Oh Wow!!! We got 22 Salmon back to Idaho....

[JoseCuervo]

I would guess that it is hard for people to picture, who have never been to Stanley, ID of just how amazing these Salmon are. To be able to leave with 75,000 of your brothers and sisters, and knowing that only 22 will make it back to one of the most beautiful places on earth.

How "in-action" by Dubya and others can be condoned is beyond me. It is too bad Dubya does not have the "steadfast determination" that thes Sockeyes do.

It's an 1,800-mile round-trip packed with obstacles and predators all the way from Stanley to the Pacific Ocean and back, and so far this year only 22 Snake River sockeye salmon have made it.

That's out of about 75,000 released two years ago for the migration to the Pacific.

Last year just three hearty fish survived their full migratory journey.

Another 88 sockeye have crossed Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River in Washington this year. It's the last in the hurdle of eight federal Columbia River system dams the fish must pass on their return trip to the Salmon River to spawn in the lakes of the Sawtooth Valley near Stanley.

"Once they have reached Lower Granite Dam they have come 400 miles from the ocean. Stanley is about 900 miles from the ocean -- there is still 500 miles of something that could get in the way," said Bill Horton, salmon and steelhead coordinator for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

The department operates a cooperative sockeye program paid for by the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets hydropower from the federal dams. BPA funds the program's annual budget with $800,000.

Species preservation and research rather than recovery is the program's focus, said Catherine Willard, a Fish and Game Department fisheries biologist. Researchers seek to maintain a broodstock of wild sockeye, although realizing returns back to the Sawtooth Valley also is a good thing, she said.

Long-term the program aims to advance beyond its preservation focus to bolster numbers to recovery levels of 2,000 returning sockeye to Sawtooth Valley lakes.

The Snake River sockeye is among 13 salmon and steelhead species in the Columbia River Basin protected by the Endangered Species Act. The sockeye was listed as endangered in 1991, the year the Sawtooth Valley broodstock program began.

The greatest contributor to the fish's high mortality rate is the federal Columbia hydropower system, Horton said. Sockeye apparently are less fit to travel through the reservoirs than other migrating salmon species.

"There is just little that we do know about sockeyes, because we have so few of them to work with and study," he said.

Other causes of mortality include low water levels in the rivers as the fish are migrating to and from the ocean, river temperatures that become too warm, predators, and for the past couple of years, possibly a parasite, Willard said.

Researchers this year will be evaluating whether the parasite is contributing to a higher mortality rate once the fish pass Lower Granite on their way back to the Sawtooth Valley, she said.

Commercial or sport harvest of Snake River sockeye is not permitted, Horton said.

 

[chas031]

Congrats Gunner!
Care to invest in the CT, MA restoration project?? Over $50Mil spent over 25 yrs and this year only 33 salmon returned to the CT river!! Of course the stripers are VERY happy with their newfound "forage". Offshore fisheries in Ct have flourished. And the admin portion of this program(located in Boston, of course) has become one of the starring roles of the Gov. appointed positions!!
I think it would have been cheaper and more rewarding to hook up a pipeline from every house in W. MA directly to the river so we could flush our money direct!!

Chas

 

[MarvB]

Gunner- Were not that much ahead of you on the Sacramento's winter-run chinook salmon. Most year the return is at or under 1,000 fish and with the temp. control curtain and other mods at the dam it amounts to about $100,000 per fish....

 

[JoseCuervo]

The Irony is that the econmic studies show that Idaho (and the NorthWest) would be many $$$$ ahead each year by breaching the dams and enjoying healthy fish populations.

Why Dubya wants the proverbial "lose-lose" situtation is amazing.

 

[DEADI270]

Gunner: I will admit that I would love to see some much more drastic measures used to save Idaho's salmon and stealhead runs. I am fed up with how little help salmon get from our polititions. However, to blame it all on Dubya would be a bit short sighted. Granted Dubya has not done anything to help, but neither has any other president for the last 30 years!

 

[MarvB]

They did reestablish a small salmon/steelie run on the Clear Creek watershed here- even had ol' Brucey Babbit come out for the breeching (Salzer Dam) events back then.

 

[Ten Bears]

Somebodys gotta take the fall. Just think, if Kerry gets the job, he can be the next fall guy. Oh the wheels of politics are slow.

 

[txDEERhuntr]

never made it all the way to stanley hunt up on grand jean though

 

[JoseCuervo]

And if you are wondering what the lake looks like that these 22 fish want to return to, here it is...

As you can see, it is not an "upstream" problem, it is clearly Dubya's downstream dams that are causing the problem.

 

[feclnogn]

it is clearly Dubya's downstream dams

I had no idea that Bush built these dams.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Fecl,

He was the one that stood in front of Ice Harbor Dam and declare it would not come down.

The facility has been a crucial part of the past in this region, and I'm here to tell you it's going to be a crucial part of the future, as well.

[ 09-02-2004, 20:27: Message edited by: ElkGunner ]

 

[TheTone]

Has anyone ever proved that by simply pulling out dams the fish will automatically be back? There are lots of issues here, but to put all the blame on the dams is shortsighted.

 

[Ithaca 37]

Tone, How ya gonna prove that to your satisfaction without actually taking the dams out? One thing we can prove for sure is that the salmon runs have been decimated since the dams went in. Starting the year each was built. No doubt about it. Why do you think we don't have salmon swimming up the Boise River anymore? Suppose it has anything to do with the Hells Canyon dams blocking the way? Take a look at the returns to coastal rivers without dams on them.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Tone,

We can do studies on Redfish Lake, and we have, and it is fine for the Sockeyes to return. Same with other lakes in that region.

