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About The news-review. (Roseburg, Or.) 1948-1994 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1953)
Tiiei., Jan. 13, 1953-The Newt-Review, Roseburo, On. 3 bidding MmonA lake if Trash IFisEi Eposes ro Hem Poisoning Water To Restore Picturesque Fishermen's Retreat Being Considered By CHARLES V. STANTON Diamond Lake, one of Oregon's most valuable scenic and recreational assets, is in grave danger of becoming a biological wilderness." Such is the report from the re search staff of the Oregon Game Commission. Diamond Lake, only a few years ago, was the world's largest rainbow trout eprg-takine station. . Its fiaherv tnriav ,is crtticaily depleted. This is because anglers a few years ago unthinkingly introduced into the lake a species of trash fish known as roach. Because rnach mnltinlv iv times faster than trout, they have virtually crowded the name iisn out oi trie laKe. w'JiWIIMWfg The Game Commission knows how to rid the lake of its trash fish population. Ejt there remains a "$64 question. Can the lake re cover from damage already in flicted, even if trash fish are des troyed? That question cannot now be answered. Only experience will tell. The answer lies In the ability of organisms upon which flsa feed to bounce back into abundance. Rehabilitation of the lake's fish ery depends largely upon the fac tor of food supply. In 1946, when the Game Com mission began to take note of. the encroachment of trash fish, a test was made of the abundance of bottom feed. It was found that the supply amounted in that year to 292 pounds per acre. Bottom feed includes a wide range of organisms. There are fresh water shrimp, leeches, worms, scores of species of insect larvae, etc. Ample supply oi bottom feed permits the lake to yield an abun dance of big, gamey trout. When the lake had 292 pounds of food per acre it could produce the "lunkers" for which it was noted rainbow trout occasionally weigh ing more man zo pounds. Supply Diminish No test was made of bottom feed conditions in 1947. In 1948 a shock ing fact was revealed. The supply of bottom feed had dropued from 292 pounds per acre to 14.4 pounds. In 1949 it was down to 10.5 pounds In 1950 only 5.5 pounds. In 1951 tesis revealea omy i.i pounds per acre, Last season the millions of swarming, hungry roach min nows were so industriously root ing out organisms from the silt of the lake bed that the water became turbid. bffects of the drop in food sup ply and the competition for food is shown by tests to determine trout pounds per acre. In 1947 the lake yielded 15.4 pounds of fish per acre of water. three million In 1947 and two mil-bottom feed now left in the lake lion in 1948. None were returned I rehabilitate itself to the point of in iwy. since iws, approximately I previous aounaance.' so.ooo iisn nave beta planted in Mother Nature will have to an. 1 uiv iaav auuuauy ana mesa nave FISHERY PROBLEMS STUDIED AT DIAMOND LAKE The fcbove photo by News-Review Photographer Paul Jen kins, is a view of Mount Thielson taken from the shore of scenic Diamond Lake. One of the most beautiful of, the many Cascade lakes. Diamond Lake is losing much of its recreational business because of impairment of its sport fishery. The Oregon Came Commission Is conducting ex tensive studies into the possibility of poisoning the waters of the lake to destroy its population of trash fish, and then to replant it with rainbow trout in the hope of restoring the lake to its once productive capacity. In 1948 poundage was reduced to 9.2. The figure was 3.7 in 1949; 1.7 in 1950 : 0.9 in 1951, ana 0.8 in 1952. . The relationship between abund ance of feed is no different with fish than with beef cattle. Pro ductivity of an acre of water is measured by the amount of feed it contains. Roach Eating Food In the case of Diamond Lake all available ifeei is being con sumed by roach. They are rapidly destroying au organisms in tne lake. Because they are small, they can force their way into the weed beds and narrow crevices the larger trout cannot reach. It will not be long until the roach, too, will begin to starve. If left un disturbed they will eventually reach a population balance in proportion to the annual food pro duction of the lake. In the mean time, trout will become virtually 2task 'if NvVAl W... V thrill: ISAn 1 Irene Dodtl, at work tn tlie traffic of lux the supervision of some at Albany, Oregon, where the ostitis in 90 telephone operator!. IRENE DODD-YOUNG LADY GOING PLACES