Page 6C
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Seriously stressed steelhead
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
Worst-ever start to season
as low flows, “the blob,”
voracious sea lions take toll
By ERIC BARKER
of the (Lewiston) Tribune
Photo by Bruce Barnes
Leafy Aster, Symphyotrichum foliaceum
Don’t diss this aster
By BRUCE BARNES
For The East Oregonian
Common name: Leafy Aster
Scientific name: Symphyotrichum
foliaceum
About 25 years ago, plant taxono-
mists — those who name plants and
catalogue what plants belong in which
family and genus — started reorga-
nizing the Asters.
There were then 23 species of Aster
in northeast Oregon. Now there is only
one of these bearing the genus name
Aster, and that one is the only Aster in
North America still in the Aster genus.
The rest of those in northeast Oregon
are categorized into 8 genera, the
largest of which is the genus Symphy-
otrichum.
Although there are good scientific
reasons for these changes based on
molecular and DNA studies, it drives
some of us a bit nutty trying to keep up
and avoid getting very confused by the
changes. (I know I’ve mentioned this
before, but I still get confused … even
though I use my computer to help me
keep track.)
The name Aster is Greek, meaning
star, based on the appearance of the
flower heads with outer rays (ray
petals) around the rims. The name
Symphyotrichum is a combination
of the Greek symphysis meaning
junction, and trichos meaning hair,
possibly referring to a mix of stiff hairs
on the plant used as the basis for the
genus. Foliaceum means leafy.
Leafy Aster is variable in some
characteristics, but in general it is about
2 feet tall, there are many leaves on the
stems, and the leaf bases sometimes
nearly encircle the main stem.
The leaf edges are smooth and their
upper surfaces are without hairs. The
flowering heads are at the top of the
stems, each head with many yellow
disk flowers at the center, and 15 to
60 pale violet to purple ray flowers
around the edge.
Some Indian tribes in the Pacific
Northwest used the plant for several
purposes. These included using it as
a wash for sores on horses. Medicinal
uses for humans included a decoction
of roots for loss of appetite, stomach
swelling, dyspepsia, and indigestion.
Another root decoction was used
mixed with salmon oil to treat venereal
problems.
Where to find: There is an abun-
dance of this plant along the sides of
the upper end of Mill Creek Road out
of Walla Walla.
BRIEFLY
Structural hazards
force closure of Burnt
Cabin Bridge
PENDLETON — The Umatilla
National Forest has closed Burnt
Cabin Bridge on the Walla Walla
Ranger District after trail crews
discovered some of the 120-foot
wooden bridge’s structural supports
had collapsed, and other beams
were severely rotted out.
Forest staff first discovered
the bridge was deteriorating in
2013, and since then it has been
inspected periodically by engineers
to determine whether or not it was
safe for public use. The bridge was
finally closed Wednesday, and will
remain closed until further notice.
“The bridge was installed in
1989 utilizing trees from the local
area,” said Larry Randall, forest
recreation manager. “We were
surprised to see the condition of the
bridge deteriorate so quickly.”
Burnt Cabin Bridge is located
six miles up the popular South Fork
Walla Walla Trail at the junction of
Burnt Cabin Trail. Closure signs
will be posted on the bridge, as
well as at the Burnt Fork and Walla
Walla trailheads.
Alternate access to the South
Fork Walla Walla Trail is available
via Rough Fork trailhead or the
South Fork Walla Walla River
trailhead. Fording the river
to go around the bridge is not
recommended due to high water.
For more information, contact
the Walla Walla Ranger District at
509-522-6290.
Paving project closes
road, parking lot at
Lookingglass Hatchery
ELGIN — Public access to
Lookingglass Hatchery is closed
weekdays from sunrise until 6 p.m.
as workers continue to pave the
entrance road and parking lot.
The road will be open after
6 p.m. on weekdays and on the
weekends, though the presence of
construction equipment and gravel
piles may make parking difficult.
Paving should be completed by
early September.
For questions or more
information, contact the hatchery at
541-437-9723.
Campfires prohibited on state
parks as eclipse looms
Steelhead are setting a record at Lower Granite
Dam and it’s not a good one.
The run’s performance is so poor that fisheries
managers are considering restrictions to upcoming
seasons.
The dam about 30 miles west of Clarkston on
the Snake River has never seen a worse start to the
steelhead run. Between June 1 and Wednesday,
only 393 steelhead have been counted climbing
the dam’s fish ladder. For comparison, the 10-year
average is more than 5,100. Last year, when the
A run of steelhead collapsed, more than 3,400
steelhead had been counted there in the same time
frame.
