett’s company. They demanded the four dams be removed from the Klamath River.

In May, 2008, they did it again! Stockholders were beginning to understand how the dams were causing the Klamath River’s problems. (https://www.in-

dybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/06/184974 43.php)

I tell these stories because they have been lost over the ensuing 14 years of effort. In 2010, we negotiators collectively signed two agreements that included:

THE KBRA AND KHSA AGREEMENTS

These agreements were the basis of both dam removal and Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA), and brought a guarantee for water distribution to agriculture, more storage of water in the basin, ground water management, equitable power rates, replacement power and much more. The two agreements were kept separate in case something went wrong. The KBRA required federal funding, and that turned out to be the leverage point used by Republican legislators to block the deals. That KBRA ended in 2015, but because the KHSA was not tied to it, the dam removal process moved ahead with a newly renegotiated KHSA in late 2015. The Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) was established in 2015 to manage all the permitting, license filings with FERC, Construction and 7 years of restoration work to be done after the dams are removed. (https://res.us/home/restoringat-scale/klamath-river-restoration/)

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM 20 YEARS OF EFFORT?

I cannot condense 20 years of effort into a brief article. All I can say is the effort and dedication demonstrated in the early years of the dam removal campaign never let up until victory in 2022! Everyone worked tirelessly, each in our own way and with our con-

Continued on next page

A blanket of fog hangs over the forest along the Klamath River. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

Klamath Basin Tribes and allies from the commercial fishing and conservation organizations stage a rally at the bi-annual meeting of the international hydropower industry- Hydrovision 2006 calling for the removal of PacifiCorp’s four Klamath River dams. Photo by Patrick McCully, cc-by-2.0.

stituents and communities, and we communicated constantly with everyone — friend and foe alike. There were countless tough spots where we’d think there was no way forward. This was the story all the way into 2022. It was a rollercoaster ride from the beginning to end.

There were two driving realities that proved pivotal:

1. The attitude that we’d never give up no matter what. All of us working for dam removal just said when a problem arose, “Well, let’s find a way forward”. And we did. We made friends with perceived enemies, created bonds between Tribal partners and other NGOs, and worked to better understand the needs of the other side. The goal was to return the river to its natural state and give the fish a chance to find their way to stability and health. We vowed we’d do that while addressing the needs of agriculture and others who needed the water and river. We didn’t get all we wanted, but we’re hoping the fish get all they need. Time will tell.

2. Advocacy was the action that made the difference. Advocacy is activity that pushes others to consider another way forward. Without advocacy as a constant background, no change would have happened. We met with media,

and state agencies, scientists, politicians, and lawyers. We traveled often and spent thousands of hours on the phone, email, FaceTime and Zoom. It was a labor of love for our planet and the Klamath River watershed and its wild fish. Constantly ‘pushing’ was a must.

WHERE ARE WE TODAY?

Most of us are cautiously optimistic about the project. It’s hard to realize that when we look down the road today we no longer see red lights. Now the lights are all green! The Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) is now in charge going forward and now hold the dams’ operating license along with the states of California and Oregon.

did community briefings, met with Boards of Supervisors, attended meetings, gave presentations, met with opponents, flied briefs, did regulatory mandated reports, worked with federal

They are working with our contractors, Kiewit Infrastructure West (Kiewit) and Resource Environmental Solutions, LLC (RES) and have developed the removal and restoration plans. The timing for each segment of the process is done, with pre-decommissioning construction starting in summer 2023, and Copco 2 scheduled to come out in 2023. The Iron Gate, Copco 1 and J.C. Boyle dams come out by October 2024.

The fish will once again be free to pass from the Pacific to the upper basin in Oregon by the winter of 2024. Restoration starts after removal and will take seven years, including monitoring and repairs when damage happens. This is an incredible outcome, and more so for the Klamath River Tribes who rely on the river for food, culture, religion, health, and happiness. Most of all, it’s a big deal for the fishery and watershed as they will now have a chance to heal, recover and return to balance. Nature knows what to do!

We all should celebrate. The largest dam removal and river restoration project in U.S. history! Commitment, personal sacrifice, and advocacy made all the difference!

Dr. Mark Rockwell is an avid fly fisherman and has been on the Board of the Northern California Council, Fly Fishers International (NCCFFI) since 2001. He landed his first steelhead on the Klamath more than 40 years ago. He began working on the Klamath dam removal effort in 2002, representing NCCFFI, and working to restore the greatness of the Klamath fishery and its watershed.

The Klamath River basin and the four dams that are to be removed. Map courtesy Klamath River Renewal Corporation.

Our attitude was that we’d never give up on working for dam removal. When a problem arose, we just said, “Well, let’s find a way forward.” And we did.

In addition to blocking upstream ac-

Despite decades of human-caused damage, the upper Klamath River basin remains a place rich in biodiversity. When the four dams finally come down, it will allow the return of its wild salmon and steelhead, missing from the region for far too long.

He was a signer of the original KBRA & KHSA settlements in 2010 and has been involved in most of the negotiations and advocacy throughout the past 2 decades. He states, "It has been a total labor of love to be involved in this process, working with many, many fine & courageous people from a wide variety of backgrounds and interests. It is with great pride that I can now say, the dams will come out, and the river given its chance to recover".

Mark is currently the President of the Northern California Council, Fly Fishers International and continues to work to complete the restoration of the Klamath River, as well as other restoration projects in Northern California.

Fly Fishers International is one of The Osprey’s supporting partners. See more of their work at: https://www.flyfishersinternational.org

Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

J.C. Boyle Dam is the uppermost Klamath dam slated for removal, located in Oregon. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

Iron Gate Dam is the lowermost of the Klamath River dams that will be removed. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

cess, the dams created reservoirs degrading fish habitat. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

Iron Gate Hatchery will be used to supplement salmon runs on a temporary basis. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

Hatcheries and the Extirpation of Native Lake Ontario Atlantic Salmon

By Brian Morrison and Kathryn Pieman

Lake Ontario once hosted the most abundant landlocked population of Atlantic salmon in the world, with individuals reaching sizes of over 40 pounds, but they were extirpated from the lake by 1898 — a loss that happened within about 100 years of settler colonization. The usual litany of causes was cumulatively responsible for their decline, including overfishing, habitat loss, construction of dams and other barriers, and pollution. Yet, one cause has never before been suggested as also contributing to the extirpation of this once thriving population of fish. Starting in 1866, as the Atlantic salmon population declined, hatchery efforts were established to rebuild the population. To this day, these hatchery efforts are heralded as a success, but upon closer inspection, these efforts were most likely just another nail in the coffin that led to the extirpation of Atlantic salmon from this Great Lake.

THE HATCHERY MYTH

The story goes: hatcheries are an effective tool to mitigate against population declines by increasing abundance. The simple and logically appealing premise is that hatcheries result in higher juvenile survival than the wild, and therefore, by removing high natural early mortality, more fish will be released into the system and therefore more adults will return. However, the scientific literature demonstrates that hatchery efforts usually harm the very wild populations they are supposed to support. Yet, in many cases, hatcheries continue to be seen as an acceptable and preferred solution when wild populations are failing.

The first salmon hatchery in Canada was built in Newcastle, Ontraio by Samuel Wilmot in 1866 and adopted as an official government hatchery in 1868 on his namesake creek. For 18 years, until 1883, Wilmot Hatchery cultured and stocked more than 5.5 million Atlantic salmon fry with the stated intention of restoring their numbers in Lake Ontario. Because of these efforts, Samuel

Wilmot is known as the “Father of Fish Culture” in Canada.

