NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Fish passage above biggest dam can be done
Researchers present
findings that salmon
can survive in the
upper reaches of the
Columbia Basin
the Upper Columbia. We’ve
been the most impacted
and the least mitigated, so
it’s important to look at
how that funding hasn’t
made it above (the dams),
just like the salmon,” said
John Sirois, with the Upper
Columbia United Tribes.
To bring fish back to
the region, the research-
ers looked at 40 different
stocks of fish and five dif-
ferent species.
Baseline estimates show
there could be up to 24,000
harvested adult summer and
fall chinook, with 14,000
fish making it past anglers.
Computer models showed
there could be 21,000 har-
vested adult sockeye, with
26,000 fish returning to
spawning grounds.
They checked for patho-
gens that could harm fish in
the blocked area and found
only one pathogen that
hadn’t made it past the two
dams.
“Anadromy brings patho-
gens, that’s part of the deal.
The important take-home
point is: In any reintroduc-
tion, we need to be careful
and cognizant of that,” said
Casey Baldwin, with The
Confederated Tribes of the
Colville Reservation.
The researchers found
there is ample habitat avail-
able, although much of
the habitat in the Spokane
Sub-Basin is blocked by
By COURTNEY FLATT
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SPOKANE, Wash. —
It’s been nearly 80 years
since salmon and steel-
head made it past Chief
Joseph and Grand Cou-
lee dams in Washington’s
Upper Columbia Basin. It’s
long been a goal for tribes
to see the fish return to the
blocked waters where they
once spawned.
A team of researchers
presented their findings on
Tuesday to the Northwest
Power and Conservation
Council. In short, they said,
salmon can survive in the
upper reaches of the Colum-
bia Basin, and fish passage
needs to happen at the two
dams.
For several years biolo-
gists have looked into sce-
narios for salmon above the
dams — if there was enough
habitat available, if patho-
gens and predators wouldn’t
cause too much damage, if
there were even ways to get
the fish around the concrete
structures.
“We feel strongly it’s
time to start investing in
Bureau of Reclamation Photo, File
The last time salmon and steelhead made it past Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams in
Washington’s Upper Columbia Basin was nearly 80 years ago. Tribes have long sought to see
the fish return to the blocked waters where they once spawned.
dams on the Spokane River.
The researchers estimated
there could be more than
136 miles of habitat reach
for spring chinook salmon
and 452 miles for steelhead
of habitat not affected by
those diversions.
“There is obviously large
quantities of habitat in that
area, enough to support a
substantial increase in the
number of adults being pro-
duced. Passage technol-
ogy is out there,” said Tom
Biladeau, with The Coeur
d’Alene Tribe.
One new way to get fish
around the dams could
trap and collect the fish are
called floating surface col-
lectors. They attract juve-
nile fish, which can then be
transferred by truck or barge
around the dams. When the
researchers removed those
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
FRIDAY
Partly sunny and
hot
NORTHWEST IN BRIEF
SATURDAY
Sunshine
SUNDAY
Plenty of sunshine
MONDAY
Partly sunny
Mostly sunny and
pleasant
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
92° 59°
83° 53°
86° 60°
87° 60°
85° 57°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
98° 62°
89° 58°
92° 64°
93° 64°
OREGON FORECAST
91° 60°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
66/53
84/58
94/53
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
93/62
Lewiston
75/54
98/61
Astoria
65/52
Pullman
Yakima 96/58
78/50
92/64
Portland
Hermiston
85/57
The Dalles 98/62
Salem
Corvallis
82/49
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
86/52
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
86/50
87/49
86/56
Ontario
90/58
Caldwell
Burns
93°
54°
78°
53°
104° (1940) 41° (1956)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
85/50
0.00"
Trace
0.29"
4.42"
5.00"
5.40"
WINDS (in mph)
87/58
83/47
0.00"
0.05"
0.63"
9.33"
6.33"
7.14"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 82/47
86/51
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
92/59
90/59
90°
55°
77°
52°
99° (1940) 32° (1893)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
79/53
Aberdeen
88/59
92/61
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
79/56
collectors from the models,
adult spawning numbers
dropped dramatically.
“That’s just the model
pointing out how much
influence some of these
juvenile collection facilities
may have,” Biladeau said.
Other ways to get the
adult fish around the dams
could include collecting fish
at the Chief Joseph hatchery
and hauling them around
the dam or a fish ladder
down stream of the dam.
At Grand Coulee Dam,
the largest on the Colum-
bia, there could be another
trap and haul system or
potentially the use of a sys-
tem that’s been dubbed the
“salmon cannon,” which
can suck fish up and send
them over big obstructions.
For the second part of the
study, the tribes would test
salmon reintroductions in
the area. One big thing to
study could be how invasive
northern pike affect salmon
above Grand Coulee Dam
— the predatory fish tend
to eat pretty much any fish
they come across.
The tribes said they’re
not sure what would happen
in that situation.
“The plan moving for-
ward is to have three or
four years of releases (of
salmon), and to be moni-
toring that, looking at what
that impact is over that
period of time. Hopefully
we’ll have enough informa-
tion to know, ‘Is the effort of
suppression sufficient right
now?’” said Brent Nichols,
with the Spokane Tribe of
Indians.