You have to go back decades to find anything
comparable. In 1990, the count through Aug. 7 was
623.
It’s not much better at Bonneville Dam on the
Columbia River. There, about 30,000 steelhead
have been counted. Only 1943 and 1938, the dam’s
first year of operation, were worse. It was similarly
bad in 1941, 1942 and 1944.
“Things are looking really bad,” said Alan
Byrne, an Idaho Department of Fish and Game
biologist at Boise. “So far the run is not coming
in as expected, and our forecast was low to begin
with. It’s likely that if these trends continue we are
not going to meet our preseason forecast.”
Fisheries managers are poring over the numbers
and looking at updated projections for each
hatchery in the basin to determine if enough steel-
head will return to meet spawning targets.
Joe DuPont, regional fisheries manager for the
Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Lewiston,
said any changes to fishing seasons that begin Sept.
1 will be announced the week of Aug. 21. For now,
“everything is on the table,” he said.
DuPont and Chris Donley, regional fisheries
manager for the Washington Department of Fish
and Wildlife at Spokane, are communicating to
make sure any conservation measures taken related
to fishing seasons are enforced in both states.
Donley said they don’t want to have to make
changes after the season opens.
“Limits are likely to be affected and, gosh, who
knows what else,” Donley said. “We are open to any
kind of conservation and we are talking to anybody
we can about it. We want to put the decision (out
there) once and put the right set of rules out there.”
Idaho has never closed a steelhead season. In
1995, the B run was so poor that the state imple-
mented catch-and-release-only regulations on the
Clearwater River during the fall but allowed some
harvest in the spring of 1996.
In 2013, the state shut down harvest on Clear-
water River B-run steelhead that were 28 inches or
larger but allowed anglers to keep smaller fish.
But the more plentiful A-run supported fishing
during those years. Fisheries managers knew this
year’s A-run fish — those that spend just one year
on average in the ocean — would be poor.
But they thought it would be better than last
year, when low river flows and high temperatures
in 2015 hammered out migrating juveniles. The
juveniles that survived the river hit the ocean to
find it occupied by “the blob,” a massive area of
warm water with depleted levels of the tiny crea-
tures young fish feed on.
The results were an almost complete collapse of
the 2016 one-ocean component of the run.
Because of the poor performance, fisheries
managers braced themselves for the effects of the
low flows and the blob to take their toll on this
year’s B run. They predicted a return of only about
7,300, including just 1,100 wild steelhead.
But they expected the A run to start to rebound.
The preseason forecast called for a return of
112,100 A-run steelhead to Bonneville Dam,
including 33,000 wild fish and 79,100 hatchery fish.
Typically about 50 percent of the A run counted at
Bonneville head up the Snake River.
As Byrne said, the run to date is not on a trajec-
tory to match the forecast. Protecting wild fish and
making sure hatcheries take in enough adults to
meet spawning needs will dominate any decision
to alter fishing seasons.
“Do we have enough fish to meet broodstock? If
that is in question, then you don’t want to allow any
fishing mortality,” Byrne said.
Fisheries managers will give themselves ample
time to make that decision. Steelhead season
doesn’t open on the Snake, Salmon and Grande
Ronde rivers until Sept. 1, and fishing often doesn’t
heat up until later that month. Donley said he is
confident measures in place now are protecting the
fish as they migrate upriver.
Anglers are talking about the poor run numbers,
and many likely will choose to target other species.
Idaho will open fall chinook fishing next Friday and
Washington is poised to move up its fall chinook
opener to match Idaho’s.
Fisheries managers are expecting a return of
about 27,000 fall chinook to the Snake River.
As in past years, DuPont said, only a fraction of
the fish will be available for harvest. He said about
8,000 of the chinook will have their adipose fins
clipped, signaling they can be kept by anglers.
But this year, anglers will be allowed to keep
jack chinook — those under 24 inches in length —
even if the adipose fin isn’t clipped. There will be
no daily limit on jacks. Anglers will be allowed to
keep up to six adipose fin-clipped adults per day.
In past years, the fall chinook season has opened
Sept. 1. DuPont said the season is being moved
forward on the calendar because the fish will be
present by the middle of the month, and the quality
of the meat is better in the early part of the season.
