Spilyay tymoo., July 29, 1983, Page 3, Image 3

Spilyay Tymoo
July 29,1983 Page 3
Work group to develop plan for river
“The Tribe as the largest
private land owner ought to
take the lead” emphasized
attorney Dennis Kamopp at a
July 19 Tribal Council meeting
discussing the future of the
Deschutes River.
With this in mind Tribal
Council approved a plan to
form a special tribal work
group to develop a proposed
management plan for the entire
lower Deschutes River.
An ad hoc com m ittee
composed of Larry Calica,
Mike Clements and Dennis
Karnopp met previously to
discuss ways in which the Tribe
could effectively deal with the
growing pressures and abuse
on the Deschutes River. The
committee’s concern also dealt
with ensuring the protection of
the Deschutes River as a
resource while recognizing the
political, social and economic
issues involved.
The committee’s suggestion
to Tribal Council was the
formation of a special work
Spifyay Tymoo photo by Shewczyk
group with representatives
from various committees and
departments within the tribe to
work on the plan.
The proposed management
plan on which they will work
must, according to the ad hoc
committee, “take into account
the special circumstances with
regard to each segment of the
river and the various interest
and user groups involved. The
plan for each section may be
different but “we can’t manage
just part of it,” Karnopp
explained.
Speaking for the committee
Karnopp suggested that once
the plan is developed and
approved by Tribal Council a
meeting could be arranged with
Governor Atiyeh “to seek his
support and endorsement prior
to approaching any of the state
agencies.”
Suggestions for the special
work group include Delbert
Frank representing the Fish
and Wildlife Committee, Larry
Calica representing the Water
Board, Gene Greene represent­
ing the Natural Resources
Department, Mike Clements
representing the Planning
Department, Merrit Young-
deer representing the BI A and
Dennis Karnopp representing
the tribal attorneys. Other
resources will also be recruited.
Tribal Council approved the
nomination of Larry Calica as
chairman of the special work
group.
.. .Deschutes River’s continued use
Survey aimed at better management of Deschutes River
As part of the Oregon scenic
river system, the Deschutes
River is receiving increased use
and along with it, increased
concern.
With more boaters using the
river, steps have been taken to
manage the river including
better camping facilities, the
issuance of boater passes and
education for boaters. Money
from the river pass system is
returned to the river in the form
of maintenance.
Because boaters are an
important source of informa­
tion, a survey was conducted in
the winter of 1982 with three
purposes in mind: to identify
' river use characteristics and
b e h a v io r of b o a te rs; to
d e te rm in e p o te n tia l u ser
conflicts from the perception of
boaters, and; to determine
su p p o rt fo r m an ag em en t
options from the standpoint of
boaters.
A pproxim ately 557 re­
sponses were returned in the
th r o u g h - th e - m a il su rv e y .
Much information about the
river’s use was obtained.
It was found that 56 percent
of the boaters reside in counties
c o m p risin g the P o rtla n d
metropolitan area; 12 percent
live in the Willamette Valley
counties; three percent reside in
counties near the Deschutes
itself; 17 percent of the boaters
are from out of state, while; 13
percent are from Washington.
The average age of the boater
is 36.44 years, the youngest
sampled being eight years old,
the oldest 74.
The marital status includes
66 percent married, one percent
widowed, 33 percent unmar­
ried. Sixty six percent of the
boaters have children.
Over half of the boaters (53 ;
percent) are college graduates
with equally high occupation
levels. Seventy nine percent of
the boaters report incomes of
$20 thousand a year and over.
Thirty-two percent of the
boaters belong to d u b s or
o rganizations em phasizing
environmental preservation.
Boating experience ranged
from one year to over 31 years.
The overall average number of
b o a tin g e x p erien ce years
claimed by the respondents was
7.14 years.
The excitement of running
the rapids was the main
purpose 55 percent of the
boaters used the river. Twenty
three percent placed fishing as
the main reason for boating the
D eschutes River with 14
percent citing peace and calm
of boating and 7 percent having
all the reasons mentioned.
The type of boat used on the
Deschutes varied. Seventy-six
percent used a raft, 23 percent
used a drift boat, 14 percent a
jet sled, 11 percent an inflatable
kayak and seven percent a
canoe or hard kayak. Many
used more than one type of
boat during boating season.
Commercial outfitters were
over-represented in the sample,
it is felt. The average greatest
party size for the commercial
outfitter was 15.07 persons,
with 4.614 boats. The non­
commercial boater had 10.61
people in their greatest party
size with 3.94 boats. *
As far as future boating
plans five percent of the boaters
p robably w on’t bo at the
Deschutes in 1983; 60 percent
will boat about as much; 30
percent will boat more; five
percent will boat less. 7
Based on the 1982 survey, it
is estim ated th a t 12,438
individuals spending 7.3 days
on the Deschutes results in
91,313 user days.
The months with greatest use
of the Deschutes are J une, J uly,
August and September. Fifty-
four percent of the season
occurs in July and August.
Saturday and Sunday receive
over 58 percent of the use
during the week.
The greatest percentage of
users (74 percent) use the
D eschutes River between
Buckskin Mary and Sherar’s
Falls. Sixty percent use the
Deschutes from the Rainbow
Market to Buckskin Mary.
From below Sherar’s Bridge
and Mack’s Canyon, 38 percent
use the river. Thirty-three
percent of the river users utilize
the Deschutes from Terry
Canyon to the Columbia River.
The reasons boaters used the
r i v e r w e re r a n k e d in
importance with the following
priorities: Viewing scenery and
wildlife, peace and solitude,
r u n n in g r a p id s , g e ttin g
together with friends, good
weather, riverside camping,
getting away from other
people, quality of steelhead or
salmon fishing, Deschutes is
close to home, quality of trout
fishing, hiking along the bank,
power boats are permitted,
couldn’t get a permit on
another river.
Rating their trips down the
Deschutes River boaters were
generally positive. No one
rated their trip, .as bad.. One
percent did rate it as poor, nine
percent as fair, 43 percent as
good, 47 percent as excellent.
Boaters were, asked to rank
25 potential problems relating
to their Deschutes River trips.
Ranked in order of importance
the first. ten problems cited
include: Too many floating the
river; too few garbage cans;
litter and garbage along the
river; too few campsites; not
enough toilet facilities; number
of people, at campsites; not
enough toilets at put in and
take put sites; people on the
river inconsiderate; number of
commercial outfitters on the
river; pow er boats were
disruptive. Certain concerns
were stronger at different areas
of the river.
In managing the Deschutes
River a number of issues stand
out. Sixty-three percent of the
boaters agree pow erboats
should be limited. Fifty-three
percent agree that the number
of commercial outfitters should
be limited. Fifty-two percent
feel the size of boating parties
should be limited. Forty six
percent want power boats
prohibited. There were boaters
who were neutral on these
points and some who disagreed
entirely. Nearly half of the
boaters agreed that changes
should be made in current
management policy.
The final area of inquiry in
the survey asked where user
pass revenues should be spent.
The highest priority went to
litter and garbage cleanup
followed by more education of
riv e r u se rs, m ore to ile t
facilities, m ore cam psites
developed^ riverbank protec­
tio n ( liv e s to c k fe n c in g ,
vegetation) greater enforce­
ment of river rules and develop
more parking at put in and take
out points.