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Home My Public Portal AboutSalmonSpawning grounds by Jeff Fee A They had to shoo salmon down river so horse could cross During the early 1890s the United States Fish Commission became aware of an alarming decrease in the salmon catch of the Columbia. In 1894 the commission sent Dr. Barton W. Evermann and Dr. J.T. Scovell to investigate the streams and lakes at the headwaters of the Salmon River, the Payette River, and that portion of the Snake River lying between the Great Shoshone Falls and Huntington Oregon. The headwaters of these rivers cradled the most vital concentrations of spawning grounds in the Columbian river system. Three species of salmon spawned their young in the headwaters of those tributaries -- the Chinook salmon, The Blueback salmon or the redfish of Idaho, and the steelhead or salmon trout. Each species of salmon was investigated separately through field surveys and interviews with local informants. The following information is based on the investigation of the streams and lakes at the headwaters of the Payette River. Dr. Everman and Dr. Scovell stayed in McCall while investiga- ting the salmon of the waters of the Payette. The investigation began with the Chinook. W.C. Jennings of Meadows was the first local informant interviewed. Jennings had the reputa- tion of being an avid fisherman. He took a special interest in observing the habits and numbers of fish in the Payette Lake and River drainage. "I have been familiar with Big Payette Lake and the surrounding county for 25 years," Jennings said. "The salmon (Chinook species) come up Payette River into Long Valley about July 4; saw some on that day a few years ago in Gold Fork, about 15 or 20 miles above its mouth. They are most abundant about Aug. 15 to Sept. 15 when they are spawning. They spawn earlier in Gold Fork and a little later in North Fork and Lake Fork, the time for the last two being Sept. 1 to 20. I have seen salmon in the North Fork occasionally at the outlet of Big Payette Lake." Thomas McCall and his son, Daws, were also interviewed about the Chinook salmon in the Payette. "We have lived at the lower end of Big Payette for six years; have not paid much attention to the salmon, but know they come up river within a mile or so of the lake; have an interest in a seine (net) which one haul was made about Aug. 1, but only two salmon were caught," they said. "The other owners did a good deal of fishing in August. At one haul they got 30 fish. We think we saw a Chinook in the lake near the outlet, but it may have been a redfish. The Indians came in here in the early fall and camp along the river. They get a good many salmon, which they cure for winter use." During September of 1895, Dr. Everman and Dr. Scovell investigated the Chinook spawning grounds on the Payette. The observations by Dr. Everman: "My examination of Payette River did not result in the discovery of a single live Chinook salmon. About 212 miles below the lake we found one dead female 28 inches long. A number of deserted wickiups along the stream showed that the Indians had been there recently. Most of the people of whom we inquired stated that the salmon came much earlier and in larger numbers than usual this year. When W.C. Jennings from Meadows was again interviewed for his observations on the redfish in Payette Lakes, he said: "Two fisheries were run here for seven or eight years, between 1870 and 1880, by Hughes and Bodily Co. and Louis Fouchet. They put up great quantities of redfish. Hughes and Bodily put up about 75,000 fish one year. There are both large and small redfish here. The large ones run four to five pounds undressed. There used to be millions of them here. So thick were they often, in riding a horse across at the ford, I have been compelled to get off and drive them away before my horse would go across." When N.B. Robertson of Weiser was interviewed he recalled: "In September of 1888 there were a good many redfish, some of which I caught. One man put up 800 pounds. Jennings, Folsom and White had about 600 pounds. Louis Fouchet used to come in about the first of July to get ready for fishing. Fifteen or 20 years ago he would salt down 30,000 to 40,000 pounds every year, and ship them to the mining camps." Not much was known about the steelhead on the Payette but Jennings stated: "The salmon trout or steelhead come up Payette River about April when the water is high. Never saw any above the lake. They will bite a hook occasionally ". The conclusion of the salmon study was as follows. The investigations show undoubtedly that important spawning grounds of the Chinook salmon, redfish and steelhead are found in Idaho, and that it is upon these grounds that we must depend in large measure for the natural increase necessary to the continuance of the salmon industry of Columbia River. My thanks to Tom Welsh of the Fish and Game Department and Don Chapman, fishery consultant, for allowing access to these historical records. r 5 y V �'O 5fd k NC. WS June Ia, /q93 Fishing group raps dam flows,, Members of an Idaho fishing conservation group are charging Idaho Power Co. and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with an "I don't care" attitude that the group says could cause greatly reduced returns of salmon and steelhead to Idaho in the future. According to a recent press release from Idaho Steelhead and Salmon Unlimited of Boise, re- cent attempts to get Idaho's steelhead and salmon smolt through dams on the Lower Snake River to the Pacific Ocean have been hindered by the need for reservoir water for future power generation. Test results have determined that minimum flow for juvenile fish migration over dams in the Snake River is 85,000 cubic feet - per- second, while Idaho Power flows as low as is have been below the optimum level for a good portion of the spring migra- tion, according to Dan Magers, a group spokesman. "We are extremely concerned with the impact that these low flows are having on the down stream migration," the release said. "This could drastically- reduce sport fishing in' 1986 - 1987." Idaho Power has told the; group they could not release, more water through Lower' Granite Dam because the Corps' of Engineers drew Brownlee Dam so low for flood control that it! was questionable as to whether; they could refill the reservoir this' year. y Run -off .forecasts that differ between Idaho Power and the Corps of Engineers seem to be the problem. Ile Rapid River Fish Hatchery The Rapid River Salmon Hat- chery near Riggins is nestled in the park -like setting of Rapid River, a tributary to the Little Salmon River. The hatchery was built in 1964 by Idaho Power Co. with the primary purpose of rearing nearly three million juvenile spring chinook salmon annual- ly. The hatchery, which is ad- ministered by the Idaho Depart- ment of Fish and Game also col- lects adult chinook from mid - May through July with egg - taking operations happening to mid - August through September. To reach the hatchery, turn west at the Rapid River Market south of Riggins and drive about three miles. Visitors also are encouraged to enjoy the large park and pic- nic areas. First seacson since 78 Salmon fishing slow during 1st weekend By Randall Brooks The Star -News Although fishing conditions weren't the best because of mud- died water, both Indian and local non - Indian fishermen were harvesting mighty chinook salmon Saturday morning on the Tittle Salmon River and its Rapid .River drainage near Riggins for the first time in seven years. Herb Pollard, anadromous ,fisheries coordinator for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said the season opened quietly because of thunderstorms in the Riggins area, with only about nine fish taken on Satur- day by non - Indian fishermen. He said the water cleared Sun- day and Monday, leading to a total of 70 -75 fish harvested for the two days. He said that fishing pressure was still light on the stretch of open water that runs from the mouth of the Little Salmon River to 100 yards ab^• �c i h,; mouth of Rapid River. A maximum of 54 fisherman at one time were counted. Pollard said he expects that number to increase as more fishermen learn of the season, which he expects to last several weeks. He said a similar season in 1978, which ran for six weeks, netted 1,300 fish that year. Early last week, F &G and the Nez Perce Indian tribe had called for a weekend Indian fishery on the Rapid River as part of the tribe's treaty rights. The Indians were to fish each weekend until 1,000 chinooks were taken with the traditional dip nets and gaff hooks. But the announcement late Thursday in Lewiston of a similar fishing season for non - Indian fishermen using hook and line in the Little Salmon River took local F &G officers and sport shops by surprise. The $2.50 salmon permits which allow fishermen two fish per day with a season total of six salmon, didn't arrive in the Mc- Call area until late Friday after- noon. Meanwhile, anxious fishermen looking for supplies of the heavy - duty fishing gear necessary to land the fish, including 40 to 60 pound test- strength line, large treble hooks, and salmon roe, often came up empty. The season was made possible by a memorandum agreement signed Thursday between "the state fisheries management and the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee on Rapid River salmon fishing. The most recent count available of chinook returning over Ice Harbor Dam showed 27,000 fish as of one week ago, with approximately 1,000 fish passing the Snake River Dam each day, Pollard said. There has been no season since 1978 for non - Indians, while In- dians have honored a self - imposed ban on treaty fishing since 1980 because of small returns of chinooks. Only 6,700 fish were counted over Ice Har- bor Dam last year. Pollard said the larger number of fish returning this year allowed for an agreement in which non - Indian fishermen in Idaho will also be allowed to take up to 1,000 fish. At that point, fishing would stop until 3,500 chinooks had returned to the Rapid River fish trap. "If the fish don't show up, we'll reconsider," he said. "But I'd suspect we'll have the season for several weeks." 5tdr News April 4, 19gb Salmon once filled Pette headwaters (This is the last in a series of ar- ticles examining the events and people through history that have shaped Idaho's Heartland.) \ BY TOM GROTE �� `'� The Star -News I The most exciting wildlife story now underway in the Pacific Northwest is the growing numbers of salmon, steelhead and other ocean -going fish that are returning to the headwaters of Idaho rivers. The opening of each new area to fishermen following that growth gives rise to memories of the great fish runs that were observed in the early years of Idaho's settlement, before dams blocked their path. One such observation was made in the Bulletin of the U.S. Fish Commission in 1896. The author was Dr. Barton W. Ever- mann, an ichthyologist with the federal government who viewed the anadromous fish runs in cen- tral Idaho while on a mission in 1894. Evermann came West after disturbing reports of an alarming decrease in the salmon catch from the Columbia River. His job was to determine the state of the salmon population at its source in the spawning grounds of Idaho. During his five weeks of in- vestigations, Evermann inter- viewed several local residents and personally toured some areas. Evermann's report included a description of the large runs of Chinook salmon, steelhead and "redfish," or sockeye salmon, up the North Fork of the Payette River and its branches and into the Payette Lakes area. He conducted an interview REFLECTIONS OF THE PAST INEW with W.C. Jennings of Old Meadows about the runs of salmon in Long Valley. "I have seen salmon up Gold Fork 10 to 12 miles and as much as 15 miles up Lake Fork, "' Jen- nings told Evermann. "These salmon will average 10 pounds or more. They spawn on riffles in Payette River. North Fork, Lake Fork and Gold Fork, the principal spawning grounds being in Gold Fork," Jennings said. Concerning the sockeye salmon, Jennings provided mtore personal experiences. to Ever- mann concerning Payette Lakes. "Two fisheries were run here for seven or eight years, between 1870 and 1880, by Hughes and Bodily and Louis roucinet." .ien- nings said. "They put up great quantities of redfish. Hughes and Bodily put up about 75,000 fish one year," he said. Jennings also confirmed the decline in numbers of fish, but recalled their glory days in previous years. "Formerly the redfish were very abundant; the water was literally full of them; there were millions of them," he said. "So thick were they that often, in riding a horse across at the ford, I have been compelled to get off and drive them away before my horse would Qo across," Jennings said. Upon his return to Washington, D.C., Evermann was pleased to report to his ciunPrinrc that "oh�n��- ' �.. �..,. salmon, the redfish and the salmon trout all occur in considerable numbers in the headwaters of the Salmon and Payette rivers." The upstream spawning beds for those ocean -going fish were still in good shape, and in- vestigators would have to look elsewhere for the cause of the declining runs, he said. What is certain is that any runs of salmon and steelhead in the Payette River Basin stopped in 1924. That was the year that Black Canyon Dam was built on the main Payette River near Em- mett, and was the first of many barriers to the fish runs to be erected in later years. Reports note good salmon fishing along river BY RANDALL BROOKS The Star -News If you've got a taste for salmon, it's time to get out your rod and reel. Idaho's only sport salmon fishing season on a four - mile section of the Little Salmon River near Riggins has been pick- ing up lately as water levels begin to recede. Fishing for spawning spring chinook salmon is also open on the Snake River in a section of the river below Hells Canyon Dam, where success is reported to be just as good. "The last 5 -6 days they've been catching them real hot," said Phil Smith of the Seven Devil's Tavern and Sport Shop in Big- gins. "There's a lot of fish com- ing in." Tom Levendofske, hatchery superintendent at the Rapid River Fish Hatchery, gave figures that agreed with Smith's assessment. The chinooks are all products of the Idaho Power Co. funded hatchery and are returning to spawn in the headwaters of the Rapid River from the Pacific Ocean. As of Monday, 1,565 adults had been transferred as hatchery brood stock from a fish trap located near the hatchery. While only about 150 fish were in the trap Monday, Levendofske estimated 300 to 400. fish were in the trap Tuesday morning, in- dicating the fish are starting to move and the season is in full sw- ing. An Idaho Department of Fish and Game creel census estimates that 480 fish hate been caught so far, with catch rates running bet- ween 10 -12 hours per fish this weekend and improving rapidly since them. Smith said reports at the Big- gins shop showed fishermen on Tuesday were landing about one out of every six fish hooked. He said the salmon are ranging a lit- tle larger than last year with one fish reported at 24 pounds and most in the 15 -pound category. Payette tests method to aid fish spawning The Associated Press MCCALL — An experiment being conducted in a drainage of the South Fork of the Salmon River eventually may lead to efforts to undo some of the damage done to fish spawn- ing grounds by erosion over the years. John Lund, fisheries biolo- gist for the Payette National Forest's McCall and Krassel ranger districts, recently com- pleted work on small test sites in streambeds of the South Fork, the Secesh River and one of its tributaries, Lake Creek. Lund and a crew of Forest Service employees and con- tract workers used high -pres- sure fire hoses to blast sand and silt out of 10 -by -15 -foot areas of gravel in the streambeds. Much of the sediment imbed- ded in the gravel is the result of storms in the mid -1960s that caused severe erosion on steep canyon slopes that had been heavily logged. The silt and sand hinders salmon and steethead spawn- ing by preventing oxygen -bear- ing water from circulating through the gravel where the fish bury their eggs. It also tends to compact around the t' '3 I e s i,vI,' il gravel, making it difficult for fish to dig a "redd," or nest in which to deposit their eggs, Lund said. Eleven sites were cleaned out on the South Fork, two on the Secesh and 25 in Lake Creek. Lund said. "We tried to pick spots that would be good for spawning," during a 15-day "window of op- portunity" in August, Lund said. But he emphasized that the project was an experiment and not directly aimed at enhan::- ing anadromous fish habitat. "We aren't going into pro- duction, by any stretch of the imagination, until we find out if it can be cost - effective," Lund said. The amount of sediment at each site will be measured next summer to see how much sand and silt has filled back in around the gravel. That should give the Forest Service an idea of whether the gravel beds can stay clean for the three to five years that would be necessary to make a full - fledged cleanup cost effective, Lund said. If a large -scale project is shown to be worthwhile, and funding can be found, Lund said a machine called a "riffle sifter" probably would be used. The riffle sifter uses a high - pressure stream of water to stir up sand and silt imbedded in the gravel. It then sucks the sediment -laden water of the stream and shoots it up onto the bank, Lund said. , Dept 6; 1q 86 Katherine Jones /The Idaho Statesman Some of the 940 sockeye offspring from Redfish Lake swim in an aquarium at an Idaho Fish and Game laboratory near Eagle on Tuesday. The alevin, or "first feed fry" are about an Inch long and 4 months old. Some of the fry are being raised in Eagle; the other half are being raised in Seattle. Scientists hope to give life to a dying breod By Andrew Garber The Idaho Statesman WHAT'S NEXT EAGLE -- Nine hundred and forty juvenile sockeye salmon, ■ The U.S. An y Corps of members of an almost extinct spe- Engineers is exf acted to do ties, spend their days swimming test drawdowns ,?n March 1 round and round in plastic tubs. of the Lower G "finite and Lit - They will never see the Pacific tle Goose rese ,voirs on the Ocean, never swim 900 -miles up Lower SnakF, diver. The the Columbia and Snake Rivers, drawdowns evolve releas- never spawn in Redfish Lake. ing water f .,)m the darns to "They represent Idaho's last help flush ,uvenile salmon to sockeye salmon run," said Keith the ocear and increase their Johnson, who is raising #the fish chances of survival. at a Idaho Fish and Game Tabora- If successful, the draw - ,r tory near Eagle. "They're im- downs will be fully imple- portant." mented in the mid- 1990s. Too important, he said, to let During the drawdown, the loose in the wild where most of Corps will look for any dam - them would eventually be killed age, such as soil erosion and by eight dams blocking their mi- undermined roadbeds. The gration route to the ocean. drawdown is expected to last But it's hoped these sockeye's about 20 days. fry will be released in 1993 ■ The National Marine through 1996. The fish would be Fisheries Service, responsi- released in October in Redfish ble for developing a plan to Lake, which allows them to iden- save Idaho's sockeye salmon tify the lake as their home so they runs, is expected to issue a will return to it. decision soon on whether to The fish -- along with siblings list Idaho's fall and combined being raised in Seattle -- are Ida- spring- summer Chinook runs ho's best hope of restoring the as endangered or threatened. Redfish Lake sockeye salmon ■ The Fisheries Service runs, listed as an endangered spe- is expected to rule inMarch ties by the federal government whether dams along the Co- last year, fisheries experts say. lumbia and Snake rivers will Sockeye used to spawn in the have to change their opera - lake by the thousands. Last year tions in 1992 to help in- only four returned. Johnson and crease survival rates for others fear none will return in the sockeye salmon runs. coming years. The 940 salmon fry at the Eagle Fish Health Laboratory represent half the progeny of the three male and one female sockeye that re- turned to Redfish Lake in 1991. Female sockeye can lay about 2,000 eggs. The other offspring are being raised at a laboratory in Seattle. Officials hope that both groups will produce more than a million sockeye that can be released into Redfish Lake in the mid- 1990s. Biologists are raising the fish which grow up to 2 feet and weigh 3 to 6 pounds — in captivi- ty because it ensures most will live. At the Eagle and Seattle hatcheries, about 94 percent of the fish have survived. In the wild only 10 to 20 percent of the sockeye eggs and salmon fry survive predators and disease,. Johnson downplayed concerns that breeding the fish in captivity will weaken the stock. The fish will be fine if a way is found to get them past the dams, he said. "The problem is not the (breed- ing) of fish. The problem is get- ting the fish back to the ocean. The simple fact is we've got eight dams between Redfish Lake and the ocean," he said. The release of the last sockeye salmon depends on whether ac- tion is taken to modify dams on the Snake and Columbia Rivers to increase the survival rate of the salmon smolts, Johnson said. If the dams aren't fixed, he said, the only place people may be able to see Redfish Lake sockeye, is a laboratory. a iier ,m fs,r, -o y / - "j9 State'may close part of Fork Proposal aims to protect fisheries; opponents of ban may file appeals. The Associated Press The state Land Board has voted to withdraw 31 miles of the South Fork of the Salmon River from mineral development as part of the effort to help rebuild North- west salmon runs. The unanimous action Tuesday was recommended by the state Department of Lands. It would bar dredge or placer mining on the South Fork from just below Indian Point to the confluence with the Main Salmon. "The South Fork provides criti- cal habitat for native anadromous Chinook salmon, bull trout, west - slope cutthroat and steelhead trout," state Water Resources Di- rector Keith Higginson told the department in backing the with- drawal. Any opponents of the plan will have 30 days to request an appeal of the board decision after formal publication of the withdrawal is made. State officials said there have been problems dealing with some to mining What's next The State Land Board has directed the state Department of Lands to pursue withdrawal from mineral development of the remaining potentially navi- gable reaches of the South Fork upstream from Indian Point. • • • • miners on the river who have been hostile to attempts to en- force surface management regu- lations. And Higginson's department said it has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to au- thorize any new mining opera- tions under the Steam Protection Act. The decision came five days af- ter the National Marine Fisheries Service designated the spring - summer and fall runs of the Chi- nook salmon threatened species, adding those runs to the Snake River sockeye salmon run that was declared endangered a year ago. Those designations require de- velopment of a region -wide plan to restore the runs. Fish and Game Director Jerry Conley said the South Fork basin at one time was a major spawning area for summer chinook and wild steelhead, with 500 miles of streams accessible to the fish. The decline of those salmon runs has left the South Fork underutilized. State officials said the spawn- ing and rearing habitat must be preserved in anticipation of re- covery of the runs. The board also directed the de- partment to pursue withdrawal of the remaining potentially naviga- ble reaches of the South Fork upstream from Indian Point. "Dredge and placer mining in critical habitats cannot be accom. plished without further degrada- tion to an already severely im- pacted resource," Higginson said. ��O��YOGQ��P_ 3��9��/r3 Salmon plants stalled by NMFS Last year's listing of Snake River chinook salmon as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act has held up yet something else in the re- gion. Road building, construction, timber sales and practically every other management activity in the lower Snake drainage has been stalled by that listing, along with the 1991 listing of Snake River sockeye as "endangered. Now, pending review and concurrence of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the annual plant- ing of young hatchery- reared chinook salmon in the drainage has also been held up this year. Statewide, there are roughly 5 million chinook salmon and about 8 million steelhead sitting in Ida- ho's hatcheries awaiting a green light from NMFS, according to Tom Rogers, anadromous hatcheries supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. At the McCall hatchery, about 1 million chi- nook smolts are showing signs of wanting to migra- tion, according to Dexter Pitman, salmon and steel- head program manager for the department. But more urgent, he said, is the situation at the Rapid River hatchery, where about 2.5 million young salmon are ready to go. The McCall hatchery is managed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game through the Lower Salmon River Compensation Plan, while the Rapid River facility is the charge of Idaho Power Company. Pitman said the situation with the Rapid River spring chinooks is approaching critical as the fish are becoming very restless and energetic, showing the signs of wanting to join the downstream migration. He also said that high water flows right now are about optimum to speed those young fish down- stream with high flows the rule. "We're coming right up to it, the fish are say- ing it's time to go," he said. Keeping them in the hatchery for much longer could begin causing stress in the ready -to -go fish, which could lead to some mortality in their numbers, Pitman said. Not all of the fish leave at the same time, :he said. The practice at Rapid River has been to simply open the gate at the hatchery allowing the fish to go when they want. But the gate will remain closed un- til NMFS finishes its review. McCall employees were also to begin releasing the summer chinook salmon reared at the McCall hatchery for the past 18 months into the South Fork of the Salmon River last week. For the past 13 years, those smolts have been re- leased during late March and early April. The Rapid River hatchery has been producing salmon for plant- ing since 1964 The eggs to produce those young fish for the McCall hatchery are gathered each year during July and early August from returning fish trapped on the South Fork. Pitman said the issue concerning NMFS has to do with whether the hatchery - reared fish impact the threatened runs of wild fish that are migrating to the ocean at the same time. There is concern that the hatchery fish, being larger in numbers, crowd the wild fish and po- tentially outcompete for food and space in the migration system, he said. Most of the young fish, however, are killed on the out- migra- tion, Pitman said, as they navigate through or are barged around the many dams they must negotiate on their trip to the ocean. But there's yet another twist to the situation. That involves the genetic origin of the fish released into each of the rivers. The fish released into the South Fork, the Main Salmon and Pahsimeroi rivers are the offspring of species native to those rivers, he said. Maintaining the native genetic component is impor- tant, he said. By comparison, the strain of fish produced at the Rapid River hatchery is native to the Weiser River drainage, he said. Pitman said that not only are the wild runs of fish in Idaho in jeopardy, but hatchery runs are on the decline. Based on studies done by the department and others in the past, he said his department's po- sition is that the releases of the hatchery- reared fish don't make things any tougher for the native fish. But asked what would happen should NMFS' decision preclude further releases of hatchery fish? "Then we've got a serious problem," Pitman said. But he also said he doesn't see that happening, as he said he be- lieves NMFS will concur with the state's conclusion on the issue. On Tuesday, Tom Rogers, anadromous hatcheries supervisor for the IDF &G, said they'd received some tentative release dates from NMFS. The Lower Snake River Compensation Plan hatcheries in the state, McCall, Sawtooth, Magic Valley and Clearwater, may be able to release salmon and steelhead smolts beginning next Wednesday, April 7. The news may be better for the Idaho Power hatcheries at Rapid River, Niagara Springs, Pahsimeroi and Oxbow. Those hatcheries may begin releases as early as Friday, Rogers said. On the down side, however, Rogers said the listing has also pre- vented the trapping of steelhead at the Oxbow facility. He said they trapped enough fish early in the run last fall to provide a sufficient number of eggs for this year. But none of those eggs will come from the later arriving fish, which could affect the make up of future runs, he said. "They're ready to go, they're beating the tail screens," Rogers said of the smolts in the Rapid River hatchery. "They're fully smolt - ed and they're ready to go." The stress that's being generated-is causing some mortality, and said they're now losing a couple of hundred fish per day at Rapid River. The ab . J 9 g s c h' n oo K Pun Idaho's Snake River sockeye salmon are listed as endangered aimed for (one fish returned to its Redfish Lake spawning grounds in 1992). The Snake River spring /summer and fall chinook runs are threatened. endafigeped Chaney said listing the Wash- ington run would make it clear ■ species list that it's not just Idaho's salmon that are in trouble. Utility companies and other interest groups in Oregon and Washington salmon run Washington have tried to por- troubled, environmentalists say tray the Snake River salmon runs as a problem Idaho should By Andrew Garber take care of by itself. The Idaho Statesman Chaney said listing the Co- lumbia River run would give Environmental groups plan to salmon advocacy groups more petition the federal government clout to force the federal gov- to list a troubled Washington ernment to take steps to help all chinook salmon run as an en- the salmon runs. dangered species. Boise salmon advocate Ed Environmentalists and Idaho Chaney, with the Northwest Re- officials want the National Ma- source Information Center, said rine Fisheries Service — he hopes a petition will be filed charged with saving Idaho's by the end of May to list the salmon runs — to force dams on upper Columbia River summer the Columbia and Snake rivers chinook. to release water from reservoirs In addition to Chaney's group, each spring to aid salmon runs. several other organization's Drawing down reservoirs on plan to sign the rivers would speed migrat- "We're go- on including ing salmon to the Pacific Ocean W a s h g i n t o n ing to do it. and ensure that more of them Trout and the survive, they contend. The fish Washington Wilderness Studies show most juvenile there are in Coalition. salmon headed toward the Pacif- trouble just Filing a pe- J is are killed by predators and disease because their migration tition like they are the has been dramatically slowed by governs dams blocking their route. in the Snake ment to decide if a species de- River. " Chaney said the same problem serves listing. is killing the Columbia River "We're go- Ed Chaney summer chinook. ing to do it," Boise Salmon Michele DeHart director of a said Chaney advocate y' who is leading nonprofit group that monitors salmon runs, the Fish Passage the effort. Center, agreed. The fish there are in trouble just like they are in the Snake "Everyone would agree that it is a stock that's in serious trou- ble," she said. i he Advac at e Hells Canyon spring Chinook trapping ends on high note When Idaho Power completed seven weeks of trapping at its fish collection facility below Hells Canyon Dam in July, 431 adult spring chinook salmon had been collected - one of the highest numbers in recent years. This year's number was the second - highest at the Snake River collection site since 1987 when 536 were collected, topped only by last year's 934 returning adults. The utility's hatchery biologist, Paul Abbott, said a strong return was not unex- pected this year because of the age -class distribu- tion of 1992's return run. The salmon were taken to Idaho Power's Rapid River Hatchery near Riggins. Biologists in mid - August will begin artificially spawning those fish as well as the more than 4,400 chinook that have returned directly to the hatchery. Smolts resulting from this year's spawning ac- tivity - expected to require a month to complete - will be released into the Snake and Salmon river systems in the spring of 1995. hug H, 1993 ,A, A4v ocdle, Aug t$1 /03 i Salmon awareness signs on forest North of McCall and New Meadows, travelers are greeted by signs stating "Salmon Country - ''Clean Rivers, Keep `em Coming Back ". This is chinook salmon spawning area. And as of May 22, 1992, salmon and its habitat are protected as threatened species under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Salmon habitat on the Payette National Forest is locat- ed in the South Fork Salmon River, Little Salmon Riv- er, and Snake River drainages. What does this mean? It means that each and ev- eryone of us - agencies and individuals alike must do everything we can to improve the historic spawning grounds that once turned the water red with chinook. Visitors to the Payette National Forest are asked to camp and park 100 meet away from water. Please keep litter - such as trash, gas, and oil away from streams and lakes. Avoid gravel areas of streams where salmon could spawn. Keep streambanks intact and vegetated by not walking or riding along or .driving through streams. Many dispersed camping and parking areas that were next to streams have been barricaded and posted with salmon information signs. Brochures will he available explaining the survival needs of the chinook. For further information, please call the Payette National Forest, (208) 634 -0700. The Advocdfe August 18, 1993 The Advocate Governor Andrus takes p art in noble experiment for sockeye REDFISH LAKE - Governor Cecil D. Andrus today helped replace into the waters of this Saw - tooth Mountains lake captive wild sockeye salmon that in 1991 were pulled from a tributary of the Salmon River at the beginning of their migration to the Pacific Ocean. The event was part of what Governor Andrus called a "noble experiment" to see if the now adult sockeye will spawn in Redfish Lake. "By detouring these sockeye as juveniles, we spared them death and dismemberment in the dams downstream," Governor Andrus said. "Our hope now is that we can reintroduce them into their an- cestral waters here at Redfish Lake and watch as they spawn a new generation." Governor Andrus criticized the "absolute iner- tia" of the federal government and the "power of utility money" in blocking meaningful efforts to save the sockeye, an endangered species, from ex- tinction. "We must recognize that the river system to which these fish return is still fundamentally Aug %s, 1993 lethal," Governor Andrus said. "The agency au- thorized to protect the river system's multiple use continues to control the entire watershed for pow- er production only. The federal agencies empow- ered to protect the salmon have over - promised and under - performed. Influential members of Congress don't support salmon recovery because they don't understand what a huge burst of economic devel- opment will come from our restoring runs that will draw tourists by the tens of thousands." Governor Andrus, former secretary of the In- terior, believes the effort to save the "legendary" salmon is the first time that the Endangered Species Act has been used legitimately, and not as a surrogate or "appliance" to stop certain develop- ment. He was joined at the Redfish Lake replanting project event by representatives of the Shoshone Bannock tribes, key conservations groups, and ac- tress Jamie Lee Curtis, a conservationist who is a member of Idaho Rivers United. Cows, sheep and salmon coexist on the Payette MCCALL — Three -fifths of the Payette Na- tional Forest has habitat historically used by Chi- nook salmon for spawning. These areas are the drainages of the South Fork Salmon River. Since the salmon was listed last May as a threatened species under the 1973 Endangered Species Act, Payette Forest personnel have worked long days producing required documents explain- ing what modifications will be made to protect salmon habitat. Those plans have to be approved by the Na- tional Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the lead federal agency in the Department of Commerce for that species. There are hundreds of activities that are being analyzed for their affect on salmon habi- tat and changes already occurring to protect the fish. One of the first concerns was how to graze cows and sheep on the Forest and still improve salmon spawning and rearing areas. There are twelve livestock operators who have permits to graze on National Forest lands around McCall and New Meadows. Livestock totals 3,000 head of cattle and 15,000 sheep on 33 grazing allotments. Forest bi- ologists, hydrologists and range conservationists worked hand -in -hand with ranchers to develop grazing plans that are sensitive to the salmon and its habitat. The plans call for a combination of: • Modified grazing use • Less intensive use along stream sides. • Closing certain areas to grazing that are ad- jacent to critical spawning areas. • Restoring range land in poor condition. • Building fences where needed to control livestock use. The plans were submitted in January of this year and approved by NMFS on July 16. The next day, cows and sheep began grazing the Forest un- der the new conditions. Two of the 33 allotments were not used by two permittees, who were uncer- tain whether the plans would be approved in time for the grazing season. Grazing season usually be- gins mid -June to July 1. The next step is "monitoring" - biologists and range conservationists will visit the allotments to insure the plans are followed and assess long -term range and fish habitat trends. Biologists will monitor streambank stability, water temperatures, creekside vegetation, and range conditions. All agree that the weather this year has been in the salmon's favor. Do or die for sockeye Naha SOCkeye L- • 24 adult sockeye (12 male and 12 female) will be released into Redfish Lake during the next few weeks. • The fish will spawn in October with each female laying 1,000 to 2,000 eggs. e The eggs will hatch in March or April of 1994. • The offspring will leave Redfish Lake in spring 1995 and 1996. Redfish Lake N 21 .