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Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
OPINION
The opinions expressed in the letters below are “your voice,” and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Columbia Gorge News, its staff, publisher or advertisers.
YOUR VOICE
Support
Scenic Area
To our Wasco County
Commissioners:
As we drove the old highway last
night, stopping at the Tom McCall
preserve, it was twilight. I wanted to
catch a few photos of the wildflow-
ers in case we weren't able to drive
that way again during prime bloom.
We were astonished at the number
of cars and people there at that time
of day.
Do you have any idea?, you
must!, at what a draw our incredible
gorge is for people? Do you realize,
you must!, the state helps subsidize
our county costs toward the paper-
work involved in assisting Gorge
preservation? We come out ahead
however you look at it because
those two dozen cars that were
with us at twilight spend money in
Wasco County! And, they return!
Do you realize the reason our
tourism has increased on the river
is because the Gorge has been
protected? Those passengers on
the several cruise lines know what
to expect, and without our county's
participation, I don't doubt that will
change. Hood River County is an
alternative for them. I don't want to
lose them to other better offers, why
do you? It's amazing how often we
greet passengers who are returning.
They also come back again by car.
And, I assure you, they all spend
their dollars here, even the crew
members.
It's our responsibility to preserve
what we have here. It's also your
responsibility to keep our county
residents from having extra hoops
to jump through when wishing to
make home improvements. They
deserve a break!
Wasco County must continue to
be a key player in preserving our
incredible Gorge. We must stay in
the Gorge Commission!
Sandra Haechrel
The Dalles
Guardian Angel
On Sunday May 2, in the eve-
ning, my dog fled the Eagle Creek
Overlook Group Campground. She
has never done so before, but the
booms scared her.
You told me she went down the
Gorge Cruiser
The sternwheeler Columbia Gorge docks at Cascade Locks Thursday evening, May 6, awaiting a new day of river cruises and excursions. Cruise lines are again operat-
ing in the Columbia River Gorge as the state begins to loosen COVID-19 safety restrictions.
Mark B. Gibson photo
road. You then drove, saw her and
drove miles to come back to tell me
where you saw my dog.
You gave me a ride that led me
to know my dog was heading on 84
westbound. You dropped me off so
I could run after her. I dangerously
chased her for miles.
You then were there when my
dad drove down. Because of you,
my dad knew where to go. He
picked me up on the highway. We
drove another two miles and we got
my dog. She was completely safe.
We got her because of you. I can-
not thank you so much. When I tell
the story, I refer to you as my dog’s
guardian angel. You are the reason
my dog is safe. Thank you.
From the fellow huge dog lover!
Jen Marrinan
Portland
River, The Dalles and White Salmon!
Guess what? Cascade Locks is an
incorporated city in the Columbia
Gorge, just minutes from Hood
River and The Dalles.
How come the "goings ons"
here are never mentioned in the
Columbia Gorge News?
Why, just this week there was an
enormous cruise ship docked in
Hey Columbia Gorge News, I
have been reading your paper since the canal, Northwest Trail Alliance
Hood River News merged with CGN. volunteers came and cleaned up
the Easy Climb Trail (it is a beautiful
I have very much enjoyed it. There
mountain bike trail, by the way) and
is something missing however!
The Sternwheeler Columbia Gorge
On the front of the newspaper it
states Columbia Gorge News, Hood is back in Cascade Locks with daily
What about us?
excursions.
The Cascade Locks Museum has
opened for the season! There is a
new museum director and she has
put together some fabulous exhibits
rich in history about our area.
New businesses are springing
up and the town is a "bee hive" of
activity on the weekends.
Also missing from the newspa-
per was any information about the
candidates running for Cascade
Locks Port Commission. It seems
the second largest city in Hood
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
How salmon shape our rivers
Historic fishery decline
impacts Columbia
River system
"This is an
all-encompass-
ing plan; a best
case scenario
for salmon and
the people that
rely on them."
This ultimately provides for the
overall ecosystem. From the tower-
ing ponderosa pines to the abun-
dance of wildlife on the Salmon
River, the ecosystems of the Pacific
By Zach Collier
Northwest are built with the help of
salmonids.
Just as the ecology of the west
Zach Collier
O MANY, THE CONNEC-
depends on these fish, so too does
tion between Idaho’s Salmon
my livelihood and the livelihood of
River and its namesake
die before they reach the Pacific
thousands of others. My business
extends little beyond the name.
Ocean.
relies on the preservation of pristine
What most people don’t realize
This number does not include
wilderness ecosystems starting
is that this iconic river was once
the additional predicted mortal-
with rivers and the organisms they
the most productive tributary for
ity of fish perishing in reservoirs,
support.
steelhead and Chinook salmon.
during their upstream migration, or
My business, Northwest Rafting
Historically placed under pressure through delayed mortality effects
Company, is based out of Hood
by a combination of overfishing,
caused by stress brought on after
River. The town is bordered by the
climate change, and habitat degra- navigating the dams.
