3
SlMLYAY TY
MOO
Wakm snav;s, (ki:;on 97761
March 13, 1987
Trees crucial to fish, insects, wildlife
t
On alder tree can make a difference along a river's edge where vegetation is critical to fish, insect and wildlife
communities.
Vegetation growing along the
edges of rivers are critical in pro
viding food and cover for fish and
some wildlife as well as being essen
tial in maintaining bank stability.
But too often little attention is paid
to the importance of this riparian
environment.
Trees, grasses and shrubs along
the bank serve as both homes and
food sources for insects which in
turn serve as food for fish inhabit
Governor to
Riparian areas are fragile systems.
A high diversity of plant and animal
life is supported on streamsides.
The existing insect and plant life
contributes to water quality and
the stream structure.
The sensitivity of riparian areas
has finally been acknowledged by
those who work in the forests of the
state. A riparian habitat technical
task force composed of foresters
and biologists have agreed that water
quality is important, that maintain
ing healthy streams is essential.
It's felt , by biologists that the
state ,Fprest Practices Act written
in 1982 a.nd revised;in 1985 fails to
provide adequate protection for
riparian areas. The task force recom
Agreement reached to end
This article is reprinted with per
mission from the Seattle Post
Intelligencer. by Jane Hadley
Seattle Leaders from the timber
industry, Indian tribes, environmen
tal groups and state agencies yes
terday agreed on a sweeping set
tlement of long-standing disputes
over the impact of logging in this
state.
Participants said the agreement
would protect the interests of
fisheries and wildlife as well as the
timber industry.
The leaders said the agreement
won't necessarily result in less log
ging or more logging, but better
logging.
The goal is to allow timber com
panies to take the maximum number
of logs from the land while still
protecting fish, wildlife and water
quality, said James Waldo, a Seat
tle lawyer and chairman of the
Northwest Renewable Resources
Center, the non-profit organization
that sponsored the negotiations.
mtl:.: i-' . : .
a o T Mlua"on
aaiu um ..UBA.13UU, luuuu
tor of the state Department of
Fisheries and now state revenue
director.
"This is the only state in the
union that has decided to lay down
the arms."
State Lands Commissioner Brian
Boyle said the accord "has the
potential of resolving long-standing
disputes that we've never ever come
close to resolving before."
Obviously, this agreement is tre
mendously exciting and important
to the future of our timber, fishing
and wildlife interests in the state of
Washington," Wilkerson said.
The agreement covers a variety
of different issues, including log
ging along streams and rivers; abandoned
roads, which have been blamed for
devastating mud slides; protection
of Indian religious grounds and
archaeological treasures; and the
cumulative effects of multiple clear
cuts within a river basin.
It applies to state and private
not federal lands and must be
approved by the state Forest Prac
tices Board to become effective.
The agreement was presented to
the board December 15 and Boyle,
who is chairman of that board,
predicted it would be "received
with glee."
ing the streams. Shade and protec
tive cover on hot summer days is
found under leafy boughs and in
grassy areas.
Recently another alder tree on
the Warm Springs side of the
Deschutes River was cut. The tree
was left laving. Probably cut for
use in a meat or fish smoker the
loss of the tree could imperil the
existing micro-community.
This is not the first incident of
tree cutting along reservation
act on state
mended higher standards lor protec
tion of these areas while at the
same time "accommodating reason
able timber management objectives
in a manner that the task force feels
best serves Oregon's resources."
A suggestion made by the task
force includes the creation of buffer
strips for various streams, the size
of the buffer dependent on the
stream's importance. "Most of the
fish habitat values in a buffer strip
occur in the first 100 feet from the
stream even though the actual width
of the riparian ecosystem may be
considerably wider. . .All riparian
ecosystems are valuable for wildlife
resources, regardless of the distance
of the aquatic zone. Aquatic and
riparian zones usually need to be
Many of the hottest, hardest-
fought battles have taken place
before that board.
