Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 1987)
Warm Springs, Oregon July 17. 1987 PAGE 3 Spilyay Tymoo Passage Ii Passage Way timber sale the "passage way" into the future of the reservation? Are all areas con taining large tracts of old growth on the Warm Springs reservation eventually going to be logged? Are some areas of the reservation too sensitive and too valuable to other resources to be removed? These are some of the questions that Tribal Council and tribal members must resolve? Taken out of conditional use after a study in 1970 determined it could be logged economically, Passage Way was included in the 1982 Forest Management Plan as commercial forest. Passage Way, located in upper Mill Creek drainage, encompasses 3,400 acres of old growth forest. Logging of 320 acres is proposed for 1988 along with construction of 46 acres of roads. Clearcuts, overwood removals and shelterwood logging will result in the removal of 16 million board feet of timber over a three-year period. However, over a 30-year period two additional entries are planned with further removal of old growth trees. "Approximately two-thirds of the old growth in Mill Creek Valley will not be treated" as cited in the sale planning report, "These leave blocks can be considered in the future." Ponderosa pine, grand fir and i f J if 1 s - ' i ., ' v I t . ' f , l ... . N I f i Bureau of Indian A Jain forestry engineer Dale Sarkkinen points to the - . . f f' I .n 11 . J-1mlmm fifth 3400 acres of forest incmaea in tneruMujtc rr uy utS unc vj several tours offered to community Girdlingburning used to increase huckleberries Two different methods are cur rently being employed to increase huckleberry production in the Mt. Wilson area on the Warm Springs Reservation. The tree on five acres of forest land in the McQuinn Strip area are being girdled. This, according to forestry technician, Mike Cuunning ham involves removing the bark from the tree which will kill them. The trees will remain standing, providing shade but will not com pete with huckleberries for water. The huckleberries should come back within three years, says Cunningham. Three different areas will be Tree spiking Police investigated a tree spiking incident in the Miller Flat area which caused damage to a chain saw blade. Ten-penny size nails were driven into five trees where work began on June 16 in a logging unit being worked by J.R. Smith Logging. The nails were driven into the tree trunk on the lead side at an angle where a faller's saw blade would enter, according to Warm Springs investigator Oliver Kirk. A man with a black dog was seen Basin planning begins In the past salmon and steelhead research and management has been conducted by numerous federal and state agencies, Indian tribes, utili ties and others. Each of these enti ties, in some cases, had its own interest and management objectives and due to the complexity of sal mon and steelhead management that existed on the Columbia River Basin it was apparent that a coop erative system plan for their man agement be developed. Currently this system plan is being developed by the fisheries and wildlife agencies and tribes in consultation with the Northwest Power Planning Council hydro power project operators and regu lators, Bonneville Power Adminis tration, federal and state water manoTS. and interestrd members Way poses resource questions douglas-fir dominate the area, some as old as 300 years. Western white pine, western hemlock and western cedar are also included in the sale. The high elevation of the area provides spring, fall and summer range for deer and elk. blarkhrar and other wildlife species also inha bit the area. A 240-acre wetland has been excluded from logging because of regeneration problems and the del icate nature of the area. "This marshy area," says Warm Springs watermaster Deepak Sehgal, "should be designated with a status protect ing it from any future impacts by forest management activities." The steep canyon walls of the Mill Creek drainage sale area drop quickly to Mill Creek itself where 30 percent of the water flowing in the Warm Springs River passes. Sixty percent of all water in Mill Creek originates in Passage Way from numerous springs and drainages. Mill Creek has a flow able to support anadromous fish and resi dent trout. But during late summer liic now diminishes to an extent where irrigators on Sidwalter Flat are unable to divert water in order for minimum stream flows to be maintained for fish. Much effort has been directed at increasing fish production in the stream along with efforts aimed at increasing water quantity and improv ing water quality. Rehabilitation M 1 - - memoers. included in this project, each with