❑ soils Stanley Lowman Redfish 76 Boise 21 Lake O mom: The fish will likely return to Redfish Lake between 1996 and 1998. Katherine Jones/ i ne iaano staiesmar One by one, eight sockeye were released into Redfish Lake on Thursday afternoon, witnessed by an array of media, concerned citizens, passers -by and dignitaries. Charles Ray, of Idaho Rivers United, left, Allyson Coonts, 9, and Ketchum resident Jamie Lee Curtis released the last one. Gov. Cecil Andrus, Stanley Mayor Launa Gunderson, and Lionel Boyer of the Shoshone Bannock tribes also helped with the release. o According to Idaho Fish and Game, roughly 3,000 juvenile salmon may survive natural selection and travel to the ocean. Dams, under current operations, will slow the salmon migration and cause the death of 55 to 77 percent of fish headed to the ocean, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. Nature (predators, disease, etc.) will kill 90 to 95 percent of the sockeye that make it to the ocean, according to Idaho Fish and Game. * Dams will kill up to 14 percent of the sockeye that return to Idaho, according to the Fisheries Service. • That would mean that out of a population of 3,000 that migrate to the ocean, only 10 to 20 adults might make it back. Pa�P *4 ') 0t, 3 P�gps Eight salmon released into Redfish Lake bring hope for a new generation in Idaho. By Andrew Garber The Idaho Statesman REDFISH LAKE — Eight en- dangered sockeye salmon were poured into Redfish Lake on Thursday afternoon, starting the countdown toward the spe- cies' survival or extinction, biol- ogists said. The fish — captured along with about 750 other juvenile sockeye in 1991 as they left Red - fish Lake for the Pacific Ocean — were raised by the Idaho Fish and Game Department until they reached spawning age. "By detouring these sockeye as juveniles, we spared them death and dismemberment in the dams downstream," Gov. Cecil Andrus said. "Our hope is we can reintroduce them and watch as they spawn a new gener- ation." Andrus, actress Jamie Lee Curtis and Shoshone - Bannock tribal member Lionel Boyer waded into the lake's frigid wa- ters to release the fish while several dozen officials, tourists and journalists looked on. The sockeye released into the lake, located near Stanley, mark the start of efforts to save the almost extinct run by returning hatchery- reared salmon back to the wild. But Andrus and environmen- talists said the fish — and sever- al hundred thousand other hatchery- reared sockeye to be - released in the next few years — are doomed unless the federal government forces dams on the lower Snake and Columbia riv- ers to make changes needed to -save the runs. "The clock is ticking," warned .Charles Ray, spokesman for Ida- ho Rivers United. "This is the last chance we've got." Andrus, fishery biologists and 'environmentalists contend hy- droelectric dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers have driven Idaho's sockeye and Chi- nook salmon runs almost to ex- tinction. The dams slow their migra- tion, making them more vulner- able to predators and disease, -they said. Salmon also are killed :by hydroelectric turbines. ► Some feast on sockeye ► Idaho will file lawsuit Is it a sockeye or a 010' kokanee? They want dams on the rivers -to release water each spring to - increase the water's velocity :and speed salom to the ocean. Until that happens dams will :continue killing up to 77 percent `of salmon headed to the ocean and 14 percent of the fish return - ing to Idaho, Fish and Game :biologists said. Only three sockeye (one fe- male and two males) have re- turned to Redfish Lake this year .out of about 3,500 allowed to :leave the lake by Fish and Game din 1991, biologists said. And that was with the help of 32 law enforcement officers who pa- trolled rivers this spring and summer to keep people from catching the salmon. The returning sockeye will be put in a fish hatchery to breed. The eight sockeye released Thursday will spawn this fall in Redfish Lake. To protect them, Fish and Game banned kokan- nee fishing and barred people from where the salmon breed. The sockeye eggs will hatch in March and April. After staying at least one winter, the juvenile fish should begin migrating to the Pacific in the spring of 1985 and 1986. A total of 24 sockeye will be released this summer, but up to 300,000 may be released at one time by 1997. The release was limited this year so biologists could monitor the salmon's be- havior and do other tests. Andrus said the Fisheries Ser- vice must fix the dams within the next couple of years or the sockeye will become extinct. Agency officials could not be reached for comment Thursday. Shoshone - Bannock spokes- man Boyer, eyeing jet -skis rip- ping across Redfish Lake, said that it's no wonder the sockeye are almost gone. "Progress is destroying every- thing in its way," he said. �� Imported sockeye to feed festival The First Annual Sockeye Festival and Feed will protest negative effects salmon restoration has had on the local economy. By Pete Zimowsky j The Idaho Statesman The sockeye salmon is about to get a warm welcome in Stanley. As dinner, that is. Some citizens and members of the Sawtooth Valley Boosters, a group of business people, are sponsoring the First Annual Sockeye Festival and Feed on Aug. 21 to protest the negative effects salmon restoration has had on the local economy. Of course, the salmon on the menu won't come from Redfish Lake Creek, where sockeye are endangered and only two of the fish have shown up this summer. Instead, about 150 pounds of sockeye will be flown in from Alaska for the free dinner. Along with dinner will be the first world championship salm- on -egg tossing contest. Organizers want to turn up the heat on federal and state officials. "The festival will raise public awareness that the en- dangered species is having an impact," George McKovich, who heads the Sawtooth Valley Boosters, said Thursday. "Not only is this area a fragile environmental area, but a frag- Idaho plans to sue government ile economic area," he said. to "We're not against the salmon, just all the impact against us." Streams and lakes could not be stocked with hatchery trout early this summer because state biologists had to wait for a per- mit from the National Marine Fisheries Service. The service believed hatchery trout would prey on young sockeyes. Some businesses are claiming a 20- to 30- percent loss in tour- ism because of the poor trout fishing, said McKovich. About 40,000 hatchery trout were finally stocked in waters around Stanley in mid -July. As far as motel, grocery store and restaurant owners were con- cerned, that was too late to alle- viate their losses. The festival, from 5 to 8 p.m., is also being called a wake for the sockeye. Mike McGowan, owner of McGowan's Resort at Stanley, believes Idaho's other fisheries are suffering because of salmon- restoration efforts. "I hate to see us lose our real Idaho fishery rainbow trout, cutthroat, Dolly Varden and whitefish," he said. "I've lived and fished here all my life and have never seen one (sockeye)." Sockeye or kokanee? No one knows for sure Although everyone is calling the fish being released into Redfish Lake sockeye salmon, some may actually be kokanee, biologists say. Kokanee are sockeye that have forgotten how to migrate and never swim to the ocean. Both leave the lake in the spring, but sockeye go to the ocean and kokanee stop in nearby creeks. It's impossible to tell kokan- ee and sockeye apart without killing them and doing tests. The fish released Thursday and in the coming weeks were all captured leaving Redfish Lake in 1991, To determine what species they belong to, Idaho Fish and Game planted computer chips in the fish that will allow biolo- gists to see where the fish spawn. Kokanee and salmon breed in different areas. Biologists also plan to burn the fish once they die and test the vapors for trace minerals found in the ocean, said Dexter Pitman, with Fish and Game. Sockeye have the minerals in their bones, kokanee do not, he said. By Statesman staff save threatened salmon runs By Andrew Garber The Idaho Statesman REDFISH LAKE Idaho will file a lawsuit against the federal government in an effort to save the state's dying salmon runs, Gov. Cecil Andrus said Thursday. "It's the only thing I have left to do," Andrus said at a news conference at Redfish Lake. "That's the only chance we have." The National Marine Fisher- ies Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bonneville Pow- er Administration and the Bu- reau of Reclamation could be named in the suit. The suit is expected to be filed in the next few days. Andrus said he's filing suit because NMFS which is charged with saving the fish ruled this year that dams on the lower Snake and Columbia riv- ers pose no threat to salmon. But the agency also acknowl- edged that dams kill up to 77 percent of salmon migrating downstream and 14 percent of the ones returning to Idaho, state officials said. "There's no way the federal government can say those dams don't jeopardize the salmon," Andrus said. The governor said he plans to prove that NMFS issued a draft ruling that found the dams pose a threat to salmon and changed the decision because of political pressure. Andrus wants the court to force NMFS to admit it's wrong and take action to fix the dams. NMFS spokesman Merritt Tuttle said his agency did noth- ing wrong. He also said: "The (salmon) population is not head- ing toward extinction." T — 5/� 7a','7 Sockeye migration anticipated Biologists will know by October whether both males and females made it. The Associated Press STANLEY By October, state biologists will know whether both sexes of Snake River sockeye salmon have re- turned to historic central Idaho spawning grounds. The Idaho Fish and Game De- partment said by Saturday, four fish had been captured near Red- fish Lake and transported to the nearby Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. The latest was a 24- incher trapped Aug. 15. Biologists be- lieve the four fish that have re- turned this year include one fe- male, although it isn't easy to tell the sex of salmon. As the late October spawning time approaches, sockeye change appearance and the sexes become more distin- guishable. Last year, only one male re- turned to Redfish Lake, the cen- tral Idaho lake that used to at- tract thousands of fish for spawning. Sperm from last year's fish, dubbed "Lonesome Larry," was frozen in liquid ni- trogen in hopes it could be used to fertilize eggs from a returning female. In 1991, just four fish, includ- ing one female, survived the 900 - mile migration from the Pacific Ocean to spawn in Redfish Lake. Fish - watchers at viewing win- dows at Lower Granite Dam said as of July 30, they had counted 11 sockeye, but none as large as the two 24 -inch fish that have arrived at Redfish Lake. With two not counted at the dam, Idaho biologists are hope- ful that there could be 13 or more sockeye headed for Redfish. Earlier this month, 24 adult sockeye were released into the lake, half male and half female. The sockeye were captured more than two years ago as smolts, which are juvenile salm- on ready to migrate to the ocean. The fish were raised in hatcheries so they wouldn't have to make the 900 -mile trip downstream through the Snake and Columbia river system to the Pacific Ocean. The fish were about four inch- es long when captured, but those released earlier in the month grew to about 18 inches and averaged about three pounds. They are expected to become sexually active and spawn in October or November. About 290 of the captive sock- eye will be spawned at Sawtooth Fish Hatchery in 1993 or 1994. Their progeny will be cultured in hatcheries and then placed back into Redfish Lake. Sockeye count rises to seven at Redfish F &G biologist: Two more sockeye help to boost salmon survival by increasing genetic diversity. By Andrew Garber The Idaho Statesman Two more endangered sockeye salmon — believed to be a male and a female — swam to Redfish Lake on Tuesday, bringing new hope for the species' survival. Their arrival brought the year's total count to seven: two females and five males, said Jack Trueblood, a spokesman for Ida- ho Fish and Game. "It's good news," said Keith Johnson, a Fish and Game biologist. "It gives us more options." It's the most fish that have returned to the lake in at least three years, which is how long Fish and Game has been keeping count. None returned in 1990, and four came home in 1991. Only one swam back last year and many scientists feared it was the last. Having additional sockeye return this year will boost the species' chance of sur- viving because it allows fish hatcheries — where all returning sockeye are sent to breed — to increase the genetic pool, Johnson said. Having genetic diversity is essential for long -term survival of the species. For ex- ample, if the fish are too similar genetical- ly it would leave the species susceptible to being wiped out by disease, biologists said. Having fish return this year also means there will be a lot more salmon to eventu- ally put back into Redfish Lake, Johnson said. Female sockeye can lay more than 1,000 eggs. Twenty -four sockeye were released into the lake this summer. The number released is expected to increase each year. Up to 300,000 may be released at one time by 1997. Although biologists are pleased that sev- en sockeye showed up, "it's still a dismal number," Johnson said. They represent less than half a percent of the 3,500 sock- eye that left Redfish Lake for the ocean in 1991, he said. Number of sockeye returning from Pacific rises slowly Slowly, the number of sockeye salmon returning to their tradi- tional central Idaho spawning grounds is rising. The Fish and Game Depart- ment said the total returning this year, as of Saturday, is eight, including two females. The latest fish to be captured is a 20 -inch male. Like the others, the fish was taken from a trap on Redfish Lake Creek to a hatchery, where it will be spawned when sexually mature. The Snake River sockeye were declared an endangered species, so each one that survives the 900 -mile migration to the Pacific Ocean, and the return trip two years later, gets a lot of at- tention. In 1990, no fish returned; in 1991, four made it back; and in 1992, only a male showed up. 14e 5 a t e_smjh Environmental coalition supports salmon suit The Associated Press POCATELLO — A coalition of Idaho environmentalists, sport fishermen and central Ida- ho business owners has filed a motion to intervene in support of the state of Idaho's lawsuit against federal agencies in charge of salmon recovery efforts. "They're concerned about what the government is doing to protect the salmon," said Laird Lucas, Boise -based attorney for the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies. By allowing Lower Snake and Columbia River hydro - electric dams to operate in a manner that interferes with the annual migration of young salmon from spawning beds in central Idaho to the Pacific Ocean, the Na- tional Marine Fisheries Service, Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation are harming two species of rare salmon, the motion said. The corps acknowledges that as many as 90 percent of the young salmon die in the dam system. But the National Marine Fish- eries Service, which is in charge of enforcing laws to preserve the endangered sockeye and threat- ened chinook species, issued an opinion last spring saying the Federal scientists and downstream industrial and utility interests say more proof is needed that draw- ing down water in the res- ervoir system is necessary. way the dams now are operated, they don't pose an extinction threat to the fish. The corps says by barging the young around the dams, two - and -a -half times as many of the young salmon survive as would perish from the dams otherwise. In response to the "no jeopar- dy" opinion rendered by the Fisheries Service, the state of Idaho filed suit attempting to force the agencies to draw down water in the dam system during migration season to mimic the river's faster natural flow rate. Idaho scientists contend a drawdown is key to salmon sur- vival. But federal scientists and downstream industrial and utili- ty interests say more proof is needed before implementing such a strategy. Time is running out on the salmon, Lucas and state officials argue, contending the federal government needs to be legally forced to draw down the dams soon. Nov /`a, 1943 Conservationists, anglers and businesses join State's salmon recovery lawsuit A coalition of Idaho conser- vationists, sport fishermen and business owners will join a law- suit filed by the state of Idaho against federal agencies in charge of salmon recovery efforts. Idaho Rivers United, Idaho Steelhead and Salmon Unlimited, Sawtooth Wildlife Council, Boulder -White Cloud Council, and Redfish Lake Lodge owner Jack See have moved to intervene in the lawsuit, which was filed last month in federal district court at Boise. The coalition is represented by Laird Lucas, attorney for the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies. The state's lawsuit challenges the 1993 "No- Jeopardy" opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service on federal hydrosystem operations on the Columbia and lower Snake Rivers. The lawsuit asks the court to over- turn NMFS' opinion and order other defendants, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, to operate the dams in a manner that does not endan- ger Idaho's salmon. "The federal agencies are plac- ing Idaho citizens in a double jeop- ardy situation," Charles Ray, direc- tor of IRU's Wild Salmon Project, said of the action. "The federal dams have already killed most of Idaho's salmon. NMFS denies the dams are the problem. Instead, NMFS is looking at Idaho to pay the full price of saving salmon that we aren't killing." The coalition's intervention supports the Idaho position that NMFS, the Corps, and the Bureau have acted arbitrarily and capri- ciously by allowing dam opera- tions that kill up to 90 percent of Idaho's salmon. Instead of iden- tifying the dams as the major prob- lem and getting to work solving that problem, the federal agencies are unfairly scrutinizing land man- agement activities in Idaho. -While the dams are killing most of the salmon, the feds are gone after Idaho's steelhead fish- ery, river floaters, campers and hatchery trout stocking programs," according to Mitch Sanchotena, executive director of ISSU. "Idaho is willing to do its part in saving the salmon, but most of the effort should be focused on most of the problem -- the dams." Since Idaho's salmon were declared threatened and endan- gered in 1991 and 1992, the fed- eral agencies have moved to cur- tail or restrict a wide range of activ- ities in salmon habitat. This spring, the popular trout fishery at Redfish Lake, near Stanley, was shut down because NMFS refused to allow stocking of the lake, affecting businesses like See's Redfish Lake Lodge. Commercial outfitters on the Salmon River have voluntarily restricted activities in hopes of preserving their businesses. On the Payette National Forest, pop-, ular campgrounds near salmon' streams have been closed, and snowplowing of backcountry roads, has been delayed. "We are intervening because this case is very itnpdr[a'nf to Idahoan, said Cathy Baer, of the Sawtooth Wildlife Council. "The loss of the salmon has affected people and businesses across cen- tral Idaho. The federal govern- ment's misdirected recovery efforts have the potential to unfairly affect many of these same people again." The coalition expects to have to fight hard to keep the case in Idaho. The federal government has asked the court to transfer the case to a Portland court. "This case should be decided in Idaho," Ray said. "The loss of the salmon has been in Idaho, the outcome directly affects Idahoan, and our members should be heard in an Idaho court." Forest land uses near salmon streams face more rules BY SHARI HAMBLETON 7bc Stu -News Officials of the Payette and Boise national forests are gearing up for what may be a sweeping review of forest activities that affect salmon spawning areas. The National Marine Fisheries Service recently issued a recommen- dation to the Salmon National Forest calling for 300 -foot buffer zones ad- jacent to salmon spawning streams, agency spokesman Merritt Tuttle said. NMFS is the agency responsible for reviewing projects which could jeopardize endangered salmon spe- cies. "It will have a significant impact on a lot of planned (forest) projects which we'll have to review and per- haps change to reflect the requirements of the National Marine Fisheries Ser- vice," Payette forest Supervisor Dave Alexander said Tuesday. "The situation is that (the Payette) has to submit a biological assessment for ongoing projects before new ac- tivities, and we have hundreds and hundreds of projects," Alexander said. But Tuttle said biological assess- ments for projects need only be submitted to his agency if forest offi- cials determine_ a project or group of projects have the potential to adversely affect salmon spawning habitat. Activities not directly adjacent to the streams or which have no affect on drainages flowing into those streams may continue without review by the agency, Tuttle said. Alexander said all projects in the Little Salmon River drainage, includ- ing mining, timber and recreation activities, will be reviewed by forest officials. Although the Boise National For- est has not had to submit a biological assessment for specific forest projects in the past, Cascade District Ranger "We're not trying to put the restoration (of the salmon) on the back of any one industry. It's on the back of all the industries who contributed tc: the decline in the first place." — Merritt Tutttle, National Marine Fisheries Service Ronn Julian said that may change this winter. "We've got several small miscel- laneous product sales (on the forest) for posts and poles and house logs. . . but no large saw log timber sales," Julian said. "If we find a potential (for those projects) to affect the Chinook we will need to do a biological assess- ment," he said. Tuttle said when a biological as- sessment is submitted to his agency, it is reviewed, combined with other applicable scientific information and a biological opinion is issued. While he said the opinion is only a recommendation, continuing with an activity or project without incorpo- rating NMFS suggestions puts an agency at risk of litigation. "At this point, federal agencies are still free to do what they feel," Tuttle said. "But they will proceed with greater likelihood of litigation from outside parties." "The key thing is we're not trying to put the restoration (of the salmon) on the back of any one industry," he said. "It's on the back of all the indus- tries who contributed to the decline in the first place." While biological assessments can be submitted to the NMFS for spe- cific projects, Tuttle said, "We prefer to consult on -a whole watershed — everything from timber harvesting, mining and road construction rather than piece meal. We can do it much more speedily." But protecting salmon spawning habitat is just part of the equation to bring the fish back from the brink of extinction, Tuttle said. A major contributor to the salmon's demise are the eight hydroelectric dams which pose barriers between juvenile salmon smolt and the salt water of the Pacific Ocean, he said. Tuttle said NMFS has been work- ing with the three agencies which oversee the dams — Bureau of Recla- mation, Bonneville Power Administration and Army Corps of Engineers — to devise ways to help a greater number of smolt bypass the migration barriers. A number of smolts are trapped before entering the water turbines of the hydroelectric plants and trans- ported — or barged — to safety, he said. "Barging is extremely controver- sial ... but it's a life support system, not a cure all for the problems that exist within the system," Tuttle said. While NMFS recently made acon- troversial determination of "no jeopardy" to salmon from the dams, Tuttle said that finding was made on the basis of the efforts being made by the dam administration agencies to address the salmon issue. "That decision was made based on the most up to date scientific informa- tion we had," Tuttle said. "As new information arises, we'll take another look at it." Salmon harvests, both in the ocean and in inland rivers, also have af- fected the decline in fish population as well as the number of adult fish taken by hatcheries for brood stock, Tuttle said. %l?P P'15 Salmon backers differ on releases The Associated Press Efforts to save Northwest salmon have become so frag- mented between Idaho and downriver interests that even conservation groups are at odds, and the fate of 11 million young fish hangs in the balance. Five million chinook salmon and 6 million steelhead trout will be ready for release from seven mountain hatcheries into Idaho streams within the next 45 days. But Portland -based Ore- gon Trout contends the hatch- ery fish could destroy their wild counterparts. "We have a huge hatchery program that wasn't destined to help endangered species," said Bill Bakke, Oregon Trout's re- source conservation director. "Consequently, we're in a tran- sition from production to saving wild fish. The pain and anguish we're seeing right now is that transition." Fisheries managers consider hatcheries a reliable source of catchable stock for sportsmen. But Oregon Trout argues that hatchery fish can spread dis- ease, prey on wild salmon and steelhead and even interbreed with them, compromising tough genetic strains that have been making a 900 -mile return trip from the Pacific Ocean to Idaho spawning beds for thousands of years. Idaho Steelhead and Salmon Unlimited fears sport fishing will be doomed if Oregon Trout keeps the Idaho Department of Fish and Game from obtaining its annual federal release permit. "If we don't get the fish out of those hatcheries, that biological clock won't wait for poli- tics," said Mitch San - chotena, Ida- ho Steelhead and Salmon Hx. Unlimited's z: executive co- ordinator. "If Mitch Sanchotena we took all of them and buried them at a land- fill, it's still not going to in- crease the wild numbers." Idaho's wild runs have lan- guished so much that the Snake River sockeye salmon now is an endangered species, and Chi- nook is listed as threatened. Oregon Trout, in its attempt to protect the remaining wild fish, is demanding that the Na- tional Marine Fisheries Service use the Endangered Species and National Environmental Policy acts to stop the Idaho release. The conflict is over the bene- fits of hatcheries built to replen- ish fish populations ravaged by dams and other manmade hazards. "All the scientific information we have is the wild salmon will survive in nature at a much higher rate. When they inter- breed, that progeny doesn't sur- vive as well as if they were the progeny of wild strains," Bakke said. Dexter Pitman, Idaho Fish and Game's anadromous fish direc- tor, said hatchery smolts will be ready to travel in late March or early April. Federal delays last year kept the state from releas- ing fish for a couple of weeks past their natural deadline. This year, Pitman said, juvenile salm- on and steelhead could be doomed by paper -work delays if the Fisheries Service requires a full environmental impact state- ment on the Idaho release. It is crucial that the young fish be released when the spring surge of runoff water starts to pour down Idaho's streams to- ward the sea, he said. Requiring Idaho Fish and Game to conduct a full environ- mental review would only dupli- cate analyses of the Northwest hatchery system being done by the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority and the Bon- neville Power Administration, Sanchotena said. Bakke contends only the Na- tional Environmental Policy Act process is thorough enough to deal with the situation. "This is frustrating every- one," Sanchotena said. "It's maybe easier to get a victory by attacking Idaho's hatchery prac- tices than getting a victory by attacking the federal dams." But Bakke insists restricting hatchery releases would achieve a goal common to both groups — saving the salmon. "If it works, it's going to be good for Mitch's outfit and good for our outfit," he said. locals, environmentalists Lewiston blast proposed biologicaldrawdown Corps of Engineers is studying options, weighing benefits The Associated Press LEWISTON — Federal offi- cials moved into potentially more hostile territory Tuesday as they gathered reaction to their proposed 1995 biological drawdown test on the lower Snake River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers and National Marine Fisheries Service held their sec- ond meeting in Lewiston, where local leaders oppose drawdowns they say incapacitate their port operations. Port Manager David Doer - ingsfeld left no doubt about his stand during Monday's initial hearing in Boise on the draw - down plan. "We do not believe it will pro- vide any meaningful scientific data," he said. And environmentalists con- tended the latest proposal to help rebuild devastated North- west salmon runs is just a ruse and should be abandoned. The biological test aims "to stall until Cecil Andrus is out of office," Pat Ford of the Boulder - White Clouds Council said. The governor has been the strongest proponent of yearly drawdowns of the four lower Snake River dams to speed the migration of young fish through the system. But Doeringsfeld attacked the most extensive option — return- ing the four dams to natural levels. It could cost $4.9 billion and take 11 years. He called it a "high -risk, low- benefit" alter- native. The corps is considering other options in what it calls its Sys- tem Configuration Study. One is supposed to improve up- stream collection of young salm- on, barging them past the dams — a tactic supported by Idaho's two Republican U.S. senators but that Andrus says has proven itself worthless in nearly two de- cades of use since salmon stocks have dropped to near - extinction levels. The barging option would cost up to $470 million and take up to eight years. Another would lower John Day Dam on the Columbia Riv- er. But the corps currently feels it would not aid salmon mi- grations. The fisheries service estimates only 19,000 spring chinook will return to the Columbia and its tributaries this year. Of those, 600 to 800 are expected to pass Lower Granite Dam, the last ma- jor hydroelectric dam on the Snake River, making it the low- est run on record. Environmentalists reported on Monday that nearly 900 wild salmon have already been counted at Lower Granite. The agencies are under a fed- eral court order to develop an acceptable plan this summer to boost the fish runs. Hearings are also scheduled in Kennewick, Wash., and Portland. Alaska may have to limit catch U m C W Z T m Officials may shorten season by a few weeks to save 14 Snake River fall chinook SEATTLE —The Northwest's battle to save a Snake River salmon run from extinction is now Alaska's battle, too. To allow perhaps as few as 14 more Snake River fall chinook to return to their spawning grounds, federal officials could order a reduction of this year's catch in Southeast Alaska, the farthest reach of the Snake Chi- nook's migration, by as much as 25 percent. That would amount to about 65,000 fish and would have a big effect on Alaska's fishing indus- try — and even on some Wash- ington trollers who fish Alaska waters part of the year because of the scarcity of salmon at home. It might seem a far - fetched con- sequence of the decline of the Snake fall chinook, considering how few are caught in Alaska and the thousands of miles that separate Alaska fishing waters from the salmon's spawning grounds along Washington's bor- der with Idaho and Oregon. Moreover, the few Snake chi- nook caught in Alaska pale in comparison to the vast numbers lost to fish - killing dams, preda- tors and fishers in the North- west and British Columbia. But it isn't far - fetched. Bob Turner, Washington state's di- rector of fish and wildlife, ex- plains that the farther the Snake chinook swims from its home waters, the greater the number of other salmon that must be left uncaught to protect the threatened species among them. Consequences To reduce the loss of a given number of Snake chinook, the fishing season might have to be reduced by a few hours in the Snake River or a few days at the mouth of the Columbia — or maybe "a few weeks in Alaska," Turner said. Such measures might be nec- essary mainly because of stalled negotiations on the renewal of the Pacific Salmon Treaty be- tween the United States and Canada. It means there is no coordinated, coastwide program n o save Idaho salmon to rebuild chinook stocks, nor is there any among Alaska, Wash- ington and Oregon. `It's hard to see how a coastwide chinook - rebuilding program can be successful with- out the Canadians participat- ing," said Donna Darm, a top aide in the Seattle regional of- fice of the National Marine Fisheries Service. For that reason, the fisheries service has told Alaska officials, just as it has told the Northwest states, that it will deal separate- ly with each region's effect on the decline of the fall chinook. Worst -case scenario Darin said the worst -case sce. nario would be a severe reduc- tion in the Southeast Alaska fishery. That prospect doesn't sit well with many Alaskans. "I guess it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to us, from a Snake River stock management standpoint, to focus on South- east Alaska by itself simply be- cause there is no treaty," said Mel Seibel, special assistant to Alaska's commissioner of fish and game. He works on Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations. Seibel said more than 90 per- cent of human - caused salmon deaths of the Columbia /Snake salmon stocks are caused by hy- dropower dams and just 5 per- cent are caused by fishing. And only 5 percent of that 5 percent is caused by the Southeast Alas- ka fishery, he said. "So that's about one - quarter of 1 percent, and that's in the neighborhood of something like about 60 (Snake River) fish on average in recent years." And of those 60 chinook, Seibel said, only about 14 would be expected to survive the return trip to their spawning grounds. The scarcity of the Snake fall chinook makes even a small catch a potentially significant loss, however. Overall numbers of salmon have declined in Southeast Alas- ka, but the total catch has re- mained the same. As a result, Alaska officials say, they've been told that the 1994 catch is expected to be 25 percent above the level that poses a threat to the Snake chinook. From 1990 through 1993, the number of returning chinook counted "_above Lower Granite Dam, the last Snake River dam they must pass, ranged from 11170 last year to 383 in 1990. The average for that four -year cycle was 763 a year. So even a few salmon are a large part of it. Last year, the Southeast Alas- ka salmon catch was 3 percent above the danger level for the Snake chinook, so Alaska offi- cials imposed mild limits on fish- ing dates and locations. If the Alaska catch goes 25 percent over the jeopardy level this year, it could trigger more dras- tic action. As few Snake chinook as are caught in Alaska, that state is "expected to make a contribu- tion" to preventing their extinc- tion, said Gary Smith, acting regional director of National Marine Fisheries. Head in the sand? Washington's Turner thinks that "Alaska is in denial" about the prospect of its fishery being affected by the decline of Snake River chinook. "I don't get any phone calls from people in Alaska saying, `Let's make a deal.' That makes me think they can't really believe this could haunen," Turner said. He and Harm believe that Alaska officials and Northwest officials could work out a plan, even without Canada, that might spread the effect and less- en the potential hit on the Southeast Alaska fishery. Alaska is becoming a growing part of the Snake River Chi- nook's problem because its own fishery is less abundant than it once was. The fall chinook is one of three Snake River salmon stocks listed under the Endan- gered Species Act. If the Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations get back on track, possibly in late June or early July, that could eliminate or re- duce the need for restrictions, Seibel said. The fisheries service intends to decide next month whether and how to restrict the South- east Alaska fishery. No U.S. - Canada agreement is likely that soon. T,h,- 5faTe5 Man Mal J7 1170 Clinton: Northwest salmon woes a President plans $15.7 million aid program to help coastal areas Statesman news services ffisaster habitat has dried up once -flour- ishing populations of ocean salm- on fisheries. "Being responsive to the needs of fishermen and their communi- WASHINGTON — The Clinton administration declared a fishing disaster in the Pacific Northwest on Thursday and announced plans to channel $15.7 million worth of aid to fishermen and communities dependent on de- pleted salmon stocks. The move underscores the de- bate over efforts to save the salm- on, which have been decimated by a series of hydroelectric dams that impede their migration up and down the Columbia and Snake rivers into Idaho. "The president's declaration shows the dire point we've reached in the fight for the Northwest salmon," said Scott Peyron, a spokesman for Gov. Cecil Andrus. "What it demonstrates more than anything else is it's long past time to fix the dams and really get at the reason these fish are dying in their early migration process." Andrus has been a vocal critic of federal programs designed to save the runs, which were once a significant part of Idaho's tour- ism industry. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown said he declared the for- mal disaster because salmon stocks along the Pacific Coast have reached a record low. He estimated nearly 8,400 jobs have been affected by the recent crisis. Four Northwest salmon species already are protected under the Endangered Species Act and sev- eral others have been proposed for listing. Lawmakers from Washington, Oregon and northern California cheered the news, saying a combi- nation of drought, warm ocean waters, over - fishing and degraded ties is our top priority in meeting the demands of this crisis," Presi- dent Clinton said in a statement released by the White House. Northwest lawmakers have been pressing the administration for the money ever since it ap- proved $30 million in aid to fish- ing communities in New England also suffering from shortages in the fishing industry. Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts Praised the administration's %action. "The Northwest's coastal salm- on crisis is far from over," said Roberts, who along with Wash- ington Gov. Mike Lowry had asked for federal help. "But the administration's commitment to- day ... will truly make a differ- ence as the region's economy' shifts to new fisheries and other new economic opportunities." The infusion comes just weeks after the federal government drastically lowered catch levels and closed off many areas open to salmon fishing along the North- west coast. A couple of months ago the administration announced plans to send double that amount — $30 million — to New England, where depressed stocks of cod, haddock and flounder are expect- ed to leave 20,000 fishermen high and dry. Further north, Newfoundland's Grand Banks fishing grounds have shut down completely, throwing 25,000 people out of work. The Pacific Northwest, by com- parison, has only 2,000 -3,000 salm- on fishermen and many of those jobs are seasonal. All told, though, nearly 8,400 processing and other full -time jobs could be affected by the drop -off in fishing stocks, officials said. A series of town meetings in coastal communities in coming weeks will help refine how best-to use the money, officials said. The emergency aid includes $12 million that will be used to buy out fishing permits — an attempt to reduce harvests — and create jobs restoring fish habitat, simi- lar to a new "Jobs in the Woods" program the administration has designed for struggling North- west timber towns. It's possible the government will consider buying out entire boating operations of fishermen if the situation worsens, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown said. Either way Congress must approve the emergency package, which would be administered jointly by the Commerce Department's Nation- al Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration and the affected states. In addition, Northwest fishing communities may apply for the same $3 million worth of Rural Development Administration's Business Enterprise Grant monev that's being made available to neighboring timber communities. Another $700,000 from the Com- merce Department's Economic Development Administration's Title IX funds will go for tourism promotion and other attempts at economic diversification. "This is not exclusively a feder- al solution, nor can it be," Brown said. But used wisely, he said, the money "can help restore lost jobs and add new jobs to the fishing industry by the end of this decade." Sen. Patty Murray, D- Wash., announced the package along with Panetta, Brown and nearly a dozen Northwest lawmakers who banded together to ask for help. "In the short term, recent El Nino weather conditions have proven that our once - plentiful salmon stocks are now very frag- ile," Murray said. "But for the long term, we must become better stewards of our wild salmon if we want to preserve the heritage of our region." Republican Sens. Bob Pack- wood of Oregon and Slade Gorton of Washington praised the admin- istration's swift response, but warned that environmental laws are likely to trigger more severe economic repercussions. Testing the Boylan Pipeline's The two most visible propos- als being considered to save Ida- , ho's endangered salmon runs are reservoir spills and barging. Many authorities believe barg- ing doesn't work and that the massive drawdowns necessary to flush salmon smolt down- stream are too expensive for Northwest power rate 'payers, and far too disruptive to com- mercial interests who use the river to recreate and move product. A group of Idahoans have come up with an idea to move the fish that would be far less expensive than reservoir spills, and on paper much more effi- cient. They would use a 24 -inch pipe and a series of pumps and holding stations to flush the salmon smolt downstream past the dams. The big question seems to be whether or not the Boylan Pipe- line would work. Would it effi- ciently transport salmon and steelhead smolt from Idaho to the Pacific Ocean? Would the system work as well in practice as it seems to on paper? At this point, no one knows for sure. There is some testing that needs to be done and some new tech - nology that needs to be de- veloped. The system might work like a charm. Nobody knows for sure. The developers have asked in- terested governmental agencies well worth the cost lution, I would force my board barging, once the pipeline is in to listen to their proposals and operation, there would be no take immediate action to find predation on smolts. out if their ideas might work. I The cost of the pipeline would would have no second thoughts be less than 10 percent of most ., about taking immediate action. other proposals, and river re g ' Heck, if the various govern- creation and commerce would mental agencies that were re not be disrupted. sponsible for the decline of the Columbia river system salmon Biologically sound runs were a private corporation, The program seems biologically Mary Taylor responsible to a board of direc- sound. Smolt travel could be reg tors, they'd all be out of jobs. ulated from five days to 20 days for funding to test the concept. I don't know if the Boylan or longer, depending on what the So far, they've been rebuffed and pipeline will work. I've talked laboratory and river testing ignored by most of the decision-with the principals in the pro- shows to be the best timing. makers. Even Idaho's governorject, and they feel it will. They There is another compelling ar- has been lukewarm on the pro- are having a great deal of trou- gument in favor of testing the ject. (The governor seems irre -ble, however, getting the deci- Boylan Pipeline. If annual draw - versibly committed to reservoir Sion- makers to take them sera- downs become a fact of life, power drawdowns). ousl So far the infighting among y rate payers in the Northwest may Northwest political interests, Worth the investment expect to pay 10 percent more for Bonneville Power, the Army The $350,000 investment need - power because of loss of generat- Corps of Engineers, the Idaho ed to test the proposal is a drop mg potential at the Columbia Riv- Department of Fish and Game, in the bucket of the eventual er system power plants. and environmental groups, has cost of the pipeline (estimated at I've been told a Northwest slowed the problem - solving pro- $400 million), or any of the other. aluminum company uses six per - cess to a crawl. other restoration proposals (bil- cent of Bonneville Power's total lions). It would seem to me the production — a huge annual Long- overdue decisions time to fund the testing is right outlay. One would think they Perhaps the time has come for now. Without being a doomsday might be willing to help fund a private industry to step in and prophet, it may already be too testing of the Boylan Pipeline. make decisions on the save -the- late. Problem- solving often involves salmon- and - steelhead problem. There are a number of reasons taking risks. It certainly involves - the Boylan Pipeline should at If I were on the board of direc imaginative resolve — something tors of a cooporation that was in the very least be tested. It that seems to be sadly lacking trouble managing its productivi- 'doesn't take any water away among the "save the salmon' de- ty, and some knowledgeable and 'from users such as farming, and cision- makers at this time. dedicated people came to me power generation is not affect - with a relatively inexpensive so- ed. Besides having no effect on Protesters try to block salmon barges Environmentalists, fishermen, Indians call the program a complete failure The Associated Press BONNEVILLE, Ore. — A co- alition of environmentalists, fishermen and Indian tribes tried Thursday to blockade salmon barges at Bonneville Dam before settling for calling the federal program a waste of time and money. "Barging is a dodge. It's a smoke screen to hide behind. It's a complete failure," said Charles Ray, a spokesman for Idaho Rivers United. Ray said the U.S. Army Corps mission. concluded that barging will not "The 18 -year barging experi- prevent the decline of salmor. ment has been as effective as runs. putting a Band -Aid on cancer," The corps was ordered last of Engineers refuses to try alter- Hamilton said, adding that her month by the National Marine natives to barging juvenile group also represents hundreds Fisheries Service and Indian salmon around Columbia River of small businesses along the tribes to experiment with spill - dams because of strong political river. ing more water over lower Co- pressure from the aluminum in Tienson blamed barging for lumbia dams to increase surviv- dustry and agricultural groups declining salmon runs that have al of juvenile salmon migrating that depend on hydroelectricity cost the commercial fishing in- to the ocean. and irrigation. dustry thousands of jobs in re- However, the spills have been Efforts to reach corps and in -' cent years. cut back by about a third be- dustry officials Thursday night, "It's time to do what should cause of nitrogen buildup in the after the afternoon protest, were have been done years ago — fix water that causes deadly bub- unsuccessful. the dams, spill more water and bles in the fish. Ray was joined in his attack make the river run more like a Ray said the Northwest needs a on barging by Liz Hamilton of river," Tienson said. "Fisher- comprehensive regional strategy the Northwest Sport Fishing In- men are sick and tired of to save salmon runs that includes dustry Association, Thane Tien- excuses." spilling more water at dams to son, spokesman for Salmon for Lothrop cited an independent make the river flow more natural - All, a commercial fishing indus- peer review of previous govern- ly, drawing down the John -Day try group, and Rob Lothrop, ment barging studies, released reservoir to minimum levels and spokesman for the Columbia two weeks ago. The review, con - eliminating or minimizing the River Inter - Tribal Fish Com- ducted by a panel of scientists, barging program. Idaho F &G cancels Chinook season because of unusually low fish runs The Associated Press Facing the lowest spring Chi- nook migration on record, the Idaho Fish and Game Commis- sion has called off the 1994 Chi- nook fishing season. Only 1,644 chinook had .crossed Lower Granite Dam on the Snake.River near Lewiston by May 19, well below the previ- ous low for that day: 2,977 in 1971. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game predicts the total number of spring chinook that L will cross Lower Granite will be about 2,300, including about 800 wild adults. By comparison, the average run size for the past decade was 20,000, with an average wild run of 6,200. Idaho's wild chinook runs have been designated as threat- ened species. Chinook hatcheries in Idaho and northeastern Oregon re- quire about 10,000 hatchery fish to fulfill their requirements each year. The total number of hatchery chinook expected this year is 15 percent of that figure. About 40,000 wild chinook are needed to fill Idaho's spawning habitat. The 800 expected are 2 percent of that number. This year's returning spring chinook run is made up of fish' that swam to the sea in 1992, which was a terrible year for migration conditions, because of low water and a poor food base in the ocean. "It is clear that rapid and meaningful action must be tak- en to improve migration condi- tions through the hydrosystem if salmon extinction is to be avoid- ed," said Dexter Pitman, Fish and Game anadromous fisheries coordinator Th& Sfatest -tah Jcu,i7e— 5, l ?ay Bevan Plan holds solu recovery J. .._...... By Bruce Executive director, Columbia River Alli- ance for Fish, Commerce and Commu- nities Are you in favor of reservoir drawdowns to help Northwest salmon? Be careful how you an- swer, because if you say "no" you could be branded a "fish killer" by your Idaho Fish and Game Department. I know, because that's exactly what the departm� recently called my organization, the Co- lumbia River Alliance for Fish, Commerce and Communities, in a recent published state newslet- ter. I am in good company, be- cause the department also named U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley and the Idaho Farm Bureau. It is an unfortunate statement by the state agency, but it is some- what reflective of the times. These truly are desperate times for a desperate fisheries agency witnessing the extinc- tion of a species under its con- trol and on its watch. The salm- on runs are continuing to decline. At this rate, and if a comprehensive solution isn't put in place soon, extinction of Ida- ho salmon may be only a few years away. The region still has time to save these fish, although we must act with some urgency. We can- not continue to spend time and limited resources on plans which will not help salmon but will con- tinue to divide our region. After the reservoir drawdown idea was proposed during the Salmon Summit more than three years ago, extensive efforts were undertaken to investigate the concept of drawdowns of the low- er Snake River hydroelectric pro- jects. A test drawdown was con- ducted in March 1992 in the Lewiston area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Marine Fisheries Service, state fisheries agencies and many oth- ers spent thousands of hours and mi ions -fl o ars ana yzmg e possible effects of drawdowns. It has been the dominant issue in salmon enhancement efforts over .. " the last three years. Yet despite these extensive ef- forts, no scientific body of evi- dence exists today that says t drawdowns will actually benefit h salmon. But what we do know is that drawdowns are expensive Ic (almost $5 billion to modify the ' °' ,'< Hi dams), it takes a long time to im- " ,. Columbia D: plement (17 years) and it is River harmful to resident fish, wildlife 4. Q Q and communities. Bonneville L Another sad reality for the Dam The Northwest salmon issue is that as Dalles salmon runs continue to decline, Dam our region is on a salmon spend- ing spree. In 1994, we will spend ECG'. almost $350 million for salmon. This is $120 a year for each Northwest household, more for ir- rigators and industries. Some wonder how long we can contin- ue to spend at this level. The solution is a comprehen- sive approach, one that has a provements to returnin bons firm scientific foundation, one fish ladders. It promotes a co- doesn't advocate drawdowns, that addresses known areas of operative working relationship opting instead for a multi- facet- salmon decline. among landowner groups oned anvroarh_ Tn thP.trrnPgt. gpn.P Almost two years ago the Na- habitat issues. It recommends it is a comprehensive plan, de tional Marine Fisheries Service hatchery reform that wouldsned to treat salmon recovery ig appointed an independent recov bring an end to salmon dumpingfrom a scientific point of view, ery team of scientists to develop into the river system, a movewhile recognizing the diversity such a plan. The Bevan Plan, that may produce lots of fish toof concerns and impacts that named after Dr. Don Bevan of harvest, but harms wild strains. must be dealt with. the University of Washington, The plan calls for an end to Its time for all of us to move has recently been completed. It non - selective methods of fishpast these desperate times. Re- is a plan that addresses all as- harvest, such as gill nets in thesponsible fisheries agencies, pects of a salmon's habitat, all Columbia River, by 2002. Lastly landowner groups and private aspects of mortality. The plan it, rPe.nmmends the creation of a citizens must pull together and was reviewed by scientists and Salmon Oversight Committee tosupport a comprehensive, scien- regional fisheries agencies. It coordinate recovery activities, atifically based plan. The Bevan does not take Idaho irrigation unifying force the region has soPlan is that means for salmon water, nor does it call for radi- far lacked but greatly needed. recovery. Without it, salmon en- cal drawdowns. It is, however, It is uncertain whether thehancement paralysis will contin- the best and last hope for the region can afford it, but it must an, jeopardizing both the salmon salmon. be pursued. and our economy. The Bevan Plan advocates a The region is waiting for the multi - pronged approach to salm final Bevan Plan to be released on recovery. Its recommended by NMFS and go through anoth- measures include changes to the er review process. For the hydroelectric system, including Northwest to reach a solution, it a reliance on an improved juve- must be regionally supported nile barging system, and im- and it must be put in place as ,x I, +t Kevin Clark /The Idaho Statesman Some of the approximately 424,000 chinook fry hatched last year swim in a tub at the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery near Stanley. HE MAJESTIC SALMON once defined a region. Where they swam to spawn, or so the legend has it, that was the Northwest. Now, to many, their near- extinction defines a tragedy, the loss of a form of life, a frightening change in Idaho's image. To others. the salmon repre�scut an imminent threat, to their jobs. their new prosperity. They are waiting for a federal judge to make a decision that could lead to one of the most far reaching environmental remedies ever. Efforts to save the salmon could ory up Idaho farmland, shut down 'Ibe state's only port in Lewiston, eliminate jobs at aluminum facto- ries in Washington and boost elec- tric rates for millions of people in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. At the heart of the issue are 10 great dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, providing some of the nation's cheapest electricity and propelling the Northwest to eco- nomic pre -emi- nence. But each is a death trap for young fish racing to the Pacific. Millions die in slow- moving water or in barges used to help them get around the dams. Two years ago, only one sockeye salmon named Lonesome Larry returned to Idaho. Lonesome Larry, like the cowboy, could simply be one more marking point of a vanishing West. But the cowboy was never defined as an endangered species. Lonesome Larry is. Therein lies a looming federal action that could, in the words of Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus, make the spotted owl dispute seem like child's play. .3 -rd to -S III dh Tutee (, i99y AIL- ift IV -Th e £leSi &R J1,4 6L c of m � \ A Salmon still slide toward extinction By Pat Ford Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition It has been three years since all of Idaho's remaining salmon were placed on the national en- dangered species list. Let me list some things that have not changed in those three years. The salmon's slide toward ex- tinction has not changed. This year's return of adult salmon to Idaho will be the lowest ever, and 1995's is predicted to be even lower. Extinction is not many years away. What is needed to restore the salmon has not changed. The federal hydroelectric dams downstream of Idaho must be re- designed to allow safe in -river migration. As U.S. District Court Judge Malcolm Marsh said two months ago, the federal dams and how they are operated need "major overhaul." What is being done to fix those dams has not changed: nothing. The federal agencies that operate the hydrosystem and their powerful patrons — notably U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley — have no intention of fixing the dams. They're winning. _u.. What is being done to the salmon has not changed. As many as possible are taken out of the river and put on barges. In 1992, 3.5 million juvenile Snake River salmon — 95 per- cent of the entire run — were collected and barged. The two results of this barging have not changed. For salmon, the result is utter failure: of the 3.5 million barged fish in 1992, this year perhaps 3,500 will re- turn to Idaho as adults. Just to replace themselves, the return would have to be 10 times that. For the hydrosystem, the result is success: the barging program prevents major overhaul of the dams. That, not helping salmon, is its purpose. This gloomy list leads to a question: Why so little change in three years? To help answer why, let me offer a case study in two more things that haven't changed. First, bald -faced lying by the federal hydro agencies, connived in by Northwest politi- cians and passed on unexamined by Northwest media. Second, ever - tighter control of the Snake and Columbia rivers by federal agencies, with states and Indian tribes shoved to the sidelines. The case study is the fight over spilling water at the feder- al dams to make salmon passage safer. You may remember the headline from the May 28 Statesman: "Dam spills. "kill salmon, experts say." Sizniiar headlines and stories appeared all over the Northwest. It is a big lie, a federal government scam. "Spill" means routing water over a dam's spillway rather than through its turbines. Stud- ies from the 1960s up through 1993 show that juvenile salmon spilled over dams suffer five- to seven -fold less mortality than those going through turbines. That's why state fish agencies like spill. The hydro agencies don't like it, because spilled wa- ter can't generate electricity. Last month, once it was clear that both this year's adult salm- on return and juvenile salmon migration were going to be dis- astrous, the state and tribal fish agencies demanded action to im- prove migration conditions. A few brave souls in the National Marine Fisheries Service or- dered more spill at the dams, so fewer salmon still in the river would die. (The hydro agencies try, but they can't collect and barge all the young salmon.) The hydro boys and their pa- trons screamed bloody murder and set about sabotaging the de- cision. Keep in mind that everything at these dams kills some salmon. No doubt some young salmon have died dropping over the spillways; but many more die by any other means of passage. So where did the "spill kills salmon" crisis come from? Each day at each dam, 30 hatchery steelhead (not salmon) were dis- sected for evidence of gas bub- bles. Last week, at two Colum- bia dams, most or all of the 30 steelhead showed some bubbles six of seven days. These symp- toms are recoverable; they are not indicators of mortality. That same week, 20 percent of steel- head sampled above the dams (unaffected by any spill) had similar symptoms. And these are hatchery steelhead, not salmon on the edge of extinction. Bonneville Power's public re- lations machine took these facts -'he .51*ate s Y-pa h Jutne(, lti9y 0-P 3 and turned them into "spill kills salmon, experts say." Lobbyists for BPS and its allies took the scam to Congress. Foley, U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield, and our Sen. Larry Craig, among others, bought the scam and demanded an end to the spill program. Pol- itician- whipped higher -ups in the National Marine Fisheries Service, none of whom bothered to investigate the big lie, or- dered a one -third reduction in spill. Just as important, the process by which Northwest states and tribes are to be consulted in such decisions was completely bypassed. The only people who really knew what the data were and what it meant were frozen out of the decision. This is en- tirely deliberate; BPA knows that the more say Northwest states and tribes have in how the Snake and Columbia rivers are managed, the sooner their "we're helping salmon" facade will crumble. That's it, folks. That's how the federal government is saving Idaho salmon. Two more things haven't changed. First, Idaho's choice on salmon: either the down- stream dams get fixed (in part by drawing down their reservoirs as Gov. Cecil Andrus proposes), or more and more Idaho water will be appropriated for salmon flows. Nearly all Idaho politi- cians and political candidates are avoiding this choice with all their might, but they are not serving Idaho by doing so. They're just building up the force of the train wreck. And second, for what it's worth, me. I will never stop working so the native Idahoans we call Snake River salmon can' have their home back. That's why I live here and will die here. I hope you will• agree and help. May the rivers flow. May the salmon run. Let rights to water be traded By Donald R. Leal Senior research associate, Political Econo- my Research Center, Bozeman, Mont. By ruling that the National Marine Fisheries Service failed to protect endangered salmon, federal Judge Malcom Marsh may be bringing the Pacific Northwest into another political gridlock — just as Judge William Dwyer did when he halted logging to protect the northern spotted owl. But it doesn't have to be that way. If changes are made that allow markets — voluntary trades by individuals, associations and corporations — to determine how water is used in the Northwest, the salmon can recover. The allocation of water today reflects historical efforts to make the desert bloom in Eastern-Oregon and Washington and Southern Idaho. Early private efforts to construct dams for irrigation were uneconomical. It was only through federal subsidies and the iron triangle of special interests, bureaucrats and politicians that such costly undertakings were carried out. Irrigation water was subsidized by as much as 90 percent and hydropower by as much as 25 percent. The beneficiaries of those subsidies — farmers, public utilities and selected industries — won't give up their water without a serious fight. Current water users are resisting pressures to share their water and power with additional players, such as environmentalists and commercial and recreational fishermen or other salmon lovers. But there is a road to cooperation: well- defined and tradable rights in water and hydropower. Zach Willey, an economist with the Environmental Defense Fund, has pointed out that "the needs of the fish and the market meet." Young salmon need water to be released from dams in the spring to help flush them down the river to the sea. This means that less hydropower can be produced. But, fortunately, the spring is a period of low demand, while peak demand for hydropower in the West comes during summer and fall. Sellers of hydropower would make more by selling then (and thus more water would be held in the rivers behind dams at that time.) Coincidentally, this is when,adult salmon need high water to ease their travel upstream to spawn. If the Western power grid were opened to inter - regional buying and selling, holders of power contracts would make more money. But this will not happen unless the federal government frees up the market for power. By and large, inter - regional trades of power are not allowed. By reaping significant profits in the summer and fall, they would not mind as much the releases of water in the spring. As for water, irrigators could sell their water rights to environmental groups who want to leave the water in the river during the summer to help adult salmon swim upstream. The Nature Conservancy has already shown how tradable water rights can assure adequate streamflow to preserve endangered species. On the Gunnison River in Colorado, the Conservancy has obtained the rights to 20,000 acre -feet of water to maintain flows for the endangered hump- backed chub. The Conservancy has also purchased water from irrigators to increase water flowing through the nearly dried marshland of the Stillwater National Refuge in Nevada. Such examples are rare, because under traditional water law in most Western states. selling or leasing appropriated water to leave it in the stream is not considered a legitimate use. Both the original users and the people they lease the water to might well `lose their, claims to it. p6g e 3 of 3 Unfortunately, administrative and legal obstacles make water and power trading cumbersome, if not impossible. Suppose a con- servation group wanted to buy or lease water from irrigators to keep more water in the stream and aid salmon migration. The authority over such trades does not lie with the irrigators, but with the government. The Bureau of Reclamation is the primary allocator of water, and is required to store some for hydropower allocated by the Bonneville Power Adminis- tration. Potential lessors would have to deal with government admin- istrators, not actual water users. In addition, even if administra- tors were willing to reallocate water to streamflows, state wa- ter laws fail to recognize private claims to streamflows. These problems are severe, but the remedies are straightfor- ward. Water users such as irri- gators, utilities and municipal- ities should have the right to sell the water they use (as long as cost obligations due to the federal government are hon- ored). This will give them an incentive to use water wisely. Second, on the state level, re- strictions on conserving current water uses to instream flow should be removed. Then, salmon interests — com- mercial, recreational and envi- ronmental — will have the op- portunity to offer bids for the water. Third, allowing owners of power contracts to sell their electricity through the Western power grid would encourage high water levels in the summer and fall and enable power com- panies to make up for the losses of power in the spring. Such changes, of course, will not happen overnight. Initially, those who now have subsidized water and power are not going to be pleased at paying market prices, since they will be higher than subsidized prices. But right now, industry and farmers face gridlock or serious and unpredictable disruption of their water and power supplies. By choosing markets, they will find that water and power will always be available. And, as markets evolve, water and pow- er will gradually move to their most valued uses. In many cases, those uses will coincide with the needs of salmon. Migration conditions for juvenile salmon and steelhead continue to worsen Representatives of Idaho Rivers concern about high nitrogen levels in fish as the reason for reducing United and the Save Our Wild the spill. But the fish sampled were hatchery steelhead, not wild salmon, Salmon Coalition say migration and the data itself did even reveal a clear threat to the studied steel - conditions for juvenile salmon and head. steelhead in the Snake and "I think NMFS is more concerned about political fallout than about Columbia rivers is continuing to the salmon," Pat Ford, of the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition, said get worse. in the news release. "The scientific data simply does not support claims River flows this week dropped that salmon were being harmed by the original spill levels." to an average of 62,000 cubic feet per second, far below the 85,000 "Spill" means routing water over a dam's spillway rather than cfs biologists say is necessary for through its turbines. High levels of spill can harm fish through nitro - the mere survival of the species gen supersaturation, the fish equivalent of the "bends." However, stud - and the 140 cfs they say is nec- ies from the 1960s up through 1993 show that controlled levels of spill essary for sahiion recovery. increase salmon survival five- to seven -fold over going through the The week's average flows were turbines. also far below the flow targets "NMFS ordered the reduction without consulting the state fishery called for in the National Marine agencies and Tribes," Ford said. "If NMFS had consulted the states Fisheries Service's 1994 -98 bio- and Tribes, they wouldn't have misinterpreted the data so badly." logical opinion on federal NMFS also violated its own monitoring plan for spill decisions, hydropower system operations. which calls for reduced spill when 5 percent of monitored salmon In addition to low flows, a show symptoms of gas bubble trauma. The highest incidence of such reduction in the amount of water symptoms since the spill has been less than .5 percent, or one -tenth spilled over the dams caused a fur- that figure. ther deterioration in migration NMFS based its reduction on internal gas bubbles found in hatch- conditions, according to a news ery steelhead. But fish experts say that up to 50 percent of steelhead release this past week. Spill, which allows juvenile not exposed to supersaturated water may show the same indicators. A fish to avoid deadly turbines at recent sample of steelhead at Lower Granite Dam, above the spillovers, the dams, was reduced after a few showed a 20 incidence of these indicators. In the past, both NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have samples adult steelhead showed stated that these internal signs are recoverable and not indicators of minor symptoms of gas bubble mortality. trauma. Gas bubble trauma is "NMFS buckled, under political pressure, said Charles Ray, of high levels of dissolved caused h IRU. "A sound step toward recovering salmon has been sabotaged by nitrogen gas the spilled water. Politically- motivated alarmists." Despite recommendations by state and tribal biologists to con- tinue the previous levels of spill, NMFS succumbed to political pressure from power interests opposed to the spills and reduced the spill levels at all eight dams on the Snake and Columbia. NMFS made what salmon advo- cates are calling an unscientific decision last week to reduce spillovers by 1/3 on Lower Snake and Columbia River dams. NMFS had earlier ordered the spill, which began on May 10 to increase sur- vival of migrating juvenile salmon. In their retreat, NMFS cited Salmon take focus in forest debate By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press GRANTS PASS, Ore. — With the future of the northern spot- ted owl staked out in federal court, the focus of the North- west environmental war has shifted to salmon. Since the owl was declared a threatened species in 1990, a path — albeit a bumpy one — has been established toward re- solving the disputes over log- ging old- growth stands on na- tional forests. The Clinton administration is supposed to finish an environ- mental impact statement this March on its plan to assure that logging and spotted owls can both survive on national forests. A federal judge will consider it in deciding whether to lift injunctions that have blocked logging in spotted owl habitat since 1991. But' salmon are about three- years behind the owl, still going through the phase of getting En dangered Species Act protec- tion, said Andy Kerr, conserva- tion director for the Oregon Natural Resources Council. Dying salmon Chinook and sockeye salmon on the Snake River, between Or- egon and Idaho, have been listed as threatened and endangered species, respectively. The list- ings have forced the government to consider changing the way it runs the hydroelectric dams on the Snake and on the Columbia River, the salmon's route from the Pacific Ocean. A petition by environmental- ists to list Oregon coastal runs of coho salmon is pending, and another on behalf of Northwest winter steelhead soon will be filed. 5 /a— a 6 wvh 4w T(A )I e / -7, /9 y-/ Recognizing the growing im- portance of salmon in the forest debate, the Oregon Forest In- dustries Council, a timber indus- try lobbying group, commis- sioned fisheries consultants Victor W. Kaczynski and John F. Palmisano to review existing research. They compared how logging stacked up against hy- droelectric dams, cattle grazing, mining and other natural re- sources exploitation as factors in the death - spiral of salmon. "We honestly wanted to know a number of things, including the nature of our own contribu- tion, including what we could do to be a part of a solution," said legislative director Ray Wil- kinson. Salmon report "Oregon's Wild Salmon and Steelhead Trout: A Review of the Impact of Management and Environmental Factors" came out in June 1992 and was revised this year. The report acknowledges that logging close to streams, log- ging uphill from streams, build- ing logging roads and burning logging debris all hurt salmon. It recommends protecting ri- parian habitat — the trees and other vegetation — along streams. Live trees shade the water and dead ones fall into it, providing structures that shel- ter fish as well as organic mate- rial for the food chain. The most controversial por- tion of the report comes where it ranks the relative impacts of factors that hurt salmon. Fish- ing is the highest, with a factor of 9. Predation by sea lions, birds and other fish is second with a factor of 4. Hydroelectric dams rank third with a factor of 3. Agriculture is fourth with a factor of 1. And forestry is fifth with a factor of 0.1. The Oregon chapter of the American Fisheries Society, a pro- fessional organization of fisheries scientists, reviewed the report at the behest of U.S. Rep. Charlie Rose, D -N.C., a member of the House Agriculture Committee. "There is extensive treatment given to analysis of data from harvest, predation by marine mammals, and hydroelectric im- pacts in the Columbia River, for example, but the analysis of im- pacts due to forest management practices is largely an historical narrative," Richard W. Carmi- chael, president of the chapter, wrote to Rose. "We do not believe the report presents scientifically justified conclusions." The Pacific Rivers Council cited that review in blasting the report at a recent meeting of scientists who are sorting out conflicting research on the old - growth forests. Kaczynski played down the importance of the rankings as part of the overall report, saying they were not among the prima- ry conclusions of the report. Timber industry But the timber industry isn't finished worrying about salmon. Kaczynski and Palmisano have been hired by the timber - sponsored Northwest Forestry Research Council to analyze the pending petition to list the coho salmon as a threatened or en- dangered species. Where state and federal agen- cies resisted protecting the owl, they are taking steps with salm- on to avoid similar court battles. The Oregon Legislature has devoted $10 million in lottery money to restore fish habitat on state and private lands. 47L dtP_ 0j-kj3 h Inadequate screens harm' fish along the Columbia The Associated Press UMATILLA, Ore. — Only 10 of 53 pumping sites on the Oregon side of the Columbia River comply with a state law requiring adequate screens to protect migrating salmon, a study shows. Of the noncomplying sites, screens over most pumps were either damaged, missing or made of large mesh that allowed the passage of small fish. In some cases, the screens did not cover the en- tire pump intake area. All of the conditions allow fish to be sucked into dams or irrigation systems. The study by Cris Inc. ex- amined a total of 157 pumps at the sites along a 255 -mile stretch of the river, from Bon- neville Dam to McNary Dam. It was the first survey since 1981, when similar results were discovered. Department of Fish and Wildlife said owners of most of the pumps are acting to comply with state standards. Violators are being asked to provide documentation once they have made repairs, and the department plans a fol- low-up inspection. David Nichols, state fish screen program manager, es- timated that two- thirds of the problems will be easy to cor- rect. "We will be working with people through the sum- mer," he said. Washington State recently completed a similar inspec- tion and uncovered 44 fish protection violators. As of June 2, all but 13 of those cited had plans to bring screens up to required stan- dards, said John Easterbrook of the Washington Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife. The remaining 13 will re- ceive warning letters telling them the next visit will be by a law enforcement officer. Indian tribes with treaty fishing rights on the Colum- bia River and other fishermen have long complained that the pumps suck up salmon smolts as they swim down riv- er to the sea. In one 1992 case, 44,000 salmon were killed when they were sucked into irrigation pumps on the Umatilla River. More recently, James B. Boyd of Hermiston was cited for failure to maintain a Umatilla hydroelectric pro- ject within terms of his li- cense and for unlawful taking of food fish. Tut h e. 17, /99`! ��7dfeSY�%��h duh��.Iq,rggY �� Ei I -" r... r . a �� ;2.��iv'i n$f ,,.�� '" iC !a " " i" ��. : : ' : ��- _ y /�� ,. f i i G.'ol�� f rtJ .4tum/. i 3. wA. r, r 1 p r " F ?f.v��plsNtt G iiP..j y {��,�� ^J4to�� PRO .17 " �� t;.a ''," gg _ �� P " i f r' f&..v +��.��fr r ) , , j . -r / u" T:i 4116 d { T llk" C. " tr'Lp c " r { . r ' " gyp r. _ i 'ir .f .f.v ��" . , .9 ` r ...? 1 -.f." if t 1 ell 1 Sf 3 } x , �� l " " r . . tom" �� !tir..' ��f,- �� '^ /��" . , %. aj Photos by Karin Clarkffhe Idaho Statesmar A mounted steelhead hangs below a collection of 6,000 dollar bills left by customers at the Silver Spur sporting goods shop in Salmon. Folks in Salmon miss the s almon Big fish once meant big profits; people along river hope they will again SALMON Pitifully few salmon now ply the waters by the town named for the fabled fish that once contributed greatly to its economy. Gov. Cecil Andrus says that if the once -huge salmon runs are brought back, Salmon and many other towns will reap the benefits. Jack Cook, 75, owner of the Silver Spur sporting goods shop in Salmon, remembers the schools of 300 salmon moving up the river. The walls and ceiling of his shop, a block away from the river, are lined with 6,000 dollar bills left by customers for good luck. Anglers once jour- .4 f neye rom other states Jack Cook and countries to catch salmon here. This year, with salmon re- turns at record lows, Idaho didn't even hold what's left of its salmon season four days along four miles of the Little Salmon River at Riggins. Prolific runs of Idaho -bred salmon were part of the back bone of the Northwest's econo- my, with Columbia River can- neries packing 25 million pounds a year early in the cen- tury. The Idaho Department of Corps of Engineers economist, Fish and Game contends that a calls the $45 million figure "an successful recovery program of extremely optimistic assess - the kind backed by the state ment." would bring back runs of White said the Idaho plan 300,000 salmon within 15 years. might "slightly" improve Fish and Game predicts an an- Snake River runs, but would nual catch by anglers in Idaho reduce runs of salmon spawned of 84,000 chinook. in the Columbia River g The state calculates the har. drains e vest would be worth about $550 per fish, or $45 million a year. That matches a survey that found anglers spent $250,000 in the 1992 season at Riggins to catch 500 fish. The state hasn't calculated the economic value of an im- proved catch of Idaho - spawned salmon in the lower Columbia River, and of Idaho steelhead, which also migrate to the sea. But officials believe the re- turns would be on par with the in -state salmon catch. Tom White, a U.S. Army " An important economic ben- efit of restoring salmon runs is missing from such calcula- tions, contends Ed Whitelaw, a University of Oregon econom- ics professor. Environmental amenities are attracting newcomers and business ventures to the North- west, as the timber and other natural,, resource economies shrink.. "I'd bet my wallet that recov- ering the salmon will yield a net economic benefit," White - law said. S-�c1-�esl'irtdll J�h� l9, /qqy rawdowns rile residents, hike power rates LEWISTON — Two years ago, the Snake River at Lewiston be- came what grain shipper Joe Stegner calls a "stinking mucl hole." Lewiston residents complained bitterly about the drying up of w„..- their link to the sea during a brief test of one plan to save the salmon. They will howl if such 't ,w» drawdowns become permanent.,` Drop the reservoirs behinds four dams on the lower Snake `` River below Lewiston, as Gov.. k. Cecil Andrus proposes, and yo r�- send shock waves through th N region's economy. Drawdowns would boost elec , tricity rates to Washington alu r ; minum companies and other ity customers dependent o cheap hydroelectric power from :or.c._...,,,_ i federal dams. Joe Stegner, a grain shipper in Lewiston, says his business lost about $40,000 during the 1992 test And it would cripple cheat drawdown of Lower Granite reservoir, which stifled boating and fishing as well as baraina. arging to Lewiston for more han two months. rail, 19 cents by barge. million a year. Another estimate by the corps To Stegner, drawdowns mean. And he says he would have to Increased power rates also and two other federal agencies igher shipping costs, employee invest $500,000 to accommodate could hurt the aluminum indus- uses the same basic data, but ayoffs and lost profits for his extensive shipping by rail. try, which employs about 8,000 puts the cost at $278 million. amily -owned business. A drawdown would disrupt workers in plants in Oregon, They should be identical, Stegner Grain & Seed owns a shipping for three months, in- Montana and Washington. concedes corps economist Tom luster of 60- foot -high grain ele- eluding emptying and refilling The aluminum smelters whole- White. Its errors putting the ators in Washington state on the reservoirs. Stegner says that sale electric rate would increase numbers together." he Snake, just downstream from would cost him 25 percent of his 16.2 percent, according to the The state of Idaho figures the ewiston. annual volume and force him to federal river agencies — the annual cost at $88 million. It's part of Idaho's Rocky lay off 10 employees. corps, Bureau of Reclamation Costs of the drawdown plan ountain seaport. The river has become our in- and Bonneville Power Adminis- would be paid by Bonneville Farmers as far inland as the terstate highway," he said. "(In- tration. The state estimates the Power Administration customers akotas truck grain to Lewiston- terrupting shipping) is like clos increase would be 5 percent. through higher rates, and possi- rea shippers, who send 45 mil- ing your interstate highway John Carr, executive director bly by federal taxpayers, if Con - ion bushels each year to lower system. What would that do to of Direct Service Industries Inc., gress and the White House agree olumbia River ports by barge. Boise's economic base?" industry group that mainly to chip in. Stenger says his business lost Stegner says he knows of no represents the aluminum plants, The Northwest's residents, on good economic analyses of im- says he can't estimate the im- average, would pay an additional bout $40,000 during the 1992 est drawdown of Lower Granite pacts on the Lewiston -area econ- pacts on them. He says only that 5.5 percent, according to the eservoir, which stifled boating omy of drawdowns behind the it will be significant. corps, BPA and Bureau of Recla- nd fishing as well as barging. four dams: Lower Granite, Little The drawdown costs also are mation. That's an average of $37 The $40,000 was interest on Goose, Lower Monumental and open to great dispute. more per year. About 200,000 Ida - rain Stegner bought from farm- Ice Harbor, all in Washington By one estimate, the Army ho residents who depend directly rs, but didn't ship by other State. Corps of Engineers says Idaho's on BPA power would pay an un- eans during the drawdown. The U.S. Army Corps of Engi- plan — from modifying the dams determined amount more. Railroad tracks run through neers, which operates the dams, to lost hydroelectric power to The state puts the regional fin- is terminal. But he says he can't estimates the extra cost of ship- increased transportation ex- crease at 2 percent — a modest uy grain and ship competitively ping goods by other means dur- penses — would cost $356 million price, salmon advocates contend, r resale in Portland by rail. It ing the Idaho drawdown at $1.5 # year. for saving the fish. osts him 30 cents per bushel by moor- :or.c._...,,,_ i federal dams. Joe Stegner, a grain shipper in Lewiston, says his business lost about $40,000 during the 1992 test And it would cripple cheat drawdown of Lower Granite reservoir, which stifled boating and fishing as well as baraina. arging to Lewiston for more han two months. rail, 19 cents by barge. million a year. Another estimate by the corps To Stegner, drawdowns mean. And he says he would have to Increased power rates also and two other federal agencies igher shipping costs, employee invest $500,000 to accommodate could hurt the aluminum indus- uses the same basic data, but ayoffs and lost profits for his extensive shipping by rail. try, which employs about 8,000 puts the cost at $278 million. amily -owned business. A drawdown would disrupt workers in plants in Oregon, They should be identical, Stegner Grain & Seed owns a shipping for three months, in- Montana and Washington. concedes corps economist Tom luster of 60- foot -high grain ele- eluding emptying and refilling The aluminum smelters whole- White. Its errors putting the ators in Washington state on the reservoirs. Stegner says that sale electric rate would increase numbers together." he Snake, just downstream from would cost him 25 percent of his 16.2 percent, according to the The state of Idaho figures the ewiston. annual volume and force him to federal river agencies — the annual cost at $88 million. It's part of Idaho's Rocky lay off 10 employees. corps, Bureau of Reclamation Costs of the drawdown plan ountain seaport. The river has become our in- and Bonneville Power Adminis- would be paid by Bonneville Farmers as far inland as the terstate highway," he said. "(In- tration. The state estimates the Power Administration customers akotas truck grain to Lewiston- terrupting shipping) is like clos increase would be 5 percent. through higher rates, and possi- rea shippers, who send 45 mil- ing your interstate highway John Carr, executive director bly by federal taxpayers, if Con - ion bushels each year to lower system. What would that do to of Direct Service Industries Inc., gress and the White House agree olumbia River ports by barge. Boise's economic base?" industry group that mainly to chip in. Stenger says his business lost Stegner says he knows of no represents the aluminum plants, The Northwest's residents, on good economic analyses of im- says he can't estimate the im- average, would pay an additional bout $40,000 during the 1992 est drawdown of Lower Granite pacts on the Lewiston -area econ- pacts on them. He says only that 5.5 percent, according to the eservoir, which stifled boating omy of drawdowns behind the it will be significant. corps, BPA and Bureau of Recla- nd fishing as well as barging. four dams: Lower Granite, Little The drawdown costs also are mation. That's an average of $37 The $40,000 was interest on Goose, Lower Monumental and open to great dispute. more per year. About 200,000 Ida - rain Stegner bought from farm- Ice Harbor, all in Washington By one estimate, the Army ho residents who depend directly rs, but didn't ship by other State. Corps of Engineers says Idaho's on BPA power would pay an un- eans during the drawdown. The U.S. Army Corps of Engi- plan — from modifying the dams determined amount more. Railroad tracks run through neers, which operates the dams, to lost hydroelectric power to The state puts the regional fin- is terminal. But he says he can't estimates the extra cost of ship- increased transportation ex- crease at 2 percent — a modest uy grain and ship competitively ping goods by other means dur- penses — would cost $356 million price, salmon advocates contend, r resale in Portland by rail. It ing the Idaho drawdown at $1.5 # year. for saving the fish. osts him 30 cents per bushel by Farmer fears saving fish will halve his profits S�d�esY>'jay� �unel� ;�q9y JEROME — When Dick Mar:: shall dons irrigation boots and looks over his flowering potato fields he sees green — money. If he has to plant less - thirsty grain because his irrigation dis- trict loses water to help save salmon, he fears he will see smaller profits. Although no salmon venture to the irrigated farms of south- ern Idaho, efforts to prevent their extinction could mean cut- backs In agriculture — and ultl- Kevin Clark /The Idaho Statesman mately cost thousands of jobs. Dick Marshall, a farmer in Jerome, peers down toward one of his One way to protect Idaho'i irrigation ditches. He says his annual profits could be chopped in endangered salmon is improved half if he loses irrigation water to try to save the salmon. barging of juvenile fish around costing up to 14,000 jobs, accord- for in Boise. the eight dams in the Columbia ing to a study for the federal Ada and Canyon County resi- and lower Snake rivers. government by Bookman -Ed- dents also could be affected by Since 1991, water has been monston Engineering Inc. of flushing. drained from Idaho to flush the Sacramento, Calif. Southwest Idaho could lose fish to the dams for barging. The study exaggerates the po- 1,500 farm and food processing Flushing also improves condi. tential job loss, says Zach Wil- jobs, and 3,900 jobs from loss of tions for the fish in the slack- ley, a senior economist with the those jobs, according the Book- water pools behind the dams. Environmental Defense Fund in man - Edmonston study. That's It also could be used to tempo- California. He says the losses 3.9 percent of the area's em- rarily supplement water flows would be half that much. ployment. for several years under Idaho's For example, he- said, it as- Idaho Power's customers in salmon plan, drawing down the sumes farmers who sell off water Southern Idaho could pay sub - lower Snake reservoirs. rights spend the money outside stantially higher electricity With two sons, Marshall Idaho, instead of recirculating it rates, spokesman Jeff Beaman farms 2,000 acres, including in the local economy. said, if the company loses water about 800 acres of potatoes and Reservoirs in southern Idaho, from its massive hydroelectric sugar beets. including Anderson Ranch and complex on the Snake River. If irrigation water is cut off Cascade, already are being How much? part of the year for salmon, the tapped for 400,000 acre -feet of "That's an unanswerable Marshalls would have to plant water this year for salmon, question; there are so many more grain and hay, which con- slightly less than last year. variables," Beaman said. sume less water than potatoes The crunch could come if the Salmon flushing already has and sugar beets, but are less drought continues and the feder. hurt the economy of Orofino. profitable. Grain can bring in al government calls for more wa- In 1991, when Idaho salmon profits of about $100 an acre, ter for the fish. were put on the endangered spe- compared with beets, $300, and So far, the Bureau of Reclama- cies list, flushing began in ear - potatoes, $400. tion, which controls the reser- nest. Increased flows from Dwor- Marshall says his profits voirs, is using only water rights shak Reservoir angered Orofino would plunge at least by half. it already controls or can buy. residents, who watched a "bath - The Marshalls would halve But views by federal attorneys tub ring" of dried bank form their growing- season work — that the government is em- around the lake. force, now 10 to 15. powered to take water for salm- Gordon Thiessen, owner of the "If you dry up potatoes and on — have scared the bejabbers White Pine motel in Orofino, beets, it's going to be devastat- out of Southern Idaho farmers. says he lost the rental of about ing to the economy," said Mar- "The chances (of a water grab) 100 rooms from last year's flush - shall, who was born in a house are pretty small, but I wouldn't ing as the word spread. by one of his potato fields. rule them out," said John Keyes Flushes could take up to III, the bureau's regional direc- 591,000 acres out of production in southern Idaho, eventually f41e -S h�dh Tine l9,19�y S E C O N D O F A S E R I E S worth $45 million to small towns listed as threatened with extinc- Stories by Charles Etlinger such as Riggins and Salmon, as tion. The sockeye salmon's con- ' The Idaho Statesman Idaho's economy increasingly dition is more precarious; it is turns to recreation. ; listed as endangered. Idaho salmon are on the brink Despite all the debate, most Only about 1,000 wild spring of extinction, and the costs of people agree that the biggest chinook, Idaho's most numerous saving them are enormous. problem is eight dams along the salmon run, returned from the The conflict pits fish against Columbia and Snake rivers — ocean this year. That's one - dams: the massive Columbia ba- the dams and their lake -like res- fourth the previous low. sin system that's brought some ervoirs are blamed for destroy- "This is the worst (salmon) of the nation's cheapest; electric ing the salmon whose young run in history, and next year . power, extensive irrigation and once journeyed swiftly to the will be worse," said Steve Huf- low -cost barging to the North- ocean and returned to Idaho by faker, fisheries chief of the Ida - west. The system transformed the millions. ho Department of Fish and the region from an economic There are four major compet- Game. backwater to one of the nation's ing plans to save the salmon. All Last year, only eight sockeye most prosperous — and nearly of them would disrupt the hydro- salmon returned to their spawn - wiped out the fish. power system. In one way or ing grounds in Redfish Lake. Bi- The implications spill over another, the plans call for tak- ologists won't know this year's into four states that reap riches ing the water that spins the figures until next month. from the dams: Idaho, Oregon, dams' turbines — and makes In a lawsuit brought by the Washington and Montana, gen- cheap electricity — to speed state of Idaho, a federal judge in erating angry political clashes salmon to the Pacific. Portland has ruled that the U.S. over rescuing this symbol of the All of them call for sapping government isn't doing enough Northwest. water that is critical to the ar- for salmon. "It's going to transcend the ea's future during a time of tre Two recovery s otted wl," said John Mitch- p mendous growth and persistent major salmon - approaches define the debate: ell, chief economist of U.S. Ban- drought. corp, in Portland. "More of us Regardless of what happens ■ Putting young salmon into are going to feel it directly be- next, the customers who buy the barges and shipping them cause of the electrical con- cheap electricity already have around the dams. nection." spent $2 billion'since 1978 to try Lowering the water In one worst -case scenario, `, to save the fish. That amount a the ervoirs to simulate the way the Southern Idaho loses 14,000 jobs goes up $350 million each year. river used to flow, before dams. and $670 million in income. Talk about lost farmland and Potato farmers in the city of higher power rates has got folks Partisans on each side hotly Jerome and people who depend around the Northwest edgy. dispute which approach works on the Port of Lewiston could be "It's going to be nerve- better. Ultimately, the courts hit hardest. Northern Idaho resi- wracking for a few years until and another kind of power — dents could pay higher electric this is resolved," said Jerome political — may decide. bills, perhaps 5 percent more. farmer Dick Marshall, who Anyone can find economic But there.. is bitter disaeree- . could lose profits and irrigation numbers to help support their ment over whether the final so- water for his potato fields. position," said Pat Ford of Save lution will create a boom or a i One way or another, some- Our Wild Salmon. "We can have bust. thing has to give. both salmon and other river If plans to save the salmon Under the Endangered Spe uses if we decide to do so and work, the state says, 84,000 cies Act, the chinook salmon is put our minds to it." salmon would come back to Ida- ho each year. That's a catch r , tafe sY7,,dh Juk1IZ i9 9y U.S. kicks in $11 million for salmon Money will help ease the burden of saving the endangered species By Charles Etlinger The Idaho Statesman For the second time in a month, the Clinton administra- tion has come up with millions of dollars to cushion the blow caused by the loss of salmon in the Northwest. The administration said Thursday it will pay at least $11 million to Bonneville Power Ad- ministration. BPA said it lost $12 million during an experi- ment that experts hoped would help more salmon make it from Idaho to the Pacific Ocean. Right now, thousands of fish die on the trip west because they get caught in the turbines of BPA's dams. Idaho's sockeye salmon are listed as endangered, and three runs of Idaho chinook are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. During the May ' 10 -June 20 experiment, BPA let water through openings near the tops of its dams. Migrating young salmon that would otherwise be forced through turbines in the dams instead passed through these spillways at the tops. But that meant less water went through the turbines, so BPA generated less electricity to sell. It was a hotly debated attempt to increase the salmon's sur- vival. It's not clear that the govern- ment will come up with addi- tional federal aid for Idaho's en- dangered salmon, said Dulcy Mahar, a spokeswoman at BPA's Portland headquarters. "It's certainly a hopeful sign the administration is putting Northwest issues on the front burner," Mahar said. Clinton notified Northwest lawmakers that his administra- tion will assume the cost of addi- tional spills in 1994, which could reach $40 million if additional experiments are attempted. The National Marine Fisheries Ser- vice said Thursday that it will decide by next week whether to resume the program. Sen. Larry Craig, R- Idaho, who has been vocal about efforts to save the salmon, applauded the subsidy. He believes the re- covery process is a federal re- quirement, so the government should pay a share of the cost, said spokesman David Fish. But salmon advocate Charles Ray of Idaho Rivers United said, "These guys are continuing to refuse to address the main prob- lem, and that is the Columbia dams are driving the salmon to extinction." Thursday's announcement fol- lows a decision on May 26 to declare a fishing disaster in the Pacific Northwest. " I Little Lower WASHINGTON Goose I Granite Ice Dam Dam Harbor —-- PacHlc CNumbia Dam ---- ba CeawaterriF,. «.r Ocwn Pivu p - -- -- '- Dworshak �r L McNary Y I Dates Bonneville Dam; [ -. John Dam The Dalies Day ` Hells I Dais Dams Canyon Oarr7 i Sr•ake '?iver OREGON ` A� IL AtiO k.