FLAWED ASSUMPTIONS, INCORRECT CLAIMS

Yet, upon reviewing old reports from that era, we found that Wilmot’s basic

biological assumptions about Atlantic salmon were flawed, leading to incorrect claims. After hatching, Atlantic salmon need 1 to 3 stream years and 1 to 2 lake years before returning as

adults to their spawning grounds, yet Wilmot claimed that adult returns were from his previous year’s juvenile stockings, which is biologically impossible. For example, adults (190 grilse, 30 multiyear lake adults) that returned in 1868 were said to be from the cohort of 15,000 salmon stocked in 1867; Wilmot stated they would “return in September, October, and November of the same year to their native stream as Grilse; and the proof that these were the result of artificial process commenced by me in the Autumn of 1866, is, to my mind and to the minds of others, conclusive and almost amounts to demonstration”. Also, there was no distinguishing mark made to hatchery fish (e.g. fin clip), and therefore, there was no way to differentiate hatchery raised fish from wild fish. Yet Wilmot claimed all adult returns to the stocked stream were due to his hatchery efforts, while ignoring concurrent increases in abundance in non-stocked watersheds indicating that wild returns had a brief resurgence. Adult returns also didn’t correspond with high stocking rates. One and a half million eggs were collected for hatchery use in 1876, the highest number ever, yet adult returns from that year

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Lake Ontario once hosted the largest population of land-locked Atlantic salmon in the world. Photo by Hans-Petter Fjeld, CC-BY-SA

This is a common story about the fallacy of untested assumptions, blind faith in technology and the lack of an evidence-based initiative.

class were exceptionally low. Another line of evidence against the purported success of the hatchery is the poor returns of stocked Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Between 1874 and 1881, approximately 266,000 Chinook salmon fry were stocked, yet only a handful of adults returned. The essentially nonexistent returns for stocked Chinook was likely similar to the true returns for stocked Atlantic salmon at the same time, but Chinook salmon did not have wild reproduction to mask poor hatchery performance, whereas Atlantic salmon had some strong natural returns. Wilmot also unknowingly utilized many common effects of contemporary hatchery programs, such as lack of mate choice, stocking in non-natal watersheds, homogenization (Ryman-Laikre effects), etc.

Yet none of these inconsistencies phased him. To the contrary, he was arrogant (referring to Atlantic salmon by his name, Salmo wilmoti instead of Salmo salar) and replied with rhetoric to suggestions that his activities were not working. Whether or not he knew it, his hatchery resulted in multiple forms of harm: gametes collected from wild reproducing fish reduced natural re-

Lake Ontario watersheds in Ontario (light grey) and New York (dark grey) in which Atlantic Salmon were known/purported to have historically occurred. Quaternary watersheds are highlighted for reference, but do not reflect distribution within a watershed (eg., Salmon would have only utilized habitat below waterfalls on tributaries such as the Credit River, ON and Salmon River, NY). Source of watershed mapping: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and United States Department of Agriculture.

BLIND FAITH IN TECHICAL SOLUTIONS

production; eggs transferred out of the basin to other regions reduced total young available for the next generation (Atlantic salmon were stocked outside their endemic range in the Ottawa River watershed and the Saugeen River, Lake Huron, and were sold as gametes to various states); populations were mixed across streams which ignored the local adaptation of runs; and the release of millions of hatcheryreared fish likely resulted in negative genetic effects and loss of fitness.

This is a common story about the fallacy of untested assumptions, blind faith in technological solutions, the lack of an evidence-based initiative that has continued though history, and most importantly, how the ecological template that supports these fish cannot be separated from the fish themselves if the populations are going to be self-sustaining. The hubris of hatcheries, and the strong personalities of managers and entrenched agency practices that prioritize economic goals, continue to distract the public and fisheries officials from the underlying problems while diverting critical resources away from core solutions about the best methods for population stabilization and recovery of wild fish. Though Atlantic salmon would likely have become extirpated without hatcheries due to

dams, harvest, deforestation, and pollution, this example of fisheries management is not a great Canadian success story as it is commonly claimed to be. Our full paper is available here:

“The role of hatcheries in the decline of Lake Ontario Atlantic salmon”, https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1 139/cjfas-2021-0253

Brian Morrison is a free-lance fisheries biologist previously working at several Conservation Authorities in Ontario since 2001 in a range of roles and capacities, and has had the fortune to study naturalized and wild salmonids across the Great Lakes.

Kathryn Pieman earned a BSc and a MSc from the University of Guelph and a PhD from UCLA. Kathyrn feels fortunate to have traveled to many cool places during academic work, from Hawaii to British Columbia, Alaska to Mexico, the Bahamas to Puerto Rico, and Australia to Denmark and Iceland, studying many aspects of behavioural ecology in fishes and birds. Kathryn is currently free-lancing in photography, videography, and science communication (https://www.youtube.com/c/NatureTidbits/videos).

Lake Ontario at Jack Darling Park, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Photo by Joe deSousa

The Continuing Quest for McKenzie River Wild Chinook Salmon Recovery

By Dave Thomas and Arlen Thomason

The McKenzie River originates in the high lava bed aquifer atop the Oregon Cascade Mountains. The rushing, crystalline water of its upper 13 miles is designated a federal Wild and Scenic river, after which the gradient gradually declines as the river traverses forests and farm lands, and eventually merges into the larger Willamette River in Eugene, Oregon. Along the way it is fed by many small streams and several major tributaries, the largest being the South Fork. It supports several species of salmonids, most notably Chinook salmon. Large runs of spring Chinook salmon had been returning to the McKenzie since well before Europeans settled in the region. Early settlers reported numerous spawners throughout the river.

But as we documented in the May 2015 issue of The Osprey (“McKenzie River Chinook Salmon: A Legacy Population in Peril” (https://www.ospreysteelhead.org/archives), there has been a steady and steep decline in the Upper Willamette Basin spring Chinook salmon population over the twentieth century, and well into the twenty-first.

It was designated as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1999. Since then the descent has continued, with only the McKenzie River population remaining large and genetically intact enough to be considered by fishery

ued to drop to dangerously low levels over the last few decades.

THREATS TO MCKENZIE CHINOOK SALMON SURVIVAL

managers as a “legacy” or “stronghold” population, potentially capable of seeding recovery within the entire Upper Willamette basin. Yet the McKenzie salmon population itself has also contin-

There are likely multiple factors responsible for this decline, including harvest, habitat loss and degradation, ocean conditions, migration-blocking dams, and counter-intuitively, salmon hatchery programs. Historical channelization of the originally braided McKenzie River, as well as development along its banks—particularly on the lower river—undoubtedly contributed to reducing good spawning areas and salmon production potential. Three dams—Trail Bridge, Cougar, and Blue River—built on the upper McKenzie and its major tributaries in the middle of the last century cut off access to an estimated 22% of some of the best spawning habitat. And as wild salmon populations dropped, government agencies responded by releasing ever more hatchery salmon into the river, reaching a peak of about 1.2 million smolts annually over the period of 1999-2011.

In our May 2015 article we focused primarily on the damage that hatchery salmon are likely exerting on their wild counterparts in the McKenzie River, particularly by interbreeding with them and transferring potentially maladaptive, deleterious genetic traits for optimal survival and reproduction in the natural environment. Part of the reason for that focus was that while habitat restoration and dam modification for fish passage are critically important for population expansion, they are also generally big, difficult, expensive, and long-term projects. Whereas addressing hatchery fish interbreeding is potentially much easier, cheaper and quicker. All it takes is a management (or court) decision to STOP doing something: releasing so many hatchery smolts into the river. Nearly everyone involved agrees that high levels of hatchery/wild salmon interbreeding— as measured by the surrogate metric

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McKenzie River wild Chinook are the only upper Willamette basin population large and genetically enough intact to be considered a “stronghold” or “legacy” population.

