3
SlMIXW TYMOO
WAHM SPRINGS, OKKCON 97761
May 8, 1987 Pi
Data predicts low summer flows
The Natural Resources Depart
ment has been monitoring the snow
pack on the reservation since I974.
The data is collected at four differ
ent sites. Two of these sites are
reached by ground equipment and
the other two sites monitored from
the Tribal plane.
The depth of the snow at each
site is measured and the water con
tent determined for that area. This
data is then compiled and com
pared to the Hows that occur in the
streams and rivers of the Reserva
tion. From the snow pack data it is
possible to make a prediction of
the flows that may occur in the fol
lowing summer months, (table I).
A chart of the average water
content for all four sites for the
years I974 through I986 against
the water content for this year was
developed. This indicates that we
have approximately 87.5 percent
of the average water content that
occurred in the last thirteen years.
A flow monitoring station was
installed on Shitike Creek at
Thompson Bridge in I974 and the
data compiled on a continuous
basis. It is possible to compare the
data from this station with the
snow data pack and make a fair
prediction of the type of flows that
can be expected for the months ol
July. August and September.
The data from these graphs pre
dicts the following: The mean flow
for July 1 987 will be approximately
80 cfs August will be approxi
mately 54 cfs and September will
be approximately 47 cfs.
The flow monitoring station on
Bridge was established in I973 and
data has been compiled continu
ously since then. In making a sim
ilar comparison of data from this
station it is possible to predict the
flows that can be expected for the
months of June, July, August, and
September
The data from these graphs pre
dict the following: The mean flow
for June I987 will beapproximately
350 cfs. July 1 987 will be approxi
mately 267 cfs, August 1987 will be
approximately 245 cfs and Sep
tember I987 will beapproximately
247 cfs.
A stream of major concern to
many is Mill Creek. A flow moni
toring station was established on
this stream at the B24I road cross
ing in late I983 and data compiled
on a continuous basis since that
time. Due to the short period of
data records it is difficult to make a
similar comparison of snow pack
and flows as was possible for Shi
tike Creek and Warm Springs River.
But due to the concern of water
users on Sidwaltcr Flat a predic
tion of flows was made using a
three year average flow and a fact
that approximately 90 percent o(
this average will probably be pro
duced this year. This method of
prediction is not as accurate as the
one utilized for Shitike Creek and
Warm Springs River but will be in
the "Ball Park."
From this data it is possible to
predict that the flows in Mill Creek
will be inadequate to meet those of
the anadromous fish and the water
users on Sidwalter Flat.
Response found to be "disappointing"
the Warm Springs River at Culpus
Spruce budworm under attack
Portland, March 30 Spruce bud
worm infestations in northeastern
Oregon will come under attack in a
300,000-acre joint Forest Service
Oregon Sate Department of Forestry
aerial spray project scheduled to
begin in June.
"This will be the largest effort in
the Pacific Northwest to employ a
natural insecticide in the treatment
of spruce budworm," said Jim
Torrence, Regional Forester of the
Pacific Northwest Region, USDA
Forest Service.
Naturally occurring insecticide
Bacillus thuringiensis or B.t., will
be sprayed from helicopters and
airplanes onto the infested trees.
The effectiveness , of treating In
festations on an operational basis
with B.t., which is harmful only to
the larvae of some moths and butter
flies and only for a short period of
time, was evaluated in 1985.
Over 1 50 Forest Service employees
from the Pacific Northwest Region
and other regions throughout the
west, and several Oregon State
Department of Forestry employees,
will be involved in this summer's
spray project, which will be head
quartered in John Day. The Project
will begin in June and run through
mid-July.
The spruce budworm is the larvae
of a small moth that feeds almost
exclusively on the new growth of
Douglas-fir and true fir species.
The insects feed on trees of all sizes.
Damage is mostly visible in the
summer months when the needles
killed by the feeding insects turn a
reddish brown color. Repeated
heavy feeding for several years can
cause some topkill and mortality in
trees and will weaken them, making
them more susceptible to other
insect and disease agents. If the
trees were not treated, this seven
year budworm outbreak would con
tinue and valuable timber would be
lost.
Entomologists had proposed a
spray program last year, but funding
was not available.