• b ;h e - 5td�ea 4110 Cn Idaho's salmon once ran so thick :ia , ,10 `you could walk across their backs' A h' m season But even that was Now dams, loss of the president lamented. suspended this year and may be But there still were millions of fish. closed in 1995. habitat have put the Old timers like Salmon sport shop The wild Snake River spring and proprietor Jack Cook, 75, remember summer chinook runs, which once symbolic fish on the how the spawning fish were so thick in numbered 1.5 million adults per year, the Salmon river and its tributaries that now number as few as 3,000. Only a endangered species list "you could walk across their backs." few hundred wild fall chinook return. And Herman Reuben, now 63, once All the while, the face and economy got pulled into the roiling water by of'the Northwest have changed, driv- By Charles Etlinger two salmon he netted. en heavily by the Columbia hydro - The Idaho statesman "My feet went up into the air," he power system: aluminum plants, irri- recalls. But he was secured by a rope gated farms and ports. LAPWAI — There was a time in the tied around his waist, and his friends "The price for the region's prosperi- ' history of this region when people pulled him back to the rock — after ty is being paid by people, businesses could not have survived without the first retrieving the salmon. and river communities that once salmon. Now there are people who Real problems began in 1938. The thrived on salmon," said the North - fear they cannot survive alongside it. Bonneville Dam, completed that year, west Power Planning Council, which For perhaps 10,000 years, the Amer- was the first to seriously interfere is charged with protecting the Colum- ican Indians of the Northwest relied with the migration of Idaho salmon. bia Basin's fish and wildlife. That on the fish for their diet. Nine more dams followed on the Co- price has included lost jobs, recrea- Lewis and Clark survived their his- lumbia and lower Snake by 1975. tion and cultural opportunities. ex- But of costly toric trek across what became Idaho, The dams turned the salmon opponents potentially living partly off salmon supplied by pressway into a 350 -mile string of action to resurrect the salmon say Indians. I Even as recently as the 1930s, Nez slow- moving reservoirs and concrete you can't go home again. obstacles. Without dams, the rivers "We're not going to depopulate the Perce families like that of J. Herman used to rush the salmon from Idaho to Northwest," says Bruce Lovelin, execu- Reuben journeyed by horseback and the Pacific in a week. Now it can take tive director of the Columbia River buggy to harvest food — and salmon two months. Salmon who don't get Alliance, which represents downstream — for the long winters ahead. caught in the turbines in the dams die economic interests dependent on the "I remember holding a fish at my from disease and predators like seals. dams — the aluminum factories, the shoulder. The tail fins dragged on the To be sure. there are other causes of thousands of people who rely on the ground," he said, stretching his hands salmon decline, including loss of cheap power the dams provide. four feet apart to show the length of spawning habitat from ranching and "Our economy and our communi- an enormous chinook salmon. forestry. The building of Hells Can- ties have developed in the way they No longer can Reuben, or Idaho's yon Dam in the 1960s cut off spawn- have in large part because of the 300,000 -plus anglers, catch their fill of ing grounds for fall chinook in tribu- whole hydropower complex." including Gov. the great ocean -going fish that sym- taries of the Snake, including the Salmon advocates, Cecil Andrus, believe it's possible to bolizes the Northwest. The Snake River sockeye salmon is Boise River. No longer could Boiseans drop a restore the runs. He proposes a $610 listed by the federal government as an fish line by the city, and haul in million plan that would lower the in the reservoirs so it endangered species. In the past four salmon as big as a doormat, as they level of water flows like the river did in its years, only 13 sockeye returned to had done early in the century. more Redfish Lake after their 897 -mile As recently as the 1950s, Elmer So- natural state. Herman Reuben fears that the swim from the Pacific Ocean. In 1992, there was only one — now a famous derling, of Meridian, then an Idaho But Power Co. lineman, and his friends salmon so central to Nez Perce cul- fisWdubbed Lonesome eraand fall chi- pulled in three -foot salmon from ture will be lost. Johnson Creek, near McCall. He wistfully recalls how at day's nook salmon are listed as threatened. We used to catch 30 to 36 all the end, in a teepee in the Bear Valley "This is the future our daddies told >> " time, says Soderling, 81. "We'd go up northeast of Boise, he would creep o us about: `If somebody oesn't do an y y- there Friday night. We'd catch them his grandmother to hear her tradi- thing, the salmon will be gone," says Saturday, and eat them that night tional stories as salmon strips dried. fish advocate Mitch Santochena. and the next day. We'd always come A link to the Nez Perce tribe's fa- "Now it's on our watch." home with our limit." bled past rested by the fire: his grand - Northwesterners agree on the cause The fabulous fishing lasted just father, Steven Reuben, a Methodist of the problem — dams built to gener- three or four more years after the minister who knew Chief Joseph. ate electricity have forever changed Hells Canyon Dam started operation "I don't believe I and this genera - the flow of the rivers on which the in 1967. It was last of the dams on the tion will see the salmon again," he salmon depend for life. Upper Snake River. says. . As many as 15 million fattened "After that they disappeared," So- salmon crossed the mouth of the Co- derling said. lumbia before the rush of settlement With salmon runs diminishing, Ida - in the last half of the 19th century. ho closed the salmon fishing season As the Northwest was settled, com- in 1978, costing the state several mil - mercial fishing took a deep toll. As lion dollars in tourism spending. For early as 1908, Theodore Roosevelt more than a decade, the state stocked urged Congress to regulate fishing on hatchery chinook salmon in the Rap - the river. "The salmon fisheries of the id River at Riggins to provide a short Columbia River are now but a frac- – tion of what they were 25 years ago," Key dates in the history of Idaho's salmon runs: 8,000 B.C. Pacific Northwest Indians occupy the region, relying on salmon as a major source of food... 1805 Lewis and Clark reach mouth of Columbia, presaging 19th- century 1978 Idaho closes the statewide salmon fishing season. It remains closed settlement of the Northwest and its mining, farming and logging. today. 1 1850 Estimated 9 million to 15 million salmon return to the Columbia 981 Current program to barge juvenile salmon around the dams begin. River each year, before extensive settlement by Europeans. 1987 Snake River coho salmon declared extinct. 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt argues for federal fish regulations, 1989 Only two sockeye return to Redfish Lake. None return in 1990. noting the salmon fisheries in Columbia River are greatly reduced. 1991 Snake River sockeye are listed as endangered. Three Snake River 1938 Bonneville Dam begins operation, the first of eight dams on the chinook runs are listed as threatened the next year. Columbia and lower Snake rivers that impede migration of salmon. 1994 U.S. Judge Malcom Marsh rules in March that the federal government 1973 Congress passes Endangered Species Act, which protects violated Endangered Species Act and calls for better salmon protection dwindling species. plan. 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 SNAKE RIVER Summer chinook Adult fish (thousands) 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 s.. • i Salmon's slow �.:• �, �,, 30.0 SNAKE RIVER • / • i 27.5 • «ry; i• • �•• • 35.0 Fall chinook decline /'� ; • •! • 22.5 Adult fish (thousands) Idaho s salmon runs • » • , , / • a D Sockeye Lower have dwindled to the • . . ,' 1,300 20.0 Dam Little Lower Granite point that the Snake • , Goose 17.5 5 River sockeye is on 1,000 Steelhead salmon 15.0 900 the brink of . • 800 700 12.5 McNarY Datn N extinction. Three Bonneville Dam q 600 Dam The other chinook runs 500 Dam s 10.0 400 are considered threatened. A major •. • ,• % Dams salmon 7.5 5.0 culprit is a series of . ; ,• meet on the way 2.5 10 dams along the , ,• 0.0 Columbia and Snake to the Pacme rivers. s - - - - -- _ -_- • - -- - —_ L a D Sockeye Lower 1,400 r Monumental 1,300 NASH*GTON Dam Little Lower Granite 1,200 Goose 1,100 5 Ice Dam L Dam Harbor 1,000 Columbia Dam —� " "� O ` Clearwater River 900 River F. L Dworshak - 800 700 McNarY Datn N Bonneville Dam q 600 Dam The John L t' Hells "� �.,� 500 Dam s Da Canyon ?Salmon Dam � 400 Dam J River 300 200 Snake 1 ver 100 0 OREGON IDAHO 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 9 SNAKE RIVER a D Sockeye Adult fish 2L s 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 S fL t� Kevin Laarxi 1 ne mano ala[abman The length of the quarter - mile -long powerhouse at McNary Dam near Umatilla, Ore., requires workers to use a tricycle to get around. Parts of the turhlnes re t the riaht. The 14 aenerators are capable of oroducinq 1,120 megawatts a day. .....fig ... �' J. Herman Reuben, who caught a salmon nearly as big as himself when he was a boy, doubts the salmon runs will ever be restored. Pas,- 3 0? 3 i 1z { 'almon River, seen here between Challis and Salmon, once provided hundreds of thousands of salmon for Indians and settlers. The last general fishing season in Idaho was 197» f � 1h C S* 0 1f -9 M d h fu. il f X6,19 9 y Hydropower fuels debate over salmon Ten dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers are at the cen- ter of a bruising power struggle over the use of the dirt -cheap electricity they produce. They form one of the world's largest hydropower complexes, giving the Northwest 70 percent of its electric power, along with water transportation, flood con- trol, irrigation and recreation. The electricity the dams cre- ate is among the nation's cheap- est, so any changes in opera- tions that increase power costs meet stiff opposition. That's why a salmon recovery plan by Gov. Cecil Andrus has run into rough water. Andrus proposes a $610 million solution that would lower the level of wa- ter in the reservoirs behind the dams. That would bring the rivers closer to their natural level and allow them to move faster toward the Pacific. But opponents say it would increase the cost of gener- ating electricity because it takes longer to produce electricity when water moves more slowly through the dams' turbines. The Army Corps of Engineers, which built the dams between 1938 and 1975, wants to continue to put young salmon inside barges that would travel past the dams. The salmon are then released near the mouth of the Columbia River, where they are largely out of danger. The dams' design is not a re- cent issue. Even in 1946, Albert Day, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, warned about the long -term conse- quences of building the four low- er Snake dams. Only a fraction of the adult salmon could return to Idaho spawning grounds; he said, and surely "the progeny of this fraction would suffer fur- ther loss in its return movement to the sea." He was right. Idaho -bred wild chinook and sockeye salmon have been on a precipitous downward slope for the past quarter - century — the period when the last three dams were completed. Salmon advo- cates and Idaho Department of Fish and Game experts blame es- pecially the lower Snake dams — Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite. The dams generally were built without adequate protection for migrating young salmon. There was nothing to prevent them from being sucked into the tur- bines, where many die. Screens have since been added to direct The Idaho Statesman is exploring key issues in the fight to save Idaho's salmon. 10 History From millions to just a few thousand, the decline of Idaho's salmon. MBiology ",M What distinguishes these fish and threatens their survival. The law How salmon test the limits of the Endangered Species Act. Solutions A maze of recovery plans vie for support. Economics What's the price and the payoff? Politics Ultimately, the solution is political. It you have a comment about this series, call Charles Ettinger at 377 -6334 or Jim Hopkins at 377 -6402. Or write to them at The Idaho Statesman, P.O. Box 40, Boise, ID 83707. Or tax. 377 -6449. the fish around the danger. Fish supporters say politics is to blame for the way the dams have been built and operated. Public and private groups de- pendent on cheap power for alu- minum plants, water transporta- tion and irrigation, with minimal interest in fish, have resisted changes that would save more salmon. Federal inaction "was premed- itated disaster, not a natural di- saster," charges Ed Chaney, the fiery fish advocate from Eagle. "It's not at all surprising the fish are going extinct." John McKern, biologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the dam builders, said Chaney's state- ment is intentionally misleading. He said the Corps relied on advice from a variety of regional experts, and built bypasses around tur- bines, and later improved those, as it became clear what the dams did to salmon. "The Corps has spent more than $800 million on fish facili- ties and programs," he said. Pdgelbi1;2 %r1 �- �d��SM'f N � u v►ea��ip�s sf ) Troy Maben /The Idaho Statesman Above: Elmer Soderling of Meridian shows off the old steel fishing pole he used to use to catch salmon in the 1950's near Yellow Pine. In the Top photo, Soderling is.third from the left in this photo taken in September 1956 during a salmon fishing trip at Johnson Creek near Yellow Pine. zie �Awefi lw 712/ v 1 S pills demanded after salmon killings Army corps shifts estimates to up to 90,000 dead Chinook The Associated Press PORTLAND The number of young salmon killed last weekend at McNary Dam far exceeded the initial estimate, with 60,000 to 90,000 fish dying, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged Wednesday. Initially, the corps estimated 36,000 chinook salmon had died, but the new estimate was based on a followup investigation, said Dutch Meier, spokesman for the corps' Walla Walla, Wash., dis- trict office. The deaths Saturday were the result of a combination of high water temperatures and malfunc- tioning equipment in the dam's new fish collection system, corps biologist Jim Athearn said. The system is used to collect the 3- to 4 -inch salmon and place them in barges for transportation downstream past hydroelectric dams. The corps immediately began funneling the salmon through a bypass system into the river be- low the dam. But critics contend- ed the emergency action was in- sufficient and is harming the fish. The states of Oregon, Washing- ton and Idaho have joined affect- ed Indian tribes and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in urging the National Marine Fisheries Ser- vice to implement an emergency spill at the dam, located on the Oregon - Washington border north cause the corps is only counting the bodies that can be seen. He said the young salmon are subjected to extreme trauma as they pass through the bypass sys- tem. They are already under se- vere stress because of the high water temperatures. Allowing the salmon through spillways would give the fish a much better chance of survival, Boyce said. The corps, however, doesn't want to spill more water be- cause of concerns that high ni- trogen levels in the water would cause "gas bubble" disease in the fish, Athearn said. But Boyce is among biologists who discount a recent scientific panel's findings that high nitro- gen levels should be avoided. He said the best evidence is that the fish can easily withstand the ni- trogen levels caused by the of Hermiston. "We felt this emergency by- pass operation may not be ad- dressing the problem," said Ron Boyce, head of the Columbia River fish passage program for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The issue is crucial, he said, because of the number of sum- mer and fall chinook heading downstream is the largest since 1982. "We wanted to do everything we can to enhance their down- stream survival," Boyce said. Most of the fish were from the Hanford Reach in Washington state, but some undoubtedly were part of the Snake River fall chinook run, which has been de- clared a threatened species. Boyce said the number of dead fish probably is much higher be- spills the states are proposing. The two sides are to press their cases today at a meeting of the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission. The com- mission is considering a request that the fisheries service be al- lowed to exceed water quality standards for dissolved gases in order to spill at three dams on the Columbia. The spills, as well as another at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River, are planned to augment the barging and trucking of the fish. But the states, tribes and Fish and Wildlife Service will urge a much larger spill program at eight dams with no barging or trucking. They contend barging and trucking are poor ways to move the fish and do not help the runs recover. / l P / aa/r 6 'J ltSi 1z 6t All - ! /_� /�, 41 Agencies approve salmon flushing Kempthorne wins funds for turbine The Associated Press Federal agencies have agreed to release extra water from the Dworshak Dam in Idaho to help the biggest class of threatened Snake River fall chinook salmon in a decade migrate to the ocean. While businesses depending on recreation on the Dworshak Reservoir in Orofino braced for economic losses, the National Marine Fisheries Service said it was the best chance in years to boost returns of Snake River fall chinook, a threatened species. The releases are expected to begin Wednesday or soon after and run through the end of July. "These fish will be the main- stay of the returning population for several years to come," said Gary Smith, acting regional di- rector of the fisheries service in Seattle. "Without sufficient re- turning fall chinook, the status of this population may change from threatened to endangered." After a decade of drought, wa- ter levels are at record lows, making it difficult for juvenile fish to migrate downstream without help, Smith said. The return of 742 Snake River fall chinook last year was the biggest since 1982. The juveniles they produced are migrating downriver in ear- ly July. The fisheries service ex- pects as many as 90 percent could die before reaching the ocean. After spending three to five years in the ocean, they return to spawn. About half the fish still are expected to be transported downstream in barges, said fish- eries service spokesman Brian Gorman in Washington, D.C. The extra water going down the Clearwater, Snake and Co- lumbia rivers is supposed to help the rest of the fish move past the dams more quickly, avoiding predators and backwaters. The U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers, Bonneville Power Admin- istration and Bureau of Recla- mation agreed to the water request from the fisheries ser- vice, which has jurisdiction over threatened and endangered spe- cies of salmon. "Like so many timber- depen- dent towns, we tried to diversify our economy into recreation," said James W. Grunke, execu- tive director of the Orofino Chamber of Commerce. "Going down 110 feet will leave only one boat ramp in the water. "People don't want to spend their recreation time in a big mudhole," he added. "What you are seeing is just a summer re- creation economy that was just really developing now being devastated." Sen. Dirk Kempthorne, R -Ida- ho, objected to experimenting with water for uncertain results on behalf of salmon at the ex- pense of the Orofino economy. Kempthorne supports re- search on a turbine that would kill fewer fish at dams on the Columbia and lower Snake rivers. The U.S. Senate adopted Thursday a budget amendment by Kempth- orne appro- priating .< $500,000 to develop safer hydroelectric turbines. Kempthorne The theory that a turbine could put less pressure on passing fish while increasing the generating capac- ity came from the Idaho Nation- al Engineering Laboratory, and Kempthorne wants the research dollars to go there. "It's important in the Pacific Northwest where we are en- gaged in a multimillion - dollar salmon recovery effort, and it's important for the eastern states, where the Atlantic salmon is listed as an endangered spe- cies," Kempthorne said. "It is important for every state that has hydropower as part of its energy mix." Its application on the East Coast could be the project's sav- ior in the House when the amendment goes to conference. Kempthorne spokesman Mark Snider said industry, including Northwestern and Eastern pow- er suppliers, has pledged $500,000 for the project. Snider said scientists believe they can decrease pressure in the turbines, and possibly re- duce nitrogen gas saturation be- low the dams. The nitrogen cre- ated during spills can cause a potentially fatal disease in the fish' like deep -sea divers' "bends.' ,_�d4e5,1 -zan - - Pr�e4l of Zpins Fisheries service reverses spill 'I da go WE a 0 "a Emergency spills won't be imposed; agency turns to barging, trucking The Associated Press PORTLAND — The National Marine Fisheries Service has de- cided against re- imposing emer gency spills at Columbia and Snake river dams this year. Instead, the agency intends to rely on barging and trucking to help threatened Snake River fall chinook make it to the ocean as outlined in its original biologi- cal opinion for helping the fish. That plan calls for lesser spills only at the four dams where there is no collection of the s �k salmon for barging and trucking. a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' barge filled with young salmon pulls away from the Little Goose Damon The action is opposed by stathe Snake River in southeastern Washington in this file photo. The corps's fish barging program to help fishery agencies in Orego�he young fish get past hydroelectric dams is a controversial measure in efforts to save salmon stocks. Washington and Idaho, as well agency in Seattle, said Monday Merritt Tuttle, senior policy an- as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife that the decision was based sole- alyst for the fisheries service. Service and Indian tribes with ly on the opinion of scientists. But by barging and trucking treaty rights to Columbia River "The main reason is that the the fish, the chances for survival salmon. river conditions are really bad are diminished, Heinith said, es- They want increased spills at this summer," she said. "Flows pecially for fall chinook, which all dams and n barging or are low. It was the recommenda- take longer to make it to the trucking. The fisheries service abruptly s tion from our scientists that Pacific because they need more began emergency spill pro- there would probably be higher survivals if the fish were trans- time to mature. When they are transported by gram earlier this year at eight ported." barge or by truck, they don't Snake and Columbia river by droelectric dams to aid the She said the agency has di- have the time needed to mature downstream migration of Idaho rected that the flows on the so they can survive in the ocean, spring chinook. The agency the dire condition of agency 'the Snake River be increased to help the fall chinook. Dworshak he said. Some biologists say the spills cited Reservoir in northern Idaho is do more harm than good by da- run as the reason for the uof run as being drawn down 110 feet be- maging the fish because of ex- d action. Both the Idaho spring and fall low capacity, 30 feet farther than originally scheduled, to cessive nitrogen in the water. A panel of scientists appointed by chinook runs are listed as threatened Utilities, boost the downriver flow. the fisheries service to study species. companies and 'others The spill issue is particularly this year's spills released a re aluminum crucial because a relatively port concluding that such spills a who rely on the river were large number of young Snake should be avoided because of the among the leading opponents River fall chinook are expected potential damage to the fish. the spills. Critics the fisheries to try to make it downriver this But Heineth said the report accuse services caving in e political year, said Bob Heinith, fish pas- was released prematurely and pressure, because House Speak- sage specialist for the Columbia Inter- Tribal Fish Commission. that there was no consensus among the panel's members, de- er Tom Foley, D- Wash., Sen. "It's the best we've seen in spite the report to the contrary. Mark Hatfield, R -Ore., and sev eral other leading members of „ recent history, Heinith said. He said the fisheries service the Northwest's congressional The National Marine Fisheries Service says 742 Snake River fall should withdraw the report, which was based mainly on lab- legation opposed the erosional delegation chinook made it upriver to spawn oratory tests and did not take cy that were instituted last year, up from 78 in 1991. into account river conditions. earlier this year. "This is really the backbone of The fisheries service is exceed - But Donna Darm, manager of the run if we're going to have a ing the panel's standards in the environmental quality for the chance to recover the run," said spills, it plans this summer at Sri John Day, The Dalles and Bon- neville dams, where there is no collection of fish for barging. It has asked the Oregon Depart- ment of Environmental Quality for permission to exceed state standards for dissolved gas in the river. A meeting is set for Thursday to hear that request. The tribes, states and Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice are going to make their own pitch for a major spill pro- gram at that meeting. Darin said the fisheries ser- vice is unlikely to go along with their request. But that won't be the end of the matter. U.S. District Judge Malcolm Marsh already has ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service has not adequately tak- en into account the damage the hydroelectric dams do to the Snake River salmon. Under his orders, the agency is meeting with representatives of the states and tribes to devel- op an acceptable plan. Spills are a big part of that discussion, and conservationists are counting on Marsh to make sure spills are part of any final plan. "The system has been so polit- ically corrupted that the only hope is for a federal judge to drop the hammer on these guys," said Ed Chaney, execu- tive director of the Idaho -based Northwest Resource Informa- tion Center. t� t � y Y :a { T�7e ,4tdf�SrYJdlq �iA�`�; /qq� rad Eby, an Army Corps of Engineers fish biologist, is seen through the grate of a barge used for transporting salmon, near McNary Darr I ome tout barging to save fish, ut others sav it's killing them McNARY DAM, Ore. — The biological debate over saving Idaho's salmon is exemplified by a spanking -new complex of con- crete and pipes at McNary Dam on the Columbia River. Young salmon spawned 600 miles upstream in the Salmon River drainage slither down a metal chute, four stories above the ground. The 8- inch -long smolts are carried by channels and tubes around the dam, piped into barges and taken around a series of other dams to the lower Columbia River. Some experts say this man- made rescue approach at McNary and seven other dams on the Columbia and Snake riv- ers is imperiling the salmon. Others say it's helping. The scientific debate: Is it bet- ter to take the fish around the dams or to draw down reservoirs behind the dams and run the fish through spillways? Before the dams slowed the Idaho fish's trip to the Pacific Ocean to a two -month crawl, spring runoff carried them downstream in as little as a week. Since 1985, 3 million to 4 mil- lion Snake River juvenile chi- nook and sockeye have been col- lected and barged around the dam complex each year. Idaho salmon advocates say the program is killing the fish by stressing them. They point to mathematics to make a circum- stantial case. In 1992, 3.6 million young spring and summer chinook were barged. So far, in the worst returns ever, only 1,000 wild spring chinook have returned to Idaho this year, after fattening up in the Pacific Ocean for two years. And only 300 wild sum- mer chinook returned. "Adult returns clearly show survival too low for fish to re- place themselves," says Idaho fisheries chief Steve Huffaker. The Army Corps of Engineers suggests the precipitous decline may be due to changes in Pacific feeding grounds wrought by weather phenomena that come and go in cycles. John McKern, a biologist for the corps and its barging guru, analyzes the survival of salmon spawned in the upper reaches of the Salmon River drainage this way, based on research data: Of the spawn of 5,000 eggs from one female, 125 smolts will reach the first dam, Lower Gran- ite. With barging, 106 of those will reach below the last dam, Bonneville. Without barging, 31 smolts will make it. Taking into account harvests, plus deaths in the ocean and on . the return trip, two adults will reach their spawning areas without barging, or six with, McKern says. Salmon runs up and down the Pacific coast are declining, but those from Idaho are not declin- ing as fast, corps- funded re- search indicates, he says. "Transportation (barging) may be slowing the decline of Snake River salmon," he says. "There's no studies and mass of scientific evidence that show drawdowns will increase sur- vival." "If John's model worked in the real world, we'd have all kinds of fish," Huffaker says. "The fact is, we don't. We've been barging them 20 years." A new study by 10 scientists commissioned by the National Marine Fisheries Service and re- gional fish agencies supports the contention. The present barging system "is unlikely to halt or prevent the continued decline and extirpation of listed species," the panel said. Some salmon plans call for dealing with the four H's — im- proving spawning habitat and hatcheries, cutting commercial " 7 k eta -Pe sirs 41 y,iggy and sporting harvest, and hydro- power (the dams). Scientists list a variety of fish killers all along their life cycle: damaged spawning habitat; un- screened irrigation ditches the salmon swim up; slow- moving reservoirs that subject them to disease and predators; spilling, turbines, bypass channels and human handling that stress the fish at dams; seals and sea lions that prey on them; changes in feeding grounds; and sports an- glers and commercial fishing. Studies by NMFS indicate im- provements in smolt survival with faster flows. The fish agencies of Idaho, Or- egon and Washington, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Columbia basin Indian tribes all back drawing down the four lower Snake River reservoirs. From 77 to 96 percent of juve- nile salmon are killed by dams, according to the Northwest Power Planning Council, the re- gional fish and power conserva- tion planning agency. Matt Laws, planning chief of the corps office in Walla Walla counters, "Dams may not be the big piece or even the driver." If the region resorts to draw - downs, he says, "and it's a dud, then we're not going to get an- other shot." Drawdowns raise another sci- entific controversy: "spilling." "Instead of barging smolts around the dams during draw - downs, they would be carried through gates opened up in the dams. That subjects the fish to gas bubble disease a kind of fish bends because the plung- ing spilled water increases con- centrations of dissolved gases. Emergency spills this summer were halted by the National Ma- rine Fisheries Service out of concern that the fish might be r� �� 4e 'A Of y afflicted by bubble disease. But the Columbia Basin Fish Agencies and the tribes contend that similar microscopic symp- toms have been found in fish that weren't exposed. Analyses of spring Chinook from Marsh Creek, in Idaho, "indicates that some of the high- est smolt -to -adult returns re- corded have resulted from high - flow, high -spill years," says Michele Dehart, manager of the group's Fish Passage Center in Portland. "Four out of five of the best return years have occurred in years of high flow and spill," says Dan Diggs, a fisheries man- ager with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland. "That's a pretty strong indicator you're going to need better flows and more water dedicated to moving fish." Chinook salmon Length: up to 4'10" Weight: 126 lbs. Range: Chinook mature in the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Southern California. They spawn in fresh water primarily during spring and fall. Both male and female die after spawning. The young stay in fresh water about a year before migrating to the ocean. The cycle is repeated after two or three years. Pdg C 3 of y Juvenile salmon and steelhead will be separated by size as they, fall between spaces of PVC tubing at McNary Dam. About 10 percent are . p downriver. Aochecked for species, size and disease before bean bar ed Alaska Migratory range of the Snake River salmon Spring /Summer Chinook Sockeye Fall Chinook Idaho Department of Fish and Game Canada Washington Oregon Idaho Spring /summer Chinook Idaho Chinook runs have declined to very low levels as barging has increased. Chart shows the number of juvenile salmon transported and the number of those returning as adults through Lower Granite Dam. 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 Source: Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Idaho Rivers United 50 40 30 20 10 0 The 3 to fie gMAP2 The life Sockeye salmon Length: 25" Weight: 4lbs. Reproduction: Female produces about eyele of 2,000 eggs, spawning in the gravel of Redfish Lake in October. Young sockeye spend two years in fresh water and one to three years in the ocean. Range: Redfish Lake sockeye swim about the 900 miles to the Pacific Ocean, the longest migrating sockeye remaining in the Columbia River Basin. Food: Zooplankton and small fish. $,Simon Adult fish enter the rivers, headed for spawning locations ... L11, Natural propogation in streams means the female deposits eggs in gravel nests as the males fertilize the eggs with milt ... p tl� I A PF � Adults return to the rivers to spawn after two or three years in the ocean. Survivors grow to maturity in the ocean, if they successfully avoid predators and harvests ... �g g�?