Columbia River — the pathway
dation, these fish populations have
The number of spring-sum-
Pacific salmon must take to reach
been suffering.
mer Chinook that returned to the
the Middle Fork of the Salmon
The construction of the Snake
Middle Fork of the Salmon River
River.
River dams in the 1960s and 1970s
basin in 2020 was about 900 fish,
As a long-time outfitter on the
have nearly solidified the fate of
a major decline when compared
Middle Fork of the Salmon I have
these fish by blocking migratory
to the nearly 50,000 spawning
known of the plight of these fish.
routes between spawning grounds Chinook in the 1950s. This number The federal government has spent
and the Pacific Ocean and creating is estimated to be about 30 percent 20 years and over $17 billion tweak-
reservoirs that disrupt the ecolo-
of the number that spawned in this ing the hydro system, yet they have
gy of the once free-flowing river.
basin in the 1880s. At the end of the still failed to restore salmon runs.
These reservoirs have slow-moving day, time is ticking for these river
Between the 1950s and 1960s —
currents which make it difficult for ambassadors.
before construction of the lower
smolts to orient themselves towards
Though more and more diffi-
Snake River dams — an estimated
the ocean, and the deeper waters
cult to come across these days,
48,000 total adult Chinook returned
create an excellent habitat for hun- steelhead and Chinook represent
to the Middle Fork of the Salmon
gry predators.
everything that makes the rivers
river basin to spawn. In 2020,
With dams in place, a smolt mi-
of the Pacific Northwest unique.
biologists counted 467 redds —
grating downstream must navigate As anadromous organisms, these
depressions in a river bed created
warmer waters, avoid predators and fish spend part of their life in the
by female salmon to deposit eggs —
somehow pass through each dam
ocean accumulating nutrients and meaning approximately 934 adults
project along the river just to reach building up energy-rich fat reserves. returned to the region, a mere frac-
the ocean.
They will then migrate up to 1,000
tion of historic populations. These
`Roughly 5-8 percent of smolts
miles to their freshwater spawning fish have almost been eradicated.
die at each of the eight total
grounds where they reproduce, die,
Starting in 2010, changes have
projects along the Snake River.
and contribute energy to the food
been made in how commercial
Cumulatively, this means that
chain via the decomposition of their and private rafting permits on the
roughly 50 percent of Idaho’s smolts tissue.
Middle Fork of the Salmon River are
■
T
issued during the salmon spawning
window of Aug. 15 through Sept. 15.
This has resulted in a reduction
of river use by recreational boaters
during this time. We as outfitters
are now monitored closely during
spawning season to prevent boats
from impeding on salmon spawn-
ing activities.
In certain years, some of the few
redds left are found downstream in
the only path available for rafting. If
we are unable to avoid the few sal-
monids left, our fear is that a river
closure may be put in place.
Caught in a limbo of supporting
whatever protections salmon can
receive while also relying on the
river — the same one that these
populations inhabit — for work, I
and many others in my industry
have been in a state of uncertainty
for decades.
We have to stop clipping the toe-
nails on a patient that needs heart
bypass surgery.
The “band-aid fix” of halting the
already limited rafting activities
on the river may help buy some
time — if any — for the remaining
spawning fish, but it will not active-
ly restore fish populations.
A better option
There is, however, another
option; a plan on the table that
cuts to the heart of the issue and
ensures a liveable future for salmon,
steelhead and thriving outdoor
economies.
Congressman Mike Simpson’s
new $34 billion Columbia Basin
Initiative is the most complete res-
toration and replacement package
ever proposed to solve this delicate
Regional news for the Gorge
issue.
This plan will not only recover
these fish, but also move the entire
Pacific Northwest forward with ma-
jor investments in energy modern-
izations, recreation, agriculture and
transportation.
This plan safeguards a better
future for all parties throughout
Oregon and Idaho, from outfit-
ters like myself to residential and
commercial power users in the
Lewiston/tri-state area.
This is an all-encompassing plan;
a best case scenario for salmon and
the people that rely on them.
I firmly believe that passing this
plan into law is the only chance we
have at seeing salmon and steel-
head populations recover in the
Columbia River Basin.
Leadership in Oregon and Idaho
should work together to move
this plan forward. I am calling on
Oregon’s congressional delega-
tion, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff
Merkley as well as Representatives
Peter Defazio and Cliff Bentz to
support Congressman Simpson’s
bold and necessary plan.
Whether we want to admit it or
not, we all walk on ground built by
salmon and steelhead.
The Columbia Basin Initiative is
the best chance we have ever had at
prioritizing their recovery.
Zach Collier is of owner of
Northwest Rafting Company, a
Hood River business that operates a
rafting company on the Columbia
River affected by the Snake River
Dams, an outfitter working on the
Rogue, Owyhee, Chetco, Illinois and
Salmon Rivers. He can be found
online at www.nwrafting.com.
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PO Box 390, Hood River, OR 97031
PO Box 218, White Salmon, WA 98672
Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Columbia Gorge News (ISSN 0747-3443)
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