Wild spring Chinook salmon spawning in the McKenzie River. Photo by Arlen Thomason

“Proportion of Hatchery Origin Spawners”, or pHOS—may play a role in salmon survival. High pHOS values, at 10% or above, is a bad thing for wild salmon; and agencies are in fact mandated to keep it below that number. For more background on the history of the river, management actions, and the role of pHOS, the reader is referred to our 2015 article linked above.

For the purposes of this article, it is important to know that production of hatchery salmon for the McKenzie River has two stated purposes: (1) for outplanting in the South Fork above Cougar Dam, where some of them may spawn and produce out-migrating offspring, for the conservation objective of eventually restoring a viable, selfsustaining Chinook salmon run to this tributary; and (2) providing a salmon fishery in the lower McKenzie River, as well as in downstream rivers and the Pacific ocean.

MCKENZIE SALMON POPULATION STATUS AT YEAR END 2022

Hatchery Management

Following the litigation against the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“the Corps”) and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the court decisions described in our 2015 article, the court maintained jurisdiction and oversight of the process until the required Hatchery Genetic and Management Plan (HGMP) was approved in 2019. And no more than the reduced number of 604,750 smolts have been released since 2015. Those facts notwithstanding, it can be fairly argued that at least until 2022, the very elevated pHOS problem continued to be kicked down the road, as the numbers remained at historical high levels. Moreover, the HGMP directed that beginning in 2018, 3-year rolling pHOS assessments would be conducted, and management adjustments made if the < 10% target was not met. To date no such formal administrative assessments have been conducted nor adjustments made; it does not appear that any are currently planned; and no public comment about it has been forthcoming.

The graph below shows the pHOS values for 2002-2021 for the entire McKenzie River. In every year since 2014, the year prior to our last article, and two years after the Corps and ODFW initi-

McKenzie River pHOS 2002-2021

ated some steps to reduce pHOS the number has been well above the <10% target. There has been no downward trend over this period. In fact, due largely to a water supply failure at the McKenzie Hatchery beginning in late 2018, the pHOS numbers spiked higher in 2019 and beyond. However, due to a successful hatchery salmon trapping and removal operation at Leaburg Dam in 2022, pHOS values in the river above the dam are expected to be very low for that year. We don’t yet know what to expect for pHOS values for the entire river. Spawning survey results for 2022 should be made public in spring 2023. See the section “2018 Leaburg Canal Shutdown and McKenzie Hatchery Water Loss”, below, for more information about this critically important issue.

Numbers of Returning Adult Wild Salmon

At the time of our last writing, the latest available data (2014) for wild Chinook salmon returning to the McKenzie River at Leaburg Dam had reached an all time low of about 1,000 fish. This alarming low point was the culmination of a persistent, decade-long decline from almost 6,000 fish in 2003, and there were concerns that it was headed still lower. But as can be seen in the graph below, it now appears that as of 2022 the population numbers have been more or less stable since about 2008, at around 1,600 fish with a standard deviation of about 485. So while this low number is still very concerning, it appears that for now the population may

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be at least holding steady. Of course, holding steady is not the goal. The ESA requires that actions be taken to ensure that threatened and endangered species be recovered to the point where they no longer need ESA protection. Since the approval of the HGMP and the commitment of the Corps to implement fish passage at Cougar Dam and take other related actions, the available data does not reflect any progress in recovery of McKenzie Chinook salmon.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 2015

2018 Leaburg Canal Shutdown and McKenzie Hatchery Water Loss

McKenzie Hatchery is located about 2 miles below Leaburg Dam, which is owned and operated by a public utility, Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB). This is a low-head dam, established in 1929 to divert water into the approximately five-mile-long Leaburg Canal, extending downstream, above and roughly parallel to the river.

Very importantly, most of the water needed to operate McKenzie Hatchery is provided by Leaburg Canal. In October 2018, the hatchery suddenly lost that water. Longstanding leaks in the canal wall had become worse, and fearing a catastrophic failure that could cause a disastrous flood, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had ordered that the canal be drained and shut down until the problem was thoroughly assessed and fixed. It has since become clear that the canal problem and its potential remedies are major, complex, tremendously expensive, and long-term. (See “Outlook for the Future”, below, for more details.)

Loss of its water supply was catastrophic for the hatchery, and for Chinook salmon pHOS levels in the McKenzie River. Without water to run through the hatchery and down its ladder to the river, there was no way for adult salmon to return to it. Beginning in the summer and fall of 2019, the vast majority of returning adult hatchery salmon remained in the river, where they could spawn with wild salmon. As a result, pHOS levels for the river over the next few years were among the highest in history.

Finding an alternate way to capture returning hatchery salmon and remove them from the river became an urgent priority. In 2019 ODFW took the initia-

tive to expand its ability to selectively trap and remove hatchery salmon (while allowing wild salmon to pass) at one of the ladders near the left bank of Leaburg Dam, to lower pHOS and to at least prevent them from reaching the most productive spawning grounds above the dam, where most wild salmon spawning occurs. A prototype manually-controlled sorter/trap was put in place late in the run of 2020. Improvements were made to the sorter and its operation in 2021.

In 2022 the operation of the sorter was further improved, and critically, the right bank ladder was modified so that adult salmon could not ascend it; thus all salmon going upstream had to pass through the left bank sorter. Altogether, these modifications made a big difference, and almost all hatchery salmon trying to get above the dam were sorted, trapped and removed. Whereas the number of wild salmon counted passing above the dam was 1,854, only 49 hatchery fish managed to get by the sorter. If confirmed by spawning survey results, that would translate to a pHOS value above the dam of about 3%, by far the lowest value in history. Considering the long record of failed attempts to appreciably lower pHOS in the river, it was an important achievement. In addition, 1,188 hatchery fish were removed from the river at the dam sorter/trap, and another 855 hatchery fish were trapped as they tried to ascend the ladder to the nearby Leaburg Hatchery; for a total of 2,043 hatchery fish removed by trapping. This was at least a step in the right direction of lowering pHOS for the entire river.

It is important to note, however, that it is currently unknown how many hatchery fish remained in the river below the dam, contributing to pHOS levels that could still be very high. It also remains unknown how many wild salmon may have been discouraged by the sorting regime from crossing the dam and instead remained below it, where they would have been free to spawn with the potentially large numbers of hatchery salmon there. The pHOS mandate of <10% is for the entire river, not just the area above Leaburg Dam. Spawning survey results, expected to be available in early 2023, should shed light on these questions.

2018 Lawsuit Alleging Failure to Comply with 2008 Biological Opinion (BiOp)

In 2018 three conservation organiza-

tions—Northwest Environmental Defense Center, WildEarth Guardians, and Native Fish Society—filed suit in federal court against the Corps and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), alleging violations of the ESA by failure to carry out many of the actions mandated in the 2008 BiOp to reduce impacts of the Corps’ Willamette Project dams, including Cougar Dam, on ESA-listed Chinook salmon and winter steelhead. In August 2020, the court found in favor of plaintiffs on all counts. In July, 2021, the court released an order specifying what actions the defendants must take. Specifically, it ordered that the Corps and NMFS produce a new BiOp by 2024, laying out actions the agencies must complete to reduce harm to the ESA-listed fish in the Upper Willamette system.

Further, the court ordered that measures be taken immediately to prioritize water releases at several dams, including Cougar Dam, for the benefit of fish passage through and spawning below the dams. These injunction measures are temporary until the 2024 BiOp is completed, at which time the measures it contains will supersede the injunctions. For Cougar Dam, fish-prioritized drawdowns began in Nov. 2021. Preliminary tests indicated that this method of fish passage may be feasible, but injury to the fish is an issue needing resolution.