� The young smolts move into the main rivers and travel downstream through the dams, the Columbia River and into the sea ... %mm, y dz The eggs hatch in the spring and young fish grow in the streams ... ..51"& -1 .Vv WS - /A Ll q tl 5 t '-f 1 I g q y- P 6- g Q J o 5- ;Z Andrus says he'll sue to end draining of reservoir BY SHARI HAMBLETON The Star -News Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus said Tues- day he would file suit in federal district court if the water level at Cascade Reservoir drops below its minimum pool. "To dump water at this time of year is absolutely ludicrous," Andrus said in an interview with The Star - News. "The National Marine Fisheries Service is a walking disaster," the governor said. "They have demon- strated a total lack of knowledge of fisheries. It does absolutely nothing to help the salmon." He said the deteriorated condition of the reservoir and dead fish being found in the reservoir are detrimen- tally affecting the resident bald eagle population, which, along with the salmon, are also listed as endangered. "The fish die ... the lake dies, you're breaking the food chain for the bald eagle," Andrus said. And while Andrus said he would like to maintain a level of at least 70,000 acre -feet above the 300,000 acre -feet minimum pool, the state doesn't have the same legal weight as it does over the minimum pool level. On Monday, Sen. Larry Craig, R- Idaho, sent a letter to U. S. Bureau of Reclamation regional Director John Keys asking for the immediate halt- ing of any further release of "unallocated water" from Cascade Reservoir. An environmental study should be completed before releasing anymore water from the already ailing reser- voir, Craig said in his letter. The water release, which began July 1, is in response to a directive from NMFS and is intended to aid the migration of salmon smolt to the ocean, a controversial and often chal- lenged tactic to bolster the survival of declining salmon populations. But critics of the plan, including the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, say that may be the final move which sends Cascade Reservoir to its death. "The (F &G) does not support "The reservoir level was over draining water from Idaho's reser- 450,000 acre -feet at time of kill," voirs to try and flush fish to the ocean," Anderson said. "If additional water said regional fisheries manager Don goes out (of the reservoir) during this Anderson of McCall. "It's ineffective period of high stress for the fish, then in saving the salmon and very damag- the ... habitat condition will get even ing to the resident fisheries in Idaho." worse." "The problem is caused by dams As the water level in the reservoir and reservoirs slowing the migration decreases, water temperatures will ofjuvenile salmon and Idaho shouldn't continue to rise and levels of dis- have to sacrifice to solve problems solved oxygen will decrease, he said. created (downstream)," Anderson "I don't view this year's fish kill in said. a past tense," he said. "It's a continu- Andrus and the F &G support what ing occurrence." is called The Idaho Plan, which dif- Live healthy trout, coho and ko- fers from a general drawdown of res- kanee are being found at the mouths ervoirs in that only lower Snake River of the reservoir's tributaries because reservoir levels would be reduced. of the cooler water temperatures and Water from upper reservoirswoyld oxygen availability, Anderson said. not be used to "flush" the salmon "Those sanctuary areas are what smolt through full downstream reser- may be keeping most of the fish in voirs. Cascade Reservoir alive," he said. Bureau of Reclamation Snake "But even in those areas, like the River Area Manager Jerry Gregg said mouth of Gold Fork and Lake. Fork, this week the water being released the water is too warm and we're find - from Cascade Reservoir now is being ing large concentrations of dead fish." used to replace water in Brownlee Craig added his voice of protest to Reservoirwhich was released the first the cries of outrage from Valley Coun- two weeks of July to aid the salmon ty residents and Cascade Mayor Tad migration. House who has said legal moves are "(Cascade) doesn't have the water being considered to stop the draw - for the salmon when it's needed," down of the reservoir. Gregg said. "So this is the water being A multi- agency task force, headed used to make up for what was released by the DEQ, has been working for from Brownlee." several months to devise a plan to "We only have about 13,000 acre- bring the reservoirback from the brink feet to go and that's coming from both of extinction. Deadwood and Cascade," Gregg said. Craig said the continued drawdown The rest of the water scheduled to be of Cascade Reservoir would "jeopar- released has been contracted for irri- dize the multi- agency effort to re- gation downstream. store" the water quality of the reser- About 95 percent of the water re- voir. leased from Cascade Reservoir goes The toxic bloom occurred during a to irrigation districts. "That's themajor period last year when the water level impact on the system," he said. in the reservoir was higher and water But, for whatever reason water is temperatures were cooler, Craig said. being released, Cascade Reservoir Bureau of Reclamation officials water quality will show the affect. have said the reservoir should reach The reservoir, which is on the En- the minimum pool of 300,000 acre - vironmental Protection Agency's list feet sometime this month. The toxic as "water quality limited," has been conditions last September occurred under the microscope since ablue- when the water level was around green algae bloom turned toxic last 400,000 acre -feet. September. But even the 300,000 acre -feet That toxic bloom resulted in the minimum pool level is being used in death of 22 head of cattle and a health the wrong context, Anderson said. warning by the Idaho Department of That recommended level, which Health and Welfare's Division of En- Anderson said was established by the vironmental Quality to avoid contact F &G in 1982 after a three -year study, with the algae. was set as a minimum level during Thousands of fish have been dying winter months, a period when fish are as a result of the high water tempera- not subjected to the same stressful tures and low levels of dissolved oxy- conditions as they are in the summer. gen in the reservoir, Anderson said. "We made that (300,000 acre -feet) Although similar fish kills have recommendation from December been observed in the reservoir over through March," Anderson said. "That the past few years, this year it has was never intended as a summer rec- happened much earlier in the season. ommendation." "It appears to be fairly extensive, but we can't make a specific determi- nation because we aren't able to count all the fish," he said. a. - Vpvtrs.Xhd yU 5- u ivot only nas a summer recom- mended minimum level for the reser- voir not been established, he said, the recommended winter level set in 1982 was based on the nutrient level of the reservoir at that time. And nutrient levels have continued to rise, he said. "The winter recommendation should be revisited and a summer recommendation should be estab- lished which would be necessary to maintain the cold water'fishery," he said. Another problem with the 300,000 acre -feet minimum level is that the actual amount of water in the reser- voir is likely less than is being re- ported. "There's a strong indication that the bottom (of the reservoir) has sedimented from erosion and decom- posing organic material," Anderson said. That could mean the reservoircon- tains about 50,000 to 75,000 acre -feet less than water inventory reports show. "What may be being measured as water capacity may be in fact be mud," Anderson said. "But it comes down to state and federal water rights," Anderson said. "There's little (the F &G) can do to stop the release of water. It's unfortu- nate Idaho isn't speaking with a uni- fied voice." But Gregg said focusing only on the salmon issue distracts from the real problem facing Cascade Reser- voir — the nutrient overloading. "Keeping more water in the reser- voir is not the answer," Gregg said. "To get good water quality, which is what we're all after, we've got to ... take care of the phosphorous." �� Sen. Craig asks feds to stop drawdown of Cascade water Kempthorne also opposes fish plan By Ron Prichard The Idaho Statesman Sen. Larry Craig asked the federal Bureau of Reclamation Monday to end the drawdown at Cascade Reservoir, citing a "se- rious health threat" from deteri- orating water quality. And Sen. Dirk Kempthorne Dirk Kempthorne Larry Craig cited the reservoir in calling for federal hearings he hopes will end the drawdowns this year. "That's my intent," he said. "We're trying to save (the salm- on), but we should be able to do that without this kind of devas- tation." Cascade -area residents have been protesting plans to drain roughly 70,000 acre feet of water from the reservoir to flush baby salmon downstream. State experts say lowering the water level will worsen already - severe water quality problems at the reservoir, which is plagued by phosphorous -rich runoff that encourages algae growth and kills fish. Last week, thousands of fish began turning up dead. Last summer, algae blooms covered as much as half of the 26,000 - acre reservoir, and 22 cattle died after eating toxic blue -green algae. Biologists say lowering the water level will raise water tem- perature and concentrate the phosphorous pollutants. The two senators joined Rep. Larry LaRocco, who represents , McCall o Co ncil 55 Cascade 95 Cascade Reservoir 84 Boise N the Cascade area, in opposing the drawdown at the reservoir. In a letter to Bureau of Reclas mation regional Director John Keys, Craig said, "The contin- ued drawdown of the reservoir- would jeopardize (a) multi -agen- cy effort to restore the res- ervoir." Keys did not respond, and phone calls to the bureau's of- fice Monday afternoon were not answered. But bureau officials told resi- dents of the Cascade area last week that the agency wouldn't move to block the drawdowns, requested by the National Ma- rine Fisheries Service, unless the reservoir's storage drops be- low 300,000 acre -feet of water. That's the amount the bureau deems a safe minimum to protect wildlife, including nesting bald eagles, another threatened spe- cies. Residents say that's not enough. Craig called for an environ- mental impact study before any more water is taken from the reservoir for salmon. But he acknowledged that Cascade may have to take its fight to court, as the town's mayor has threatened and resi- dents near the Dworshak Reser- voir in northern Idaho have done. A drawdown releases water to increase flows downriver in an effort to push baby salmon to- ward the ocean. Some experts doubt it does much good. Kempthorne said'he has asked a Senate subcommittee to hold hearings on the enforcement of the Endangered Species Act in Idaho and its effect on Cascade and Dworshak reservoirs, among others. "This is being driven by a salmon- recovery effort, but it's indirectly causing the deaths of thousands of trout," Kemp - thorne said. 4 //P Y 461 VvGG-h" ellol9 <i Salmon lawsuit filed by Idaho Rivers and other groups Idaho Rivers United (IRU) along with seven other conserva- tion, sportfishing, and commercial fishing groups, filed a lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in Portland, challenging the fed- eral government's efforts to protect endangered Snake River Salmon. The lawsuit claims that federal agencies in charge of hydropow- er dams on the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers are violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to insure safe conditions for migrating salmon. The suit also seeks to halt the capture and transportation ( "barg- ing") of juvenile salmon around the dams. "There are two fatal flaws in the government's scheme," Adam Berger, a Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund attorney said. "First, it doesn't work. Second, it violates the (ESA), which requires the federal government to help species recover by pro- tecting and restoring their natural habitat. Removing juvenile salmon from the river for transporation certainly does not con- stitute restoration." That view is shared by Charles Ray, of IRU's Wild Salmon Project. "The federal agencies have shown they do not intend to fix the dams as long as they can continue barging the salmon," he said. "Barging is a deadly dodge. It kills juvenile salmon, and it allows the feds to avoid their responsibility to fix the dams." Biologists estimate that up to 90 percent of migrating salmon are killed by the hydropower dams on the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers. Most of the mortality occurs as juvenile salmon attempt to negotiate the dams and the slackwater reservoirs behind the dams. Despite the listing of the salmon for protection under the ESA, salmon returns to Idaho have continued to decline, and the fed- eral agencies have made no progress toward reversing the decline. The 1994 return of Snake River spring chinook is an all -time low. Defendants in the lawsuit are the National Marine Fisheries Service, the agency responsible for protecting the salmon, and the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, the agencies operating the dams. V a,) t �,� . v o a T _ A LI 9 u1 S �^- t ?, t R q1 t_� Outfitters, tourists & salmon will all be protected Senators obtain federal assurance by phone Idaho's two U. S. Senators have received an assurance from the federal government that both salmon and the inflow of sum- mer tourist dollars will be protected under a compromise now being worked out between the Forest Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. This week, the Forest Service told outfitters and guides they would have to stop commercial rafting beginning next Monday in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Due to the dry sea- son, the agency has decided rafting constitutes a "take" of the fish because their spawning areas might be disturbed. In previ- ous years, it had considered rafting to have "no adverse affect." Outfitters and guides who contacted both senators' offices for assistance claim they had little advanced warning of the change, and fear many tourists and locals are already in transit to begin prepaid tours. Sens. Larry Craig and Dirk Kempthorne had a joint telephone conversation with Gary Smith, the acting regional director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, during which Smith pledged the matter would be resolved "in a couple of days." Outfitters will be asked to adopt special measures, such as carrying boats around spawning areas and compressing passage around sensi- tive areas into a shorter time period, to avoid disturbing the salmon. If any problems arise, Smith said he'd call them back. "This situation can be worked out so salmon, jobs and Idaho's inflow of tourist dollars are both protected," Craig said after the call. "There's just no reason to shut down part of Idaho's econ- omy and hurt small businesses. I am glad we got Gary Smith's assurance this will be worked out." Four outfitters on the river currently have permits to carry up to 180 people each day during the summer months. "The National Marine Fisheries Service has given Senator Craig and me assurance that they will not shut down Idaho out- fitters and river guides," Kempthome said. "We're going to con- tinue to drive home the point with these federal agencies that they cannot continue to make decisions in a vacuum. I reiterated to NMFS that they need to work with the Forest Service on improv- ing consultation or notification of any actions that may affect Idaho's economy." 7_/1 p Lojy Ya //� y rya c�� _ 8l �/�; Releases for salmon curtailed from Cascade, Deadwood Cascade to be down to lowest level in more than 10 years BOISE — Release of federal uncontracted water from Cascade Reservoir for salmon flow augmen- tation was completed last Thursday. A total of 62,000 acre feet of water will have been released from Cascade and Deadwood reservoirs for salmon flow augmentation. The discharge rate from the reservoir was reduced by about 200 cubic feet per second (cfs) to about 1,400 cfs. The release from Deadwood will be main- tained at the current level of 800 cfs to meet irriga- tion demands. The two reservoirs will continue to be drafted to meet those demands. Drought conditions and result- ing low natural flows place a heavy demand on Payette basin reservoirs to meet water needs for irri- gation. Cascade and Deadwood reservoirs are both expect- ed to be drawn down to minimum conservation pool elevations this year. The drawdown of Cascade Reservoir will take it to its lowest level in more than 10 years. See Salmon on back page CASCADE RESERVOIR -End of Season Levels 700 600 RESERVOIR 500 POOL LEVEL 300 (in acre /feet) 200 100 The total drawdown of Cascade Reservoir is expected to be 15.6 feet by the middle of October. About 1.7 feet of that total is attrib- uted to water released for salmon flow augmentation, according to a news release from the Bureau. Most of the water released from Bureau reservoirs in the Payette basin this year will be released to meet irrigation water orders. Deadwood Reservoir is expect- ed to be near the minimum con- servation pool level of 50,000 acre- 00 d0 OD OD OD M O M O O O O O M O O O M M O O M M d r LL YEAR ( *1994 estimated) feet by Monday, Aug. 22. The Deadwood release will then be reduced to a minimum streamflow release level of 50 cfs. As the release from Deadwood is decreased, the flow from Cascade will be increased again as necessary to satisfy irri- gation demand. It is projected the Cascade release will be about 2,000 cfs dur- ing the latter part of August. Releases will then gradually decline as irrigation demand decreases. At the end of the irrigation sea- son, Cascade Reservoir is expect- ed to have 300,000 acre -feet in storage. That minimum pool will not be violated, Rick Wells, of the Bureau's Snake River Area Office at Boise, emphasized Monday. Reclamation prepared and dis- tributed an environmental assess- ment addressing the management of all the space in Cascade and Deadwood reservoirs. In addition, Wells also said that there will be no winter releases of water from the reservoir. 1st adult sockeye of season hits lake Experts had feared none would arrive at Redfish Lake The Associated Press STANLEY — The first adult sockeye of the 1994 season has returned to Redfish Lake, the traditional spawning ground at the headwaters of the Salmon River. The Idaho Fish and Game De- partment said the salmon was captured in a fish trap Wednes- day at Redfish Lake Creek. Some fish experts had predict- ed that no sockeye would sur- vive the 900 -mile trip from the .Pacific Ocean to Central Idaho spawning areas this year. Fish and Game officers said 'the 24 -inch fish was somewhat battered. Hot, low water provid- ed an unfriendly route for fish through the dams and reservoirs of the Columbia -Snake river system. "These fish are extremely tough," said Keith Johnson, sockeye specialist. "The fact that any of the few wild sockeye still alive could overcome the rigorous migration conditions and return to Redfish Lake amazes me. "We will do our best to give this survivor a safe haven in the captive brood -stock facility un- til it spawns and finishes its hard - fought life cycle," Johnson said. The salmon will be kept in cool well water with minimal handling. Scrapes on its tail and jaw will be treated to minimize infection by disease organisms or fungi. "While we are unsure whether .the fish is a male or female, it is 'extremely important as a genet - ic donor to the captive brood - stock program," Johnson said. "We expect adults in the captive sockeye program to spawn this year as well." Some of the young salmon pro- duced by the female that re- turned to Redfish in 1991 will reach maturity, as will juveniles captured while leaving the lake in 1991 and 1992. All three groups were reared in captivity. Johnson said the ocean -grown sockeye will be used with those fish to broaden the genetic char- acter of the next generation. Fish counters at Lower Gran- ite Dam said two large sockeye were seen moving through the fish ladder in July. One was about the size of the Redfish returnee. The other was much smaller, and could arrive later at the spawning grounds. In the past four years, Fish and Game said, a total of 13 fish arrived at Redfish Lake. More than 4,000 were counted in 1956. `rllv Idaho Streams critical to salmon protected under land swap The Associated Press OROFINO — Wild Snake Riv- er salmon will benefit from what may be the Northwest's most complicated land exchange. The federal government ac- quired 24 miles of spawning hab- itat in northeastern Oregon in the transaction, which closed last week. The swap involved the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. For- est Service, three timber compa- nies and 37 private landowners. It took nearly six years to complete. A spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service said federal ownership of some of the land "pretty much guarantees" protection of streams critical to chinook salmon. "It's not only the spawning area where we depend on clean gravel during the early life cycle of salmon, but it's also a rearing area," said program analyst Merritt Tuttle. "We depend on roots and over- hanging vegetation to provide cover for the young salmon while they grow to a size when they can go to the ocean. And when the adults return, the cov er is still important so these fish can hide while they're waiting to spawn." The deal includes land along the Grande Ronde and Wallowa rivers, Big Sheep Creek and Swamp Creek. Swamp Creek is important to steplhead trout. Steelhead are being considered for endangered species listing throughout the West. The transaction involved 9,000 acres of private land and 8,200 federal acres. It transferred many isolated federal parcels to adjacent private landowners. "This is land that was home- steaded. That s how it got into private hands in the first place. That's where the water was," said Jim Cochrane of Clearwa- ter Realty. That Orofino compa- ny handled the complex deal. _77m /! it o . yr Andrus predicts dry times, blames salmon bar ging by Ron Prichard, The Idaho Statesman -Gov. Cecil Andrus predicted Monday that Lucky Peak Reser- voir and two reservoirs up- stream will be empty by next summer. ,'And he challenged Idaho's se- nior U.S. senator to support his salmon rescue plan as the only way to keep that water here. Stdnding atop the dam at Lucky Peak with state Sen. John Peavey, Andrus said, "Sen. Larry Craig's plan is the reason this reservoir right behind us is nearly empty." Craig has supported contin- ued efforts to barge the endan- gered fish around dams. But Craig opposes Andrus' so- called Idaho Plan, saying draw - downs haven't been scientifical- ly proven. Craig and other Republicans along with down - stream users also have objected to the Andrus plan on grounds that drawdowns would only flush more Idaho water out of the state. Andrus' plan involves draw- ing down four reservoirs on the Lower Snake River, raising wa- ter velocity and speeding the fish toward the sea. Andrus and Peavey, the Demo- '.'fratic candidate for lieutenant 'governor, said continued barg- ing efforts will take more Idaho water than the Idaho Plan. Peavey chided Craig for sup- porting a federal recovery plan finished in May in a letter to a constituent. "This plan (which) Senator Craig is commending as the basis for almon recovery in letters to his "constituents calls for acquiring the additional Ida- ho water by condemnation' if necessary," Peavey said. "Al- lowing this open -ended call on Idaho water is economic sui- cide." Craig couldn't be reached for comment Monday. A spokesman said the senator supports parts of the federal plan, but opposes drawdowns. Craig cited preliminary find- ings of a new study that found the uppermost dam on the lower Snake, Lower Granite Dam, is destroying only a small percent- age of the salmon migrating past year. Thus far this year, federal offi- cials supervised by the National Marine Fisheries Service have taken 2.7 million acre feet of water from Idaho reservoirs to aid the salmon. NMFS assailed for es on restorin salmon g runs BY S- HAIVIBLETON The Star.News The next time the National Marine Fisheries Service comes to town, they had better bring someone who can answer the tough questions, an audi- ence in McCall said Friday night. Representatives from NMFS and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game found themselves under fire Friday from private property rights advocates during a public meeting at the F &G office on Deinhard Lane. The meeting was held to clarify law enforcement activities regarding salmon and the endangered species act, NMFS Special Agent Dave McKinney said. "There's been a lot of speculation and rumor about what we're doing," McKinney told those gathered for the meeting. He said meetings have been planned across the state to clarify agency activities on law enforcement. But those attending wanted an- swers to questions that NMFS offi- cials present said they could not an- swer, including the validity of putting private property owners under the compliance microscope while dams continue to kill millions of salmon smolt on their way to the ocean. "We're law enforcement officers, not biologists, not management," Dave Johnson of NMFS said. "We don't have anything to do with the decisions that are made (including the dams). We share information, but we don't have a formal say as to what is going on." NMFS and associated agency offi- cials are heavily involved with polic- ing salmon habitat, whether it's spot- ting illegal salmon poachers with in- frared cameras or shutting down high seas drift -net operations, Johnson said. The Columbia Basin Salmon En- forcement Team, a multi- agency task force funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, has focused its atten- tion on curbing salmon poaching and other activities associated with de- creasing the numbers of adult migrat- ing salmon, said John Heggen, F &G senior conservation officer. But audience members told the NMFS and F &G officials more dam- age was done to salmon by lower Columbia River system dams than by salmon poachers. And funding of a law- enforcement team by Bonneville Power Adminis- tration, a private corporation which benefits directly from operation of the dams, only proves NMFS is "play- ing a political game" in terms of pro- tecting the salmon, audience mem- bers said. Charlie Ray, a McCall resident representing Idaho Rivers United, said NMFS and F &G officials failed to accomplish anything during the meet- ing except create more frustration and distrust with the public. "I thought it was embarrassing," Ray said. "I don't think those (NMFS and F &G) gentlemen were prepared for the assault that was unleashed upon them. I thought the NMFS folks were a bit patronizing to the folks that were there." "We're up here talking about one cow stepping on a (salmon) redd or one raft disturbing a salmon," Ray said. But a permit issued to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1993 by NMFS allows the dams to kill up to 2.7 million migrating salmon smolt, he said. "That creates a lot of frustration and distrust," he said. "These people feel like their livelihood is being threat- ened ... and they see big business manipulating the government down stream and getting a pat on the back." "We've had a federal judge say the dams are what are in need of repair," Ray said. "We're going to keep going until they either fix the dams or the fish are extinct, and that's not too far away." Sta te -5 m a 'n - S.e F Tp m 6 k r 2, / 9 9�(_ River portion remains No boats allowed on Salmon where fish nests are By Martin S. Johncox and Tim Woodward The Idaho Statesman Officials will keep closed a section of the Salmon River to recreationalists, after finding more endangered Snake River Chinook summer salmon there Thursday. "The fish are weak from the 900 -mile voyage (from the Pacif- ic Ocean), and we don't want to stress them any more because they might not lay eggs in the nest," said Dave Kimpton, assis- restricted tant ranger for the Sawtooth ;Dater is too low for floating, National Recreation Area. Kimpton said. "This is the lowest historical Other restrictions, which be- number so far, so it's very impor- came effective Aug. 16, limit to tant that every salmon is able to four hours a day the time float - spawn." boats may pass through spawn - On Wednesday, officials ing areas traditionally used b} counted seven fish — four at the Snake River summer chi Torreys Hole, about 12 miles nook salmon. downstream from Sunbeam Dam The endangered designation and three above Sunbeam dam. by the federal government On Thursday, another seven means the fish is on the edge of were found above Sunbeam dam. extinction. An area 100 yards above Tor- Angered by the usage restric- rey Hole has been marked off tions, people in the Stanley area with bouys Wednesday morning. point to what they say is the Boats must be taken out there real reason for the salmon's de- and cannot be placed back into mise — dams on the Columbia the water until 200 yards down- and Snake rivers. stream, Kimpton said. Outfitters say funding of ef- While the fish have been forts to protect the few salmon found in other areas, those areas left in the area is money poorly aren't marked off because the spent. "The cost per fish is ridicu- lous," Dave Strand of Stanley's River One outfitting company Pacfish guidelines could impact forests said this week. "... If you really A recent decision by the Na- tional Marine Fisheries Service indicates the controversial Pac- fish guidelines to protect salm- on spawning streams may be the wave of the future on na- tional forest lands. Nez Perce National Forest of- ficials said Wednesday the fish- eries agency asked them in a biological opinion to apply the guidelines to streams in the Cove - Mallard area. The Pacfish rules mean dou- bling to 300 feet the width of the buffer strip along streams in 14 of 37 logging units in two tim- ber sales in the Cove - Mallard area. Buffer strips protect streams from sediment or disturbance, but do not necessarily impose an outright ban on logging, For- est Service officials maintain. want the salmon back, you re going to have to start knocking out dams." Kimpton said anybody bother- ing salmon in their nests or causing them to leave their nests face a maximum fine of $50,000 and a vaar in ;a;l Yankee Chinook Fork salmon found S Sunbea 75 Clayton Imon R�OeTorrey's Officials found tStanley endangered Snake River summer Chinook salmon between Stanley and Clayton. . 75 Area of detail N / • Boise !,;�h�s Valley Advacdle /'d 9 V_ l a -' a South Fork salmon returns worst of recent years Sights like this 3 -foot female chinook salmon photographed in the South Fork sev- eral years ago have become even more rare. Kim Pearson Staff Writer Idaho Department of Fish and Game offi- cials are calling this the "worst year ever" for the number of salmon returning to the fish trap on the South Fork of the Salmon River. The number of fish returning to the fish trap this year is the lowest they've seen in several years. "This year is the worst we've ever seen compared to recent years," Don Anderson, fish manager for IDF &G said. The return is not unexpected given the status of the runs of threatened and endangered chinook salmon over the downstream Snake and Columbia river dams. Seer zi i ci a;t , Kinev AdVOCv S'e q, I y y Pig a of 2 So far this year, 526 salmon have returned to the IDF &G fish trap since June 13, according to Steve Kammeyer of the McCall Fish Hatchery. Anderson attributed the extremely low survival rate of salmon to the ocean two and three years ago to the decline in the number of salmon. According to Anderson, those numbers amount to "roughly 20 to 25 percent of last year's total adult count of salmon" of last year. Although the numbers are discouraging, Kammeyer said there was a positive aspect to the numbers. "On the positive side, quite a high percentage turned out to be jacks this year, which surprised quite a few people," Kammeyer said. Roughly 70 jacks returned to the trap, which is up from last year's count at 28. "We have 80 percent of the jacks that were counted at Lower Granite Dam," Kammeyer said. The number of jacks reflects how many juvenile fish survive pas- sage to the ocean, which is a major concern for IDF &G. Anderson believes that next year they will see larger fish in the run, but that the salmon run is still in danger. "The problem is getting the juvenile fish to the ocean," Anderson said. "It could be a crippling blow to salmon in Idaho forever if the juveniles don't have passage to the ocean in spring." But how to get the salmon to the ocean is a bit of a controversy in itself. Two plans have been proposed, the National Marine Fisheries Service plan to flush juvenile fish down stream, and the "Idaho Plan," which involves drawing downstream reservoirs down before releas- ing water into the system to move juveniles down to the ocean. The flush calls for draining water from Idaho reservoirs to increase water flows and "flush" young salmon through full, hydroelectric reser- voirs on the Lower Snake and Columbia Rivers. The salmon would then be collected and barged to a site below Bonneville Dam and released to continue their migration to the Pacific Ocean. Drawdown, on the other hand, calls for a ten -week, 40 -foot water drawdown of four hydroelectric reservoirs in Washington state to increase flows through the reduced pools and speed juvenile migra- tion to the Pacific Ocean. Idaho Fish and Game opposes flushing, which has been in effect here in Idaho since 1986, saying that it's the reservoirs that hinder fish migration. "Reservoirs are a problem because they slow fish - people will say it's the dams, and they are kind of right, but specifically it's the reser- voirs," Anderson said. Instead, IDF &G would like to see the Idaho Plan implemented, which it proposed to federal water managers but has not been approved. About the only thing the the low turnout of salmon wont' have a significant effect on is the McCall Fish Hatchery's research program. According to Kammeyer, the hatchery won't be filled to capacity, but spawning and research programs will still go on. "Data collection will be emphasized to give researchers a better base to go on," he said. Kammeyer also said that testing of individual female fish for bac- terial kidney disease will be done. "It's one way of improving the health aspects of the run," he said. ,) T&I h,0 e5- 5 -e p1 � 91 /qTq ):,ayP I c�- � Hatchery manager worries about the future of salmon �=T Into the Outdoors il z BY ROGER PHILLIPS The Star -News In 1992 and 1993, amid the height of the salmon crisis, the McCall Fish Hatchery was getting record returns of chinook salmon at its fish trap on the South Fork of the Salmon River. Now, it appears the "good of days" have already come and gone for the McCall hatchery. Only 527 chinook returned this year, the lowest number in the hatchery's 14 -year history. What went wrong? No one knows for sure. No one ever seems to know when it comes to salmon. Fingers get pointed, studies get funded, but salmon returns con- tinue to get smaller and smaller throughout the Northwest. On paper, salmon lead a simple life. They are born in freshwater, swim to the ocean as juveniles where they grow to adulthood, then return to the streams where they were born to spawn and die. They've been doing it for millen- niums, if not eons, but now, Idaho salmon are facing the possibility of extinction. "I think we're seeing the begin- ning of the end unless things change," said McCall hatchery Superintendent Gene McPherson. That change, many salmon experts agree, will require modifying the Columbia and Snake River dams by either design, operation, orboth, which touches off a political fight of spot- ted -owl proportions. The dam operators are intimately familiar with the plight of the salmon. The reason the McCall hatchery exists is because it was known the (See "Salmon," Page 10) Photo by Roger Phillips Fish and Game fisheries technician Ron Steiner scans spawned salmon for tagging devices at the South Fork Salmon River trap. ST �� lVewS -se pr, ;a! �6/M6 4,. Salmon (Continued from Page 9) dams were going to hurt the natural runs of salmon and steelhead, so the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — the dam builders — (no pun intended) built fish hatcheries to offset the losses. The Corps' obligation was to keep fish in the rivers, not simply build hatcheries. If the Corps was success- ful at doing this, "drawdown" and "flush" would not be household words in Idaho, and Idaho anglers might still be roaming river banks trying to catch the elusive salmon, something they haven't been able to do since 1978. Today, hatchery managers like McPherson watch helplessly while the smolts, juvenile salmon reared from eggs then released into Idaho rivers, make the trip downstream to face a gauntlet of dams and reservoirs that kills up to 90 percent of the young fish before they reach the ocean. "That's the hard part for us to swal- low," McPherson said. "In order for them (the Corps) to live up to their obligations, they're going to have to modify the dams." The goal of the McCall hatchery is to release one million smolts per year into the South Fork, and have 8,000 adult fish return above Lower Granite Dam in Eastern Washington. So far, the hatchery has released more than 950,000 smolts for six of its 14 years in operation, but so far, only 2,848 adults returned to the fish trap in the hatchery's best year. That's a far cry from the pre -dam years when McPherson said old -tim- ers described the wild salmon as be- ing "so thick on the South Fork they would spook horses trying to ford the river. In those years, there were spring, summer and fall runs of chinook. Today, the summer run is all that survives on the South Fork, and only a small percentage of that run is wild fish. Idaho often faces a stacked politi- cal deck as it tries to improve its salmon runs. It has to contend with the power, agriculture and shipping interests that utilize the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Those interests oppose any draw - down of the river and favor barging young fish around the dams, a contro- versial and hotly debated method of recovery. McPherson believes Idaho's ef- forts to help the salmon runs are often ignored. "In the political scene, we've taken a back seat. We produce a lot of the fish in the river, but we don't get a lot of the credit," he said. But McPherson is still proud of the accomplishments of the McCall hatch- ery. "As far as hatchery operations go, we're pretty successful compared to others," he said. McPherson pointed out that, de- spite the record -low chinook return, the McCall hatchery still had more salmon return this year than any other hatchery in Idaho, and he is "damn - the- torpedoes" optimistic that the salmon runs in Idaho can be restored. "When everyone works together wita common goal, it can work," he said. "It's an expensive proposition, but if we want to get the fish back, we have to pay the price." And McPherson wants the salmon back in the rivers where they origi- nated, preferably spawning naturally and propagating a self- sustaining population. "Ideally, we would like to work ourselves out of a job," he said. He would also rather catch salmon out of the river with a rod and reel than dip- netting them out of a fish trap. "I'd like to fish for them, or have my kids fish for them in their lifetime in Idaho," he said. Andrus tells Northwest power council By Charles Etlinger The Idaho Statesman In a last -ditch effort to save Idaho's endangered salmon, Gov. Cecil Andrus called Mon- day for a get -tough . policy with federal agencies. The Army Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville Power Ad- ministration have refused to en- dorse Idaho's plan to lower four reservoirs in Washington state to speed young salmon to the ocean. Andrus told the Northwest Power Planning Council to "quit being neighborly and nice" and prod the federal agen- cies into action. The two agencies run the Co- lumbia -Snake rivers hydropower system, blamed by the state and salmon advocates for nearly wiping out Idaho chinook and sockeye salmon. Andrus was the leadoff wit- ness in a hearing by the council, the regional planning body for power and wildlife. The council is under federal court order to do more for the fish. The council will decide in De- cember whether to continue sup- port for the present system of barging young salmon around a series of eight dams, call for more study, or advocate that the federal agencies begin draw - downs, as soon as 1995. Drawdowns were supported by cozens of witnesses at the Boise Centre on The Grove hearing, ind by more than 100 salmon advocates in a rally in the 3rove. The spring migration of juve- iile salmon in 1995 is critical )ecause good water conditions n 1993 produced a better return )f adult salmon from the Pacific )cean to spawn. Their offspring to act on salmon will migrate to the ocean next year. Continued barging would kill off the salmon, Andrus said. "Aggressive biological objec- tives can be met without harm- ing the region's power system or its economy," Andrus said. Idaho's plan is supported by regional fish agencies and Indi- an tribes, but opposed by down- stream interests, including alu- minum companies. The Port of Lewiston also is fighting draw - downs because they would inter- rupt cheap barging for at least two months. Don Reading, an economist and consultant for the governor, said estimates that drawdowns could increase BPA power rates by 10 to 15 percent are two to three times too high. "It's not true the proposals would wreck the economy," he said. Cal Groen, of the Idaho De- partment of Fish & Game, called for running all the water over the four dams to help the 1995 spring migration, instead of through the turbines, which harms the salmon. Some water could flow through the turbines to gener- ate power, if modifications were made to turbine gate openings to protect fish, he said. "The 1995 smolts represent our last best chance," added Mary McCown, chairman of Ida- ho Rivers United. At the rally in the Grove, Charles Gauvin, national presi- dent of Trout Unlimited, called the salmon's plight America's greatest resource crisis. "It is a national extinction emergency," he said. The hearings, part of a series, will continue Wednesday in Portland. Carcasses of 4 endangered fall Chinook discovered Fish and Game is concerned poaching could curtail fishing The Associated Press LEWISTON — Idaho Fish and Game officers are concerned that poaching endangered chi - nook could curtail fishing for steelhead trout. A steelhead angler on the Clearwater River last Sunday made a disturbing discovery: carcasses of four endangered fall chinook near a boat ramp. "What is especially disturb- ing is that the fish were found near a spawning site, and we are unsure whether they were poached before being able to execute their vital role in the perpetuation of their species," said conservation officer Eldon Anglen. The Snake and Clearwater rivers are migration corridors for the salmon, and anglers Source: Idaho Fish and Game should exercise caution in fish- ing for steelhead, being sure not to fish over salmon spawning areas and identifying all fish be- fore removing them from the wa- ter. The killing of endangered salmon is a federal offense. If the National Marine Fisheries Service determines that steel- head anglers pose a threat to the salmon, the entire steelhead fishery could be curtailed, Ang- les said. "Evidence indicates that these fish were not the victims of mis- taken identity, but taken by someone who knew exactly what crime they were commit- ting," he said. "The department has leads on suspects and is pur- suing an investigation." Telling the difference between adult steelhead and chinook is not always easy because of simi- lar size and color, but there are a few sure signs. Before landing the fish, an- glers should open its mouth and check the color of the gum line. Chinook have black - colored gums, in contrast to the whitish gum of a steelhead. Also, if anglers see a fish that still has its adipose fin along the back, they should release it, be- cause it is either a wild steel- head or a .chinook. Both are ille- gal to keep. Tribes ask. Clinton to save salmon from buffalo's fate WASHINGTON — Oregon tribes urged President Clinton on Wednesday to declare a state of emergency in the Pacific Northwest to make good on a 140 - year -old treaty and help bring salmon back from the brink of extinction. "Will this nation allow the great salmon to be slaughtered as was the great buffalo of the plains ?" asked David Sampson, a leader of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Pendleton, Ore. The tribes said an emergency declaration is needed to end vio- lation of an 1855 treaty promis- ing fish to the Indians and to prevent further destruction of a 10,000 - year -old regional fishing economy. The tribes blame hydroelectric dams for the demise of the salm- on, several species of which have been added to the U.S. list of threatened and endangered species. The tribes, several conserva- tion groups and state fish and wildlife officials in Idaho are suing the federal government over its failure to protect the salmon. The National Marine Fisheries Service recently issued a biologi- cal opinion outlining measures that must be taken to save the fish, including altering operation of the dams, which often block salmon migration upstream and slow travel downstream. But Sampson said at a news conference that the fisheries ser- vice plan still relies too heavily on barging fish, fails to spill enough water over dams to speed migration to the sea and doesn't lower reservoir levels far enough to help the fish. NNIFS fish recove Critics say action to restore salmon runs is not enough By Jonathan Brinckman The Idaho Statesman The National Marine Fisher- ies Service on Monday pro- posed a plan to rescue Snake River salmon, but environmen- talists and state biologists said it was unlikely to save the en- dangered fish. The draft plan was criticized because it calls for continua- tion of the barging program set up in the late 1970s to carry young salmon, called smolts, past the dams. lan backs barging h 6h. Kevin Clark /The Idaho Statesman A series of pipes carries salmon from above McNary Dam to below the dam where they are fed into a barge for the trip below Bonneville Dam. "It's just going to make them go extinct a little slower," said Steven Huffaker, fisheries He called it "the most com- chief of the Idaho Department prehensive recovery plan is- of Fish and Game. "If that's sued by the Endangered Spe- what society decides should ties Act in its 2 year history, and probably its most im- happen, so be it." William Stelle, director of portant." The statement was strongly the fisheries service's North- disputed by critics, who said west region, said the 500 -page the draft plan takes the easy draft recovery plan outlined a way out — cutting harvesting way to remove Snake River levels and fixing hatcheries — sockeye, spring /summer chi- without addressing what is by nook and fall chinook from the far the largest reason for the endangered species list in less salmon's decline: fish kills caused by eight large dams on than 50 years. the Columbia and lower Snake River. Those dams create low -cost electric power, while allowing ocean -going ships as far inland as Lewiston. Fish ladders allow adult salmon to migrate past the dams. But the dams have virtu- ally wiped out populations by sending young salmon through turbines and increasing their travel time to the ocean. The agency will issue a final plan after holding eight public hearings throughout the re- gion, including one in Boise on May 17. Public comments will be accepted for 90 days. The draft plan calls for creat- ing a "regional recovery imple- mentation team" to direct the recovery effort, the convening of a science advisory panel to give scientific guidance, and coordination of all federal, state and local funds spent on Snake River salmon. Gill netting on the lower Co- lumbia River would be phased out and the fisheries service would ask Indian tribes to vol- untarily decrease their Salmon harvest. The role of hatchery programs would be re- evaluat- ed. Because of the dams, a jour- ney that once took smolt nine days to complete, takes about See Salmon /2A Wild salmon population The total number of wild salmon in the 15 B dams -1920s Bergin? by Army million Corps of Engineers Columbia River began -late 1970s Basin dwindled in the arly 11920s to 10 After dams -1930s 5 -6 million 2.5 -3 million 300,000 in 1994. one sockeye 5 9aOnly and 400 fall q01E, 3000 Chinook made it ZOO up the Snake River 0 In 1994. 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994, Chart (right) shows Spring /summer Migrating smolt the returning adult Chinook adults Projected salmon and the young (smolt) in the 11 10 10,183 1.1 1.0 1 million Snake Fiver. Summer adults 9 8 •9 returning in 1993 produced young that y m 6 .8 , will migrate to the j 5 6t` 0+ — ocean in 1995. Projected figures 3 .5 Ponder 220,000 show adults and 1 920 .3 smolts over each 1 1•� .1 50,000 two-year period. 