different tree spacing to determine which is more advantageous to huckleberry production. The burning of huckleberry fields in two to five acre plots on the east side of Mt. Wilson will also increase berry production. Scheduled for fall the burning will kill surround ing trees, leaving them standing for site protection and will remove slash from the ground. This method has been used by Indians in tne past, says Cunningham. The Culture and Heritage Com mittee and community members have requested this done. New investigated early that morning near the area but identification could not be made. The perpetrator of the action, says Kirk, seemed to have had knowledge of logging methods as indicated by placement of the nails in each tree and the particular trees selected for sabotage. Similar tactics have been used by environmentalists to prevent log ging in old growth areas. This, however, is not an area of envir onmental concern, says Kirk. No further incidents of spiking trees has been reported. of the public. The Columbia Basin system plan will be broken down into 31 sub basins to ease evaluation and ensure integration and consistency with the system plan. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will par ticipate in subbasins planning in the Hood, Deschutes and John Day rivers and the Fifteenmile Creek. The primary goal of the system plan will be to develop a set of coordinated and preferred alterna tives to rebuild salmon and steel head runs, especially natural spawn ing populations. Through this effort there is a hope to double existing runs from the present 2.5 million to 5 million adult fish that annual migrate upstream through the Bonne ville Dam. Ml?-' - ' n " ! f projects, gabion placement, imple mentation of the Streamside Man agement Plan, the Strawberry Falls by-pass and water priority deci sions indicate that the Tribe is very much interested in improving its fishery on Mill Creek. Studies conducted both on and off reservation show logging and road construction to have an impact on water quality in streams which in turn impact fisheries. Watermaster Deepak Sehgal points out, "The volume of timber proposed for removal and the mileage of new roads required for this entry may cause problems in water quality and quantity in Mill Creek." Warm Springs fisheries biologist concurs in his report on the sale area adding. "An area of (treat con cern is the almost inevitable results in some erosion, and even small amounts of mineral matter enter Passage Way timber sale is located growth will be stimulated resulting in increased berry yields in six to 1 1 years. Eventually other experiments aimed at increasing huckleberry production will occur. Three clear PASSAGE WAY SALE MAP A-T'; - R8E R9E ....... ' . yH rr" ' '..., r " Nutt Roods ,t. .s- 1 class i .t : I y i ' Class 1! srewt - 1 , , i . , 9 i-r ! i i -" lQ , ' - CLAbS 111 .t ' - 1 . t ' j' I M' ? '' f j I CorJrt'-Ot J f t - Cofitour :iWilNl'0 ' '-K,J' , ' " -.1 i ! Potter's Pond rehabilitation project Creating a healthy stream envir onment is the goal of a proposed stream rehabilitation project at Potter's Pond on Mill Creek. Plans for the project, aimed at stabilizing the stream where a log storage pond once existed, will be submit ted to Tribal Council by the Warm Springs Natural Resources depart ment July 16. Currently, says Warm Springs fisheries biologist Mark Fritsch, a minimal number of fish are found in Mill Creek. With improvements, according to his report, "a conser vative increase of approximately 1,016 spring chinook smolts and 538 summer steelhead smolts per year could be expected. . .At cur rent survival and harvest levels, this would result in an adult return to the Sherars Falls of 25 spring chinook and 22 summer steelhead annually." Passage problems for anadrom ous fish became difficult when in the 1940's a dam was built to create a log storage pond. In December of 1980 the dam broke during exces sive flood conditions and scoured the stream channel. Some minor efforts have since been made to stabilize the banks by planting and gabion placement. The fisher ies resources has been somewhat improved by screening the Mill creek lateral canal and by the re moval the Strawberry falls barrier in 1984. Unstable banks lacking riparian vegetations has caused degraded water quality. Livestock grazing has, also, reduced plant material from the stream's edge which is necessary for bank stability and fish cover. Mill Creek is the largest tribu tary to tne Warm Springs River, producing 30 percent of its flow, says Warm Springs watermaster Deepak SehgaL The water level ing Mill Creek resulting from road construction and clearcuts." Research now taking place is aimed at aiding