2 B
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2018
Long-term study shows thriving cutthroat trout in coast range
CORVALLIS — A decade-long
study of cutthroat trout in the Oregon
Coast Range has found that logging
practices conducted in accord with the
Oregon Forest Practices Act had no
adverse impacts on coastal cutthroat
trout and coho salmon populations or
movements.
In studies of logging practices prior
to passage of the act in 1971, changes
to fish habitat were documented from
the use of stream channels as trans-
portation corridors for logs and from
other changes to riparian areas adja-
cent to streams. One of the landmark
studies of such practices occurred in
the Alsea River watershed in the late
1960s.
Starting in 2006, a team of
researchers from Oregon State
University, the U.S. Geological
Survey, Colorado State University and
the forest products industry returned to
the Alsea basin to study the impacts of
modern logging practices conducted
in compliance with the act.
Little
from 1B
stadium was live; but any ball
hit into or over the bleachers
was a home run.
Once, we lost a game
because an umpire included the
front of the announcers’ booth
as part of the face, even though
it was 50 feet in the air; he
denied a home run off the roof
front and we lost by one run.
Fishing
from 1B
• It’s not too late to get your
spring Chinook. In fact, sever-
al fisheries are just heating up.
Check out the Columbia above
Bonneville Dam and the lower
Rogue. Or, be the first to report
catching a springer in the
Nestucca or Tillamook bays.
• It’s getting warm enough
for warmwater fish. There’s
largemouth bass in Lost River,
crappie in Gerber and
Campbell reservoirs, and the
elusive striped bass in the
Smith River.
• Anglers have reported
catching rockfish and lingcod
inside the Umpqua jetty and in
Coos Bay near the north jetty
and other submerged rock
structures.
SIUSLAW
RIVER:
Steelhead
Winter steelhead fishing has
improved. Casting spinners,
drifting bait or using a bobber
and jig can be effective.
B E A LERT TO FISHING REGU -
LATION CHANGES
Fishing regulations can
change during the season,
especially during popular
salmon seasons. To stay on top
of the changes, click the yel-
low “alert” button at the top of
the home and Fishing landing
pages. You also can check for
any regulation updates at the
top of each zone of the
Recreation Report. (Columbia
River spring Chinook seasons
at www.myodfw.com/recre-
ation-report/fishing-report
/columbia-zone
S PRING C HINOOK
Some anglers wait all year
for spring Chinook season, and
reports of early fish being
caught are coming in from the
lower
Columbia,
North
Umpqua and lower Rogue
rivers. To follow any in-season
regulation changes on the
Columbia River, check out the
regulation update section at the
top of the Columbia Zone of
the Recreation Report.
ALSEA RIVER: Steelhead
Winter steelhead has picked
up throughout the river. A mix
of wild and hatchery fish are
being caught. Casting spinners,
drifting bait or using a bobber
and jig can be effective.
NESTUCCA RIVER and
THREE RIVERS: Steelhead
Fishing has been fair to good
on the Nestucca. There should
be good numbers of brood-
stock hatchery fish and wild
steelhead throughout the sys-
tem.
They assessed the numbers of cut-
throat trout, aged one year old and
older, annually through 2014 in the
watersheds of Needle Branch and
Flynn creeks.
The researchers also documented
forest cover, stream habitat conditions
and stream temperature and discharge.
Logging occurred in Needle Branch
in 2009, but Flynn Creek was left
unharvested, just as it had been in the
1960s.
The results were published March 1
in a professional journal, Forest
Ecology and Management.
“In the 1960s, the stream channel in
Needle Branch got hammered, and the
cutthroat took it in the shorts,” said
Doug Bateman, the lead author of the
paper, now a retired researcher in the
College of Forestry.
In the latest study, the biomass of
cutthroat trout in Needle Branch
increased after the tree harvest relative
to the trout in Flynn. In the headwaters
area of Needle Branch, nearly all of
In left field, we used the left
goalpost pole as a foul pole. It
was at least one foot in fair ter-
ritory but we determined it a
fair way to judge balls hit over
the fence in that direction.
There was a chalk line drawn
parallel to the third base foul
line for out-of-play.
Balls caught on the field side
were outs; but if a player
caught the ball and ran over the
line, runners were awarded an
Float fishing jigs, beads, or
bait, drift fishing, nymphing,
and swinging flies or spinners
are all good techniques.