0 0 a2n 1993 1994 1995 1995 1996 1997 Source: Dept. of Fish and Game; Save Our Wild Salmon Salmon /From lA two months. Less than one per- cent survive. If salmon levels continue to drop, the plan says, the barging program would be re- assessed in 1999. At that point a decision could be made whether to modi- fy certain dams to allow levels to be dropped during key periods — which allows water to move faster. That plan, called "draw - down," was endorsed by former Gov. Cecil D. Andrus. Environmentalists say there is no time for further study. Levels of spring /summer Chi- nook have dropped precipitously in the last 15 years, despite in- tensive barging. Recent adult migrations have been particu- larly bad, with the lowest num- ber of wild salmon in history reaching Idaho last year. Next year's population of returning smolts is projected to be about one fifth of this year's. "This is not a recovery plan, it's a death warrant," said Wen- dy Wilson, executive director of Idaho Rivers United, a Boise - based advocacy group that works on salmon issues. "It's absolutely nothing different from what they've done for years." Even considering drawdowns was opposed by one group, the Columbia River Alliance for Fish, Commerce and Industry. "We remain appropriately skep- tical of further tampering with the operation of dams," said Bruce Lovelin, executive direc- 0)b� ii This is not a recovery plan, it's a death war- rant. It's absolutely noth- ing different from what they've done for years. Wendy Wilson Idaho Rivers United 99 for of the alliance. The plan was supported by U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R- Idaho, who said he had been pushing fish hatchery reform and a cut- back on harvest. Still, he said he was worried that controls over forestry and grazing — designed to protect streams used by spawning salmon — "could pose a serious threat to the working men and woman of Idaho." Douglas DeHart, the assistant chief of fisheries for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild- life, said this may be the last chance for the Snake River salmon. "It's scary," he said. "If you believe the modeling that we and Idaho did, this (plan) doesn't recover the fish." Federal plan to save salmon won't coo trick, McCall expert says A federal plan announced Monday to save Idaho's endangered runs of chinook and sockeye salmon from extinction isn't much of a plan at all, accord- ing to a McCall man who heads up the Idaho Rivers United salmon recovery plan. The plan, put forth by the National Marine Fisheries Service, was announced at a news conference in Seattle on Monday and comprises the federal gov- emment's position on recovering runs of Snake River salmon, part of a population that at one time was the largest in the world. The plan emphasizes improving migration con- ditions for both juvenile and adult salmon, increas- ing stream- and river -side protection for the fish, and increasing chances fpr adult salmon to return to their hone streams to spawn, according to a news release issued by NMFS. Snake River sock - eye were listed as endan- gered under the Endangered Species Act in 1991, and spring/sum- mer and fall chinook were listed as threat- ened in 1992 and reclas- sified as endangered in 1994. "This recovery plan proposes a range of comprehensive and fun- damental conservation strategies for salmon recovery, instead of rely- ing on uncertain, piece- meal mitigation schemes that have been tried, without much success, in the past," William Stelle, director of NMFS' Northwest region, said in announc- ing the plan. "It offers immediate benefits through steps that can be taken as early as this spring," he said. "And it holds out the promise of long -term salmon protection by allowing us to change and refine our plans as important scientific information becomes available in the future." But Charles Ray, IRU's salmon project coordi- nator, said in a telephone interview Monday evening from Washington, D.C., where he is lobbying Congress, that the plan is pretty much business as usual. "It's just another barging plan," he said. Barging has been on -going for more than a decade and runs continue to decline. Ray said he has a simple three - question test he applies to any plans proposed for salmon recovery. "Number one is `Does it barge the fish? Does it take the fish out of the riverT The answer to that is `yes, "' he said. "Question number two is `Who does it leave in control of the river ? "' he asked. Do state agency and tribal biologists control the river or does it remain under the control of the hydro -power authorities who've had control? The answer to that, he said, is it leaves the hydro -power industry in control. And question number three is "Does it put the IaIJN L4&1-e 3122195 Ofesofd fish on a recovering trend ?" Ray asked. "No it doesn't. There's a lot of doubt that it even stabilizes the present populations," he said. With those wrong answers, Ray said the plan doesn't help at all. Ray, who believes the dams that Idaho salmon must negotiate going downstream and back as they live out their life cycle, said that fixing the river to make it less lethal to fish is the solution. "And that requires immediate action," he said. "It avoids the issue, and what measures it offers don't address the dams." With costs associated with the plan estimated to be in excess of $130 million per year, Ray said there's a much less expensive, more effective proposal on the table and that is the Idaho Plan, put together under the administration of former Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus. That plan involves drawing down lower Snake River reservoirs to speed water flow and also speed juvenile salmon downstream. Estimates are that upwards of 90 percent of the outmigrating juve- nile salmon are killed as they pass through the dams. "To implement the Idaho Plan, if we pay for it the way the Bonneville Power Administration does — amortized over 30 years — would cost $48 mil- lion," he said. BPA actu- ally uses a 50 year schedule, he explained, but the comparison uses the same interest rate. The cost of that "whole package" includes the capital costs of fixing the dams, the loss of power genera- tion capacity that would result from the estimat- ed 10 weeks the reser- voirs would be drawn down, and also the annu- al-operating costs, he said. But he said he believes 'the Idaho Plan would work if given a chance. To get that plan enacted, he said, requires Idaho's Congressional delegation representing Idaho and not the out -of -state downstream power generation inter- ests. Ray and others in recent weeks have also noted the economic boost that comes with a healthy return of salmon that allows sportfishing. He said an 8 -day sportfishing season on a four - mile stretch of the Little Salmon River above Riggins in 1992 — the last such season in Idaho — gener- ated about $250,000 in economic benefit for the town of Riggins. "The bottom line is it's a really expensive plan, it's not biologically sound, it's politically expedi- ent, and it's not going to bring the fish back," he said. Fish recovery. When will they be recovered and de- listed ?____' Monday's announced plan for recovering Snake River stocks of sockeye and chinook salmon also provided some numbers that would be used to determine if a species bad recovered and could. be removed from the list. • Sockeye salmon will be recovered when, over eight years, an average of 1,000 natural spawners return to Redfish Lake near Stanley, and 500 natural spawners return to each or two of the four other Stanley Basin lakes in Idaho. Dist year, only one Sockeye returned to Redfish Lake. • Spring/suminer chinook salmon will be delist- ed once the number of spawning redds(nests) increase to 60 percent of the pre -1971 levels and 31,440 natural spring Jsummzr Chinook salmon are counted at Lower Granite Dam downstream from Lewiston. Last year, about 1,8(X) spring/sum mer chinook were counted at Lower Granite. • Fall Chinook will be recovered when 2,500 natural spawners return to the mainstem 'SnA+ : River annually, In 1994, 404 wild fall chinook returned to the Snake River. Pete Zimowsky Salmon being argued to death Not in your lifetime, buddy. That's one of those satirical phrases we throw around in an argument, but don't really take seriously. Well, this week, it has a serious meaning. When I read the other morning that under the newest plan it's going to take 50 years to have strong salmon runs, I nearly choked on the Hostess Sno Ball I was having for breakfast. Not in my lifetime, buddy. It really hits home. Yup, I'll probably never see good salmon runs in Idaho during my life, and I'll probably never get to fish for them in the Main Salmon River, the river named after them. I'm jealous of the old- timers who talk about seeing Idaho's rivers and streams red with salmon in the 1940s. Their stories of camping near Bear Valley Creek and being kept awake all night by the sound of hundreds of salmon sloshing around in the Central Idaho spawning stream were something that offered hope. Heck, we can send a space shuttle around the Earth, but we can't get enough young salmon past dams in the lower Snake and Columbia rivers to ensure good return runs. Dreams die Well, dreams get ground up in turbines at the dams. They die in slack water before reaching the Pacific Ocean. They get tangled in bureaucratic mumbo jumbo and fights between special interest groups. The latest salmon plan from the National Marine Fisheries Service is nothing new. It calls for barging young salmon around the dams like we've been doing since the late 1970s. I remember going to Lewiston on assignment when they first started barging salmon. I remember taking pictures of the barges docked at the city and feeling the hope for salmon recovery. It was exciting. But, it hasn't worked. William Stelle, director of the Northwest region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, said the 500 -page draft recovery plan outlined a way to remove Snake River sockeye, spring /summer chinook and fall chinook from the endangered species list in less than 50 years. Special interests None of the special interest groups involved in the salmon controversy are willing to give up anything — the cheap power rates, power subsidies, Water or whatever to bring back salmon runs. The deadlocks between groups that have virtually brought government to its knees in issues concerning all walks of life will also bring the demise of salmon. Society in general is just going to let salmon, which have been migrating into Idaho up the Snake, Clearwater and Salmon rivers for centuries, die out. n laak 0 _ ' a�PSrna,11 4� /Z /l/S' f'af& k- ('If 3 p.1yor The Indian Riffle section of the upper Salmon River, above, once teemed with spawning chinook salmon. Last year, no Chinook spawned there. Former guide Vern Johnson, top, caught this chinook during the last legal chinook fishing season in 1978. Salmon advocates, industry, politicians remain at odds on how to preserve runs TANLEY — Get Vern Johnson and Lane Han- sen recount- ing their fishing ad- ventures and the lean, gray - haired men laugh and kid like giddy teen- agers. The best tale is of the time Hansen was dragged into the river by a monster chinook salmon — and refused to drop his rod. He wound up being carried clear across the water. But stand with them on the edge of Indian Riffle, a section of the upper Salmon River that once teemed with spawning chinook, and their mood changes. Until the early 1970s, it was common to count more than 100 "redds," the nests female chinook dig out of the gravel with their battered tails, scattered across the broad, shallow stretch of the river. Vern Johnson holds a 1956 photo 0 himself, far right, and friends when the Salmon River yielded 40 -pound chinook. Last year, fewer salm- on than ever before made it into Idaho. Not a single redd appeared on Indian Riffle. Hansen, 54, looks across water bubbling over the riffle's gravel beds. "It makes you feel so empty you can't real- ly describe it." Johnson, 64, finds words. "It's sickening," he says. "Just sick- ening." Despite two decades of efforts to barge young salmon past eight federal dams on f the Columbia and lower Snake rivers, Idaho's spring and fall chinook salmon are poised on the edge of extinction. Now, the best chance of saving the spe- cies is "the class of 1995," a group of 1.3 million young salmon — called smolts — which emerged from eggs laid by the rela- tively high number of spawning salmon that made it to Idaho in 1993. Wild salmon Indian Riffle on the Salmon River is one of the most famous spawning areas for Idaho's spring/summer chinook salmon, yet none spawned there last summer. Area of 21 detail Stanley 75 India Lake Stanley Rlff� Red Fish Lake Salmon River Columbia River S i Snake River Present-clay spawning range ��il i��>lu ft4 %��if��Smnr�� Survival of Idaho's spring and summer Chinook salmon could hinge That group of smolts, which has just started leaving Idaho's p a 4 3 on the fate of 1.3 million young fish now heading for the ocean mountain streams is' six times 9' larger than the group expected in 1996 and about 20 times the 66,000 smolts expected in the class of 1997. If 66,000 still sounds like a lot of fish, consider that in recent years one adult salmon has re- turned to spawn for every 1,000 smolts. By that ratio, 66,000 smolts translate into 66 adult salmon. The last chance? Helping the class of 1995 could be the last chance to save the species. Yet salmon advo- cates say the federal govern- ment has not proposed a plan that will help them reach the sea. "We're at the edge of a preci- pice here," said Tom Stuart, who as owner of the Redwood Motel in lower Stanley relies on anglers to stay in business. "The class of '95 is potentially the last great out - migration of great wild fish from Idaho." Johnson and Hansen spend a lot of time thinking about the class of 1995. Several thousand of its members were born in the 21 redds counted at Indian Riffle in 1993. The eggs, laid in August and September of that year, hatched the following March and April. Young fish, still with yolk sacs attached, spent several weeks squirming up through the gravel into the free - flowing river. Since then the smolts have been preparing for their voyage to the Pacific by fattening up on insects. They've grown from 1 inch to 5 inches long. "They're on their way," Han- sen says, looking across the riv- er. "Those Chinook have a tre- recover if we gave them half a chance." How and if to help The question now is how to give members of the class of 1995 their best chance of reaching the ocean and whether soci- ety even wants to try. Before dams were built, the Snake and Columbia rivers flowed at an average speed of 6 miles per hour. The smolts' jour- ney to the sea took three weeks or less. Now, with the water speed be- hind the dams slowed to 0.6 miles per hour, the voyage takes 40 to 50 days. Most smolts die during the trip. The class of 1995 is expected to hit the first of the eight dams, he Gk% Of 1 95 Lower Granite in eastern Vre- The barging option "The science is neither black gon, by April 10. Representatives of the alumi- or white and the gray areas Hundreds of environmental num, power and cargo indus- are marketable," said Bert advocates teamed up with tries, however, favor a different Bowler, Columbia River policy sport fishermen, Indian groups approach: sucking the smolts coordinator for the Idaho De- and others maintain that the out of the river at the first dam, partment of Fish and Game. best way to help the class of loading them onto barges or "People will pay big money for 1995 reach the sea is to speed trucks, and releasing them after studies that support their view." the flow of water past the feder- the last. Last year's dismal migration al dams. That strategy is supported by has raised the stakes. Biologists Some urge speeding the flow Gov. Phil Batt. don't believe the 1,811 adult fish by letting extra water spill over Industry representatives call and the fewer number expect - the dams or releasing water enough are barging which disrupts the ed this y g h to stored behind Idaho reservoirs. Both measures have costs. dams as little as possible key keep the salmon alive. water that to preserving the region's econo- They fear a phenomenon Spill consumes could have been used to g that my. They also maintain that called the "extinction vortex," ate power. Lowering reservoirs barging is probably as effective where too few individuals exist decreases reserves for Idaho it at saving salmon as speeding the to perpetuate the species. flow of the river. The danger arises because the riculture. "Most of the scientific studies Snake River Chinook divide into Other salmon advocates are clear; barging does work," 38 separate populations groups and former Gov. Cecil Andrus said Bruce Lovelin, executive di- that spawn along 5,000 miles of urge modifying the dams to low- rector of the Columbia River Al mountain streams and rivers. er reservoir levels during the liance for Fish, Commerce and With a total below 2,000 fish, smolts' spring travel season. Such astep called drawdown Communities. `You have to ask biologists believe they will dis- - would speed the water flow whether a 300- to 400 -mile jour- perse too thinly for most males without depending on heavy tha through being es to find each other ngcarried in a tank, and spawn. rainfall or huge infusions from safe from predators and safe Despite a call last fall by the upstream reservoirs. from the dams. >> Northwest Power Planning But it would decrease water The same position is taken by Council to phase in drawdowns, stored for energy product_ ion/ Batt's representatives. salmon advocates recognize "Current research supports none will be in place in time to FLow fish counts our position that (high river) help the crucial class of 1995. flows are not the solution for Now they're focusing on wh: !. Migratory range of Snake Rivw the survival of the smolt," said they consider the next -be;t wdng/wnmer Chuiook salmon Todd Maddock, appointed by t e r n a t i v e: increasing t h e Batt to represent Idaho on the amount of water sent down tht: Northwest Power Planning rivers and spilled over the dams. CANADA Council, an organization that "Long -term, we've got to mod - guides power jpolit-v in North -ify the dams," said Mitch San -�� NNStt west states. chotena, executive coordinator Salmon advocates say a de -of Idaho Steelheed & Salmon Cade of barging shows the prac- Unlimited, a sport fishing assn- ot��GON .0 tice won't stop extinction of Ida- ciation. "Short -term, we've got ho's salmon. to do what we can to get those i After dropping steadilysmolts out." The number of wild spring/ through the '60s, '70s and '80s, summer Chinook smolts neaoing to the ocean is the number of wild spring /sum -Help from the snowpacks plummeting to historic lows: mer Chinook making it to Idaho Many, including Johnson and 1990 .................... 1.5 million from the Pacific Ocean droppedHansen, think the smolts' big- 1991 ......................... 765,000 from 10,188 in 1993 to 1,822 lastgest ally this year may be deep 1992 ......................... 816,000 year. Even fewer adult chinooksnowpacks that could lead to 1993 ......................... 807,000 are expected to return thisabove- average river flows. I 1994 ......................... 968,000 spring and summer. "If the water flows at the right 1995 .................... 1.3 million 'Gray areas are marketable time those smolt are on their 1996 ......................... 220,000 way, Johnson said. "It's not too 1997 66,(= Staff of both Oregon's and Ida-late if we can just get those Source: Idaho Department ho fish and game departments spills in place." of Fish and Game side with salmon advocates on The problem, advocates say, is the barging issue. They say thatthat plans currently proposed by those who argue barging worksthe federal government do not and make the rivers briefly un- and that spilling over the lipscall for adequate amounts of passable to cargo ships travel- of dams can injures smolts spill. Advocates say there isn't ing between ocean ports and use science to confuse thEtime to use the courts to contest Lewiston. public. , federal plans. i� lc�a�o}'a�Ns�lah. /��95JayP� a �gyWS "The legal remedy for this son is too late," said Cha Ray, an activist with Idaho ers United. "We're going to to influence the governor." Once Hansen and Johr start talking about fishing, conversation quickly becc competitive. Hansen, for e3 ple, maintains that Johr would never catch anythin he weren't shown where to his rod. There's one way, however, Hansen concedes he's been I en. All Johnson's children old enough to have fished Idaho salmon before 1978, last time it was allowed. I sen's youngest child, 12 -yea'. David, never got the chance. "All his sons got in on adventure," Hansen said. my little one here, he's never a salmon." Rem uam ine wand OWL-1m11 Bert Bowler with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game looks out onto the Indian Riffles portion of the upper Salmon River. This once was the premier spawning grounds for chinook in the upper Salmon River. 66 The class of '95 is potentially the last great out -mi- gration of great wild fish from Idaho. Tom Stuart Owner of Redwood Motel in lower Stanley 99 Story by Jonathan Brinckin an ♦ Photos by Kevin Clark The Idaho Statesman VjIIC Y /ldt/acdI McCall hatchery dumps last big crop of smolts in South Fork Everybody in the anadromous fish world is talk- ing about the Class of 95. And most of that talk is not very upbeat. This past weekend, Idaho Department of Fish and Game personnel completed releasing into the South Fork of the Salmon River the 1 million chinook salmon smolts reared at the McCall hatchery. That's the class of 95, the last big class for the near future, according to Pete Hassemer, the department's principle fisheries research biologist. He said the juvenile fish released recently are the progeny of 2,700 adult salmon that returned two sum- mers ago to the fish trap the department maintains on the South Fork near Warm Lake. The smolts that will be released next spring will be the offspring of the 527 salmon that returned to the trap last summer, one of the lowest runs on record. Not all fish returned were kept for eggs for the hatch- ery. Wild fish were released back to the South Fork to continue upstream to spawn. Other fish spawned downstream from the trap. That means only about 500,000 smolts will be released next April, Hassemer said. Those fighting for recovery of the once huge runs of salmon up the Snake River say this is the last good shot. If the fish don't successfully navigate the eight dams downstream on their way to the ocean, grow up in the ocean and return to spawn in good numbers, the odds are long on the salmon's future. "Last year, they didn't have very good migration conditions," he said. "This year we don't know what the trip to the ocean is going to be like yet." What may help the out - migration this year is the heavy precipitation we've received this winter and spring, he said. Biologists expect another low return of adults to the South Fork this summer. Adults from this year's releases will return in 1997 and 1998, Hassemer said. Another issue being decided in Oregon now that could help improve downstream fish passage is a request for a waiver of water quality dissolved gas standards that now preclude spilling water to speed fish downstream. Pat Ford, the Idaho coordinator for the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition, said representatives of Idaho salmon advocacy groups testified last week in sup- port of the waiver. "If they deny the variance, that's really bad news for the class of 95," he said. "It's still not great, but at least some fish will be allowed to stay in the river rather that go in the barges." Ford said the Idaho salmon groups would rather spills take place with the downstream reservoirs at lower levels. A decision on the waiver request is expected either late this week or early next week, he said. d11? P-1 Scientists track Eve's spawn in vital sockeye program Sockeye smolt running for the sea About 1,000 young sockeye, many the grandchildren of %nf� Eve, the only female sockeye that returned to Redfish Lake in 1991, have started their 900 -mile voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Radio chips planted in the fish are tracking their Lower Monumental Dam I Source: Idaho Dept. of By Jonathan Brinckman The Idaho Statesman Grandchildren of the only fe- male sockeye to return to Red- fish Lake four years ago have started their 900 -mile journey to the Pacific Ocean, state biolo- gists report. The female, named Eve, was netted as she entered the lake near Stanley, along with four males that also made it to Idaho in 1991. Idaho Fish and Game biologists spawned Eve and the four males, then raised their young and spawned them with the 10 sockeye that returned over the next three years. Altogether, about 18,000 young smolt were produced. This is the first year that smolt from the experimental breeding program have left Redfish Lake for the ocean. "It's the beginning of a very important period of time that will make it or break it for this and Game Snake River T'»___*__ Passed Little Goose Dam: 2 a p Passed Lower r Granite Dam: 3 - McNary N Dam �j I Snake Out of Redfish 11 River Lake: 22 OREGON particular group of fish," said Paul Kline, a fisheries research biologist with the department. Environmentalists Wednesday criticized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for not doing enough to help the fish past the eight federal dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers' * Charles Ray of Idaho Rivers United said the Corps is relying too much on a barging program and not enough on using spill- ways to get fish past the dams without sending them through turbines. "The success of these fish de- pends almost entirely on what happens in the rivers," Ray said. "The Corps is going to kill most of them." He said 3 percent to 5 percent of young fish survived the jour- ney before the dams were built. Now he said less than 1 percent likely will make it. State biologists say that extra spill ordered by the Corps this IDAHO year — because of high river flows — will help this group of young sockeye. But they agree with environmentalists that the Redfish Lake Sockeye will not be saved unless more significant steps are taken. To do that, said Ed Bowles, anadromous fish director for the fish and game department, the Corps has to either greatly im- prove its transportation pro- gram or change the river flow so young fish are carried more swiftly to the ocean. About 3,000 fish have been tagged with tiny transmitters that allow biologists to monitor their passage through the dams. Their progress is being moni- tored by 27 classes of schoolchil- dren taking part in the "Adopt - a- sockeye" program set up by Idaho Rivers United. "We've been waiting all win- ter and spring for this to hap- pen," said Mollie Neitzel, a Boi- se High School sophomore. 7)f r, � Co', q J/a // y 4c /Y0c a -A- i / /9 /YS'- Fa et r A J " f `z Yc "3n swiommers reach Riggins on route of endangered sockeye salmon The Sockeye Salmon Survival Swimmers, from left, Jamie James, Gail Ater, Paul Lundgren and Roy Akins, kick back at Spring tsar. SPRING BAR — As of last Friday, they had logged about 270 river miles since July I when they kicked off a benefit that has pro- vided four Idaho men with some real adven- ture. But that adventure also includes spreading a message about salmon recovery, and they're doing it in a most unusual way, swimming the route that young sockeye salmon take — though maybe past tense "took" would be more appro- priate — as they travel to the Pacific Ocean. And, as the Salmon River has surged stronger and stronger since they left Redfish Lake near Stanley, so has the momentum built in their effort to attract attention to the plight of the endangered salmon. The four, Jamie James, Gail Ater, Paul Lundgren and Roy Akins, have been taking turns swimming the high- flowing Salmon River, and it's been a true adventure. "Viewing the river from eye level is a lot different from a raft or boat," Akins, a 23 -year- old river guide from Jerome, said during a lay- over in the Riggins area last week. "It's the same sensation swimming the small stuff as when you're boating the big stuff," he said. So, what does that make the sensation like when you're swimming the big stuff? "Awesome," he said. While they originally planned to swim for a few hours — and in the high river flows, swimming is perhaps a misnomer — and then trade off. But they soon realized that with the wetsuits and drysuits they're wearing, they rQ/ & 4 Ofy Z ,"a Jes Paul Lundgren pumps his fist in the air after swimming a rapid on the Salmon River above Riggins on Friday. didn't get as cold as they thought they would, and have pretty much alternated days in the water. That rotation may change when they reach the slackwater above Lewiston and swimming turns into swimming. Through their swim, during which they've averaged about 20 miles per day, and have also hit one 30 -mile day, they've talked to boaters, anglers and others they've run into along the river, trying to raise awareness of the value of salmon and steelhead runs in Idaho. Though the "people have generally been great," they've run into some folks who don't share their view of salmon, Lundgren, a pro- fessional triathlete who is originally from Pocatello, said. They were invited to take part in the July Fourth parade at Challis, a community hard -hit by cutbacks in logging and mining. And while there were some comments about blankety -blank environmentalists, he said most people understood what the effort was all about. Akins said they weren't there to criticize a way of life, but to talk to people about the anadromous fish runs and what's happening to them. They did find some friendly ears amongst those in that area who enjoy the steelhead fishing that's been available in the Salmon River. And they got their attention with a warning. "Steelhead are just a few weeks behind the sockeye on the sched- ule of extinction," Akins said. He said many residents in that area understood the economic value of fish runs that attract sports anglers from all over the world, who come to town to fish, spend their money and then leave. One farmer he talked with recalled the days when he was young and the river would be full of salmon and steelhead from bank to bank, he said. Akins said he hopes the Sockeye Swim continues to gain momen- tum as it has and that those they've encouraged to write letters to Congress about the plight of Idaho's salmon will do so. In fact, they hope that the swim picks up such steam that by the time they reach the end of their trip, Lower Granite Dam in south- eastern Washington, that they'll be joined by hundreds, perhaps even thousand-,, of other swimmers on that last day who'll help them "storm the dan," "This is the time to do it," he said. The trip was the brainchild of James, 41, who is a former instruc- tor in the U.S. Air Force's whitewater rafting program and is now a massage therapist who lives in Boise. Ater, 49, is a counselor at a Buhl elementary school and is a licensed river guide and accomplished swimmer. He also sits on the board of directors of Idaho Rivers United, which is helping sponsor the swim, and which contributed $1,000 toward the effort. Northwest River Supplies of Moscow also contributed the use of about $12,000 worth of rafting equipment to support the swimmers, who also useswim fins and a customized float board to help them through the big rapids of the Salmon River. The high river flows have helped them make more miles than they figured to this point, and they moved up their schedule from a July 31 arrival at Lower Granite to July 28. At Riggins over the weekend, they figured they had about 190 miles left to go on their trip. The swimmers were joined on the leg through the Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness last week by Dave Kordiyak, an iRU volunteer, and Dave Brown, president of the T:.d Trueblood Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Still ahead of the swimmers is Slide Rapid, an awesome rapid in the lower gorge of the Salmon where a rockslide constricts the river into a thundering rapid of huge waves, big eddy lines and dangerous hydraulics. "Slide Rapid will be our toughest rapid," Ater said. "With the river this high, it worries me." But he's more worried about the fate of Idaho's sockeye run. "Idaho's politicians have abandoned our salmon and steelhead," he said. "We hope the visitors to Idaho will take the message home to their own Senators and Representatives. These fish are worth saving." l ��P Smarr - jYP W., �)9s "Sockeye Swimmers" hope to reverse fish declint BY ROGER PHILLIPS The Star-News In 1991, only four adult sockeye salmon swam from the ocean to Red - fish Lake near Stanley. In 1995, four men are swimming part of their route in reverse to help reverse the down- ward plight of the endangered salmon. The group started July 1 at Redfish Lake in the Stanley Basin and swam down the Salmon River, arriving in Riggins last weekend. They plan to proceed down the Salmon to the Snake River, then end their 460 mile swim at Lower Granite Dam, 33 miles down- stream from Lewiston. The trip is the brainchild of Jamie James, 41, a whitewater instructor and massage therapist from Boise. He is joined by Gail Ater, 49, an elemen- tary school counselor from Buhl; Roy Akins, 23, a river guide from Jerome; and Paul Lundgren, 30, a professional triathlete from Mill Valley, Calif. Northwest River Supplies, a Mos- cow whitewater equipment store, donated $12,000 worth of gear for the Paul trip, and Idaho Rivers United donated $1,000, and assistance with support « and logistics. It The group is traveling down river in two rafts, and one swimmer is in the be water throughout the trip. He wears a Wa wet suit underneath a dry suit, and navigates rapids by holding onto a (molded kickboard that he propels with Photo by Roger Phifts Lundgren and Roy Akins prepare their raft for the next leg of their journey down the Salmon River. was kind of exciting cause I didn't know if I s going to live or not. " - Swimmer Paul Lundgren im fins. For the recovery to be successful they The group stops along the way to believe the operation of the dams on k to as many people as they can the Snake and Columbia Rivers has to out the plight of the endangered be modified. -keye salmon. "It's not Idaho logging, mining or Since 1989, only 16 adult sockeye grazing that's the problem with salmon ve returned to Redfish Lake. This habitat, it's the dams and the way ar, 18,000 of their offspring are they're managed," Ater said. .grating downstream to the ocean, Aside from the other rafters they d fish advocates fear this is the last encounter, the four men have made ance to recover the sockeye runs. stops in Challis, Riggins and White Bird, and they are inviting everyone to join them in swimming the final mile to Lower Granite Dam. "People in general have been so supportive. It's been really cool," Akins said. In a year when many rafters are canceling their hard -won permits be-. cause the river is too high, runnin those same rapids on a kickboard may seem foolhardy, but all agree it's been one of the highlights of the trip. All of the men except Lundgren had extensive whitewater experience, but not on a kickboard. "I get the same adrenaline rush I got when I first started rafting," Akins said. Lundgren admitted he was "a little intimidated" by the whitewater, espe- cially during his first runs through rapids. "It was kind of exciting because I didn't know if I was going to live or not," he said . After several successful runs through some of the biggest water on the Salmon, the crew looks forward to the rapids. "Now we're all fighting to get on the whitewater," Lundgren said. "The water is flying so high and so fast we're just flying down this river." Akins said he sees a parallel be- tween the force of the Salmon River and what they are trying to achieve by swimming it. "It's mind boggling to see this river pick up power from all these moun- tains," Akins said. "We want this swim to do the same thing — create momentum." He wants people to realize that if the sockeye perish, Idaho chinook and steelhead are likely to follow. "Steelhead are just a few weeks behind the sockeye on the overall schedule," Akins said. Salmon viewing area open Summer Chinook salmon are spawning right now on the South Fork Salmon River, and the Forest Service has a viewing station on the river where people can watch the phenom- enon. The salmon have made the rigor- ous 850 mile trip from the ocean, up the Columbia and Snake Rivers. They don't eat once they enter fresh water. They have a single mission - to find the site where they hatched and spawn there. Afterward, the adult salmon die. In 1990, the BoiseNational Forest and Idaho Department of Fish and Game installed a wildlife viewing sta- tion in Stolle Meadows near Warm Lake. A board walk, accessible to wheel- chairs, stretches from the road out to the river and follows the river for about 50 yards. The board walk is lined with interpretive signs explain- ing the stages of the salmon life cycle. When watching the salmon, it's important that viewers stay on the walkway and not trample vegetation in the area. Watch quietly so the salmon aren't frightened or disturbed. During non - spawning seasons, the viewing station can be used to watch other wildlife such as elk, deer, birds and more. To get to the station, take Idaho 55 to Cascade, Forest Highway 22 to- ward Warm Lake, and Forest Service Road 474. The route is signed. Tony U�I1�� u refnhay salmon interviewed CNN envi- iental programs -'ALL — Charles Ray, a resident and coordinator Rivers United's salmon program, appeared Sunday ,n the Turner Broadcasting n's program "Network segment will be rebroad- mday afternoon on Cable Jetwork's "Earth Matters." has spent his past couple -s coordinating efforts to Idaho's once great runs of and steelhead that migrat- he Columbia, Snake and ► rivers. e show, Ray is interviewed t boat on the Salmon River, ;cusses revisions to the ;ered Species Act. Also wed is one of the four men is past summer, swam the in route taken by the endan- ockeye salmon, from the .ters of the Salmon River Lower Granite Dam on er Snake River in eastern gton. 16/, /9� , Forest Service installs new bridge to protect sahnon CASCADE — The Forest Ser- vice, using a grant from the State of Idaho, has installed a foot bridge over Yellow Jacket Creek, a Salmon River tribu- tary, in an effort to keep people and livestock from walking through the stream. The Idaho Parks and Recrea- tion grant will enhance recrea- tion opportunities for forest.us- ers, particularly those who wish to access the multiple use trail along Yellow Jacket Creek. "The bridge will not only pro- tect the stream and salmon habi- tat, but it will extend the season for trail use, said Tom Hass, Cascade District Engineer. This area along the South Fork Salmon River sees fairly heavy use throughout the sum- mer, Hass said. The Yellow Jacket Bridge is one of several projects the Cas- cade District has been able to complete in partnership with the state. Others include paving at the Anderson Creek snow lot which provides parking access for snowmobilers, the Campbell Creek boat launch and recrea- tion site improvement and brush clearing along snowmobile trails. col 10 95` Dan Popkey Book unveils t salmon woes There's a new book that Gov. Phil Batt doesn't want you to see. But it's a must -read for any Idahoan who cares about where we live. The book is a carefully researched history of the lower Snake River and the four government dams that are slaughtering our salmon. "River of Life, Channel of Death: Fish and Dams on the Lower Snake," is authored by prize - winning historian Keith Petersen, of Pullman, Wash. Batt got involved when his appointees to the Northwest Power Planning Council reversed a plan to help the publisher at Lewis -Clark State College market the book. Ex- Gov. Cecil Andrus' appointees had agreed to spend $3,000. Having read the book, I understand why some folks want to keep us in the dark until the fish are dead. Big lies exposed Petersen powerfully exposes the myths sewn by the salmon slayers — subsidized economic interests including utilities, navigators, aluminum companies and farmers. The biggest lie is the claim of the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville Power Administration that nobody knew until now that the dams would decimate the fish by killing most juveniles on their way to the Pacific. In fact, the Bureau of Reclamation foresaw the trouble in 1934. By 1947, the Corps' own biologist warned turbines could be "literal sausage grinders" for fish. In 1946, wttn MU Clams already built on the Columbia system, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said four more dams on the lower Snake would "collectively present the greatest threat to the maintenance of the Columbia River salmon population of any project heretofore constructed or authorized." By 1952, the Corps refused to publicize an internal report estimating that Bonneville Dam killed 15 percent of the migrating juvenile fish. Petersen writes: "Although later Engineers sometimes conveniently forgot their agency had arrived at this conclusion so early, by 1954 even the Corps came to recognize this position. That's when Walla Walla District Engineer Col. Fremont Tandy told Idaho sportsmen that the "basic element" of salmon and steelhead survival was getting fingerlings past high dams. "We are confident," Tandy said, "that we can pass adult migrants upstream over dams of any height, but we have yet to learn how to pass them downstream successfully." They've known what hath they wrought all along. Balanced sacrifice fPetersen concludes that salmon are worth saving and that Andrus' plan to draw down the four lower Snake Idams for two months a year is the best answer. Petersen acknowledges the wealth federal subsidies bring. His father helped build Bonneville Dam and worked at Alcoa Aluminum. He lived in an all - electric house and got an Alcoa scholarship. As the beneficiaries of such prosperity, Petersen says we must make short -term sacrifice for long -term good. That means energy and water conservation, and ending subsidies to aluminum companies and irrigators. Sacrifice is worthwhile, Petersen says, "if we look to human life as a continuum, as a'chain of hands that links the ganerations of the distant past w *11 those of the distant future, then we can personalize our responsibility for nature, for ourselves, and for our children. Otherwise, we irreparably diminish ourselves. IDan Popkey's column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Ideas: 377 -6415 or 76424.3356 (d'; compuserve.com f1, l��q )l //,p // e��/Yoca-�C _ /a / /;r/ 9s Hydrologist: Elk Summit washouts one of those re- curring things No serious damage to salmon spawning habitat resulted MCCALL — The washouts that closed the Elk Summit road this summer, and for the foreseeable future, were caused by a couple of intense late July thunderstonns that brought tons of debris, logs, mud and rock out of the Elk Creek and Rock Creek drainages and into the lower South Fork of the Salmon River. Dave Kennell, the Payette National Forest's hydrologist, said the two very localized storm cells, on July 20 and July 29, also cost a cou- ple of backcountry motorcycle riders their machines when they were caught in one of the drainages when the flooding started. The flooding created by the intense rains — about two inches of rain fell over the course of an hour so — scoured out much of the two drainages off of the South Fork and also washed out about three miles of road and destroyed two bridges, and moved rocks the size of Volkswagen beetles, he said. The road section destroyed was right along Elk Creek and there is now no access to either the Davis Ranch or Yellow Jacket Ranch because of the damage. Kennell said the scour line from the flooding was about 8 feet above the normal flow of the two creeks that wind down through relatively narrow V- shaped canyons. And it's probably going to happen again in the future, just as it's happened in the past. The Elk Summit Road is closed regularly by washouts, and had been closed for a few years, up until the 1994 wild- fires, Kennell said. Unpassable sections of the road were quickly rebuilt last summer to provide emergency access over Elk-Summit, if need- ed by those those battling the Rabbit Fire. Kennell emphasized that the damage would have occured with or without the road there, and while the Rabbit Fire that burned through that area was a contributing factor, the soils in Idaho's backcountry are prone to such incidents when intense rains hit. "It wasn't unexpected that some of those areas blew out. We expected some of them to scour out," he said. "It's pretty unstable in there, any time there is a big rain, you'll get some mud moving." One major concern was what the large load of sediment, which colored the South Fork and was noted by floaters traveling the Main Salmon River, did to salmon spawning habitat. Kennell said that, fortunately, the lower South Fork is a steeper river than preferred by spawning salmon. That steepness and higher streamflows in the lower river leave only river rock that is too large for salmon spawning, he said. "It's not very good spawning habitat," he said. However, it is good rearing habitat for young salmon, steelhead and bull trout, who use the cobbles and boulders to hide from other larger predators. He said some were displaced by the sediment and debris. But the river should be able to clean itself of most of that over the next couple of years, and the fish will move back in, he said. "But, it's probably not good for a fish on the brink of extinction like the salmon," hp said. On the plus side, he said the mud and sediment washed into the river also carried a lot of nutrients with it. LOVZ� Yu 1(,- y �Jd VC, cc.,4-e - Kim Pearson Staff Writer Idaho Department of Fish and Game offi- cials are calling this the "worst year ever" for the number of salmon returning to the fish trap on the South Fork of the Salmon River. The number of fish returning to the fish trap this year is the lowest they've seen in several years. "This year is the worst we've ever seen compared to recent years," Don Anderson, fish manager for IDF &G said. The return is not unexpected given the status of the runs of threatened and endangered chinook salmon over the downstream Snake and Columbia ri ver dams. . South Fork salmon returns worst of recent years Sights like this 3 -foot female chinook salmon photographed in the South Fork sev- eral years ago have become even more rare. So far this year, 526 salmon have returned to the IDF &G fish trap since June 13, according to Steve Kammeyer of the McCall Fish Hatchery. Anderson attributed the extremely low survival rate of salmon to the ocean two and three years ago to the decline in the number of salmon. According to Anderson, those numbers amount to "roughly 20 to 25 percent of last year's total adult count of salmon" of last year. Although the numbers are discouraging, Kammeyer said there was a positive aspect to the numbers. "On