Public hearings would be sche
duled early next year before the
proposal is adopted.
Participating in the accord were
representatives of a number of Indian
tribes; the Northwest Indian
Fisheries Commission; the Washing
ton Environmental Council and
the National Audubon Society; the
Washington Forest Protection
Association, which represents large
timber companies; the Washington
Farm Forestry Association, represent
ing small landowners; Weyerhauser;
Georgia Pacific; Plum Creek Timber
a Burlington Northern subsidiary;
Simpson Timber; the Northwest
Water Resources Committee, and
the state departments of Game,
Natural Resources, Fisheries and
Ecology.
One part of the agreement involves
a new process of cooperative forest
management.
The scenario would go some
thing like this; A timber company
with big logging plans would call in
tribal, environmental and other re
presentatives and describe its plans
and ask the representatives what
their concerns were. The group
then would try to find a way to play
arflllnH nnv rtrnh pm
v.. f
They could call in a team of
experts in soils, hydrology, biol
ogy, forestry, fisheries and other
disciplines to study the particular
land tracts involved, but the experts
would not be pitted against each
older.
The state Department of Natu
ral Resources would coordinate
the teams, whose members could
come from state agencies, tribes or
private organizations.
If the timber companies and envi
ronmental and tribal groups still
could not come to an agreement,
the state Department of Natural
Resources would make a decisior,
which could be appealed to the
Forest Practices Board and, as a
last resort to the courts.
Timber owners who dont want
to go through that process would
have to follow existing and pro
posed new forest practices
regulations.
The area of most controversy
involved logging along streams.
The state Forest Practices Board
had proposed a regulation that
would require timber owners to
leave 30 percent of the trees or
bushes in a 50-foot zone along a
stream. No group was happy, with
that.
u
Spthy iymoo photo by Shtwttyk
streams. Warm Springs Natural
Resource department hopes to stop
this from happening again for the
sake of riparian area protection.
The department is looking into a
source of alder wood to be availa
ble to community members for
their use in smokers. Notice will be
given when that wood is available.
Everyone benefits with protec
tion of the river environment and
everyone can help.
riparian forestry rules
left with minimum or no structural
changes. Timber management acti
vity can occur in the zone of influence
as long as major habitat components
remain." Consultation with fish
and wildlife biologists during forest
operation planning would provide
information for options on given
streams. It is only through such
cooperation that efficient resource
management for Oregon can occur.
With the presentation of this
task force report a list of proposals
have been outlined by the Board of
Forestry. Governor Neil
Goldschmidt was scheduled to act
on the riparian forestry rules on
March 4 but asked lor a month
delay on the decision. The delay
was requested by Goldschmidt's
The regulation proposed by the
new agreement is much more com
plicated, with standards that vary
widely according to the specific
stream, topographic and other con
ditions on the land to be logged.
That, in fact, is a theme of the
accord: to apply controls more on
a case-by-case basis and taking
into consideration what is going on
in the surrounding river basin.
But while this approach is more
agreeable to both environmentalists
and timber companies and a cor
nerstone of the agreement, it will
cost money to implement because
it will require many more field vis
its than currently take place.
Boyle said a "very soft" estimate
is that state agencies all together
might need $4 million to $5 million
a year to provide all of the person
nel needed.
The legislature will be approached
for money, and the tribes probably
will turn to the federal government
to pay for their increased costs.
A related major aspect of the
agreement calls for field monitor
ing to evaluate protection methods
and also to address any harmful
cumulative effects of logging activ
ities within a river basin.
The agreement also calls for beef
ing up field enforcement of forestry
regulations. And it would amend
the state Forest Practices Act to
allow more time and better review
of proposals to log environmen
tally sensitive lands.
The agreement pledges to keep
small landowners solvent. Owners
of 30 acres of land orless who
would be severely affected by stream
side requirements would be allowed
to cut down more trees near the
stream.