Three Rivers is getting on
the low side but there are fish
throughout the system.
SALMON RIVER: Steelhead
Wild winter steelhead can be
retained on the Salmon River.
Daily and annual bag limit on
wild winter steelhead are 1 per
day and 3 per year. Casting
spinners, drifting bait or using
a bobber and jig can be effec-
tive.
Winter steelhead has picked
up throughout the river.
SALMONBERRY
RIVER:
Steelhead
the trees were cut with the exception
of the required buffer strip along the
fish-bearing portion of the stream.
By monitoring the movements of
fish up and downstream, the
researchers were able to determine
that increases in Needle Branch were
related to local changes rather than to
influxes of fish from other areas.
“It’s rare to be able to say that,” said
Bateman. “In other studies, it is often
unknown whether changes in popula-
tion size are associated with fish
movement, but here we show that the
fish responded to conditions in the
harvested portion of the channel. We
weren’t set up to study the causes of
the increase, so we can’t really say for
sure.
“It’s possible that increases in sun-
light or increased export of inverte-
brates from upstream areas con-
tributed to the increased fish biomass,
but it could also be related to any num-
ber of other factors, such as stream
temperatures, changes in predators or
extra base.
These ground rules were in
effect until a portable plywood
fence was built in the early
1990s.
In 1978, my first season as
head coach, I — with help from
many others — made some
changes to the area behind the
back stop because the blackber-
ry bushes and other vegetation
ate up baseballs, which made
finding foul balls difficult.
The Salmonberry is getting
low and clear but there should
be some big wild steelhead
showing up this time of year,
but be prepared to catch and
release.
Check with the Port of
Tillamook Bay for access
restrictions.
SILETZ RIVER: Steelhead
Winter steelhead is continu-
ing to pick up throughout the
river. A mix of wild and hatch-
ery fish are being caught. Rain
over the weekend has raised
the river level and got fish
moving again.
Casting spinners, drifting
bait or using a bobber and jig
can be effective.
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disease.”
The researchers also recorded
changes in numbers of juvenile coho
salmon, which were found generally
downstream from harvested areas
where increases in cutthroat trout were
most apparent.
No changes were observed in num-
bers of salmon over the course of the
study, possibly due to the fact that
these fish were located downstream
from the logged area.
The salmon numbers are also com-
plicated, said Bateman, by the species’
migratory behavior, which exposes the
fish to a variety of factors such as
sport and commercial harvest and to
conditions in the ocean and estuaries
that most cutthroat trout do not experi-
ence.
“We can confidently say that, in this
watershed, cutthroat trout were not
negatively affected by logging activi-
ties over the course of the study,” said
Bateman. “We’re cautious about gen-
eralizing these results to other water-
I had many helpers clearing
the brush. We also gradually
added a portable backstop to be
used during batting practice.
I also had a protective screen
built for pitchers and first base
during
batting
practice.
Eventually, we built a batting
cage close to the fence on the
third base side and, thanks to
the Woosley family, installed
an electric cord from the score-
board to the back of the
sheds since conditions can vary so
much. Still, these fish are probably
well adapted to changes in the
streams, and forests provide some of
the best remaining habitat for them.
“When you move downstream into
areas adjacent to farm fields and urban
areas, the changes to rivers and
streams can pose significant chal-
lenges. It’s important to look at the
watershed as a whole.”
Funding for the study came from
public and private organizations
including: the College of Forestry and
Watershed Research Cooperative at
Oregon State University; the U.S.
Geological Survey; Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board; USDA Forest
Service; the federal Bureau of Land
Management; the National Council for
Air and Stream Improvement; the
Oregon Forest and Industries Council;
Plum Creek Timber; and Hancock
Forest Management.
dugouts. This allowed volun-
teers to sell coffee and hot dogs
to raise money for baseball.
We were also able to change
the football scoreboard into a
baseball scoreboard.
To illustrate the football hold
on the old Hans Peterson field,
you only need to know that in
over 20 years of football games
on that field, the coaches not
once had to prepare the field for
a game. From seventh grade
through varsity, the football
field was always ready for the
game; by contrast, I was chalk-
ing lines and batters boxes for
Saturday baseball games.
We played some exciting
baseball games at the old field.
In future columns I will choose
some of our best games and
valuable players that helped
Siuslaw become Far West
League contenders.
A weekly roundup of shopping, savings and doings around town.
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