Sauk river mess?

[fishhog4u]

I just spoke with a local guied. He says that the guy really made a mess. I heard that he was attempting to keep the little property he had left which in someways, I understand.
But, he should have put a little more thought into it.
Seems he really is going be in some serious hot water on this one!!!

[GutZ]

It has been discussed at some lenght here
http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/u...c;f=1;t=017129

[Scruffy Bearded Varmint]

GutZ,

Thanks for the link. Read the thread. Man is that discouraging.

[Homer2handed]

I started a tread on tuesday on this subject.
Investigations are currently being conducted by the enforcement branches of WDFW, Army Corps, and Snohomish County. WDFW is taking the lead on the investigation right now, since the primary damage
was to state lands (i.e., the active river channel). NOAA Fisheries, who will be
looking into Endangered Species Act violation. The Forest
Service has also been involved due to violations under the
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The excavation has violated county building
and critical areas codes, state hydraulic permit requirements, federal
dredging permit requirements, as well as federal ESA and Wildlife and
Scenic River regulation. Whoever did this is
will be in some trouble...

[Quasimodo the fish killer]

they may be in trouble but the costs are less then the costs of what they would lose.

the fines and penalties for such an act are not enough to persuade anyone from doing things the right way.

once I was up tenmile creek here in lane county it had not rained in ove a week the river was a turbid muddy brown. I couldnt believe it was so dirty when it hadnt rained in so long so i drove up the creek.

about 6 miles i see a bull dozer dragging logs across the creek churning up a mess the creek was beautifull above the logging site.

I get back to town call a person who came into my shop that worked for the forest service and told him about the blatant violation of laws.

he goes on to explain to me that the fine for doing what the logger was doing was aproximately $500 and it would cost the guy about $15,000 to get the permits and have a road and bridge built that would meet standards.

he told me he would go site the guy but he would do it over and over again because even with the tickets he was still gonna save a bundle of dough over doing it lawfully.

the sad fact is that the penalties are not steep enough to stop people from doing this type of activity and untill they are it will continue to happen and there is not a thing we can do about it. we live in a world where the all mighty dollar is the bottom line.

sometimes I wonder if them freaks that drive spikes into old groth and the people that chain themselves to trees arent the ones who got the right idea.

Quasi

.

[Scruffy Bearded Varmint]

From the article it appears that a farmer along the Sauk River fell asleep one night. While he was sleeping some river elves with a cat snuck into the Sauk River and used a Caterpillar to rearrange 6,000 yards of rock, sand, gravel, and trees on between 1200 and 1400 feet of river bed. When asked about who may have done such a thing the farmer pleaded no involvement!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/164465_sauk12.html

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsourc...312&query=sauk

Kiss a ton (literally) of fish good bye on this one. Steelhead, chinook, chum and pink salmon all use to spawn in the area of the Sauk, according to the article. It is also home coho and bull trout.

You have no idea how many times I have heard landowners argue that the reason Oregon Anglers should be kept off the river is because they damage it. They often say the landowner is the best steward of the land. Bunk!

Can any of you Washington folks fill us in on this event of immaculate deception?

[ 03-12-2004, 01:04 PM: Message edited by: Scruffy Bearded Varmint ]