A similar project is planned in
Yakima County, Washington, where
57,000 acres near Rimrock Lake
will be treated. " "
The response by Forest Service
officals "was disappointing and
condescending," said Paul Dewey,
president of the Sisters Forest Plan
ning Committee. He felt the reply
to the appeal filed January 9 by the
citizen's watchdog group opposing
logging in the Wizard 1 imbcr sale
was inadqucate.
The sale, which involves 3.9
million board feet of timber on
Forest land north of Camp Sherman
on the Metolius River in Central
Oregon, is bordered also by the
Jefferson Wilderness area and the
Warm Springs Reservation. Ap
proximately 1,118 acres are desig
nated for logging.
Logging in this area could have a
detrimental effect on fish and wild
life as well as impact a prime
recreational area, the committee
asserts. Forest Service timber
planner R udy Hefter, however, feels
the completed envionmental assess
ment on the area provides sufficient
data to justify logging.
The concern by the committee is
not logging itself, said spokesman
Dewey, but the culumative effect
of Forest Service logging practices
in the Metolius Basin. Dewey
stated, "The problem in the basin is
not logging. The problem is clear
cutting and logging roads. The
Forest Service is also not paying
enough attention to fisheries, elk
habitat and visual qualities of the
area."
"The Forest Service," said Dew
ey, "has failed to correct the prob
lem of poorly engineered roads
Sale removed
After public concern regarding
the proposed timber sale at Antoken
Creek, the 2,785 acres involved
were removed from the commercial
forest base by Tribal Council
resolution April 6.
Tribal members residing near
the sale area expressed feelings that
aesthetic, cultural and big game
value would be impacted by the
sale.
The removal of this sale from the
commericial forest base reduces
the allowable cut by 886,000 board
feet effective January 1, 1988 to a
new total annual allowable cut of
79,7 1 4,000 board feet for the Warm
Springs block.
which cause erosion and contrib
ute to sedimentation in tributaries
in the Metolius.
"Two or three-year-old growth
pine in the midst of an acre of
vounc trces"as a visual goal is also
unacceptable, said Dewey. "The
basin is a premiere recreation area
and this kind of planning does not
contribute to a good visual experience."
Dewey continues. "The Forest
Service cannot keep on planning
sale after sale after sale in the
Metolius area without some plan
to deal with cumulative effects...
Because of the Basin's topography,
with its many roads and streams,
virtually every activity has some
effect on the Metolius River."
The "we're taking care of it "
attitude of the Forest Service "de
creases our confidence." explained
Dewev. There are numerous un
resolved concerns regarding envi
ronmental impact involved in the
Wizard Timber Sale that only a
complete Environmental Impact
Statement can address.
The Sisters Planning Committee
has until May 15 to respond to the
Forest Service reply. Since the initial
appeal, "we've come up with
documentation"rcgarding degrad
ation of wildlife habitat brought
phnnt hy hiinu
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Spityay Tymoo photo by Shrwctyt
The Warm Springs reservation borders the proposed Wizard Timber Sale in the Metolius Basin.
Yaw goes to D C. New ce personne,
Madras High School student
igh
Nicole Yaw was selected to attend
the Young Leaders conference April
25-29 in Washington D.C.
Delegates for the conference were
selected by United Way of America
groups who paid for the travel and
expenses. Involving youth more
actively in their communities was
the purpose of the conference.
' Workshops at the conference
dealt with leadership development
and community problem-solving.
VS
Water meaSUreS approved Conference attended
The Joint Committee on Water
Policy approved two water policy
measures April 18, one to fight
water waste and the other to launch
new watershed improvement pro
jects. A new Watershed Enhancement
Board would be created to supervise
and finance local streambank and
watershed improvement projects
designed to increase stream flows.
Senate Bill 23 now goes to the
budget writers of the Ways and
Means Committee.
This bill was initially drafted
after water experts testified that
watershed management projects'
such as plantings, fencing, crop
ping patterns and grazing schedules
could increase the late summer
flows in heavily used Eastern Ore
gon streams.