In just a few yean, the has advanced in the telephone business from student operator to assistant chief In August, 1943, Irene Dodd came to work for Pacific Telephone as an inexperienced student operator. Since then, she's had several promo tionsto operator in charge, supervising oper ator, and recently to her present position as assistant chief operator. This is a familiar tele-' phone success story. For advancing our tele phone men and women as their skill and experi ence grows is just one more way we work to make your telephone evrr more efficient and valuable to you. ' K Jt$ IStr, SKI ' A good place to work One reason why telephone jobs are gooc johs is the fact that each year thousands of telephone men and women are promot ed to more responsible positions in the hundreds of communities we serve locally here in the Pacific West. Their goal: to help keep your telephone service the fin est in the world. YOUR TELEPHONE IS ONE OF TODAY'S BEST BARGAINS. Every day is exciting for Mrs. Dodd who, like many telephone women, has combined mar riage and her career. She enjoys keeping house as much as she enjoys helping people with their telephone calls! Gratifying, too, is the feeling that she is helping new people get ahead in the telephone world. It's all part of telephone tradi tiona traditiop of service which insures that a well-trained force of men and women stands behind the good telephone service you enjoy every day. Pacific Telephone extinct, being less fitted for com petition. Many types of organismr, such as leeches, shrimp, worms, etc., will be totally destroyed. There will be left only the eggs and larvae from flying insects. When the lake supported trout only there was little problem of foot) and population balance. There are too many places the trout can not reach, or will not attempt to reach while food is plentiful. Thus from an ample supply of organ isms, Nature could produce an ever Increasing abundance. Now, however, the base stock of all varieties has been critically reduced. Can Mother Nature, from this scarce supply, restore an abun dance of feed, even if roach are removed, or is Diamond Lake des tined to become forever a lake with a limited fish population balanced against food scarcity? This is a Suestion biologsts can't answer, nly time wuT tell. That is why biologists speak of the possibility of a "biological wilderness," Can Destroy Trash Fish Game Commission researchers know they can destroy the trash fish in the lake. They have had only two failures in more than 3J previous Dolsoning'experiments. Diamond Lake can be poisoned mOre effprHtrolv than cnnA M - - J .... auuic Ul UIC other takes and reservoirs which nvu more inlets, more swamoy ground, etc. But, Diamond Lake alSO DOSeS SOme nrnhllm nnl nr. viously encountered. tampering with the level of the lake will produce fluctuations in the ma.n river. Will those fluctu ations affect spawning of salmon and Steethejlria? Pnm mill rizhta tw mttpiA? Utah.. in the summer and fall and lower waier in uie winter wm interfere with sports fishing. Will sports ang- some effect upon Copco's power generation at us mam river stations. But thprH f OnAlhAH lctr It. has the staff trembling in its col lective boots. It is a remote risk. Neverthalnac ll mnal hs .......,, ,v Hlug. UG kUliaiUCl CU. Suppose there is an undiscovered seepage from the lake into the river, other than the one known outlet. Or suppose an accident Should nrnir Pnienn fmm fha Utr. might then conceivably get into me river, it couia wipe out virtual ly all fish life and destroy one whole evcta of miffratnrv fih r all species. Danger Bt litvtd Ramett Thft Httnuftr nt llh annlrtant tm very remote indeed. Yet it must be taken into consideration as a calculated risk. The poison used is rotenone. It Is a crystalline powder coming from a South American root. Dis- soivea in water, it affects all gill- isms. It kills by suffocation, not uy luxic action. One of the problems connected with riinmnnrl l.slra h,. hun 4ti depth of the water, tinder pre- viuus practice it was louna mat tht nnienn nnatrtal Anlu In depth of about 20 feet. As Diamond L,aKe approacnes w leei in aepin in places, early engineering plans called for drawing the water down to a 20-foot level. Heretofore the practice has been fn t AW cnclr fillari with tha nnu.r behind boats, allowing the poison to dissolve and settle. This required many boats and much manpower. A new method now has been invented. A metal tube well casing or cul vert pipe about 24 