On September 7, 2020, driven by dry, unusually strong easterly winds, a wildfire sprang up near the community of Rainbow at about river mile 64; probably due to a downed power line. The fire moved rapidly west, ultimately consuming about 173,000 acres along about 34 miles of the river, and far up both sides of the watershed. It destroyed several small towns and more than 400 structures along the valley. As the fire burned extremely hot, the damage to trees, other shrubbery and even the soil was horrific in large areas. Some research by the U.S. Geological Survey indicates that loss of riparian habitat from such high severity fires can lead to higher water temperatures and increased erosion for several years or decades. Other research suggests that for less frequent and severe fires, the long term effects can actually be beneficial. It is too soon to be sure of all the effects of the Holiday Farm

Holiday Farm Fire in the McKenzie Valley.

fire on this river corridor. While the fire undoubtedly did some damage to the riparian habitats, it is a positive sign that the spawning survey of 2021 did not show a noticeable loss in upriver redds counts. Also, while work on upriver habitat restoration began before the fire, post fire this important work seems to have accelerated. It is to this subject that we turn next.

Rewilding the McKenzie River

As noted above, the McKenzie River remains the primary refuge of spring Chinook salmon runs in the Willamette Basin, with just remnant populations in the other subbasins. This advantage is due to the unique hydrology of the river and the extent of spawning area available. However, that is not to say that the McKenzie was not subject to human actions that degraded some of the river’s spawning and rearing habitat. For instance, in places berms were built along the river that separated it from its floodplains and provided elevated platforms for riverside roads, interrupting groundwater connections and preventing small streams from accessing the river. In many places the river was intentionally channelized, to confine its water to one deeper, swifter channel while draining riverside land for other uses. The effect has been to degrade habitat for fish and other riparian biota. Over the last thirty years or so there has been increasing momentum to reverse this situation. Brief descriptions of a few of them follow.

Green Island: In 2003, the McKenzie River Trust (MRT), a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of riparian properties in western Oregon, took control of an 865 acre farm at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers. Reconnecting Green Island to the river by removing more than 5,600 feet of levees

restored side channels, groundwater interaction and habitat with increasing richness in species for the first time in 35 years. From the salmon perspective, Green Island now represents an important rearing habitat for outmigrating juvenile salmon. More information on Green Island can be found at: https://mckenzieriver.org/property/gree n-island/

Lower South Fork: The United States Forest Service has been working to develop guidelines for habitat restoration along waterways. This work led to the creation of the Stage-0 Model of floodplain enhancement, where the zero stage represents the reach fully connected to its floodplain. For the past four years, this model formed the basis for connecting the heavily channelized lower South Fork McKenzie River (i.e, the 4.5 miles of stream below Cougar Dam to the confluence with the McKenzie River mainstem) with its historically braided valley floodplain. The result is now an increasingly well-functioning diverse habitat in a multithreaded, multi-depth waterway, spread over several hundred acres. It is already hosting new and increased animal species. But probably the most exciting aspect of the project, for those who care deeply about the river’s Chinook salmon, is that the number of spawning redds in this section of the river has increased 400% since construction was completed. Details and images of the South Fork project at: https://www.mckenziewc.org/what-wedo/restoration/, along with descriptions of similar projects in the McKenzie River basin.

Finn Rock Reach: This is a two-mile, 276-acre section on both sides of the McKenzie River just below the McKenzie South Fork described above. The section had been a lumber camp in the 1940s and later turned into a rock quarry which displaced the river’s mainstem and created berms cutting off the natural floodplain. Plans for the restoration started in 2018 when MRT raised $4.6 million dollars from the local community in support of the project. Work on the project was interrupted in 2020 as the Holiday Farm wildfire raged through the property. Since then, the work continues and staff mentioned that in the early fall their efforts were interrupted when spawning salmon showed up. Like the South Fork project, this one also appears to have great potential for increasing salmon

spawning and rearing habitat in the upper river.

OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE

Decision on Leaburg Canal Plan, Its Implementation & Effects

As described above, the Leaburg Canal was shut down due to observed structural problems in 2019. In late 2022, EWEB made the decision to partially decommission Leaburg Canal. The plan will remove part of the canal, and save part of it for stormwater conveyance from several creeks that the canal intercepted. The water previously diverted by the canal will instead remain in the river. Due to FERC requirements, the plan will also remove Leaburg Dam. Moreover, EWEB has indicated that the similar Walterville Canal, located some 10 miles downstream, will probably meet the same fate in the not too distant future. But it seems that most people who care about wild fish, ordinary citizens and agencies alike, see this decision as a win for fish.

As a consequence of this decision, it appears unlikely that Leaburg Canal will ever provide water to McKenzie Hatchery again. Further, there is no realistic prospect on the table for providing an alternate source of water to the hatchery any time soon. In addition, removal of Leaburg Dam will remove the water source for the adjacent Leaburg Hatchery as well. It will also remove the method agencies are now using to count returning salmon; to capture and remove hatchery fish from the river; and to keep hatchery fish off the upper river spawning grounds. Agencies have not yet made any specific plans for this eventuality, but clearly these developments will require hatchery management to be adjusted on the McKenzie River, if it continues at all. There will be some time to adapt, as deconstruction is unlikely to begin in less than a decade.

Cougar Dam Downstream Passage

In late 2022, the Corps released for public comment a draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for its Willamette Valley Project dams, which proceeds along in parallel with its court-ordered new Biological Opinion due by 2024. The big news in this document, from our perspective,

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Green Island. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

concerns downstream passage at Cougar Dam. Since the early 2000s, the Corps has been working towards a mandated restoration of a salmon run to the South Fork McKenzie River above this dam. Until now the focus has been on building a very expensive large floating fish collector to trap young fish that make it through the reservoir to the dam, and then truck them around the dam and release them downstream. Initial smaller scale experiments were not encouraging, but the Corps stuck with that plan for years, despite lacking the funds to build it.

In the new PEIS, the Corps has proposed an annual deep drawdown of the reservoir, to a level where fish can swim out of it through a pre-existing diversion tunnel under the dam, which remains from original dam construction. This is an option that many biologists inside and outside of the Corps, including us, have favored. It appears to have a much greater chance of success, as well as being substantially cheaper and potentially quicker to implement. The nearby Fall Creek Dam has used this method successfully since 2011 (https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/willa mette/fall-creek/drawdown/). There would still be a fair amount of work needed at Cougar Dam to make this happen. The PEIS projects that it will take until 2041 to complete this alternative, but we believe that is an unreasonably long timeline, and that feedback from other agencies and citizens during the review process could result in shortening it considerably. If this project is successful, it would reopen about 25 miles of good salmon spawning habitat that was lost when the dam was built.

Trail Bridge Dam Fish Passage Modifications

Trail Bridge Dam, owned by EWEB, is located far up the McKenzie River at about river mile 82. Built in 1963 as part of an electricity generation project, it blocks volitional access to approximately 4.4 miles of spawning, rearing, and foraging habitat for spring Chinook salmon and bull trout. As part of its relicensing agreement with multiple involved parties, and its actual license issued in 2019, EWEB committed to modify the dam to allow upstream fish passage via a trap-and-haul system, and downstream passage by modification of the dam spillway. Full implementation

has been delayed as some structural problems needing correction have been found in the bottom of the reservoir behind the dam. However, a scaled down program is being put in place and both salmon and bull trout are being moved above the dam. Currently, there is no date for completion of the entire project.