Sidwalter residents to find ways in storing water from Mill Creek and in finding other sources of water. The importance and value of water cannot be dis puted. "N uuuc can guarantee ihattnerc is no chance of impact to other resources, especially in light of present range and fisheries uses that are already causing minimum flow impacts,"assistant forest mana ger Bill Apgar states in a letter to the Warm Springs Timber com mittee. That is also the concern expressed by tribal resource managers. I he proposed logging plan, ooth immediate and long-range, is just a plan, says Apgar. "From a techni cal, forestry point of view, this is in the Camp Creek area. Areas to be cuts in the Badger Creek drainage have been set aside for this pur pose. Logging methods will be employed which will project the berries. gets low in the late summer but since implementation of the Stream side Management Plan in 1982 enough water to accomodate migrat ing anadromous fish is maintained in the stream. Plans for the rehabilitation pro ject call for narrowing the channel and providing vegetation to shade the area. Approximately 700 boulders will be placed in the 1 Vi mile pro ject area . -4 . v - . i "" .--'.',, . ;-':r ' ' - '...,-, 'ft'. :'') . "v . -; ., : ... , i --- 1 . '.-' ri ', ' ,.... ''- Vv -. . v , ' . ' l-J -2 vx f. l - ; j s .... 1 . . , ' ' . . . , 1 ' i . V "''' rV' l" " ' V- ; ; 'T- :... .. . -.-ii::-1 - far .: -.. - T -t a . - . i -, i u Fisheries technician mid Keith Moody studies plans for proposed Mill Creek rehabilitation project. With stream improvement usable habitat for young fish and passage for adult steelhead and chinook salmon wiB be increased. what we could do." Any entry into the area will require stringent protective mea sures including, say resource man agers, very high quality roads and drainage systems, grass seeding, road closures, strict adherance to the Streamside Management Plan along with 1 00 foot, no entry buffer strips around springs and drainage areas. "The only way resources is going to say yes," emphasizes Seh gal, "is if we specify all the mitiga tion measures on the contract." Logging can be done in Passage Way, according to Oregon State University watershed specialist Dr. Hank Frolich, but precautions are necessary. H ired as an outside hydro logy expert, Frolich will be submit ting a written report to the Timber Committee before any decisions on the sale are made. Letters of con cern have also been submitted bv logged are indicated PGE schedules Portland General Electric com pany Round Butte employees and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife volunteers will be con ducting tours of the Round Butte dam powerhouse and hatchery on Thursday and Friday evening, July 23-24, from 7-9 p.m. and Saturday, July 25, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Round Butte Observatorv The first Dhase. exdains Warm Springs fisheries technician Louie Pitt, includes boulder placement followed by fencing and the con struction of livestock watering holes. Maintenance and monitoring ex encompassed in the third phase of the project. Hopefully, says Fritsch, the pro ject will begin at the end of July when no fish are migrating. Spring chinook begin passage througn mat Culture and Heritage, Land Use and Fish and Wildlife committees. AH of this will be taken into con sideration before a decision is made by the Committee says Timber Committee chairman Ellison David. That decision is set for July 27. Forester Bill Apgar aptly stated the position of the-Tribes as land owner, "The tribes must be the ones to have final say on whether this unit "goes" or doesn't and if it does, under what conditions." Tribal Council in its final deci sion to log or not to log the Passage Way area must weigh economics against resources, or be able to combine the two compatibly. "Our business is logging" versus "I want my children to see this"encompass two prevailing attitudes expressed by tribal members that must be considered. The decision made is a long-lasting one. tour of project will be open during the tour hours for anyone wishing to picnic as part of the project open house. The P.G.E. hydroelectric project is located on the Deschutes River ten miles west of Madras. Turn west off of the old Culver highway and follow Belmont Lane out to the P.G.E. office. proposed area in Aueust and September and steelhead migrated three months ago so "this time frame gives us a window where we can work." Success of the rehabilitation pro ject is best told by the resource itself, says Pitt, "The fish tell us if it's a success." The standard of consciousness on the reservation has increased, he adds. Now we think,"Maybe we do owe the stream something.' .