the positive side, quite a high percentage turned out to be jacks this year, which surprised quite a few people," Kammeyer said. Roughly 70 jacks returned to the trap, which is up from last year's count at 28. "We have 80 percent of the jacks that were counted at Lower Granite Dam," Kammeyer said. The number of jacks reflects how many juvenile fish survive pas- sage to the ocean, which is a major concern for IDF &G. Anderson believes that next year they will see larger fish in the run, but that the salmon run is still in danger. "The problem is getting the juvenile fish to the ocean," Anderson said. "It could be a crippling blow to salmon in Idaho forever if the juveniles don't have passage to the ocean in spring." But how to get the salmon to the ocean is a bit of a controversy in itself. Two plans have been proposed, the National Marine Fisheries Service plan to flush juvenile fish down stream, and the "Idaho Plan," which involves drawing downstream reservoirs down before releas- ing water into the system to move juveniles down to the ocean. The flush calls for draining water from Idaho reservoirs to increase water flows and "flush" young salmon through full, hydroelectric reser- voirs on the Lower Snake and Columbia Rivers. The salmon would then be collected and barged to a site below Bonneville Dam and released to continue their migration to the Pacific Ocean. Drawdown, on the other hand, calls for a ten -week, 40 -foot water drawdown of four hydroelectric reservoirs in Washington state to increase flows through the reduced pools and speed juvenile migra- tion to the Pacific Ocean. Idaho Fish and Game opposes flushing, which has been in effect here in Idaho since 1986, saying that it-'s the reservoirs that hinder fish migration. "Reservoirs are a problem because they slow fish - people will say it's the dams, and they are kind of right, but specifically it's the reser- voirs," Anderson said. Instead, IDF &G would like to see the Idaho Plan implemented, which it proposed to federal water managers but has not been approved. About the only thing the the low turnout of salmon wont' have a significant effect on is the McCall Fish Hatchery's research program. According to Kammeyer, the hatchery won't be filled to capacity, but spawning and research programs will still go on. "Data collection will be emphasized to give researchers a better base to go on," he said. Kammeyer also said that testing of individual female fish for bac- terial kidney disease will be done. "It's one way of improving the health aspects of the run," he said. I7� Idaho Y? Easement protects Chinook nesti* I'g sites By Dan Gallagher The Associated Press BURGDORF — Every year, Chi- nook salmon muscle their way up tiny Lake Creek and past a Civil War - era hot springs resort in West -Cen- tral Idaho to build their nests for the next generation of fish headed down- stream. A physician who owns 160 acres at Burgdorf Hot Springs has secured a conservation easement with the Northwest Power Planning Council that halts development in an increas- ingly popular spot about 30 miles north of McCall. It also protects the only summer chinook population in Idaho that has never been altered by contact with hatchery - raised fish. "It's one of the few genetically pure gene pools we can draw from, so we monitor it quite carefully," said Ray - ola Jacobsen, Idaho fish and wildlife coordinator for the council that over- sees power generation and fisheries propagation in the Northwest. A rush job "Time was not on our side on this. We managed to get a regional body moving — with the understanding of what we were trying to protect — in a timely manner." Between 1980 and 1996, the Secesh River drainage accounted for be- tween 24 percent and 53 percent of all successfully reproduced endangered wild summer chinook spawning in Idaho's Snake River Basin. The Lake Creek tributary typically produces about one -third of those Secesh smolts, said Don Anderson, Fish and Game regional fisheries manager. The Secesh, which flows into the South Fork of the Salmon River, also is home to westslope cutthroat trout, dwindling bull trout and steelhead trout, a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. McCall physician Scott Harris in- herited 160 acres in Burgdorf Mead- ows from his grandfather, James Harris, who bought the spot from Swiss immigrant Fred Burgdorf-in 1921. Summer visitors to the hot springs pool and old clapboard cabins can spot elk, deer and an occasional moose browsing along the creek. – Scott Harris had borrowed on pert of the property, and the lender was pressing to develop it, Jacobsen si4d. So a 94 -acre conservation agree- ment was drafted with recommenda- tions from Fish and Game, Idaho County and the Nez Perce Tribe. The loan was paid off under the council's authority with $420,000 from the Bonneville Power Administration, augmented by $30,000 from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, she said. Pact blocks development Harris still owns the property, but he cannot develop it and must main- tain the creek's pristine condition. As a child, Harris said, Burgdorf was his tramping grounds in the sum- mer and on weekends. But he be- came alarmed that the kind of devel- opment going on in nearby Secesh Meadows would ruin the setting. "It's a mutually beneficial project," he said. "I'm glad to have the oppor- tunity to tie it up so future owners don't develop it." Idaho County still will receive property taxes from the parcel, Ja- cobsen said. It is the first time Fish and Game and the Nez Perce have been co -man- agers of a project. They are doing baseline tests of the fish and the habi- tat each year, she said. Conservationists have questioned the wisdom of spending money on improving salmon spawning habitat in the headwaters of the rivers when the fish runs are decimated by eight hydroelectric dams on the way to the Pacific Ocean. "I want to make sure the habitat is ready when other problems get solved, that when the fish are given a chance to rebound, we haven't al- lowed something to prevent that," Anderson said. -IV/ ?, / f-f- Nez Perce bolster local efforts to aid salmon BY ROGER PHILLIPS The Star-News For millennia salmon helped sustain in- digenous tribes in the Columbia River Basin, and now one of those tribes is working lo- cally to help stave off the salmon's path toward extinction. The Nez Perce tribe opened an office on Mission Street in McCall last April to help revive salmon runs in local streams. "It was established to house research and produc- tion projects we have in the area," Nez Perce Fisheries Research Coordinator Jay Hesse said. A staff of seven currently work out of the McCall office, which is expected to soon grow by five plus an additional 12 to 15 seasonal workers in the summer. The tribe is working in conjunction with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help restore salmon in Idaho and other places in the Columbia Basin. The tribe's goal is to bring traditional Sperm and semen of chinook salmon are frozen in liquid nitrogen as a means to maintain a living history of different stocks and strains of salmon. food fish such as salmon, steelhead and stur- geon back to usable numbers. "The bottom line would be sustainable populations that can support some level of harvest," Hesse said. The tribe is currently concentrating on chinook salmon populations located on Johnson Creek near Yellow Pine and in the Secesh and Lake Creek areas near Burgdorf north of McCall. Tribal biologists and technicians are doing a variety of projects to help sustain the chinook and bolster those fish. Mike Blenden, right, and Paul Kucera draw sperm from a male salmon last summer on a tributary of Johnson Creek. Photo courtesy Nez Perce tribe "It's a big concern of both Fish and Game and the tribe continuing the existence of those populations," Hesse said. On Lake Creek and the Secesh River, the Nez Perce fisheries personnel are using a combination of high and low technology to monitor the life cycle of the salmon. Underwater time -lapse video cameras have been installed in the streams to keep a watchful eye on returning adult salmon. Biologists are also using "screw traps," which look like a cement mixer mounted on pontoons, to trap young salmon. Once captured, some are injected with "pit" tags, electronic instruments about the size of a grain of rice that allow researchers to track the fish's migration to the ocean and help identify it if it returns as an adult. They are also involved in a basin -wide project where the sperm and semen of chinook salmon are frozen in liquid nitro- gen as a means to maintain a living history of different stocks and strains of salmon. "The tribe was the instigator in this neck ofthe woods," Hesse said. "It's a recovery tool to help pre- serve the genetic diversity of some of the strains we have here." For now, the initial goal is to reverse the salmon's declining trends. Although a strong run of salmon returned to Idaho last year, the species as a whole is still en- dangered and biologists are particularly concerned about the next two years. Record low runs of salmon returned in 1995 -96, which meant low numbers of offspring released into area streams from those adults. The remnants of the young fish released in 1995 -96 are expected to start returning to area rivers and hatcheries as adults later. this year. ��/ ��/ Y,5�� J Z47---- -5,-/ i);>r Returning salmon change spawn habits The Associated Press HAILEY The upper Salmon River is not quite as flush with salmon as the canned fish shelf at Albertson's, but it is getting there. The Sawtooth National Recreation Area has an- nounced that as many as 26 Chi- nook salmon nests, or redds, have been counted in a popular stretch of the river near Stan- ley. " Redds are happening," said Ed Cannady with the Stanley Ranger Station. The redds are gravel mounds along the river bottom in which eggs have been deposited by salmon that have returned to Idaho after swimming around for two or three years in the ocean. Their traditional spawning areas are at Buckhorn Bend, Indian Riffles and Torrey's Hole. But redds also have been dis- covered in area where salmon have not been known to spawn, such as Stovepipe Hole. "The fish are of their own mind this year," Cannady said. By the end of August last year, 32 redds were counted. Twenty -nine more were discov- ered in September 1997 when the state Department of Fish and Game conducted its annual helicopter overflight of the river and its tributaries. "Everybody expected a re- duced return this year," he said. "Fewer fish went out." Cannady said the agency will erect additional signs alerting rafters to the redds. k oc e e program Biologists hope takes next fish will breed ll1 rest have been growing in the 1 wild on their own 'By Rocky Barker The Idaho Statesman A decade ago most fisheries managers wrote off the Snake River sockeye salmon as history. Wednesday, the fifth male en- dangered sockeye salmon raised in captivity returned to the Sawtooth Valley. Scientists aren't ready to declare victory. But the sockeye's successful completion of the 900 -mile trip from the Pacific Ocean offers additional hope that a new gen- eration of wild sockeye may spawn again in Redfish Lake. Already biologists are shifting the emphasis of the eight -year cap- tive- breeding pro- gram from raising lots of fish to restoring them to the wild. E ale� 1 cherv, the grandchil- c�ien ofve males and seven fe- males that came home to Red- fish in 1993. The pivotal year will be 2000, when most of the survivors of the 1998 class of salmon re- leased in Sawtooth Valley lakes and streams are expected to re- turn. In 1998, 150,000 juvenile sockeye left the Sawtooth Val- ley. If they return at a rate of 1 percent then up to 150 sockeye could return in 2000. But if they return at the average rate since 1991 —.08 percent — only 12 would return, including the five that already made it. The augmented 1998 sockeye out migration was the largest since year With the returning fish, state and federal scientists have crossed the first threshold of Paul Kline- captive breeding that daho the Peregrine Fund Department did 25 years ago with of Fish and peregrine falcons. Game biologist Next, they must return — the fish to the wild to breed on their own. The Peregrine Fund's pro- gram culminated in success Aug. 20 when the peregrine fal- con was removed from the En- dangered Species list. But un- like the falcon, the main causes of the salmon's decline — a series of hydro- electric dams on their migration route — have yet to be ad- dressed. "This is not a recov- ery action we're in- volved in," said Paul Kline, the Idaho De- partment of Fish biolo- gist in charge of the program. "We're in a holding pattern." Fish and Game biol- ogists plan to release 20 adult sockeye in September into Redfish Lake, the last place in the entire Snake River Basin that sockeye survive. They like- ly will include several of the fish that came from the ocean. The before 1910. That's the miners built Sunbeam Dam on the Salmon River, cutting off the sockeye's migration route. They were thought to have gone ex- tinct in the 1920s. But in 1931, after sportsmen blew a hole in Sunbeam Dam, the fish reappeared. By 1955, the sockeye population grew to 1,500 spawning fish. But as more dams were built on the Colum- bia and Snake Rivers, its numbers dived once again. A smaller percent- age of the fish that migrated from the lake returned. By the 1980s, it dropped into single digits and most fisheries managers gave up on the fish. But not the Shoshone - Bannock tribes. In 1990, the tribes petitioned the federal government to protect Redfish Lake's sockeye salmon with the Endangered Species Act. They were listed as an endangered species in 1991. Today, tribal biologists are fertiliz- ing Redfish Lake so it will become more productive and support a self - sustaining population. Lionel Boyer, who oversees the fisheries program, said the early results are promising. "It has shown that it can be done," Boyer said. "However, there is no real reason to rejoice yet." The five returning males were part of a group of 60,000 sockeye hatched at a federal hatchery in the Puget Sound and raised in the Bonneville National Hatchery in Oregon. Condi- tions in the hatchery grew the fish larger than normal sockeye when they were released. That may account for their early re- turn, Kline said. Usually sockeye re- turn to spawn after two years living in the ocean but all five spent only a ,year. ste egI'.A r of l r4,-P Brian Malaise, assistant manager of the Eagle Fish Hatchery, looks over a tank full of adult Snake River sockeye salmon Wednesday morning. Twenty sockeye salmon will be released into Redfish Lake on Sept. 13. Fish managers started the captive breeding program to preserve the ge- netic diversity of the unique Redfish Lake sockeye. No other sockeye in the world migrate 900 miles and climb 6,500 feet to spawn. The fish have adapted to survive in this environment and attempts in the early 1980s to transplant sockeye from other lakes in Canada to Idaho lakes failed. Usually, biologists consider a salmon population with less than 50 too small to survive. But by cross breeding carefully all of the few fish that have returned in the wild and have been raised in the hatchery, biol- ogists have avoided inbreeding and preserved or improved the genetic characteristics of the population, Kline said. "We haven't lost any genetic vari- ability of any fish that has come back to Idaho," Kline said. Preserving this resource has cost more than $10 million that has gone into hatcheries, research, lake fertil- ization and staff. It has come from the Bonneville Power Administration, which sells electricity produced at fed- eral dams. The Northwest Power Planning Council, a panel appointed by the gov- ernors of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana, recommends how mon- ey is spent on salmon. Mike Field, an Idaho representative to the council, said there is concern about expanding the captive breeding program to include chinook. But the sockeye program ap- pears to be preventing extinction. "I think it's encouraging," Field said. Moving from a holding action to restoring wild fish means raising less fish in the hatchery and more in the wild. Since scientists know little about the ecology of high mountain lakes like Redfish, they don't want to release too many hatchery fish to the wild. Salmon's trip home The five salmon were hatched in a Lower hatchery in Monumental Washinton in early Dam 1998. Little Lower Goose Granite WASHINGTON Ice Dam Dam Harbor Pacific j — Columbia Dam o Ocean River J' Clearwater River ' L McNary Q Q '` Salmon Bonneville Dam River Dam The John IDAHO The five Dalles Day salmon Dam Dam The five salmon were among Snake were trucked to 60,000 raised OREGON River Idaho and released in May at the Bonneville * Boise 1998 below the Fish Hatchery 0 100 Sawtooth until May of recur Hatchery and returned there Miles this month. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Idaho Department of Fish and Game r4,,7,6 ' Z e f 2 QQq,- s Eagle Hatchery The Eagle Hatchery is a re- search facility operated by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to study captive breed- ing of salmon. It includes research labora- tories and ponds for rearing ju- venile and adult salmon and hatching facilities. Located near Eagle Island State Park off Linder Road, it also has a visitors center. The hatchery has an annual budget of $600,000. "That's the worst thing we can do is destroy the food - producing capacity of the lake and create a crash," Kline said. But all of his work will be wasted unless the migration route is made safe, Boyer said. "The fact still remains they have a lot of obstacles to deal with to get back home," he said. hcj Steelhead swim home as weather cooperates Cold water helps sea-run trout make return trip The Associated Press LEWISTON — River condi- tions are right, and steelhead are returning in force for Idaho an- glers in search of the sea -run trout. The A -run of steelhead des- tined for the Snake, Salmon and Grand Ronde rivers is showing up on time, if not early. The cooler- than - average summer, heavy snowpack and slow release of runoff have helped keep the Snake and Co- lumbia rivers from overheating. The fish have been enticed upriver by the cold flows from Dworshak Reservoir on the Clearwater River. That means the migrating steelhead have not been the victims of a warm thermal block which often oc- curs in the downstream reser- VOH S. Last year, high temperatures in the lower Columbia delayed the steelhead. About 4,400 A -run fish have passed over Lower Granite Dam, the last obstacle before reaching Idaho. That is more than double the number count- ed by this time last year. It is more than 1,000 fish higher than the 10 -year average count. Catch - and - release anglers in the lower Clearwater River have reported success, and that bodes well for the catch- and -keep sea- son, which opens Wednesday on the Snake River. The A -run fish are swinging up the Clearwater, the tradition- al B -run route, to get a blast of cold water from Dworshak. "It's sure gives the fish a nice refuge," said Larry Barrett of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Regional salmon man- agers are asking the Army Corps of Engineers to keep the Dworshak outflow at 10,000 cu- bic feet per second for another week to aid the migration. REMEMBERING THE SALMON by Peter Preston U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Forest Service Heritage Program, Payette Natl Forest September 1999 CHINOOK SALMON (Onchorhyncus tshawytscha) It has long been known that the Nez Perce people had been coming to upper Long Valley to fish for Chinook salmon ( "na- tsokth" in the Nez Perce language) long before Euro- Americans arrived in the late 1800's. An illustration of that fact is in the 1978 oral history of Herman Blackwell, who arrived in the McCall area in 1905. As a young man Herman notes that the Nez Perce Indians "...use to come here and fish on the [Payette] river, before they put the [Black Canyon] dam in down there [by Emmett]. They used to camp right down there by the stockyards" [on the east side of the Payette River, on the south side of McCall].... "They gen- erally came in about the middle of the summer. Some of them would stay ten days, some of them two weeks . They'd catch salmon, they'd hang them up in the trees and let them dry. I don't believe they smoked them here. ...There'd be probably four or five squaws and three or four men. ...They come from over there at Clearwater on that reservation over there. I don't know why they came over here, I guess the salmon didn't run over there, in the Clearwater at that time, but they'd come over here and fish for salmon ". Herman said they travelled by "horse and pack horses" and "they'd bring their tipis .... Some of them had blan- kets wrapped around. Pretty near all the squaws wore blankets wrapped around them. The men wore overalls. My dad [early McCall businessman Clem Black- well] could talk Indian, and the old ones would come over here, they'd go in the store and they knew dad. The old ones couldn't talk English, and they'd go and get dad to interpret for them. He could talk right along with the Indians." [Clem Blackwell grew up in northeast Oregon in the late 1800's where he learned the Umatilla language which, according to linguist Sven Liljeblad, was closely re- lated to the Nez Perce language and allowed Clem to converse with the visiting Nez perce people]. I knew Herman Blackwell, my wife's cousin, as "Uncle Her- man" as he was much older than I. Herman was 96 when died in McCall in 1981. Herman Blackwell's son -in -law, George Strode, now 85, came to Long Valley at age 10. On September 7, 1999, George related this eyewitness event to me: In what was probably June of 1924, George observed a band of Nez Perce Indians in transit across Long Valley. The band consisted of about thirty people; men, women, and children of all ages. Some were on horses pulling travois, some were on foot, and there was a wagon pulled by a horse. The band had come over West Mountain, apparently from the Council Valley area, following the sheep driveway eastbound for the South Fork of the Salmon. The band passed by Donnelly, went over into Kennally Creek, leaving the wagon at the Earl Pot - tenger ranch. One of the women was left behind near the Pottenger ranch to give birth to a child and caught up with the band a short time later. The band continued up Kennally Creek, over Blackmare Summit, and down Blackmare Creek to their camp at Poverty Flat, on the South Fork. The band began spearing Chinook salmon which were thick in the river. George was in the presence of an older man, perhaps about sixty years old, who was not fishing and was perhaps the leader of the band. He spoke English reasonably well and said to George, "Son, you will live to see the day when the salmon will not come back here, as they are encountering too many hazards." How prophetic that Nez Perce band leader was! In recent years I have talked to my contemporaries (I am now 64) about their remembrances of salmon in the area of the Payette National Forest. Val Simpson, who was Ranger at Chamberlain 1952 -1957, remembers Chamber- lain Creek and its tributaries having heavy runs of salmon (now there are none). Aloha McCoy grew up on a small ranch on Monumental Creek (a tributary of Big Creek) in the 1930's where she would catch big salmon by hand in a small irri- gation ditch. Dan LeVan Jr, who grew up at the Big Creek Ranger Station, remembers big salmon in all the streams at the ranger station from the mid - 1930's to his departure in 1946. There are many more such recollections of salmon in all the Salmon River tributaries. In 1956 -1957 my wife Sally and I lived at the Forest Service Brush Camp on the Secesh River at its confluence with Lick Creek. Our little Forest Service house was no more than ten feet from the river's edge and sometimes we were kept awake by the sound of the salmon flopping on the rocks as they were making their way upstream. In recent years we have returned to that same spot for a nostalgic visit to the place where our first home stood (long since removed) and sadly observed that there were no salmon to be seen. I told my grandchildren that I could remember during the spawning run the river was so thick with salmon that it looked like I could walk across the river on their backs without getting my feet wet. My grandchildren could not imagine what I was talking about. Remem- bering the salmon gives me a heavy heart. Chris Butler / The Idaho Statesman Fish biologist Don Chapman sits on a rock in front of his home overlooking Payette Lake in McCall. He is called the "grandfather of fisheries biology" in Idaho. Today, he evokes controversy for his views and his 20 -year career as a con- sultant to the electric utilities industry. Voices of doubt Biologist keeps salmon debate alive as majority backs breaching dams By Rocky Barker The Idaho Statesr-an s a professor in the 1960s, Don Chap- man instilled a sense of idealism in- to a generation of fisheries bi- ologists ready to study and manage the salmon and steel - head of the Pacific Northwest. He told them to be advo- cates for the fish they study and the habitat where those fish live. Today, his students are among the majority of fisheries biologists who say the best and perhaps only way to save Snake River salmon and steelhead is to remove the earthen sections of four dams in Washington and allow the river to flow naturally. Chapman, 69, who taught at the University of Idaho and Oregon State University, no longer is by their side. Since1979, the bri111iar..11, icon- oclastic scientist has defend- ed the hydroelectric indus- try's technological fish collec- tion and dam bypass systems as a paid consultant. He and a shrinking minori- ty of fisheries scientists in the Pacific Northwest continue to question whether breaching the dams on the Snake River in Washington is needed or will restore the endangered fish he has studied for 45 years. "I believe the data is not in yet," Chapman said. "Some- body has to say let's be care- ful. We aren't going to lose these fish overnight." The uncertainty of Chap- man and a small cadre of biol- ogists who have worked closely with dam operators has allowed Pacific North- west politicians to ignore the view of the majority of fish- eries biologists, who say breaching is necessary. His views, and those of the others in the minority, are important because they have the ear of Northwest industry and polit- ical leaders. "I don't fault Don and the others for their uncertainty," said Ed Bowles, salmon and steelhead manager for Ida- ho's Department of Fish and Game. "Where I think they are flawed is that they are coming from the perspective that the status quo is benign, that any management action must have full certainty." Federal officials will decide by next spring whether to rec- ommend to Congress remov- K q 1 je i From 1A ing the earthen sections of the four dams and allowing natural river flows to save Snake River salmon and steel - head. Because of the uncertainty raised by Chapman and others, as well as the lack of political support, the Clinton administration has indi- cated it may neither endorse breach- ing nor take it off the table. Instead, the administration is expected to call for additional study to clear up the un- certainties. Salmon are both a cultural and a natural icon of the wild character of the Pacific Northwest that still gener- ate tens of millions of dollars from sport and commercial fishing. The four Snake River dams produce enough electricity to power the city of Seattle, about 5 percent of the region's generating capacity. And they allow shippers to barge wheat and other goods from Lewiston to the Pacific. A panel of 22 state, federal, univer- sity and private fisheries biologists ap- pointed to study the issue said breach- ing the four dams would have an 80 percent chance of restoring sustain- able runs of wild salmon and steel - head in 24 years. The National Marine Fisheries Ser- vice, the agency in charge of saving salmon under the Endangered Species Act, issued its own report in the spring, saying breaching the four dams presents the least risk of extinc- tion to the fish and the best chance to save them. But it also said the current fish passage strategy — collecting young salmon as they migrate to the ocean and barging them past the dams — plausibly could allow fish runs to recover enough to meet the Endangered Species Act. And it raised the possibility that the fish could go extinct no matter what is done. Chapman's view nearly mirrors the Fisheries Service analysis. "I know in the long run the fish will have higher survival if we take the dams out," Chapman said, "but breach- ing by itself won't recover the fish." He said the controlling factor in re- cent years for Snake River salmon is the rate of survival below the dams and in the ocean. If the barging and bypass system currently used to get Snake River fish past the dams is not the cause of increased fish kills there and in the ocean, then something still unknown is the real problem. Chapman's analysis is important be- cause when he talks, decision- makers in government and industry listen. He headed a team of scientists who in 1995 issued a report on salmon for the Na- tional Research Council that endorsed continued barging of salmon. That re- port is still used by Idaho political lead- ers, such as Gov. Dirk Kempthome, as a blueprint for salmon efforts. "He is someone who is controver- sial but well respected," said W.H. "Buzz" Fawcett, an aide to Kemp- thorne when he was in the U.S. Sen- ate. "You know he will give you a sol- id position and an apolitical represen- tation of those ideas." Many of Chapman's former stu- dents see him very differently. They ';:,;say he sold out tothe hydroelectric in- dustry that has controlled most of the dollars for salmon research during the past 30 years. "After he went to work for the utili- ties, he never advocated a position that would hurt his pocketbook," said ' Frank Young, fish and wildlife coordi- ' nator for the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority. r Young, 59, who worked for 30 years for the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department, studied under Chapman • at Oregon State in the early 1960s. When Chapman moved on to become research chief for the Oregon Fish Commission, Young followed. "What makes his students react so strongly is that he was so principled as a professor," Young said. "His views created idealism in them." "He was our knight in shining ar- mor," said Steve Pettit, an Idaho De- partment of Fish and Game salmon and steelhead biologist, also a former student. In 1991, Young was the fast biolo- gist in the region to say that nothing short of breaching the Washington dams would save Idaho's salmon. Pet - tit, long the state's representative on the regional technical committee overseeing the fish bypass and barge system at the dams, became con- vinced in 1991 that barging was harm- ing, not helping, sahnon. He said barging, the fish collection system and in -river migration at the four Snake dams causes a delayed ef- fect on the fish that leads to a higher rate of death in the estuary or ocean than that of Columbia River salmon that are spilled over only four dams. Columbia River salmon runs return at rates of two to 10 times higher than Snake River salmon. Chapman points out he hasn't just worked for the electric utilities; he also has worked for Indian tribes and oth- er groups that are challenging politi- cally powerful industries such as min- ing. "How long would I last if I didn't play straight with the data ?" Chap- man asked. "I know what they say — he's gone over to the dark side. I've become pret- ty thick - skinned over the years. I'm straight with myself, straight in my mind that I've acted professionally." SJa tg -7, m i , &,;,V v > rfKX Rise of environmentalism Chapman graduated from Oregon State with a degree in forestry in 1953. He began his career in fisheries in graduate school at Oregon State after a stint in the U.S. Army. There, he be- gan researching the life histories of steelhead and sahnon along the Ore- gon Coast. In the 1950s, the Pacific Northwest was growing as the post -war econom- ic boom demanded timber, alu- minum, airplanes and agricultural products. The U.S. Army Corps of En- gineers was finishing the last dams on the Columbia River and beginning to build four dams on the Snake. "I came back from the Army to a society that was go, go, go," Chapman said. When Chapman arrived at the Uni- versity of Idaho in 1963, the entire field of fish and wildlife management was undergoing an ecological transforma- tion. He took over as leader of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's fisheries cooperative program. Maurice Hornocker, the celebrated lion and tiger biologist, soon became the leader of the wildlife unit. Together, they were teaching their students to take a more holistic view of the creatures they studied and eventually would manage. He urged them to look at the entire ecosystem, not just the water. "I look back at that time as fascinat- ing," Chapman said. "I fell into a rab- ble- rousing mode and went too far in promoting activism in students." Chapman was not alone. Environ- mental awareness was growing in all fields, especially biology. No longer were growth and devel- opment accepted at any cost. As the nation was celebrating Earth Day in 1970, Chapman's students were begin- ning their careers and laying the re- search groundwork for many of the changes in resources management that have taken place over the past 20 years. What Chapman and his students found were rivers filled with silt and oxygen - robbing nutrients from graz- ing, logging and road - building. The rivers were losing their productivity as dams were cutting the sahnon off from the ocean. "The mistake we made as profes- sionals is we failed to recognize when you lose habitat, a technological fix won't work," he said. After he left the University of Idaho, Chapman went to work for the United Nations, first in Tanzania, where he helped villagers develop a commer- cial fishery program, then in Colom- bia, where he also worked on fisheries programs. The education and health needs of the poor countries in which he worked tempered his advocacy. He recognized the importance of eco- nomic development along with envi- ronmental protection. "I think that influenced me into see- ing something beyond fish," Chap- man said. Losing friends, colleagues When he returned in 1979, he be- gan his career as a fisheries consult- ant, giving up the relative security of university or United Nations employ- ment for the financial potential of en- trepreneurship. Today, he brings in $150 to $175 an hour for his expertise. His first big clients were public util- ity districts in Washington facing mil- lions of dollars in added costs to make their dams more_fish- friendly. State fish and wildlife agencies and Indian tribes had petitioned the Feder- al Energy Regulatory Commission to require better fish passage facilities. Young found himself on the witness stand under cross examination by an attorney for the utilities. Whispering questions into the lawyer's ear was his old mentor, Chapman. "It was pretty intimidating," Young said. "You can't help but feel be- trayed." The states and the tribes didn't have the data to back up their position, Chapman said. "Courtrooms are crucibles of the truth," Chapman said. "I could not abide untruths, and I came down hard on them." Pettit, 56, and Chapman had been much closer. Chapman had given Pet- tit, a pilot in Vietnam, a plum research project studying the effects of catch - and- release regulations on North Ida- ho's Kelly Creek. As Chapman took up flying, the two flew around the Northwest to- gether. Even though they regularly found themselves sitting on opposite sides of the t�� ble in fish meetings, they remained friends. That wasuntil Idaho sued the feder- al government in 1992 for violating the Endangered Species Act in its op- eration of the dams that blocked the state's endangered salmon's trip to the ocean. Chapman spoke as an expert witness in support of research results presented by Fisheries Service scien- tists showing barging was getting salmon past the dams. Pettit believed and still believes that the data were seriously flawed. But Chapman, who had made his reputa- tion raising uncertainty about the re- search of others, accepted their work with little challenge. "Don never really found that much fault with the research NMFS did," Pettit said. Chapman acknowledged that the data supporting barging were not in- disputable. "Steve may be right. There are some problems with it, but not so much that you can say it's flawed and you can't use it," Chapman said. "I'll have to look at that." Since then, Pettit and Chapman have grown apart. Now they see each other a couple of times a year in air- ports, Pettit said. Tom Welch, a fisheries consultant, is a former associate, roommate and close friend. Chapman was Welch's best man. They even have houses in Arizona only a few feet apart. But now they never talk. Their break came, Welch said when Chapman turned from a thoughtful contrarian into a "biostitute," who sold his reputation. "It's just greed," Welch said. Kent Ball, another former student and now an Idaho Fish and Game steelhead biologist in Salmon, dis- agrees with Chapman on dam breach- ing but still respects his work. "Don has always wanted to make sure the issue got thoroughly debated," Ball said. "He's always been out there on the edge. There's a lot of us that can respect him even if we disagree." Standing up for Chapman One of Chapman's strongest sup- porters is Ted Bjornn, currently leader of the cooperative fishery unit at the University of Idaho. Like Chapman, he's not ready to endorse breaching. And like Chapman, he has been criti- cized because of the millions of re- search dollars that he has brought to the university from the Corps of Engi- neers and the Bonneville Power Ad- ministration. "Some people think they have the truth and anyone who disagrees is a heretic," Bjornn said. "Don has re- ceived some of that, and so have I." Ted Koch, an endangered species biologist and president of the Idaho Chapter of the American Fisheries So- ciety, flatly disagrees with Chapman and Bjornn on breaching. "But I strongly defend the integrity with which they are trying to behave," Koch said. "And I strongly criticize my colleagues who attack Don personally and unprofessionally." Chapman, who looks and acts young for his years, is relaxed with his position. He won't be pushed on to what he calls the breaching bandwagon. Yet he knows his work provides cover for politicians who simply want to sup- port commodity interests to the exclu- sion of all else. "I don't like to be in that boat," he said. "It makes me uncomfortable." 51a rn J h Noll 7; Pwa His wife, Dolores, knows the.pres- sure he faces to conform. "He has a lot of courage," she said. Chapman said that despite their dif- ferences, he's proud of the work of his former students. And he doesn't rule out a final judgment that breaching may be necessary. "I may come to that conclusion," he said. Only five years ago, most of his for- mer students were supporting then - Gov. Cecil Andrus' plan for seasonal drawdown of the reservoirs behind the four dams. That idea has died be- cause of its costs and technical prob- lems raised by Chapman and others. "There should be scientists ques- tioning the majority opinion," Koch said. "Otherwise it isn't science." Contact Rocky at 377 -6484 or rbarker@boise.gannett.com (3t d to 3 es, a rj 1V c ,; 7, Chris Butler/ The Idaho Statesman Don Chapman looks over spawning beds of kokanee salmon on the North Fork of the Payette River upstream from Payette Lake near McCall. Once, so many sockeye salmon returned to Payette Lake that a cannery was built. But dams downriver cut off passage for the fish to the Pacific early in the century. Kokanee are relatives of sockeye that don't migrate to the ocean. Chris Butler /The Idaho Statesman "I know what they say — he's gone over to the dark side. I've become pretty thick -sUmed over the years. I'm straight with myself, straight in my mind that I've acted professionally." DON CHAPMAN, on the criticism of his former students Photo courtesy of Steve Pett Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologist Steve Pettit releases a steelhead he caught with a fly rod in the Clearwater River. Pettit, a former stu- dent of Don Chapman, believes the data clearly show breaching is necessary to restore sustainable and fishable numbers of salmon and steelhead to Iriahn 9 /d to S r" J h No 1, r? Obstacles to salmon survival from Idaho to the Pac'if'ic Ocean Salmon life begins ©Human impacts on salmon begin the moment life begins. A female spring - summer chinook lays from 4,000 to 5,000 eggs in Salmon River tributar- ies. Siltation and stream alter- ation from grazing, log ging, road - building and mining cover eggs and re- duce spawn - ing habitat. Yearlings struggle to survive downstream The young fish live for a year in the streams where damaged streamside areas cause higher temperatures and reduce the ((,,,,••�� quality of the habitat. Disease from hatchery stocks and a lack of ocean nutrients because few adult fish return to a stream and die contribute to habitat prob- lems. In some areas, unscreened irri- gation diversions send young k salmon on a one way trip out of the river on to crop - " land. k WMER1f Most survivors are loaded on barges Barges carry 77 percent of the salmon through the dams. Another 23 percent make the trip in the river. About 119 smolts survive the trip to the Columbia estu- ary below the last dam. The wild fish mix with hatchery fish during their journey, compet- ing for space and food. Salmon sur- vive the trip through the dams better during high - water years. Only half survive journey to dams Historically and today, from 40 to 60 percent of the salmon that survive a year die before they make it to the Snake River in Wash- ington. About 250 smolts start the trip downstream. Of those, about 140 will make it to Lower Granite Dam, the first of eight between Idaho and the Pacific. River to ocean transformation, predators re- duce salmon numbers estuary, or ©The mixing zone be- tween the ocean and freshwater, is 1 I where the salmon make their final transformation ' from a freshwater fish to an ocean fish with i changes in their kidneys and gills. Here they suffer predation from tems, oth- er fish - eating birds and marine mammals. Data ( show more Snake River fish than - lower _�, Columbia River salmon . stocks die in the 6, estuary. This shows they suffer extra mortali- ' y from the barging or oth- �r Snake - specific impacts. )r Snake River fish suffer +ffects in the ocean that ,olumbia fish don't. Either way, no more than 12 to 13 of the original 5,000 salmon live to their second birthday. Changing ocean conditions may be favorable to salmon recovery After their second year, the salmon grow quickly, de- pending on food availability. Ocean conditions change dra- matically, affecting food availability and predation. Scientists say the conditions are changing back in favor of salmon in the Co- lumbia Basin. No data suggest ocean fishermen catch many spring - summer chinook. No v 7, 19 99 T of y 11ftv�, Columbia RFrer dams ower .,VA leaves few to spawn again Monumental The salmon must swim through Dam Little Lower WASHINGTON the mouth of the Columbia, then two Goose Granite Ice Dam Dam Harbor C : Columbia Dam -- • Clearwater River River f T '- McNary Bonneville Dam Dam The I— John Salmon River Dams Dam Snake River IDAH, OREGON Sources: Idaho Department of Fish and Game; National Marine Fisheries Service; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Upriver journey to Idaho rivers .,VA leaves few to spawn again The salmon must swim through eight dams before they return to the Salmon River. If four arrived at the mouth of the Columbia, then two salmon could be expected to survive the trip and, if they're lucky, spawn before they die naturally. X4 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS S cientists differ about why salmon are cling State, tribes, others blame the dams, barging; Feds say it's something else By Rocky Barker The Idaho Statesman Here's a look at the scientific de- bate about salmon and dams on the Snake River. How did salmon numbers fall from their historic high of 8 million to 16 miF lion to fewer than 1 million this decade? Nearly all scientists agree that re- lentless commercial fishing of salmon stocks from 1866 to 1930 dra- matically reduced the number of salmon and the diversity of salmon species in the Columbia River Basin. The building of dams and the re- placement of natural runs with hatch- ery fish further reduced the diversity of the salmon. Salmon spawning habitat was cut off by the dams, de- stroyed by development, grazing, logging and mining, or polluted. Still, salmon numbers were stable and productivity was high at the be- ginning of the 1960s. N Snake River salmon numbers were sustaining themselves in the 1960s, why aren't they noel Scientists on both sides of the is- sue agree that the building of the four dams on the Snake River and the last dam on the Columbia River in the 1960s and'70s coincided with a huge decline in productivity. Both sides agree that dams killed salmon both at the dams and after- ward in the Columbia River estuary and the ocean, because of stress or other factors. They also agree that the extra mortality is higher in Snake River salmon than in Columbia Riv- er salmon. Both sides agree that a downturn in ocean conditions, which reduced salmon productivity, has occurred since the mid- 1970s. Both sides agree that salmon that Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers A barge carrying juvenile salmon down the Snake River heads toward Little Goose Dam. Salmon are collect- ed at the dams, loaded on the barges, carried downriver and released below the last dam before the Pacific Ocean. The effectiveness of this system is key to the debate about whether four dams must be removed. spawn in lower Columbia River trib- utaries and the river itself return to spawn at higher rates than do those that spawn in the Snake River. What's the major disagreement? Scientists don't agree on why more Snake River salmon die in the estuary and ocean than lower Co- lumbia River salmon. What Is the majority opinion? State, tribal and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists say that the four Snake River dams and the barging and fish bypass systems are responsible for the extra mortality. They say the difference in return rates between lower Columbia and Snake River salmon is evidence that the four extra dams on the Snake are the limiting factor for Idaho's salmon. Both the Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead must face the same estuary and ocean threats, such as fish- eating birds and ocean preda- tors. And they all suffer the same ef- fects of hatcheries, habitat destruc- tion and harvests. Therefore, the de- layed effects of barging and the cu- mulative effects of migrating past the extra four dams are the only major differences and are responsible for the extra mortality of Snake River salmon. To show that barging works, the data must show that barged salmon survive in the ocean as well as or better than those that migrate in the river, and that the extra mortality is not due to the dams. These scientists conclude that breaching the dams is the best and perhaps only way to restore the pro- ductivity of Snake River runs. What is the minority opinion? Scientists from the National Ma- rine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bon- neville Power Administration say the system they developed to collect and barge salmon around the dams has offset the downstream migration problems that caused salmon to de- cline when the dams were complet- ed. Since their research shows up to 98 percent of the salmon barged past the dams survi•7e to the estuary. the extra mortality in Snake River fish is due to some other, unknown factor. It could be competition from hatchery fish, habitat degradation, genetic effects or degraded ocean conditions that affect Snake River fish differently than they affect the lower Columbia salmon. If new re- search shows few of the barged fish die as a result of their trip through the dams, the advantages of dam breaching are not so compelling, be- cause it would suggest something else is affecting Snake River fish more than the four dams are. These scientists say that reduc- tions in hatchery fish releases, preda- tor control, additional harvest reduc- tions, stricter habitat restrictions, im- proving dam passage survival and increasing flows by releasing more water from Idaho reservoirs can re- store salmon productivity enough with the dams in place if ocean con- ditions improve. If the ocean doesn't improve, because of global warm- ing, nothing may save the Snake Riv- er's salmon and steelhead, these sci- entists say. WHAT'S NCI' Katherine Jones /The Idaho Statesman Dam passage: Adult fall chinook salmon pass through a fish counter as they climb the ladder up Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. 