6
community
january24
2012
UNWC Hosts Coho Salmon Presentation
By Bill Langmaid
In just a few days the Vernonia
community will be lucky enough to hear
Steve Trask of Bio-Survey LLC present
his analysis of the various factors which
limit coho population growth in the
Rock Creek basin.
The presentation, hosted by
the Upper Nehalem Watershed Council
(UNWC) is open to the public, and will
start at 7:00 PM on Thursday, January
26th at the Vernonia Grange. Contact
Steve Sorbetts at (503) 429-0869 for any
assistance.
We’ve heard the dire warnings
that forecast the demise of Coho Salmon
in our local streams and rivers, and have
seen it listed under the Endangered
Species Act, but until recently there has
been no work to quantify the ability of
the Rock Creek basin to support the
coho.
The
“Limiting
Factor
Assessment” (LFA) process was
developed by Trask to more accurately
assess the ability of a given river to support
the entire life cycle of coho salmon. In
doing this, it initially identifies a core
area which is “a contiguous section of
stream channel or channel system where
juveniles rear on a consistent (year to
year) basis.” Within the core area are
isolated Anchor Sites “which provides
all essential habitat features necessary
to support the complete Coho freshwater
life history. ”
The premise of the LFA is that
habitat preservation, enhancement,
and restoration should happen in the
core area in an attempt to increase the
frequency of anchor sites. Providing
more sites capable of providing for all
stages of the coho life cycle also has
reciprocal benefits to other species, like
cutthroat trout and steelhead.
The Analysis shows that in the
Rock Creek basin there is a core area of
51 stream miles, encompassing most of
the main creek, plus 23 miles of tributary
habitat. Within that zone there are 24
anchor sites, only 9 of which are on the
mainstem. Most of the anchor sites are in
the upper reaches of Rock Creek, within
industrial forestland. Only 4 are located
in the lower reaches accessible from
Keasey Road.
Briefly, the limiting factor most
evident was the absence of properly sized
spawning gravel. Since this material is
retained by presence of large logs within
the stream bed, and the basin was mostly
logged by 1960, it’s hardly surprising
that the quantity and quality of large
wood within the survey area was found
to be extremely deficient. Beaver dams,
a secondary mechanism for trapping
gravel resources, are also mostly absent.
Based on other research
conducted in 2005, coho smolt
production is limited by high summer
temperatures within the lower reaches of
What it Takes to Build A School
out the design process to save as much as
possible on the design and to avoid cost-
ly changes later in the construction pro-
cess. The challenge that we faced with
this process was that in some cases our
initial budget estimate was low, particu-
larly when the District chose to maintain
the quality and long-term sustainability
options that we know will pay for them-
selves over time.
We worked closely with P&C
Construction and BOORA Architects
to come up with the most cost effective
building that met our needs. We began
with the intent to seek LEED Platinum
rating, which will help us draw the atten-
tion of some funders to our project and
we are currently still on track to achieve
this certification. When we brought P&C
on board, the building drawings were
only 50% complete. As the drawings
were finished and decisions were made
concerning the different programs and
options in the building the final price
for the building construction settled in
at $26 million, which was higher than
expected. In light of this information, in
June 2011 we adjusted our overall proj-
the stream. Inadequate spawning areas,
coupled with channel simplification and
high summer water temperatures, have
resulted in a decline in juvenile coho
abundance of 43% from 2009 to 2010,
despite an increase in adult spawners of
36% between 2008 and 2009.
While this is certainly an
interesting statistic, seasonal variations
in rain and temperature regimes likely
play a strong role in fry survival. It does
show, though, that there are limitations,
and that the population of coho spawners
is not finding the habitat they need
to fulfill their life cycle. The UNWC
has received a priority list of habitat
improvements, which it will use when
collaborating with area land managers
on restoring the salmon habitat.
Please join the UNWC in
welcoming Steve Trask to Vernonia
on January 26 and learn more about
our local watershed and coho salmon
preservation.
continued from page 3
ect budget from $38.3 million to $39.3
million.
However, because of some addi-
tional unforeseen costs and the finalizing
of the building construction details, the
current building construction costs are
just under $27 million. This, in conjunc-
tion with other issues that we have faced
has pushed our total budget to $40 mil-
lion. Throughout construction to date we
have strived to keep costs down while
not reducing the quality of construction.
We are striving to maintain the programs
that we need for a well-balanced educa-
tion for our students, while not giving up
any of the long-term sustainability de-
sign aspects of the new school.
Well that’s enough for one arti-
cle. I will talk more about the budget and
some of the decisions that brought us to
where we are when I next get a chance
to share another article with you. Please
feel free to email me with individual
questions (ken.cox@vernonia.k12.or.us)
or check the weekly update postings at
vernoniaschools.org.
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