Inches in dia meter and 20 feet long, is suspend ed in the water between boats or barges. Outboard motors operate through two holes cut at Intervals in the tube. A hopper at the front of the tube receives the poison. As this contrivance is propelled through the water, poison is shovel led into the hopper. The ontboard motor propellers within the tube cause the powder to be mixed and the disturbance kicked up results in much deeper peretration than under the old system. Thus thor ough distribution of the poison to a depth of 50 feet is no longer a problem. . Lower Watar Five Fm Engineers now calculate it will be unnecessary to draw the lake level down motu than five feet. Instead of being compelled to call upon hundreds of sportsmen with boats to lend assistance, the game department would be able to han dle the job with its own crews, using the new equipment. What' would happen if not all roach were killed? This is a ques tion asked whenever otologists aiS' cuss the Diamond Lake problem Biologists believe the danger of leaving any roach alive would be very remote. They have had much experience, Having aireaay poi soned more than 30 lakes and re. servoirs. While the Diamond Lake 1nh would he the biffcest ever at tempted in the United States, it is comparauveiy simple irom an engineering standpoint. It is much less difficult than in some of the areas where treatment already has worked successfully but which involved adjacent swamps where minnows might escape. The treat ment would involve all tributary streams and all potholes adjacent to the lake. But should there be a failure and a few of me roach survive, biologists estimate it would be from 10 to 12 ' years oeiore uie irasn fish again would become a pro blem, whereupon it might become necessary to poison the lake again, in the meantime recreation val ues and income would be restored. Unrestricted Fishing Plans now being considered, should poisoning be attempted, would be first to fill all available hatcheries in Southern Oregon with rainbow trout fry. Diamond Lake then probably would be thrown open to unrestricted and unlimited fishing, permitting the removal of all game fish anglers could capture. At spawning season an effort would be made to cap ture as many surviving adults as could be trapped. These fish would be removed to hatchery holding ponds, after the eggs had been taken from them. During the month of July of the year chosen for poisoning, water from the lake would he turned into a drainage ditch dug between the Lake and Lake Creek to per mit reduction of the lake level five feet, er to such other depth as might be determined upon. The water would be drawn down gradu ally, thus limiting the effect on the river. Draining the lake probably would continue until late September or early October. The drainage outlet would be screened to prevent roach from escaping into tne river. As an add itional precaution, an e'ectri: bar rier would lie erected which would kill any fish coming into the elec tric field. Plug Artificial Ootl.t After the water had been drawn down to the desire! level, the art ificial outlet would be plugged Waters of the lake then would be ooisoned. Tne poison dissipates after, about two weeks. It Is estimated that four months would be re quired to bring the lake back to normal level. Thus, without acci dent no poison should escape into the river system. People ask what would be the effect of the dead carcasses of ! millions of roach and a few hun dred trout killed in the lake , From the aesthetic standpoint. the condition might leave much been larger fiih. The 1052 plant ing, consisted of 11,085 pounds cf fish 7 to 10 inches in length. Stocking has not-produced re sults, biologists state. In Diamond Lake the return hat been only one ton for each three tons planted. Experience elaewhare has been just the reverse, three tons re turned for each ton planted. Furthermore plantings are cost ing tl per pound in Diamond Lake, whereas they should cost only a few cents per pound. Another economic factor to be considered is the recreational In come from the fishery resource. In its big year. Diamond Lake's income was estimated at UOO.OOO Population witiita the area has greatly increased since 1948. If the lake were to be restored to its orig inal condition, income certainly would be well In excess of $500,000 annuauy. itus amount would in crease itut more with construct ion of a road up the North Umpqua river to permit the Roseburg area equal access with Medford and Klamath