Impact of Rewilding on Wild Salmon Production

The work described above for several innovative habitat improvement projects is continuing as phases are completed and new ones initiated. There are also other very promising, similar inprogress projects that we don’t have space to cover, as well as new ones in the planning stage. These include projects at Deer Creek and Quartz Creek near where they join with the upper mainstem river, as well as possible projects in places like Gate Creek. Given the initial impacts of the work on the lower South Fork on salmon productivity, this approach has the potential to yield substantial increases in the salmon population.

Impact of Climate Change on Rivers, Oceans, and Fish

Damage to the local environment that has come at the hands of humankind undoubtedly has contributed much to the decline of salmon populations. At least some of that may be reversible, by the various strategies and efforts described above. But we would be remiss if we failed to note that all of it could be overshadowed by the continuing effects of global warming, which impact not only our local rivers, but important salmon territory far beyond. Warming oceans where salmon spend most of their lives could overwhelm any local improvements, and the local conditions themselves are changing under its influence. Rivers are warming, and changing patterns of precipitation threaten water supplies. We can only hope that the larger efforts of nations and coalitions can make some progress on that front.

PARTING THOUGHTS

A lot has happened on the McKenzie River since May 2015, as attested by the above collection of topics. There have been some disappointments, particularly the glacial pace of most government projects that were supposed to

improve things, contrasting with the accelerating pace of climate change making things worse. And there were some outright calamities, like the devastating Holiday Farm wildfire, and the shutdown of Leaburg Canal with its knockon effect of leaving thousands of hatchery fish in the river to breed with wild salmon.

But there were also rays of hope. Amid the scramble by fishery managers and volunteers to corral the wayward hatchery salmon and curtail the damage, a method emerged that, at least for one year, and even if only for part of the river, yielded by far the lowest number ever of fin-clipped hatchery fish in the upper river, and lowered pHOS for the river by capturing and removing a substantial number of them.

Time will tell whether this approach, with modifications, can consistently succeed in lowering pHOS for the entire river to the mandated level, while not impeding the progress of wild salmon towards the upper spawning grounds. Even the canal failure appears to have an upside, likely leading to substantial rewatering of a significant portion of the McKenzie River. On another front, a court finally stepped up, condemned agencies’ failures to make good on their mandates and promises, and ordered immediate as well as longer term steps to do better. A late change in direction for managing downstream passage at Cougar Dam offers new hope for success. And in the habitat arena, several multi-collaborative projects between agencies and non-profits are showing great promise, already achieving milestones like increasing species diversity and strong gains in salmon redds. We look forward to seeing what comes of it all.

David Thomas is McKenzie River Steward for the Native Fish Society and a member of the McKenzie Flyfishers. A conservationist, angler and nature photographer, he trained as a population biologist and biostatistician. He taught at the University of California and later worked at NIH and in the pharmaceutical industry.

Arlen Thomason is a conservationist, author, outdoor photographer, life-long angler, and member of the McKenzie Flyfishers. He trained as a molecular biologist and worked for many years in biomedical research.

Field Report: Oregon Public Utility Commissioners Approve Decommissioning Mainstem McKenzie River Hydroelectric Project in Oregon

The elected commissioners of the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) unanimously approved a recommendation in early January to decommission the Leaburg Hydroelectric Project. Their decision will trigger the following outcomes in the next 10 to 15 years:

gPermanently discontinuing electricity generation at the Leaburg Hydroelectric Project

gRemoving Leaburg Dam and restoring the McKenzie to a free-flowing river in the project area

gDeveloping access to Leaburg Dam Road on the south side of the river, if possible

gMaking the Leaburg Canal safe enough to handle stream and stormwater flows in the near-term while aiming for full restoration to pre-project conditions reconnecting tributaries to the McKenzie,

gAssessing and mitigating the dewatering of the existing Leaburg Canal which will essentially dewater the troubled and partially closed Leaburg and McKenzie fish hatcheries, and

gConducting a similar decommissioning assessment of the Walterville Hydroelectric Project downstream of the Leaburg site.

By Dave Moskowitz

The decommissioning the project is a regulatory-driven process sparked by risks of a canal failure that could be triggered by an earthquake. The canal, built 100 years ago, hasn’t conveyed enough water to generate power since 2018 due to concerns of a catastrophic failure from structural deficiencies, and EWEB cannot leave it in place due to federal requirements. Planning, decommissioning and removal will likely take a more than a decade.

EWEB will conduct numerous studies and negotiations with settlement parties before actual decommissioning construction activities will begin. Leaburg de-construction by 2033 is aspirational as decommissioning often takes longer so that costs are spread over time for business purposes although EWEB staff will embark on near-term risk-reduction measures on the Leaburg Canal.

EWEB staff will consult with parties interested in participating in the negotiations with EWEB to develop a final settlement agreement after which EWEB will petition the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for approval and then begin design and permitting required before beginning the full decommissioning.

The thought of the McKenzie River having one and possibly two fewer manmade obstacles for its Cascades-clear water and many native fish to navigate is a cherished one. EWEB should be applauded for thinking beyond merely electrical power capacity. Many organizations and private parties are working to restore the McKenzie River to improve riparian and floodplain habitat quality and processes that will help restore the assemblages of native fish species — species that will respond to restored river conditions and fewer hatchery fish in their midst. There is also much

value in more natural floodplains and their ability to buffer flooding. Full decommissioning will help restore and maintain natural flood control processes in the McKenzie River watershed that will enhance the river’s ability to absorb water and be beneficial throughout the entire Willamette Valley.

The EWEB board is taking strong and responsible action by confronting this ecological and fiscal challenge. While the nation is burdened by old dams and other fish barriers whose former owners have simply abandoned them, the environmental impacts become more evident - and the need for restoration more pressing — yet there is rarely the ability to establish and hold accountable a responsible party. EWEB appears to be facing its broader obligations head on through proactive action that may signal the start of a new trend taking greater responsibility.

Full decommissioning is estimated to cost $252.5 million — a sum that will nearly be decimal dust in the rearview mirror once the multiple benefits of a renewed and free-flowing river resulting from the decommissioning begin to be felt in the community, the calculations of the massive, deferred maintenance backlog are fully accounted for, and EWEB and its customers begin realizing the future benefits of discarding an expensive and risky asset from their diversifying portfolio while allowing one of Oregon’s critical rivers to run more freely.

To receive updates on this restoration effort, follow the link for the Leaburg Canal Updates Newsletter at: https://www.eweb.org/about-us/powersupply/mckenzie-river-hydroprojects/future-of-the-leaburg-canal/lea burg-newsletter-sign-up

Dave Moskowitz is Executive Director of The Conservation Angler, one of The Osprey’s supporting partner organizations. Learn more at: www.theconservationangler.org

Leaburg Dam, McKenzie River.

Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

Wild Fish Recovery Management Framework: Dam removal is just the first step

By Bill Bakke

Removing Snake River dams is critical and necessary for wild salmon and steelhead survival in that large and productive watershed. However, removing the dams will be limited by the management framework that fails to protect migration, spawning and rearing habitats, spawner abundance by river, and relies on hatchery production to augment fisheries. In the Snake River basin there have been 3,484 river miles blocked by dams beginning in 1902 to the completion of Brownlee Dam in 1958. Therefore, it is important for advocates to include improvement in wild salmon and steelhead conservation management in the North Pacific and the Columbia and Snake rivers so that the populations that still exist can be conserved and rebuilt. Otherwise, it is unlikely that removing dams will provide the expected benefit for wild salmon and steelhead protected by the Endangered Species Act for their recovery.