5 1 ,q 1esvh_1v Aloy "1Iq'71 Critical reports due soon may decide salmon's fate By Rocky Barker The Idaho Statesman Federal and regional officials will decide by May of 2000 what changes are necessary in the Snake River to save endangered salmon and steel - head. The three key agencies > The U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers operates four dams on the Snake in Washington that impede mi- gration of the fish between Idaho and the Pacific: Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor dams. > The National Marine Fisheries Service is the Department of Com- merce agency in charge of protecting the salmon under the federal Endan- gered Species Act. > The Northwest Power Planning Council is a panel that guides energy policy and recommends how salmon money is spent by the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency that markets electricity from the dams. The power council is ap- pointed by the governors of Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana. The decisions The corps is scheduled to issue a draft environmental impact statement in December on modifications of the Snake River dams to help improve salmon migration. Options include: • Breaching all four dams. • Continue barging salmon down- stream past the dams. > Maximize barging of salmon and flush more water from reservoirs in Idaho downriver to aid salmon migra- tion. The fisheries service, called NMFS (pronounced nymphs), is to issue a "biological opinion" about whether the actions of the corps and other fed- eral agencies, such as the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates up- stream Snake River reservoirs, jeop- ardizes salmon. Its draft is expected in December. It also will issue a "Four H's" report evaluating the threats to salmon from habitat destruction, hydroelectric power, hatchery management and harvest. The report will discuss recovery op- lions that take into account the entire salmon life cycle. The report is sched- uled for release this month. Hearings will be held early in 2000. Final decisions are expected by May. If these agencies decide that breaching the four dams is needed, only Congress or perhaps a federal judge could order such an action. At the same time, the power council is working with Columbia River tribes on the Multi- species Framework, are gional report analyzing recovery op- tions for fish and wildlife throughout the Columbia River watershed. A draft report is expected by the end of this month. What's at stake? Breaching any of the four dams would end direct barge shipping be- tween Lewiston and Portland. The al- ternative, flushing more water from Idaho, would dry up thousands of acres of prime farmland in Idaho. Continuing the status quo would in- crease the risk that salmon would go extinct and reduce the opportunity for fishing revenue for communities from Idaho to Alaska. MC, V �, �99i Only 10 percent of Chinook run will be wild-born The Associated Press PORTLAND — The biggest run of Snake River spring chinook salmon in more than a decade is expected to re- turn to the Columbia River Basin next year, but the vast majority will be hatchery fish. Biologists believe only about 5,000 of the expected 50,000 returning Snake River spring chinook will be protected wild fish. "You shouldn't get your hopes up," said Jeff Curtis, Western conservation director for Trout Unlimited. "You are going to have ups and downs in this thing, but the trend line is going down." Still, the number of wild fish is up from just 2,700 entering the Columbia River this year. And the increase in hatchery fish is huge. Only about 4,600 hatchery Snake River spring chinook entered the Columbia this year. Experts cite two factors for the in- crease in hatchery run — heavy spring runoff in 1995 and 1996 that helped young salmon migrate safely to the ocean and colder ocean water that produced more nutrients for the small fish that salmon feed on. That wild spring chinook are not expected to bounce back as dramati- cally illustrates one of the toughest problems in salmon recovery —popu- lations that plunge so low they cannot bounce back quickly even when habi- tat conditions improve significantly. The condition of the Snake River runs has embroiled the region in a de- bate over whether the four lower Snake River dams in eastern Wash- ington should be breached. A recom- mendation to Congress is expected from the National Marine Fisheries Service next year. A record low 745 wild spring Chi- nook made it to Idaho in 1995. A total of 134,000 wild and hatchery spring chinook are expected to enter the Columbia next year. This year nearly 39,000 made the return, the largest number since 1977 ��LQ leSiV a ��1 The Associated Press Clearing the way: In the newly opened channel of Gamble Creek, near Poulsbo, Wash., Jack Potts, working with the Washington Conservation Corps, lifts an armful of reed canarygrass, opening the creek to allow spawn - inq salmon to travel ungtrPam. in this Oct. 6, 1999, file photo. Feds obey court order to designate critical habitat for salmon, steelhead By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press GRANTS PASS, Ore. Under a court order won by environmental- ists, the federal government has desig- nated critical habitat for threatened and endangered salmon and steel- head that covers much of the West Coast and reaches up the Columbia and Snake rivers into Idaho. Primarily affecting federal lands, the action adds another layer of pro- tection for 19 of the 25 populations in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho in danger of extinction from overfishing as well as blockage and destruction of habitat in the streams where they spawn and spend their early lives. Mike Sherwood, an attorney for the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund in San Francisco, said the designation was a good step, but still inadequate because it left out the Pacific Ocean, where salmon and steelhead grow from tiny juveniles to large adults, as well as rivers blocked by dams. "If the salmon and steelhead are de- clining, it means the environment on which they depend is also in trouble," Sherwood said. "Because people also depend on that same environment for clean water, that should be of real con- cern for us." Though the Endangered Species Critical habitat The National Marine Fisheries Service has designated critical habitat for 19 of the 25 populations of Pacific salmon and steelhead protected by the Endangered Species List. Steelhead: Southern California, South - Central California, Central California Coast, Upper Columbia River, Middle Columbia River, Lower Columbia River, Snake River Basin, California Central Valley, Upper Willamette River. The Associated Press Act requires designation of critical habitat at the same time a species is put on the endangered species list, the National Marine Fisheries Service felt the evaluation of other salmon runs was more important, and put off criti- cal habitat, said spokesman Brian Gorman. "We've just been over- whelmed with all the work involved in these listings," Gorman said from Seattle. "There are now more than two dozen salmon and steelhead pop- ulations we have listed on the West Coast. Each of them requires an enor- mous amount of resources." When a species is listed, the govern- ment must designate critical habitat, create habitat protection standards known as 4(d) rules for a section of the Endangered Species Act, and develop a long -range recovery plan. NMFS has finished evaluating Pa- cific salmon runs for listing. Proposed 4(d) rules relying on heavily on state standards are out for public hearings. Critical habitat is still being evaluated for several runs. And recovery plans are several years away. The listings and the 4(d) rules are the most important elements, because they immediately offer protection for the fish and their habitat on both pri- vate and public lands, Gorman said. "Critical habitat and recovery plans are more in the way of science -based guidance leading to recovery," Gor- man said. "They will take the form of guidelines and goals rather than man- dates and requirements." However, there are times when crit- ical habitat covers a specific spot on public lands that is not protected sim- ply by the listing, Sherwood added. Nub Nree hibe blesSinfli i f�qP r o-f Z- restores WmOn 0 too kgAmnn RIVOr 1-ri u "11111a J �d. Pnotos oy t;erry meienaez i i ne ivanu arares a Chuck Axtell, a member of the Nez Perce tribe, chants an ancient song of hope and strength for thousands of 4 -inch chinook salmon prior to their release into Johnson Creek. The fish, raised in the McCall National Hatchery, were returned to the water of their parents by a Nez Perce fisheries team, as part of an experimental project. Some question benefit of supplementation proj ect q _ By Rocky Barker The Idaho Statesman YELLOWPINE —Chuck Ax- tell's ancient song rang through the Johnson Creek canyon, a prayer of strength for thousands of flinch chinook salmon start- ing their 800 -mile journey to the Pacific. As his traditional Nez Perce chant reached its crescendo, the clouds patted, bathing the holy man in sunlight as an eagle added its screeching voice to the harmony. The endangered chinook salmon, raised in the McCall National Hatchery, were re- turned last week to the native water of their parents by a fish- eries team of the Nez Perce tribe. Axtell's blessing was an ex- pression of hope these fish will become a lifeline that preserves The fisheries team, led by John Gebhard, released 80,000 of these 18- month -old salmon into the Salmon River tributary in hopes of having from 80 to 200 of the fish return during the next three years. the unique characteristics that "The significance of what we keep salmon returning to John - are doing is that we are sending son Creek and Idaho. our voices, our energy and our commitment with the salmon," said Silas Whitman, the Nez Perce fisheries manager. The tribal team released 80,000 of the 18- month -old chi- nook into the Salmon River trib- utary 100 miles northeast of Boise. They are the offspring of 54 wild salmon captured in 1998 — a quarter of the salmon that returned to Johnson Creek that year. In 1960, about 1,000 salmon returned to spawn in Johnson Creek. In 1995, fewer than 15 came home. If all goes right, 80 to 200 of the progeny of the chinook the Nez Perce released last week will return during the next three years. The project is one of the last - ditc� efforts agencies across the re- gion are trying to prevent the salmon from going extinct. "Our goal is not to save the fish," said Jason Vogel, a research biologist with the Nez Perce tribe. "We want to sustain the population long enough so that more drastic measures can be taken." The project is controversial be- cause taking salmon out of the wild and placing them in hatcheries is one of the root causes of the fish's decline in'the Pacific Northwest. These do- mesticated salmon adapt to hatchery conditions instead of the rigors of the harsh natural environment. When mixed with wild stocks, hatchery salmon reduce the genetic diversity of the wild salmon, making them less productive, said Tim Bur- ton, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Forest Service. The Forest Service ini- tially had challenged the project. Only four percent of the salmon's historic range contains wild strains or stocks of salmon. Only 15 percent of the remaining range has wild salmon. The Middle Fork of the Salmon River is the largest basin where hatchery salmon were never introduced. "If we continue to put hatchery stocks on wild stocks, we won't have 80,000 chinook salmon released into creek A, New N Meadows Pay O eke Ye 95 r /McCall Pi - - -- i� Donnelly i� � °t°Im Cascade . any wild salmon left," Burton said. But the Johnson Creek salmon were only raised from egg to juvenile in the hatchery and only for one gen- eration. This minimal intervention re- duces the genetic risk and allows the eggs increased survival the hatchery provides over wild conditions, said John Gebhards, the project leader. His team convinced the National Marine Fisheries Service that the risk of the wild salmon disappearing with- out intervention outweighs the long- term genetic risk. "The federal government is con- cluding there is some need in the near term to enhance the role of hatcheries to maintain some populations," Mike Delarm, a National Marines Fisheries Service biologist, said. Jack Williams, Boise National For- est deputy supervisor and one of the region's most respected fisheries biol- ogists, said they can accept the limit- ed, one - generation project but oppose a long -term program. Tribal fisheries managers across the Pacific Northwest, including Whitman, have embraced the use of hatcheries to jump -start salmon re- covery. They will press their case with the Northwest Power Planning Coun- cil, the regional agency that recom- mends where and how Pacific North- west electric ratepayers spend salmon dollars. Projects like Johnson Creek are de- signed to increase the knowledge base to determine how extensively the practice can be used. Whitman considers salmon "sup- plementation" necessary because so many human activities — dam- build- ing, logging, mining and pollution — have broken the circle of life. "Whenever we take something out of life, we have to give back some- thing of equal value," Whitman said. The journey for the fisheries team was almost as rough as that the young fish now face in their trip down- stream. The team brought the fish to Johnson Creek in trucks across steep, snaking, snow - covered roads. One truck slid off the road, forcing a long delay and the partial draining of the salmon tank to make it lighter. "This activity kicks off our summer season," Whitman quipped as the truck was pulled out of the deep snow. "The salmon hold special signifi- cance for the Nez Perce and other fol- lowers of the Seven Drum religion, Axtell said. Each Sunday, salmon is served first, then elk and then berries, indicative of the importance of salmon as a food source. This continuing connection makes restoring salmon a sacred duty hand- ed down from parents and passed on to children, Whitman said, not only for the Nez Perce but for all in the Pa- cific Northwest. "If we don't protect the circle of life the salmon occupy, they will disap- pear," Whitman said. "Eventually, we will, too." Nez Perce fisheries project leader John Gebhard makes sure the Chi- nook salmon are being released properly into the Salmon River tributary on Tuesday. The goal of the project, according to the tribe's research bi- ologist, is to sustain the population long enough so that more drastic measures can be taken to save the fish. Sockeye returns best since 1977 300 adult fish already cleared dams The Associated Press STANLEY — A decade af- ter.,the Snake River sockeye salrfgon was placed on the fed- eral endangered species list, the once - nearly extinct fish is returning to its central Idaho spawning grounds in the largest numbers in more than two decades. More than 300 adult sockeye have already cleared Lower Granite Dam, the last of eight dams on the 900 -mile migra- tion from the Pacific Ocean to the Stanley Basin, and Fish and Game biologist Paul Kline said at least a third of them should make it the rest of the way. The last time more sockeye cleared Lower Granite was in 1977. Kline said 40 adults had al- ready reached either Redfish Lake Creek or the Sawtooth Hatchery by Monday, and a few were still passing Lower Granite. While the return seems pal- try compared to the thousands and even tens of thousands of other salmon species migrating back to their spawning beds in the Northwest, it stands out to the years when no sockeye or just one returned. Only 23 sock- eye returned to central Idaho throughout the 1990s. Kline heads the captive breeding program the state be- gan after the sockeye was de- clared endangered a decade ago, and he was optimistic about this year's return be- cause about 143,000 juvenile fish left Redfish, Alturas and Pettit lakes in 1998. The only question was how many could make it back be- cause most were the product of adults that had spent their en- tire fives in hatcheries. Most of the returning adults, Kline said, will be released to spawn naturally in the three lakes that lie in the shadow of the Sawtooth Mountains. Up to 20, he said, may be incorporat- ed into the spawning program at the Eagle Hatchery in south- western Idaho. "It's a long, drawn out dance that these fish do. It's amazing Dan Skinner, Idaho Rivers Unitec i time- • _ 0 _ salmon s This ear's salmon runs are Goodnight said the fish alter- providing southwest Idahoan a nately seek refuse and cover be- rare viewing opportunity. neath undercut banks and move "Best place traditionally (to into the shallow riffles to dig" view salmon spawning) is to go redds (nests) and deposit their to Indian Riffles," said Dan eggs. Skinner, conservation organiz- The salmon begin showing er with Idaho Rivers United. up on the spawning grounds in Spawning salmon also can be late July. The best viewing be- seen below Torrey's Hole near gins in August, with mid -to -late Clayton, on the Salmon River August the best opportunity to near Redfish Lake and at Stolle actually see salmon spawn. 1 Meadows near Cascade. Both Goodnight and Skinner , According to Bill Goodnight, said the salmon should be director of Idaho Salmon and spawning for a few more weeks. ` Steelhead Days, more than Better than average water 1,000 adult summer Chinook years in 1997 and 1998 and re- have been passed upstream sultant improved outmigration from the Idaho Department of conditions along with improv- Fish and Game trap to spawn ing ocean conditions have re- », - naturally in the upper South sulted in improved returns of Fork of the Salmon River. hatchery origin adults. `°the majority of these fish are "While these runs are impres p,^ ow actively spawning in Stolle sive by today's standards, they , eadows, 30 miles east of Cas do not indicate recovery of en- de where the South Fork me- dangered wild stocks," Good` °�.. ders through a broad valley," night said." _s "If you plan on going to Stolle w '. Goodnight and the group Meadows, be respectful, cau- rought fourth -grade poster- tious and stealthy when viewing �► s ontest winners, corporate the fish," Goodnight said. "View'' ponsors and legislators to view from a distance as they spook ` b - he spawning on Friday. easily at the sight of movement, First, the group observed arti- and disturbance can interrupt - cial spawning of summer chi- spawning activity. Please leave ook at the Department of Fish your dogs at home or in your ve- nd Game spawning station hicles." nd then went on to observe Both Goodnight and Skinner aturally spawning chinook in encourage people to catch the tolle Meadows. Professional action of the salmon spawning . - -- heries biologists from the Ida- season. o Chapter of the American "This ancient ritual is a sight' fisheries Society interpreted the that any red - blooded Idahoan ay's activities. should see," Goodnight said' Courtesy of Idaho Salmon and steelhead Days The best viewing can be had "Unless recovery takes a Matching the salmon "dance ": Visitors at Stolle Meadows view salmon spawning from the om a 200 foot long handi- matic turn for the better, t1200- foot -long viewing platform along the South Fork of fie Salmon River. Fish and Game and apped accessible viewing plat- .Forest Service volunteers built the platform in 1992- rm along the South Fork that opportunities may disappear as constructed by Fish and along with the fish." Life cycle of ame and Forest Service volun- "We can talk about salmon. rs in 1992," Goodnight said. but when you see a salmon Chinook salmon Skinner and the rest of the spawning, it becomes real," aho Rivers United crew will Skinner said. "It's a dance. It's e spending today at the Saw- not a simple, short, brief action. oth Salmon Celebration at It's a long, drawn out dance that edfish Lake. Skinner said he these fish do. It's amazing." cts about 200 people to join e festivities throughout the >ckeye and chinook salmon m in the Salmon River and fish Lake, making a 900 - journey to and from the Pa- Ocean. It's one of the est migrations of any ton in the world. Sockeye ion, which turn red at vning time, once were so tiful they gave Redfish Lake name. 1. Adults return to Ida- ho's mountain streams in the spring and summer, traveling 800 or more miles from the Pacific Ocean. 2. Females dig nests in the gravel in late summer and lay eggs, which males fertilize. Adults die after spawning. 3. Young fish begin emerging from eggs the following March through May. They stay in the streams for a year, grow- ing to 4 to 6 inches. 4. The young, called smolts, begin leaving for the ocean the following spring, riding the spring runoff. Before dams were built, the journey took three weeks. Now it takes two or three months. 5. The adults spend one to three years in the ocean, ranging thou- sands of miles and grow- ing to 40 pounds or more before beginning their voyage to the streams of their birth. — Source: Idaho De- partment of Fish and Game If you go > Stolle Meadows: Visitors can reach Stolle Meadows by traveling 29 miles east on the Warm Lake Road north of Cas- cade. Turn right on the Stolle Meadows Road. Turn right 4.8 miles from the Warm Lake Road to reach the viewinq area. Study: Salmon have less time than thought New data indicate wild chinook run may die out by 2016 By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A clos- er look at a "doomsday clock" for wild chinook salmon in the Snake River indicates even less time to reverse the trend toward extinc- tion, according to a study done for a national conservation group. Unless dramatic steps are tak- en to reverse the trend, wild spring /summer chinook in the Snake will effectively be extinct by 2016, a year earlier than previ- ously predicted, according to the study for Trout Unlimited, re- leased Wednesday. "The message is these fish are really in trouble," said Jeff Curtis, the group's Western conservation director. "We've got to make the hard decisions now. We can't come up with a plan that says we play around the edges for the next eight or 10 years and see where we are." Curtis was referring to the Na- tional Marine Fisheries Service plan for restoring Columbia Basin salmon, which stops short of call- ing for breaching four dams on the lower Snake River in eastern Washington, but relies heavily on improving survival of young fish before they migrate to the ocean. NMFS plans to reconsider whether to breach the dams, but not for another five years. An NMFS study published in the jour- nal Science suggested that im- proved survival of young salmon would do more to restore popula- tions than would dam breaching. Meanwhile, a federal mandate to spill extra water over Colum- bia River hydroelectric dams to help young salmon migrate to the ocean has been suspended to leave more water for producing elec- tricity while energy demands are high during drought conditions. The risk of extinction could be reduced if favorable ocean condi- tions continue and the drought ends, the study said. The record returns of chinook to the Columbia River this spring have been primarily hatchery fish. The study was done by Gretchen R. Oosterhout of Deci- sion Matrix Inc., a specialist in risk assessment, and salmon biologist Philip Mundy, who did a similar study two years ago. "There still is hope, but it diminishes with time, and very little of that is left," the study's authors wrote. L� - 4Jsia ?' n in our By Rocky Barker The Idaho Statesman Iola Anglin knew the salmon had returned to the Lemhi River when she saw their tails had swept the moss off the base of the old Mahaf- fey Bridge. The salmon runs used to attract hundreds of anglers who crowded into Anglin's Tendoy Store, 20 miles east of Salmon, Idaho, where both the city and the river are named for the fish. The fisher- men accounted for most of the profit margin of the store that An- glin, 81, has owned since 1948. "Wthad so many friends from all over the countryside," Anglin said. "It's been gone for a long, longtime." Dwindling returns brought the end of salmon fishing on the Lemhi in 1972. This summer, thanks to ideal migrating and ocean conditions, the fish are swimming up Idaho rivers in the highest numbers since the 1950s. Right now, Idahoan have the chance to experience the kind of salmon runs that imprinted on our culture and helped shape our his- tory . Signs of salmon culture are all around us. We call our hockey team the Steelheads (an ocean-go- ing relative of the salmon). Art students make salmon sculptures. Meridian elementary kids paint pictures of the fish. It's what's for dinner in many homes year -round And this year, salmon will even re- turn to the Boise River, for only the second time since the 1950s, with the help of Idaho Fish and Game's salmon trucking program. • III With the highest number of fish since the 1950s, Idahoans now have the chance to experience the kind of salmon runs that imprinted on our culture and helped shape our history. R monyto welcome the salmon back to the Salmon River. Lane and otner uudml owed into the current asthe Indians sang and drummed. Above:Asalmon leads upstream to soawn. (Photo courtesv Idaho Deoartment of Fish & Game.) Rocky Barker /The Idaho Statesman Rocky Barker/ The Idaho Statesman Horace AXteII, a Nez Perce reI igious leader, leads a group of Nez Perce tribal members and Riggins residents down to the Salmon River. They were celebrating the return of the salmon. 'I think we will have a much ,reateir opportunity to experience i historical part of salmon history end c'alture that was more wide- spread 100 years ago," said Sharon Ciefer, Idaho Department of Fish ,rid Game salmon and steelhead isheries manager. How it started The Northwest's cultural con- nections to fish began at least 12,000 years ago as early Ameri- can peoples used the fish for phys- ical and spiritual sustenance. The value of the fish was passed into Anglo culture when Shoshone In- dians first fed salmon to legendary explorer Merriwether Lewis in 1805, near the site of Anglin's store at the base of Lemhi Pass. During the past century, new hydropower projects were need- ed to keep pace with industrial growth. . Sen. John Sandy, R- Hagerman, comes from a family of sheep ranchers. He spent his summers in the 1950s and 1960s at the head- waters of the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, where his family grazed bands of sheep. As a child, he would try to catch the big spawners by their tails in Marsh and Knapp creeks; or he would try to revive the dying fish after they spawned. Most dramat- ic was watching the huge fish leap high to climb over Dagger Falls. "I can remember my parents telling me these fish had come all the way from the ocean, and I'd never seen the ocean," Sandy said. But slowly and steadily, man- made obstacles cut off salmon from their spawning grounds. And as the fish slipped away, so did many of Idahoans' cultural ties. No fish, no fishing. The only place in Idaho people regularly fished for salmon after 1978 was below the Rapid River Hatchery on the Little Salmon Riv- er. Even that was not very suc- cessful. Thrown together in a small area, tribal and other anglers clashed over the few fish that could be caught. The future looked bleak for salmon when, in 1990, the Shoshone - Bannock Tribes peti- tioned the federal government to list Idaho's sockeye salmon as en- dangered. Suddenly the fight over salmon was in the newspapers and on TV. Protesters in salmon suits marched up the Capitol steps and outfitters paraded their boats through Ida- ho's cities in support of the fish. But as salmon advocates have called for breaching dams and lim- iting irrigation, logging and min- ing, many rural Idahoans see it as an attack on their own heritage. Farmers resent the implication that salmon culture is of greater im- ortance than their own. "What's happened is the story f American progress in Idaho has 3-n��/ a dam in it,"-said Todd Shallat, a Boise State University history pro- fessor. "The salmon fits into this narrative as a symbol of the coun- terculture. It's the anti - hero." If urban salmon culture has led the movement to save the fish, rur- al Idahoans in those struggling agricultural economies are start- ing to figure out ways to turn sen- timents for the salmon into dol- lars for their communities. In Riggins and Orofino, busi- nesses are cashing in on anglers who have flocked to catch the more than 100,000 hatchery salmon that have returned to Ida- ho this year. Boise sporting goods stores are running out of salmon fishing tackle. Today, tribal fishermen and sport anglers stand side by side on the river along U.S. Highway 95 cooperatively catching their quo- tas. At Spring Bar on the Salmon River, 10 miles east of Riggins, a group of outfitters, Riggins resi- dents and Nez Perce tribal mem- bers held a ceremony together ear- lier this month to welcome back the salmon. "These fish are more than just an economic value to us," said Gary Lane, owner of Wapiti Out- fitters in Riggins. Salmon have always been more than an economic value to the state's Indian tribes. Horace Ax- tell, a Nez Perce religious leader, sat around a campfire after lead- ing the ceremony and described the role of salmon in his life and the lives of his ancestors. "Water is the most important el- ement of our way of life," he said. "The next element is salmon." Passing on a tradition A new generation also is learn- ing about salmon. Meridian teacher Deaun Zrno vaguely remembers salmon issues in the 1970s and'80s. But they didn't become a part of her life until she attended a Fish and Game teaching workshop in McCall in the mid- 1990s. There, she got to hold spawn- ing fish and see them in the Salmon River. "I remember hearing about the construction of dams but didn't think to question the effects they would have on natural resources and the species — good or bad," she said. Now she has her gifted and tal- ented students hold a "salmon summit," with each taking the role of a different interest, from farmer, to dam operator, to fisherman, bi- ologist or Indian. She wants to help make salmon the part of their life that they never were for her. "I didn't realize what was hap- pening to the salmon, or that I could do anything about it," she said. "They understand salmon and ��elo A -5 _-7? /-,qes Gerry Melendez / The Idaho Statesman Don Elder shows two kinds of salmon inside Reel Foods Fish Market Wednesday in Boise. The Atlantic salmon, left, is farm - raised and is popular year- round, while the king salmon is ocean - caught and season- al. "Both are a great value and high quality," said Elder. their place in our lives." More than 250 miles from the hustle and pollution of the Trea- sure Valley, Anglin's son, Kelly, 47, is still involved in the store that supplies the ranches and growing subdivisions east of Salmon. To- day he fishes for hatchery- raised steelhead, which continue to re- turn in good numbers, on the Salmon River in the spring and the fall. But he's lost the wild salmon that were so much a part of his youth. "It was very important to me growing up here," Kelly Anglin said. "It's basically how I spent my summers — looking for a place to fish." Although this year's salmon runs will be the best in decades, Viola Anglin won't share in the eco- nomic benefits. The entire Upper Salmon River is off - limits to salmon fishing this year to protect the endangered wild salmon that spawn in rivers like the Lemhi. Twenty -three wild salmon, em- bedded with computer chips as young fish, have been detected at Lower Granite Dam in Oregon, heading home toward Mahaffey Bridge. Anglin hopes both ranching and salmon survive and continue to be a part of Idaho culture. She hopes to see the moss under the bridge worn away again by the tails of chinook salmon. "I'm getting pretty old, so I can't fish anymore," she said. "I'd love to see them again, though." r Researchers divided over reason � behind record salmon numbers The Associated Press The largest spring chinook salmon run in a generation is creating an economic rush of anglers for small communi- ties in north - central Idaho and underscoring the claim that the fate of the fish is up to Mother Nature, not man. "No one wishes more than my organization that mankind could take a lot of credit for this year's run," Mitch San - chotena of Idaho Salmon and Steelhead Unlimited said. "That would be great. But we all know that is not the case. We are still very depen- dent on nature to take care of our own," he said. About 160,000 spring Chi- nook have been counted at Lower Granite Dam, the last on the Snake River before they hit Idaho. It is the largest return since the lower Snake River dams were built in the 1970s and 10 times the average return over the past decade. Many fisheries experts cite ecent years of high spring unoff and a turnaround in cean conditions. But which is more respon- ible has the research com- unity divided. This year's run comes from almon that returned in 1997, hich also was a high return. at means there were more dults to produce more juve- At the same time, the win - r of 1999 dumped above - =al snow in the high country that provided high runoff that spring as the ju- veniles migrated from Idaho, Oregon and Washington to the Pacific Ocean. There was so much water that the fish were moved through the Columbia Basin much faster than normal, keeping them in better phys- ical shape and enabling them to more easily avoid preda- tors. "These are all lessons everybody involved in the salmon and steelhead issue should already know, but I think the returns of this year really drive the point home," Bill Sedivy of Idaho Rivers United said. "It's all about flow." But others have reached a different conclusion — among them James Anderson, a professor at the University of Washington. Anderson maintains that ocean conditions, not river flows, produced the record run of 2001. "I think it has almost noth- ing to do with the runoff, par- ticularly through the hy- dropower system," he said. "One thing that has changed between 1998 and now — the ocean conditions have changed considerably." When the juveniles reached the ocean, it had just entered a cooler phase with more cir- culation of water between the depths and surface. That made it more produc- tive, and the fish were able to grow bigger faster. It also kept hordes of warm - water predators from lurking at the mouth of the Columbia River waiting to feast on the migrating young fish. His theory would make less important to fish recovery breaching the dams or using water stored in Idaho reser- voirs to flush fish through the hydropower system. Nature may settle the de- bate because it has set up a chance experiment to pit flows against ocean condi- tions. While the record return is under way, the juveniles from 1999's return of 3,300 adults are migrating to the ocean amid river flows severely re- duced by drought. And ener- gy shortages are limiting any water being spilled to help fish move to the Pacific. "Those fish going out this year are going to have very high mortality," said Bill Hor- ton, anadromous fish manag- er for the state Fish and Game Department. But if most of the credit for this year's run should be at- tributed to the improved ocean conditions, the predic- tions of doom in 2003 will be tempered. If Anderson is right, those fish surviving the migration will reach a healthy environment that should in- crease their survival and per- haps mitigate the effects of the low runoff. "It will be another piece of information that I think will say the ocean is the biggest factor," Anderson said. Photo courtesy of Sen. Mike Crapo's office Sen. M ike Crapo caught his limit while fishing earlier this sea- son on the Little Salmon River near Riggins. "Spendingthis kind of time with friends and family is a priceless adventure," Crapo said. "This is why I will press to move ahead aggressive- ly where we find consensus to help these fish recover. One good year is not enough —this should happen every year." n Idaho is home to several different types of salmon uestion. What are all the different types of salmon we have in Idaho? Does Idaho have king salmon? r Michael Swindell, Boise ASK 7JMO nswer: I'm a salmon cook, not a salmon biologist. So, I went to right to Fish and Game to get all this salmon stuff ironed out. I also looked in a su- per book when it comes to Idaho fish — "Fishes of Idaho," See if you can find one in the library. OK, here we go: Chinook ,rYF, Vitals: Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Weight: up to 125 pounds, aver- age 20 pounds. Length: 24 inches to 50 inches Spawn timing: September to mid- December Spring chinook This is a chinook salmon that is the earliest to migrate up the Columbia and Snake rivers into Idaho. Thus, its name. We are fishing for spring Chi- nook right now in the Salmon, Little Salmon, Snake and Clear- water rivers. Spring chinook enter the Co- lumbia River from March through May and the Snake Riv- er and its tributaries in late May, June and early July," according to "Fishes of Idaho." Summer chinook They come in right on the heels (or fins) of spring chinook. They stay in the ocean a little longer before heading up the Columbia. As the spring run is going past its peak in Idaho and summer run shows up. Summer chinook are found in places like the South Fork of the Salmon River. Fall chinook They run even later than the spring and summer chinook. They used to go all the way up the Snake River to the Hager- man area. They hit their spawning grounds in the Snake River in southern Idaho in late Septem- ber and October. The strongest remaining fall chinook run is in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River. There are fall chinook that spawn in the Snake River below Hells Canyon Dam. Fall chinook were stocked in places like Coeur d'Alene Lake and Anderson Ranch Reser- voir to add another fish- ing opportunity. All these fish are the same species but different genet- ic stocks. Fall chinook prefer spawning in the deeper, main - stem rivers while spring and summer chinook prefer tribu- taries of Idaho's big rivers. By the way, chinook are called king salmon in Alaska. Sockeye �R fi'i Vitals: Oncorhynchus nerka Weight: up to 12 pounds, aver- age 7 to 8 pounds. Length: 20 inches to 28 inches Spawn timing: Early August through late December They spawn in lakes. Sockeye salmon come all the way up the Columbia, Snake and Salmon rivers to Stanley Basin where they migrate to Redfish Lake. Before the dams, they used to migrate all the way up to Payette Lake at McCall. They need access to a lake to spawn. The sockeye run is in critical condition. The sockeye run is slim. In 1992, for example, only one fish showed up at Redfish Lake. By the way, sockeyes are called red salmon in Alaska. Kokanee Steelhead Vitals: Oncorhynchus nerka Weight: up to 6 pounds Length: 10 inches to 24 inches Spawn timing: Early August through late December. This is a landlocked sockeye. Redfish Lake near Stanley waE known for its kokanee and sock- eye populations. Kokanee are sockeyes that call the lake their home. But kokanee spawn in both lakes and streams. Kokanee were found to be ge- netically different from a sock- eye but the same species. Coho Vitals: Oncorhynchus kisutch Weight: up to 31 pounds, aver- age 6 to 12 pounds Length: 17 inches to 38 inches Spawn timing: Mid - October through early January Coho salmon used to be found in the lower parts of the Clear- water and Snake rivers. When they were prevalent in Idaho, coho would enter river tributaries in August and Sep- tember and spawn in October. Fish and Game started stock- ing coho in reservoirs. Fishing was good in Cascade Reservoir in the '80s. The problem with coho in lakes and reservoirs is that they have a tendency to skip out when the water's high and a lot of water is being flushed out of the reservoir. They have a tendency to head downstream. Vitals: Oncorhynchus mykiss Weight: up to 43 pounds, aver- age 6 to 15 pounds. Length: Up to 45 inches Spawn timing: Late March through early June A steelhead is a sea -run rain- bow trout. They are not a steel - head salmon. Certain rainbow trout in Idaho have a tendency to migrate to the ocean while others stay put. Idaho doesn't have pink salmon, which are also known as humpbacks or humpies. We don't have chums or dog salmon. Fish and Game has experi- mented with stocking Atlantic salmon in some lakes but it hasn't taken off. Seriously, if you really want all you ever wanted to know about Idaho's salmon, grab a copy of "Fishes of Idaho." It's really interesting. My expertise in salmon is with the grill. r:- '11 CD _ 0. n � C �n CD =J �• r* (D r 9q (DO C O (CD fn-r R� UOi (D ' w (D 0 ( C � ((D O — O G - N cn p O O W W O r S -1 o a p1 O '.S Uq (n po S0. cis A) ~' ~' C ( O O •~+ c~D r+ n (D ~ 0 t7 t7 (n(D��yzC pi rr 11 �+ � CD Q V (CD r. 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