We have forced the ranchers to keep their cattle out of the creeks, we have made the loggers quit clearcutting to the creeks. We have made the farmers change their diversions out of the rivers. We have done as much as can be done in Idaho to allow the fish to return. Can you think of anything else we need to do???

Study after study has shown the dams must go. Why would that not be the way to proceed????

 

[Delw]

Does redfish lake have a dam?
I noticed it was around 372 feet deep. so I assuming it has a dam.
if they breech the dam at redfish(assuming they have a dam) how deep would the lake be then?


Delw

 

[JoseCuervo]

No, Redfish Lake does not have a dam.... It is a LAKE. If it had a dam, it would be called a RESERVOIR!!!!!

In Our View: Dams Harm Fish ... even if mitigation efforts, good ocean conditions are helping salmon, steelhead

Thursday, September 2, 2004
Columbian editorial writers

Federal salmon managers declared Tuesday that the operation of dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers does not jeopardize fish. And they said that because these dams were in place before the Endangered Species Act was passed, the dams are essentially permanent fixtures of the landscape that must (and can) be worked around.

Officials aren't asking the right question, from our perspective. The right question is, does the existence of dams on these rivers harm fish and play a detrimental role in their ultimate survival?

To that question, the answer remains very clear. Dams harm fish. They turn a natural, free-flowing river into a road full of bothersome and confusing traffic stops. They create warm pools of water full of predators that add to fish decline. And without dams' detrimental impacts on endangered and threatened fish runs in the Columbia River basin, a slew of other mitigation efforts might not be needed. Heck, we might not even need the Bush administration to classify hatchery fish the same as wild fish in order to justify environmental policy.

NOAA Fisheries agreed with us on Wednesday that if there were no dams in the Columbia River basin, things would be better for salmon. Still, the agency says it believes that fish can survive with the dams in place, given the success of new breakthroughs in fish-migration technology. While we cheer those efforts along, we can only hope the government's bet is well placed. You don't get a second chance to save a species once it is lost.

Rather than a well-placed bet, we think this latest position simply allows the dams to get off the breaching table on a technicality. And because no one can say, without a doubt, that eight fish runs will survive without dam removal, we'd rather the government erred on the side of remembering the premise that fish stand a better chance without dams in their path.

Further, dams are not a permanent fixture of the landscape. They are optional fixtures of the landscape that should be removed if their presence is jeopardizing salmon and steelhead survival.

Logical people can and do fight against dam breaching because the removal of dams would be detrimental to the entire Northwest economy, individual livelihoods and property owners along the river's edge. If those factors continue to outweigh what might be the best plan for fish recovery, at least the argument will have been an honest one. But treating dams as immovable objects that we have to work fish survival strategies around is ludicrous.

 

[Delw]

I was just curious, because a lake that deep usually has a dam.
they are suppose to be called resivours but we have Lakes here that have dams and they are called Lakes even on forrest service maps.


Delw

 

[JoseCuervo]

If you want to see a tall dam, creating a Reservoir in Idaho, you should go Elk Hunting with Paws up at Dworshak Reservoir. It has some claim to fame, like the tallest single pour of concrete or something like that. (And by the way, it ABSOLUTELY stops salmon and steelhead from going up the North Fork of the Clearwater River.

Here is a picture of Dworshak RESERVOIR as compared to Redfish LAKE (posted above). I think Paws has posted directions to come "share a cup of coffee" with him....

USA - Idaho Salmon and Steelhead are in the middle of a tug of war that has been going on for decades and environmentalists are now howling that push has finally come to shove. "It is absolutely absurd."

Brent Bowler of Idaho Rivers United says a draft federal strategy to leave lower Snake River dams unbreached is the same thing as saying the dams are harmless and fish advocates like Bowler, are having none of it.

"What really doesn't add up here, the four Governors from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana are on record saying they want to see sustainable harvestable wild fish back in the Snake River drainage. The federal government is saying that is not our goal anymore. Our goal is just to keep them from going instinct."

Many Fish biologists feel dam breaching is the only viable option. The Bonneville Power Administration believes that breaching is not a realistic option because hydro power has become critical to the northwest's economy. John Williams, spokesperson for the Boise office of the B.P.A. says that is a fact of life environmentalists should realize. "You won't see any new hydro power but what currently exists is needed."

Bowler says the federal government is retreating from earlier positions. "This backsliding there is no doubt about it and I would to really question the states to see where they stand in this whole effort."

One of Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne's representatives on the four state Northwest Power Planning Council is Judi Danielson. She is also the council chair. Danielson says the draft plan needs more detail before environmentalists slam it. "I wouldn't pass judgement on that. I think it would be too early until we actually see the devil in the detail."

The biological opinion is expected to be released in the next week to ten days.

 

[Hangar18]

Del - It's a Glacier carved lake. No dam.

Three guesses as to why it is called Redfish Lake...

 

[Hangar18]

No, Redfish Lake does not have a dam.... It is a LAKE. If it had a dam, it would be called a RESERVOIR!!!!!

OK, now Gunner is lying. He completely forgot about our newest and greatest "lake" - Lake Cascade.