THE HISTORY OF COLUMBIA RIVER SALMON AND STEELHEAD DECLINE

In the early 1800s, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and other public funded fish and wildlife agencies viewed salmon as a commercial product, supplying hatchery salmon to benefit the commercial fishery. The first salmon cannery was built by the Hume brothers in 1866 and packed 4,000 cases of fish in the first year at a value of $64,000. In Oregon the first game laws were adopted in 1872 by the legislature but provided no funding to enforce those laws. The fishery catch was not limited by the agencies but by the canning industry when they reached processing capacity and fishermen dumped the excess dead salmon into the river. It wasn’t until 1891 that Oregon appointed Hollister McGuire as the first Game and Fish Protector who, in 1898, recommended protection for salmon in the upper Columbia and Snake rivers. Among his 12 recommendations, the first was to license the commercial fishing industry

to support hatcheries and to report their catch. “[T]he 5-year moving average minimum yield of one million individuals [salmon] was sustained by the commercial fishery from 1876 to1931.” (Mundy 2006)

The government fish management agencies did not secure enough spawners for rivers through regulation of the fishery to maintain the runs of salmon. Instead, they mined the rivers for salmon eggs by blocking migration with weirs and transported those eggs, robbing the river of its native salmon, and shipped the eggs to the Central Hatchery (now Bonneville Hatchery, located on the Columbia River at Bonneville Dam) in 1909 for release into the Columbia River.

decline to 1.8 million fish in 2021 of which only 20% were of wild origin — just 11% of historical abundance and the wild population is 2% of the historical abundance.

“Throughout the past century of decline, salmon managers evaluated the results of their efforts primarily through quantitative indices of production. These performance measures include catch (sport and commercial), angler days, economic value of the catch, licenses sold, pounds of fish released from hatcheries, and escapement.” While these statistics are useful measures of performance, they are incomplete because they ignore the ecological processes that determine ecosystem health and ultimately the production of salmon. They focus primarily on economic ends while ignoring ecological means.” (Lichatowich 1996)

“The historical estimate of 228 million to 351 million salmon yields a biomass of 640 million kg-991 million kg of salmon returning annually to the rivers from Alaska to California. The current estimate of abundance of 142 million287 million salmon yields a biomass of 305 million kg to 606 million kg, a 47%-61% decrease in annual salmon biomass compared to historical levels.” Gresh et al. 2000)

In 1875, the agencies adopted the idea that salmon hatcheries could increase the supply of salmon for the commercial fishery without the burden of regulating harvest and protecting salmon habitat in rivers. The first hatchery on the Columbia River was funded by the fish canners in 1877 because the runs, and their profits, were declining. Even though Oregon law gives the agency authority to “prevent the serious depletion of any indigenous species” so that it would be an advocate for salmon conservation, it chose using artificial production of salmon over natural production of salmon in rivers. This resulted in an estimated 16 million salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River to

“[A]n ecological approach must be addressed when considering escapement. Fisheries management must begin to reflect the results of research that shows the significance of marine derived nutrients to the freshwater system. If management goals are indeed intended to rebuild the depleted stocks of salmon in the Northwest and British Columbia, the determination of a minimum ecological escapement must be developed and offered as an alternative to the harvest-minded approached currently embraced by state and federal fisheries management.” (Gresh et al. (2000)

“We recommend that the salmon management institutions take the current nutrient deficit into account in setting salmon harvest and escapement

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Managers ignored scientific information on salmon stock structure and turned to artificial propagation as the primary means of mitigating the effects of mainstem dams.

levels. In addition, the current suite of performance measures should be expanded to include indicators of important ecological processes in watersheds. Both recommendations will require a major shift in the way we value salmon-from purely commodities to an appreciation of their ecological role in maintaining healthy watersheds.” (Gresh et al. 2000)

Lichatowich (1996) provides the following review of salmon management in the Columbia River from 1866 to 1996 capturing the history of salmon management that prevails through to the present. The following summary of this history is provided so that we can understand how salmon management today has been structured by salmon management agencies:

1866 TO 1888

Status: Rapid increase in catch followed by a sharp decline from the peak in 1883. Average annual harvest was 24 million pounds. The canning industry grew rapidly in economic importance. Response: Minimal laws to regulate harvest and protect habitat were enacted, however they were not enforced. Salmon managers and the canning industry accepted artificial propagation as an alternative to conservation. Management Framework: Laissezfaire access to natural resources and a belief that man must control and dominate nature were the prevailing world view. Theory and practice of salmon management conformed to that view. Managers believed that artificial propagation would give humans complete control over salmon production, and provide an unlimited supply of fish.

From 1884 to 1920 the fishery was working at an apparent annual equilibrium landings level on the order of 25 million pounds (1.25 million Chinook). (Mundy 2006)

1889 TO 1920

Status: Total harvest of Chinook salmon was relatively stable and achieved an annual average harvest of 25 million pounds. The fishery intensified with a significant depletion of adult spawners in the upper basin. The spring run declined and total catch had to be maintained by harvesting more of the fall-run fish, which cannery operators considered inferior.

Response: Salmon managers main-

tained their belief that artificial propagation could overcome the effects of excessive harvest and habitat degradation. Irrigation, mining, grazing and timber harvest were rapidly degrading the quality of salmon habitat. Harvest restrictions were still minimal, but after 1908, Oregon and Washington enacted uniform harvest regulations. Management Framework: Justification for a strong reliance on artificial propagation shifted from the religiousbased mandate that man should control nature to the Progressive vision of conservation: Natural resources should be managed for maximum economic efficiency by technical experts. Hatcheries easily made the transition to this new set of values. The basic assumption that humans can and should simplify and control salmon production was retained.

1921 TO 1958

Status: Chinook harvest declined throughout this period to an overall annual average of 15 million pounds. The fishery underwent a major shift from in-river to troll fisheries. The construction of mainstem dams added a major new factor in the degradation of salmon habitat.

“The fall below 30 million pounds (1921-1931) was taken as the point of for origin for the long term slide into extirpation that continues today. In 1922, it appears that cumulative effects of habitat loss and degradation, combined with ineffective governmental institutions and harvest management regimes, placed wild salmon population numbers below the critical point of replace-

ment.” (Mundy 2006)

Response: As the salmon declined and traditional approaches to management appeared unable to arrest the depletion, the need to place management on a scientific footing was recognized. The first comprehensive surveys of salmon habitat in the basin were completed. The depleted status of salmon resulted in several attempts to share scientific information among salmon managers and to develop restoration plans. Managers ignored scientific information on the stock structure of the salmon and the past failures of hatcheries to reverse the salmon’s decline and turned to artificial propagation as the primary means of mitigating the effects of mainstem dams.

Management Framework: The massive development of the basin’s water resources for power production, irrigation, flood control and transportation was enhanced by the post World War II science of systems engineering. The same approach was also popular in ecology. Engineers and many ecologists assumed the machine was a reasonable model of the systems they sought to analyze, improve or manage. Artificial propagation easily made the transition to the new framework because, like the previous frameworks, control and simplification of salmon production were important elements. The artificial production system achieved a higher level of simplification by circumventing most of the salmon’s freshwater life history through the release of smolts. Willis Rich (1943) said that “The take of steelheads from June to September [summer steelhead] was 2 out of 3 steel-

Continued on next page

Fisheries managers did not secure enough spawners to maintain salmon runs, instead mining the rivers for salmon eggs for hatcheries. Photo by Jim Yuskavitch

heads are taken in the fishery.”