Falls. . : To kill off the roach and replant ( the lake would cost, it is estimated, between $60,000 and 1100.000. Monev i il flVailahl thrnimh stntn and fari. erai-atd funds to do the job if and when decided upon. . Question Needs Answer The $64 question still remains, however. Can the food supply be restored? Biologists are confident they can kill off the trash fish and can put trout back into the lake. They know they are assuming certain calculated ' risks. Thev know they have many legal prob- i lems to settle. These are com-' swer that one. In the meantime, the Game Com mission makes it very clear and positive that no decision has been reached. The problem is being ex plored from every angle.' Every possible altenative - to complete poisoning has been considered. Biologists say there Is no other way to get rid of the trash fish. They say, too, that if the lake Is left much longer in its present condition it' will become a "bio logical wilderness." The Game Commission will be the final au thority as to whether poisoning is to be attempted. The Commission won't give its approval until every insK, every nazaru, nas oeen luuy aetlmatnr1 It will nnt a-iira innm. estimated. It will not give appro val until convinced that every safeguard against accident has been erected, Then, and only then, will au thority be granted to proceed with the poisoning experiment. , After that, Mother Nature, exer cising the female prerogative, will ' have the last word. ' to be desired, hut trom a biolo.cal , paratlvely minor things however standnoint It has its advantaaes. Birds and animals would disDose of carcasses along the banks or floating on the water. During the four months while the lake was refilling to normal level, most of the carcasses 'in the water would disintegrate. These disintegrating carcasses have a very pronounced fertilizer effect Biologists are counting on this fertuization to help restore the lake's food sup ply, about which they are so ser iously concerned. By the time wa ter again started flowing into the river there should be little notice able effect from the slaughter of fish. Make Freouent Tests Frequent tests would be made after two weeks to determing whe ther the poison had completely dissipated. If weather permitted, replanting the lake with fish from neighboring hatcheries probably would start in mid-Novembar. If weather was too severe, fish would be held longer at hatcheries and would be planted in the spring of the year. It also is pos!lb! that planting wouid be held off until spring to permit Douom teed to get a fresh start,. The lake doubtless would be Closed lor the next full season. Angling then would be resumed after a year's rest. How has the encroachment of trasn nsn affected angling? This is one question the Game Com mission can answer with reason able accuracy. In 1948 a total of 14.807 anglers caught an estimated 12,807 fish. The year of 1947 was the big year with 26,800 anglers and a catch estimated at 37,500 fish. By 1948 the decrease in recreational value was apparent with a dron to 24,693 anglers who took 27.W2 fish. Now contrast those figures with 8.588 anglers in 1950 and 5,520 fish; 6,307 anglers in 1951 and 3,994 fish, and 5,073 anglers and 5,273 fish in 19521 Another shocking comparison is found in the fact that average length nf nan caugni vanea irom 13 to 154 inches prior to 1950, but that the size dropped to 12 inches in 1951 and in 1952 was only 9.6 incnes. Another shocker is found in egg take records, considering that Diamond Lake was once the world's largest egg-taking station. In 1946 the commission took 3,824 female trout , and secured 5,184,960 eggs. Last season the traps yielded 267 females and only 545,515 eggs. ' Coit Mounting When eggs were plentiful at Dia mond Lake they could be procured at little cost. In 1946, for instance, it cost only $1.31 per thousand to take eggs at the lake. Last year, by comparison, it cost $6.41 per thousand. The Game Commission now can buy rainbow trout eggs cheaper than it can take them from the fish at Diamond Lake, once, we repeat, the world's larg est egg-taking station. Prior to 1950, the Game Com mission returned fingerling fish from the hatchery to the lake They know, too, that, from the standpoint of economics, poison ing the lake is desirable. But, if they kill off the roach, and if they replant the lake with trout, can the scarce supply of MOVED! DOYLE'S SALES & SERVICE PHONE 3-4148 TO WALNUT ST. 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