Water conservation is encouraged
by the approval of House Bill 24 to
allow irrigators to profit from the
sale of any water they are able to
conserve through more efficient
irrigation practices. This bill now
goes to the Senate floor. One com
mittee member expressed concern
that the measure would authorize
the sale of water out of the state.
Gilbert Brown and Dorian Soliz,
along with Delbert Frank and Mary
Ann Meanus, attended the Alco
hol and Substance Abuse Confer
ence held in South Sioux City,
Nebraska May 5-8.
The conference was designed to
bring elders and youth together for
developing recommendations for
prevention and treatment of sub
stance abuse.
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Newly hired special police officer John Halliday is '2 Wasco and the
grandson of Frenchy Thomas and the son of Jeannie Thomas; Bill
Chamema is a Hopifrom Northern Arizona and is the new B1A law
enforcement secretary.
Forestry board adopts minimum riparian rules
Hatchery part of IHN research
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Harm Springs fisheries technician aid Keith Moody assists ODFW
fisheries technician L onnie F reeman during spawning and sampling for
IHN virus at Round Butte fish hatchery.
Infectious Hematopieitic Necro
sis (IHN) is a virus that can prove
fatal to fish. The virus infects the
blood system of salmonids (salmon
and steelhead) and has the poten
tial to wipe out an entire hatchery,
according to Oregon Department
of Fish and Wldlife research biolo
gist Brian Jonasson.
The IHN virus, discovered in
1974 at the Round Butte Hatchery
on the Deschutes River, never
reached serious proportions and
researchers are working on ways to
eliminate the problem completely.
Hatchery manager Bill Nyra ex
plains that two years ago water
supplies were changed and the flow
into fish rearing ponds was doubled.
The disease has decreased in fre
quency as a result.
However, researchers are still
not certain that transmission of the
disease is through water. For the
past three years adult salmonids
have been tested for the disease.
Biologists cross pairs of fish with
and without the IHN virus hoping
to obtain more information. They
are concerned that transmission
may occur from adult to progeny.
Realty seeking
current addresses
The Warm Springs Realty office
is asking that all enrolled members
of the Warm Springs reservation
and the Burns Paiute reservation
send in their current mailing address.
Send new addresses to Bureau of
Indian Affairs Realty Office, P.O.
Box 1239, Warm Springs, Oregon
97761.
Culture conference begins
Registration begins Thursday,
May 7 from 6 to 9 p.m. for the
Northwest Conference on Cultural
Preservation at Kah-Nee-Ta Resort.
Meetings will be held Friday and
Saturday ith a dinner Friday night
at the Simnasho Longhouse.
Restrictions on logging and re
lated practices in riparian areas
have increased as the result of rules
adopted April 1 5 by the state Board
of Forestry.
The rules establish a riparian
zone three times the width of a
stream but not less than 25 feet or
more than 100 feet wide along a
fish-bearing stream. Within that
zone, half of the tree canopy must
be left, including nine conifers per
acre if there are that many in half
the zone nearest the water.
The new rules provide for moni
toring of their impact which has
not been done on logging practices
in the past.
The 1987 legislature has appro
priated 5171,563 for the forestry
department to add two forest-practice
foresters to its enforcement
staff during the next biennium and
to promote another forester from
seasonal to fulltime enforcement.
One position will also be added to
the administrative staff for mon
itoring duties.
Conservation and environmen
tal groups feel that the rules do not
adequately protect fish. In other
states, buffer zones provide a 200
foot zone of shade along streams or
44 conifers with a minimum of a
12-inch diameter instead of nine
trees provided in the new Oregon
rules.
The problem, Oregon Trout
executive director Bill Bakke claims,
is the presence of a single member
on the nine-member Oregon Board
of Forestry who represents the
public interest. The board, Bakke
points out, appears to be serving
logging industry interests.
DESCHUTES SPRING CHINOOK
Sherars Falls Sport Catch
Percent of Total
80 1 ;
60 ---"
'mmwk t-jjjl j!
iip lip i ill
q I mmmmmM-fA r.r-n 1 tin -"'- , , , ,f
1 May 16 June 1
April
LJ Effort
May
Two Week Period Beginning
HU Adult Catch I I Jack Catch
Graph from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shows how well sports fishermen do at Sherars tails
during spring chinook run.
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