1958 TO 1996

Status: The average harvest of Chinook salmon dropped to five million pounds, although that figure does not include troll caught fish landed outside the basin. The Snake River sockeye and Chinook salmon were listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Development of the basin’s water resources was completed and natural flow patterns were altered. Habitat in many subbasins continued to decline. Response: The full development of the hydro system was met with massive increase in artificial propagation. Several in-river fisheries were closed and the commercial season was significantly reduced. Scientific research continued to show the importance of the salmon’s stock structure and identified artificial propagation as contributing to the decline of natural production. The Northwest Power Planning Council recognized the importance of biodiversity and natural production in its Fish and Wildlife Program.

Management Framework: In spite of a long history of persistent decline, failures to reverse those declines in Chinook salmon production and scientific evidence questioning the management framework, the basic assumption that control and simplification of the production system could restore salmon production remained intact.

There are signs that a new framework based on an ecosystem perspective is emerging out of the present crisis. The basic assumptions of the emerging framework appear to be diametrically opposed to those underlying the current framework: restoration and protection of ecological processes vs the circumvention of those processes; controlling human behavior that limits or destroys ecological processes vs the attempt to control and improve nature and; promoting biological and habitat diversity vs simplifying the production process in the act of improving it. Adopting a new framework is a difficult undertaking. It could be argued that the existing framework hasn’t changed much in the last 120 years. The region is in the midst of transitions, through which way it will proceed is uncertain. If changes, like in the past, are primarily superficial, the region can only expect that the present crisis will deepen.

The current status of Pacific salmon

in the Columbia Basin is not what salmon managers intended to achieve. Salmon managers, culturists, and researchers were a hard working group of professionals dedicated to maintaining the “supply” of salmon. Given those good intentions, how did reality deviate so far from expectations? A major part of the answer to that question is found in the framework, the set of assumptions and principles that made up management’s underlying foundation. The framework which was so taken for granted that it was rarely referred to or discussed, turned out to be a major determinant of the salmon’s future.

(Lichatowich et al. 1996)

CONSERVATION FRAMEWORK FOR WILD SALMON AND STEELHEAD

The basic elements of the fine-grained or river and population specific management are:

gDevelop escapement targets for the wild populations of each species to achieve egg deposition and smolt production goals. Monitor compliance with those targets.

gDevelop and protect a habitat template that supports adult holding and spawning, juvenile rearing, a diversity of life histories and a healthy web of ecological relationships. Monitor life history diversity as an indicator of ecological health of the stream and population.

gAllow no interbreeding between hatchery and wild fish.

gAdvocate for native diversity in all its forms throughout all watersheds inhabited by wild salmon.

(Lichatowich, James. 2019)

SUMMARY OF SALMON MANAGEMENT

“The state allows the take of the publicly owned native wild fish by monetizing the fish and selling permits for their harvest. The funds are used by the state to manage the fishery.

“When native fish stocks decline, the state uses some of the money for an artificial production program that produces hatchery fish for harvest. As wild stocks continue to decline, the state increases hatchery production and prohibits much of the take of the wild fish.

“As the cost of hatchery production increases the state raises the cost of the take permits. Eventually the fishers balk at the cost of the permits and the state taxes the general public to provide a subsidy to the fishing industry so they

can continue to take the hatchery fish.

“The current dilemma is that the hatchery fish stocks are declining along with the wild stocks. The state’s response is to take more wild fish for hatchery broodstock in an attempt to sustain the hatchery program.

“The only solution the state has for this crisis is to increase hatchery production again. This has not worked in the past and won’t work now.” (Jim Myron 2022)

Bill Bakke, a life-long wild fish advocate, founded the Native Fish Society in 1995 serving variously as Executive Director, Director of Science and Conservation, Corporate Secretary and member of the Board of Directors. He is currently a scientific advisor for The Osprey.

REFERENCES

gCraig, J.A., and R. L. Hacker 1940. The history and development of the fisheries of the Columbia River. U.S. Bureau of Fisheries Bulletin 32:133216.

gGresh, Ted, Jim Lichatowich, and Peter Schoonmaker 2000 An Estimation of Historic and Current Levels of Salmon Production in the Northeast Pacific Ecosystem: Evidence of a Nutrient Deficit in the Freshwater Systems of the Pacific Northwest. Fisheries. American Fisheries Society Jan. 2000.

gLichatowich, James. 2019 Managed Annihilation of Wild Pacific Salmon. http://www.salmonhistory.com/

gLichatowich, James A. Lars E. Mobrand, Ronald J. Costello, and Thomas S. Vogel. 1996. A History of Frameworks Used in the Management of Columbia River Chinook Salmon. Prepared for the US Department of Energy. Bonneville Power Administration. Environmental Fish and Wildlife. Portland, Oregon

gMundy, Phillip R., Harvest Management. Return to the River 2006. Editor Richard N. Williams. Elsevier Academic Press)

gMyron, James. 2022. Comment on the status of salmon and steelhead in Oregon.

gRich, Willis. 1943. The Salmon Runs of the Columbia River in 1938. Department of Research, Fish Commission of the State of Oregon. Contribution No. 7. (Oregon State University Library)

FISH WATCH — WILD FISH NEWS, ISSUES AND INITIATIVES

Federal Court Recommends Ending Southeast Alaska Salmon Troll Fishery

Last December, in a massive international and coast-wide decision for wild Chinook salmon and Southern Resident orca recovery, Seattle’s federal Court issued a landmark opinion that recommends terminating unsustainable commercial southeast Alaska troll fisheries that has persisted for decades until new environmental reviews of those fisheries occur. Overfishing was found in a previous ruling to illegally harm the recovery of both endangered Southern Resident orcas and wild Chinook salmon across the Pacific Northwest.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson issued a report and recommendation on a lawsuit brought by the Wild Fish Conservancy, agreeing that halting the summer and winter seasons of the Southeast Alaska Chinook troll fishery is the most appropriate remedy. Simultaneously, the judge found the federal government’s inadequate biological opinion should be remanded back to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in order for the agency to address violations of environmental law.

larger and more diverse life histories of wild Chinook these whales evolved to eat, which are fundamental for rebuilding both populations.

While these Chinook are harvested in Southeast Alaska marine waters and currently certified by major U.S. seafood certifiers as ‘sustainable wild caught Alaskan Chinook’, approximately 97% of all Chinook harvested in the Southeast Alaska troll fishery actually originate from rivers throughout British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. Currently, these Chinook are harvested prematurely, before they can migrate back into southern waters where the Southern Resident orcas encounter them. In 2021, the fishery of concern harvested approximately 150,000 Chinook, many of which were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

For the first time in decades, Magistrate Peterson’s recommendation to terminate this fishery would finally allow these Chinook to migrate back down the coast and pass through the Southern Resident orcas’ key foraging areas. Similarly, this action would support the coastwide recovery of wild Chinook stocks by allowing far more wild Chinook to return and spawn in rivers in B.C., Washington, and Oregon.

Southern Resident orcas were listed as Endangered in 2005. Currently, there are only 73 individuals in the population, an alarming decrease from nearly 100 only 25-years ago. Reduced prey availability, specifically large and abundant Chinook, has been identified by orca experts and NOAA as the primary cause of their decline.

In the coming months, the Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendation and any objections from the defendants will be considered by the District Judge presiding over the case for a final ruling.

Find more information on the Wild Fish Conservancy website at: https://wildfishconservancy.org

2022 Skeena River Summer Steelhead Run Increases, But Not Out of the Woods Yet

In August 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones issued a stunning summary judgment based on a previous report and recommendation by Magistrate Peterson confirming that NOAA violated the law by improperly relying on undeveloped and uncertain future mitigation to offset ongoing overfishing authorized by NOAA.