After the press conference, sev
eral weary participants, who in the
past have hardly talked to each
other, said they learned a tremend
ous amount about one another
during negotiations and learned to
trust and communicate with and
even like each other.
Environmentalists Marcy Golde
and Judy Turpin said they came to
realize that they want timber to
remain a strong industry in this
state because what replaces logging
often isnt environmentally better.
"I do not want this to be a wet
Southern California with suburban
sprawl all over the place," said
Golde.
Industry representative Bob Dick
said, "I'm tired of fighting. I've
been fighting for ten years. I came
to appreciate the tribal cultures
and what is behind the intensitv of
Sturgeon fishery needs
Submitted by Gene Greene
Natural Resources Department
During the late 19th century, the
Columbia River sturgeon catch
increased due to technological
improvement in preservation and
shipping methods. However, by
the early part of this century the
catch dropped significantly.
By the early I950's the states of
Oregon and Washington passed a
six foot maximum length restric
tion for harvest, in order to protect
the brood fish in the declining
population. Since inception of this
regulation populations have been
increasing.
With the curtailment of salmon
and stcclhcad fishing seasons on
the Columbia River and the
increased value of sturgeon and
their roe, fishing pressure on the
sturgeon by sport and commercial
fishermen has steadily increased.
For example the Zone 6 (Bonne
ville Dam to McNary Dam), Indian
Commerical fishing sturgeon harvest
has been doubling each year for the
past four years. In 1981 the com
mercial harvest was 2100 fish and
by 1986 the harvest increased to
9500 fish.
Similarly the sport fishing in
Zone 6 has increased dramatically;
however, the actual harvest figures
are uncertain at this time.
The sturgeon, a slow growing
fish, takes approximately 12-15 years
to reach the legal three-foot size for
harvesting. After this age a stur
geon is vulnerable to the fisheries
for an average of seven years while
they grow from the three foot min-
natural resources assistant Gail
Achterman to assure the rules are
based on sound ecnomic and biolo
gical analysis.
Both timber and environmental
groups are concerned with the pro
posed changes to the Forest Practices
Act regulations. Tree farmers ques
tion proposals regarding protecting
specific numbers of conifers near
streams while environmentalists feel
the proposals do not sufficiently
protect fish and wildlife habitat.
The department of forestry
reported that buffer strips from 25
to 100 feet wide on streams would
pose no threat to Oregon's timber
economy. There would be increased
costs to do this in approximately
20 percent of the operations.
logging wars in Washington
environmentalists.
"I came to appreciate why they're
what they're doing. I realized Marcy
was not just trying to put my peo
ple out of business."
The leaders, who have been neg
otiating intensively for the last four
WARM SPRINGS INDIAN RESERVATION MAP
mt hooo yl , Sk-
NATIONAL 1 jSOYi ' i f
FOREST . VBrhrVNL- ti.
-tt .-iJS-i -4 L m r
5 I son "m "r j I I lit. !2cv (.
OESCMVXTES' NATIONAL
proposed logging units for 198990 will
in the spring for those wishing to visit the proposed sale units. L ocations are indicated on the above map. A ny
questions regarding the proposed sales may be directed to Jim Akerson, H arm Springs BIA forestry
department. Times and dates of meetings will be published in Spilyey Tymoo.
imum size to the six foot maximum
sie. iie female sturgeon reaches
maturity at an average age of 18.
Therefore she is in a legal harves
table sie as a 5 to 6 foot fish.
Sturgeon growth rates vary. Stur
geon that have free access to the
marine environment have a con
stant growth pattern while stur
geon landlocked by dams have a
irregular growth pattern.
The difference in growth patt
erns (trends) is probably a reflec
tion of food supply. Populations,
free to migrate to a marine envir
onment have more food supplies
available throughout their life his
tory than landlocked populations.
When errors are made in stur
geon management practices it is
not visibly noticable for 15 to 20
years, due to the sturgeon's slow
growth patterns. (The sturgeon has
a 20-year generation cycle as com
pared to an average four-year cycle
for salmon.)
