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
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Bureau of Indian A Jain forestry engineer Dale Sarkkinen points to the
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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
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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.
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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'; -
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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
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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.'
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