In their most recent analysis of this fishery’s impact on threatened and endangered species, NOAA admits that over the last decade and continuing today, Chinook harvest is occurring at levels that are unsustainable for the long-term survival and reproductive success of both threatened wild Chinook salmon populations and endangered Southern Resident orcas. The overharvest of the orcas’ prey has been ongoing for decades.

If adopted by the District Judge, this recommendation will result in the first scientifically-proven recovery action in the Pacific Northwest to immediately provide Chinook for starving orcas. The decision will also recover and restore the

While the 2021 run of British Columbia’s wild Skeena River steelhead run was the lowest on record — 5,400 fish, or about 20% of average (and low returns for the previous two years as well) the 2022 run increased to 15,680 summer-run steelhead. However, that is still below the historical average and if the situation doesn’t improve, additional conservation action will need to be taken.

The river’s sockeye salmon run has been faring better. The 2022 sockeye salmon return was 4.33 million that permitted strong commercial, subsistence and recreational fishing opportunities. The 2021 Skeena River sockeye salmon return was 1.2 million.

The Chinook salmon return was 45,000. This was twice the number forecasted as well as double the 2021 return. However, this is still below the historical long-term average and commercial and sport fisheries that targeted Skeena Chinook were closed or reduced in 2022.

Learn more at: https://skeenawild.org, 2021 and 2022 annual reports. SkeenaWild Conservation Trust is one of The Osprey’s supporting partner organizations.

Continued on next page

Both Chinook salmon and Southern Resident orcas will benefit from the closure of the summer and winter southeast Alaska salmon troll fishery. Photo by Conrad Gowell/Wild Fish Conservancy

International River Conservation Groups Warn of Severe Climate and Human Rights Risk from New Hydropower Dam Proposals

Last November, a global river and human rights coalition at the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, called on world governments to avoid including new large hydropower projects in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and financiers to avoid funding projects due to the climate and human rights risks associated with hydropower.

The Rivers for Climate Coalition, a collective effort of environmental, indigenous, and human rights groups, pointed to the immense loss and damage suffered by the more than half a billion people impacted and displaced by hydropower dams, especially Indigenous Peoples. They also highlighted the multiple recent studies showing that emissions, especially methane, at hydropower plants are much higher than previously understood. In some cases, hydropower dams emit twice as much carbon as they store. A 2018 study, showed 14 dams in the Mekong River basin release more carbon emissions than fossil-fueled power plants, with researchers determining, “hydropower in the Mekong Region cannot be considered categorically as low-emission energy.” Another study last year found that hydropower in the Amazon river basin and the tropics have significant greenhouse gas emissions. This is especially worrisome as most new planned hydropower is in tropical areas.

In the lead-up to last year’s climate meeting, UN agencies urgently warned the world of the dangers and opportunity to reduce methane emissions — a greenhouse gas more than 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Dams and hydropower schemes create major loss and damage, including producing significant amounts of methane, biodiversity loss, and community displacement. In a warming world, droughts and flooding make hydropower an unreliable energy choice and an increasing danger to downstream communities. An urgent shift away from false solutions that harm people and ecosystems is essential.

Hydropower is being falsely marketed as “clean,” “green,” or “carbon-emission free.” This narrative must be challenged, and accurate data provided so decision-makers can make the best investments to reduce emissions and harm, according to the Coalition.

Learn more at: https://www.internationalrivers.org

Draft Legislation Proposes to Establish NOAA as an Independent Agency

On December 21, Science, Space, and Technology Committee Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) released a draft to enshrine the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in law and establish it as an independent agency.

NOAA was created by executive order in 1970 and has never been established in law. It currently resides within the Department of Commerce. Lucas’ proposed legislation would give NOAA formal statutory authority and authorize its critical mission.

From weather prediction to environmental observations to

managing fisheries, NOAA’s work supports more than onethird of our economy, according to Lucas.

In addition to giving NOAA statutory authority, the NOAA Organic Act will promote scientific integrity and critical research within the agency by requiring NOAA’s Science Advisory Board to develop a strategic plan for their research and development activities every five years.

Importantly, the NOAA Organic Act ensures the National Weather Service will continue to operate within NOAA as it provides essential weather forecasts, monitors severe weather, and communicates life-saving information to communities and government agencies.

It also consolidates NOAA’s work by refocusing it on its core mission areas. It moves the Office of Commercial Space out of NOAA and elevates the office, making it an individual office within the Department of Commerce, with an Undersecretary reporting directly to the Secretary of Commerce. Additionally, it directs a study on transferring NOAA’s work on endangered species and marine mammal protection to the Department of the Interior, which has extensive expertise in this area. See: https://science.house.gov/2022/12/lucas-releases-draft-legislation-to-establish-noaa-as-an-independentagency

Coho and Steelhead Return to San Vicente Redwoods One Year after Dam Removed

One year after the Mill Creek dam was removed, coho salmon and steelhead have returned to spawn. Located in the San Vicente Redwoods, a 8,532-acre property in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains. The land is owned by the Sempervirens Fund and Peninsula Open Space Trust, and managed in a partnership with the Land Trust Of Santa Cruz County and Save the Redwoods League for its conservation values.

For the past century, Mill Creek dam blocked access for anadromous fish to upstream habitat and transport of cobble needed for high-quality spawning habitat. Because the dam was providing no current value, the previous owner of the San Vicente Redwoods, CEMEX, agreed to remove the dam, which came down on October 4, 2021.

Nature immediately got to work, as winter storms began moving cobble and sediment downstream, and creating sandbars that provided first-rate salmon and steelhead habitat. By September 2022, fisheries biologist found the first recorded coho salmon in the creek downstream of the former damsite, as well as steelhead upstream — for the first time in 100 years.

To learn more visit: https://sempervirens.org/news/cohocobble-and-creek-beds/

After the Mill Creek dam was removed, wild fish soon arrived. Photo by Ian Bornarth/Save the Redwoods League

NOAA Fisheries Releases Assessment for Rebuilding Interior Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead

On September 30, 2022, NOAA Fisheries released its report Rebuilding Interior Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead, drawing on recommendations provided by the Columbia Partnership 2020. The assessment looks towards what is required to make significant progress to rebuilding salmon and steelhead stocks in the interior Columbia River basin to attain the goal of healthy and harvestable population levels.

These recommended actions include: Increasing habitat restoration; reintroducing salmon into blocked areas; managing predators; breaching dams; reforming fish hatcheries and harvest; improving water quality, especially toxic pollutant levels; managing marine ecosystems and; reconnecting floodplain habitat.

These recommendations go beyond the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, and are anticipated to take many decades to accomplish according to NOAA.

The assessment is available at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/rebuilding-interior-columbia-basin-salmon-and-steelhead

Recent Research Finds that Salmon Help the Flowers Grow

Researchers at Simon Fraser University studying the effects of nutrient distribution from decomposing salmon carcasses have found that it can have a signficant effect on the growth and reproduction success of plant species in nearby habitat. For certain flowers, these nutrients may cause an increase in abundance and plant size.

Over the course of three years, the scientists planted pink salmon carcasses along a small river on the central coast of British Columbia in Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) territory. Habitat along the river featured large meadows of wildflowers and grasses.

What researchers discovered was that during some years, plant communities adjacent to where the carcasses were placed produced larger leaves, and in other years some species produced larger flowers and more seeds. The scientists also experiented with other natural fertilizer combinations, including rockweed, but found salmon carcasses provided the most benefit. Yarrow and common red paintbrush seemed to benefit in particular.

See: http://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2023/01/how-salmonfeed-flowers---flourishing-ecosystems--study.html

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The Osprey thanks the dedicated people and organizations who gave their financial support in 2022. Our readers are our primary source of funding and without your support we could not continue publishing.Your donations are much appreciated, and used wisely.

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