Much is still unknown about
sturgeon including their reproduc
tion cycle rate, the age at which
they become fully mature, their
mortality rate in catch and release
fishing, and the age at which they
stop growing.
It is known that the circular
hooks proposed for sturgeon fish
ing do not tear the mouth of a stur
geon as severly as standard hooks
presently used. They also avoid
incidental body snagging which oc
curs when sturgeon locate and cover
a food source or bait.
A coordinated effort by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service the
National Marine Fisheries Service
and the states of Oregon and
Washington to answer some of
these questions will begin this year.
Research will be conducted on early
life history and predation. Studies
will also be conducted to determine
how many young sturgeon drift
downstream to lower pools and
how many remain in the pool where
they were hatched.
John Elliott, a research biologist
for ODFW, will be involved in this
study to determine population size,
density and harvestable surplus.
The study is scheduled to last five
years but due to the slow growth
rates for sturgeon it should last for
ten years or longer. The study will
also involve tribal input.
Some of the recommendations
of the U.S.F.W.S. based on their
limited studies conducted in 1976
78 are as follows: The population
in each reservoir under the legal
months, came to an agreement at
12:22 a.m. yesterday at a Seattle
Tacoma International Airport motel.
At times during the marathon
session Thursday, participants felt
they might not be able to reach
agreement on the streamside log
ging issue, said Dick, forest man
FOT
SCALE
I 0 !NCMfV Mn.ES
O t 2 J
be discussed at upcoming public meeting. Field trips will be scheduled
protection
sie (less than 12 years of age), and
over legal sic (greater than 19
years of age) should be monitored
to determine the status of recruit
ment into the harvestable popula
tions, and the status of the spawn
ing population. Sport catch and
effort should also be determined
and monitored annually.
The following additional programs
should be developed:
1. Obtain life history informa
tion for fish under three years of
age and over 28 years of age.
2. Determine the status of the
population by monitoring age class
consumption. Implement a program
of sampling representative index
areas during a designated time period
(3 to 5 weeks) on a periodic basis
(every 3 years).
3. Evaluate present harvest regu
lations by determining length at
maturation male and female stur
geon, and fecundity at length.
Present size regulations are designed
to protect the mature and repro
ducing sector of the populations.
4. Locate spawning and rearing
habitat, and determine requirements
so that protection can be provided.
5. Annually determine sport catch
and effort through a creel census
program.
Sampling by lengths for female
sexual maturation indicate that less
than one percent of the fish are
ready to spawn at 4-5 feet. A little
over six percent are sexually mature
between 5-6 feet. This indicates
that the majority of spawners are
oversix feet in length and theseare
the fish that need to be protected. It
is a well known fact to avid stur
geon fisherman that most "cavier
fish," fish that contain eggs, are
over six feet in length.
With many unknowns regarding
the sturgeon but some known infor
mation based on limited study and
historical date, we would be better
off by taking a conservative approach
to the sturgeon fishery due to the
length of time that it takes to rec
over once over-harvested.
As co-managers, we must recog
nize our responsibility to protect
the reproducing population to rea
sonably assure that we won't be
known as the people who more or
less destroyed a viable fishery
resource. This can be done by not
giving in to the demands of handful
of people. With more studies pro
grammed for the future alterna
tives could be developed for the
fishery which could be beneficial to' '
more people.
agement director with the Washing
ton Forest Protection Association.
But when they finally did, they
celebrated for a few hours, went
home to sleep for a few hours, and
returned yesterday morning to draft
final versions and talk about imple
mentations. j H .4E
1 WMM
rr.tj
(D CoAi. Cccck it
A'artU iVfre
(J) foy - ?iu.tri"..c
Walter tt
LEGENO '
MUS.
Rood
Rtvn ond Crttfct
Powtrhn
Section Comr
6trvotion Boundary