Randy Krall, owner of the Lewiston tackle
shop Camp, Cabin and Home, said aside from fall
chinook many anglers likely will concentrate on
species like bass and walleye because of the poor
shape of the steelhead runs.
“I think the biggest thing is the interest in
walleye,” he said. “There is a lot of people inter-
ested in walleye and wanting to learn. It’s fun how
things are shifting gears.”
———
Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtri-
bune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on
Twitter @ezebarker.
diggers since Friday.
Digging had been closed
along the entire Oregon Coast
because high levels of a marine
toxin were found in clam meat.
But three rounds of testing have
shown those levels dropping below
the threshold established by the
Oregon Department of Agriculture.
Harvest remains closed from
Cascade Head south to the
California state line and from
Tillamook Head north to the
Columbia River. The latter area
closes annually from July 15
through Sept. 30 for conservation
reasons, regardless of whether
biotoxins are present.
Campfires prohibited
as eclipse looms
Photo contributed by U.S. Forest Service.
Some structural supports have collapsed beneath the Burnt Cabin Bridge, located six miles up the
South Fork Walla Walla Trail. The bridge is closed until further notice.
As eclipse watchers descend
upon Oregon for the big day
Monday, the Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department has
banned campfires on all state parks
— including all Oregon beaches —
until further notice.
The announcement was made
Wednesday, Aug. 16 as a fire safety
precaution.
“Most state parks are already
under a fire restriction due to
hot, dry conditions,” said MG
Devereux, the agency’s deputy
director. “We are expanding
these restrictions to prevent any
unintentional fires in state parks
that would add an unnecessary
burden to firefighting efforts.”
Charcoal briquettes, torches and
candles are also prohibited at state
parks. Only fuel sources that can be
turned off instantly, such as propane
stoves, will be allowed.
“We understand this is an
inconvenience for campers,
especially those who might not
see an immediate local need for
fire restrictions,” Devereux said.
“We appreciate your patience and
understanding.”
Visitors planning a trip should
plan ahead and check with
park staff for the most current
information.
Campfire bans are also in place
on the Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman
and Malheur national forests, as
well as on lands protected by the
Oregon Department of Forestry’s
Northeast Oregon District. Fire
danger is extreme in most local
areas.
Wallowas unit meetings
schedule
HERMISTON — The Oregon
Parks and Recreation Department
has scheduled a pair of public
meetings — one in Hermiston
and one in Joseph — as the
agency prepares to update its
master plan for state parks in
Wallowa County.
The Hermiston meeting will
be held Wednesday, Sept. 6 from
5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Oxford
Suites Hotel, 1050 N. First St. A
public meeting will also be held
the following day, Thursday,
Sept. 7, from 6-8 p.m. at the
Joseph Community Center.
An updated plan is needed
to guide recreational use and
resource management at Minam
and Wallowa Lake state parks,
as well as the Wallowa Lake
Highway Scenic Corridor, over
the next several decades. The last
master plan for these parks was
completed in 2001.
Public input will be taken at
the meetings, or those interested
can submit comments directly to
Ian Matthews at 503-986-0744 or
ian.matthews@oregon.gov.
For more information about
the master plan, visit www.
wallowastateparksplan.com.
Portion of Oregon Coast
open for clamming
ASTORIA (AP) — A portion of
the Oregon Coast is open for razor
clamming.
The Daily Astorian reports
beaches from Tillamook Head to
Cascade Head have been open to
As eclipse watchers descend
upon Oregon for the big day
Monday, the Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department has banned
campfires on all state parks —
including all Oregon beaches
— until further notice.
The announcement was made
Wednesday, Aug. 16 as a fire
safety precaution.
“Most state parks are already
under a fire restriction due to
hot, dry conditions,” said MG
Devereux, the agency’s deputy
director. “We are expanding
these restrictions to prevent any
unintentional fires in state parks
that would add an unnecessary
burden to firefighting efforts.”
Charcoal briquettes, torches
and candles are also prohibited at
state parks. Only fuel sources that
can be turned off instantly, such as
propane stoves, will be allowed.
“We understand this is an
inconvenience for campers,
especially those who might not
see an immediate local need for
fire restrictions,” Devereux said.
“We appreciate your patience and
understanding.”
Visitors planning a trip should
plan ahead and check with
park staff for the most current
information.
Campfire bans are also
in place on the Umatilla,
Wallowa-Whitman and Malheur
national forests, as well as on
lands protected by the Oregon
Department of Forestry’s
Northeast Oregon District. Fire
danger is extreme in most local
areas.