The next step in getting
salmon above the dams is
for the tribes to work with
dam operators and figure
out the price tag of several
ways to get the fish around
the dams.
Today
Fri.
Boardman WSW 10-20
Pendleton WSW 8-16
Medford
96/59
WSW 7-14
W 8-16
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
85/48
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:05 a.m.
8:45 p.m.
4:54 p.m.
3:08 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
June 17
June 25
July 2
July 9
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 118° in Thermal, Calif. Low 27° in Yellowstone Nat'l Park, Wyo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
School worker quits after
making ‘picking cotton’
remarks
PORTLAND (AP) — The North Clack-
amas School District says an employee
has resigned following an investigation
into “inappropriate racialized comments”
made last week, the district confirmed
Tuesday.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports
a district spokesperson said an instruc-
tional assistant made references to slave
and manual labor during lunch at Linwood
Elementary School in Milwaukie on May
31.
Fifth-grade parent Syreeta Spencer
says the employee reprimanded a group
of students, which Spencer described as
mostly students of color, for being too loud
during lunch.
The employee told the students they
were lucky they weren’t “picking cotton
and cleaning or painting a house.”
District officials said the employee was
put on leave June 5, several days after
the incident. The investigation ended two
days later with the employee’s resignation.
Spencer says the school is hosting a
conversation for students to share experi-
ences and ask questions related to minority
issues.
Man sentenced for driving
drunk, killing 2 Warm
Springs men
PORTLAND (AP) — A man will
spend nearly six years in prison for driv-
ing drunk, speeding along a dark road
at night without headlights and striking
and killing two young men on the Warm
Springs Indian Reservation.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports in a
plea deal, Harold Blackwolf Jr. will spend
the time in federal prison after pleading
guilty to two counts of involuntary man-
slaughter in the Sept. 28, 2017, crash and
one count of illegally possessing a gun.
Warm Springs’ public safety general
manager Carmen Smith says 25-year-old
Nathan Youngman and 22-year-old Eric
Boise were killed in the crash.
In court, Blackwolf apologized and
promised to spend time in prison working
to become a better, sober person.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Malo-
ney says Blackwolf had been drinking at
a friend’s home earlier that night and left
the scene afterward, ditching his car and
fleeing.
Businesses, hospitals pledge
$49M for homeless housing
SEATTLE (AP) — Tech companies,
hospitals and others have pledged nearly
$49 million to help construct eight build-
ings to house chronically homeless in the
Seattle area.
The Seattle Times reported Tuesday
that Swedish Health Services, Premera
Blue Cross and Providence St. Joseph
Health announced $15 million in dona-
tions last month to support a Seattle non-
profit developer.
Plymouth Housing has launched a $75
million campaign to double its units in
Seattle. It operates facilities for chron-
ically homeless people where they have
access to health care, social services and
treatment.
Amazon and Microsoft have each
pledged $5 million for the campaign
Plymouth says the donations will help
it leverage up to $250 million in public
funds for the project.
Woman sues Oregon sheriff
over immigration detainer
ROSEBURG (AP) — A woman who
was deported to Mexico after posting
bail at an Oregon jail has sued the sher-
iff in that county, alleging he violated
her rights when he held her for federal
immigration authorities after she had
posted bail.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported
Wednesday that Irene Lopez-Flores was
arrested on allegations of theft and com-
puter crime in December 2017 in Roseburg.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-
ment placed an immigration detainer on
her a day after her arrest.
Court filings allege that Lopez-Flores’
father paid the $1,500 in bail, but the jail
held her for two more hours to allow immi-
gration officers to assume custody.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court
in Eugene alleges Sheriff John Hanlin exe-
cuted an unlawful arrest and detention.
The sheriff’s office declined to comment.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
50s
ice
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed major holidays
EastOregonian.com
To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255
or go online to EastOregonian.com
and click on ‘Subscribe’
East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday,
Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers
Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR.
Postmaster: send address changes to
East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
Copyright © 2019, EO Media Group
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
high
110s
CORRECTIONS: The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely
regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
low
Subscriber services:
For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
EZPay
52 weeks
26 weeks
13 weeks
Local home delivery Savings (cover price)
$13/month
60 percent
$173.67
41 percent
$91.86
38 percent
$47.77
36 percent
*EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit
or debit card/check charge
Single copy price:
$1.50 Tuesday through Saturday
Circulation Dept.
800-781-3214
ADVERTISING
Regional Publisher and Revenue Director:
• Christopher Rush
541-278-2669 • crush@eomediagroup.com
Advertising Services:
• Angela Treadwell
541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com
• Grace Bubar
541-276-2214 • gbubar@eastoregonian.com
Multimedia Consultants:
• Jeanne Jewett
541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com
• Audra Workman
541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com
Business Office Coordinator
• Dayle Stinson
541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com
Classified & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
NEWS
• To submit news tips and press releases:
call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com
• To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News:
email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini
at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers at 541-966-0818.
• To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries:
email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit eastoregonian.
com/community/announcements
• To submit sports or outdoors information or tips:
541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com
Business Office Manager:
541-966-0824
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com