Sandy River Plumbing!!

[Pilar]

Why has no one commented on the changes proposed to the Sandy river system? PGE is replumbing the river by removing diversions and dams. Marmot and little Sandy dams are going away. Rosylyn Lake is also going to change with no input from Marmot dam diversion and no outflow to the Bull run powerhouse.

There is also talk about hatchery closure on the Sandy and banning fishing on the whole river. Removing dams that have minimal benefit seems like a good thing. Marmot is old. Why does this have to cause a fishing closure?

Does any one know any details about these proposed changes? Do sport fishers have any say?

Thanking you in advance!

[Pirate]

Pilar
Lots of input on this issue earlier see "Fishing on the Sandy May End....Your help needed".
My question too, why would this cause a fishing closure?


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B

Something politically charged is going on around the northwest! ODFW is threatening, under fed pressure I'm sure, to close hatchery planting and fishing of 2 of the most successful salmon and steelhead rivers in the region; the Sandy R. near Portland and the N.F. Nehalem on the north coast. For starters. The reasons given don't wash! It's the same with Washington's most sucessful and most fished salmon and steelehad river in that state; the Cowlitz R.! Fishers there are up in arms by the threat of losing that great fishery and the certainty that it will make for even more crowding on other rivers! With the region's hatchery policy changes to finclipping to allow for proper C&R of native fish; and the move toward releasing more genetically pure hats indigenous to a given river, along with the help of the brood stock programs, and smaller smolt numbers released, there doesn't seem to be a need to close those rivers! Is money at the bottom of it all? Wealthy poeple around the rest of the country don't fish our rivers but do contribute to compaigns. Billions saved brought on by hatchery cuts could make for a few nice tax cut paid for third Mercedes' in some rich people's driveways. Or could the NMFS really think that closing these rivers, under the improved conditions mentioned above, is the only way to go?!? They sure don't mind allowing the Indians to gillnet native fish! Any corresponding closures mentioned there? Anyone? - RT

[SandySteel]

I attended the meeting at ODFW headquarters last week to learn what the options ODFW were planning with the removal of Marmot dam. Basically, there were 4 options on the table until the sport fishermen put enough pressure on to get them to consider a fifth one. Here is the situation.
Marmot dam will probably be removed in 6 years. ODFW wants to be ready to manage the river in the absence of the dam. The reason this is important is that upstream of the dam is 75% of the spawning habitat and this whole section is managed for wild fish as hatchery fish are recycled downstream. Below Marmot is where all hatchery fish are allowed. The big sticky thing is that when Marmot gets removed the ability to keep hatchery fish out of the upper river will be lost. So ODFW is looking at the 5 options to manage the fish.
The 5 options are:
1. no hatchery fish, the entire system is managed for wild fish. All mitigation dollars (usually spent on hatcheries) will be spent on habitat restoration. This would close the river to fishing.
2. Reducing hatchery strays into the wild fish area (moved to the area above the Salmon river) Limit hatchery strays on the river by reducing hatchery fish on the river. These reductions would be a 65% reduction of winter steelhead, eliminating summer steelhead, a 74% reduction of Spring chinook, and an 83% reduction of coho.
3. Reducing hatchery program to a lesser degree but utilize different methods of acclimation and using in system fish for wild broodstock.
4. maintaining current system but using wild broodstock and not using a fish sorting facility. If monitoring finds hatchery fish in the wild fish sanctuary then a reduction or alteration in the hatchery practices would be enacted to reduce strays in the wild fish sanctuary.
5. maintain current system, using wild broodstock and creating a fish sorting facility at the current site of Marmot dam or elsewhere to continue to sort out hatchery fish.
These 5 options now go again to a steering committee that will discuss the options and make a recomendation to the ODFW decision makers.
The one that the Northwest Steelheaders and all of the other sport fishing organizations are behind is the fifth option as it provides for protection of wild fish, switches the basin to wild broodstock, and allows for the rebuilding of runs through better hatchery practices and habitat enhancements. Lastly, it would also allow fishing. No other option allows for all of them and result in one side winning or the other. The fifth option allows all sides to win with wild fish protection and continued sport fishing. I will try to keep folks posted on the future of sport fishing on the Sandy.



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Eric Neiwert
Sandy River Chapter Northwest Steelheaders
Portland OR