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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 5, 2018)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, MAY 5, 2018 Siuslaw from 1A “I remember landing here and just looking out the plane windows and seeing the tall trees and the fog and every- thing. I thought it was amaz- ing,” Tome said. He was working for the Bureau of Land Management at the time, mapping channel morphology and the different habitat conditions for salmon throughout the Pacific Northwest. “We were based out of the U.S. Forest Service’s com- pound on the Oregon State University’s campus, and it was for the Siuslaw National Forest. So Siuslaw was the first river name I actually learned how to pronounce in Oregon.” Tome ended up getting a masters degree at the University of Oregon in Community and Regional Planning, and after some time in Utah on the Colorado River, he saw a job announcement for the position of watershed restoration project manager last year and he knew he had to take it. “I saw the word ‘Siuslaw,’ and I said, ‘That’s the first Oregon name I learned how to say!’” Tome said. “So I was just really excited to come back here and work in this basin.” The ultimate goal of the SWC is to save the coho salmon population in the Siuslaw region. “That’s a very lofty goal,” Tome said. It’s one that involves bring- ing the timber industry and environmental groups together, helping to rebuild the economy and recreating salmon habitats than have been lost in the past century. Back in the 1800s, the Siuslaw River was the second most productive salmon basin on the West Coast. “It was the Columbia River system, and then the Siuslaw,” Tome said. “We were a very productive salmon fishery. If you look at old cannery data, in the late 1800s, there were as many as 400,000 fish that they were catching in a year.” The fishing industry was unsustainable at that rate, and the salmon dwindled in num- bers. What was once almost half a million dwindled to just 1,000 salmon returning per sea- son in the 1990s. The salmon entered the threatened species list, and a moratorium on the fishing industry was placed until the salmon population could rise. But doing that was difficult with the decades worth of changes made to the salmon’s upriver habitat. “They really like that com- plex habitat,” Tome said. Salmon avoid large single channels of water, like rivers, because of the high velocity of water. “Especially in a storm, the water is going to shoot down that one direction. Little salmon can’t withstand that velocity.” Instead, salmon look for smaller eddies and a multi- threaded system with several islands and back channels, small ponds nestled between wood and debris that falls in from the hillside. “If you think about one threaded channel, most of what they’re eating are insects falling into the water,” Tome said. “There’s going to be more opportunity for the insects to fall into the water if there’s more vegetation throughout the system. If there are islands, all of a sudden you’re increasing the amount of vegetation hang- ing over the river. That creates a complex environment where those salmon can then spawn and rear and live.” But those types of waterways were counterproductive to log- gers, who need to push the logs down the river. One of the ways PAID POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT 9 A fall. The SWC also plans to expand its annual September Salmon Dinner into an all-day, family event. “I look at the future of the watershed council as a commu- nity organization that does watershed restoration,” Tome said. “And I’m really excited to start having more capacity to show people what we’ve been working on and to work on other projects that aren’t just restoration focused.” He also wants to expand his outreach to more marginalized groups in the region. SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTO “We care for our environ- People along the Siuslaw have been fishing for salmon for centuries. Once a thriving ment, our fish and our econo- population, Siuslaw Watershed Council and area partners have worked together to my, and that all trickles down to show the most vulnerable pop- restore habitat, reduce pollution and keep both salmon and the Siuslaw region alive. ulation are who we need to be they did was called splash-dam fish are still able to get have the opportunity to be hearing from,” Tome said. logging, as Tome explained: through.” delivered to the stream, and add “Sometimes those people are “They would create these For these reasons, the to that complex habitat.” subsistence people living off earthen dams across the valley, salmon population continued to The timber industry asked the fish or off the land, some of and then they would cut the dwindle to a point of endanger- what areas would be needed to those people’s voices are often trees from the hillsides and ment. help with restoration. missed.” float them in the pond.” “So we really wanted to get “They said, ‘We see you Has the population of salmon When the trees were ready, ahead of that,” Tome said. want to protect some timber- increased? While Tome wasn’t dynamite was used at high tide, In 1987, Oregon created the lands,’” Tome said. “‘We can’t sure of exact numbers, the creating a burst of floodwater Watershed Enhancement protect all of it, but what are numbers have risen to tens of down the valley, transporting Board, and in 1997, the Oregon your priorities? And if we pro- thousands. the logs downstream to the Plan for Salmon and tect small areas of land, where The SWC isn’t looking to mill. The process destroyed Watersheds was established. is that going to give you the bring the population back to much of the habitat and com- That’s the year the SWC was best benefit and investment for what it was in the 1800s, but to plexity in the river. created. restoration.’ So we’ve come up a point where the population is “If you look at the old survey “We’re working really hard with places that we think are resilient. maps, a lot of streams were on restoration,” Tome said. the best value and the best areas “There’s not a number that’s described as a mess,” Tome “The mission of our organiza- to preserve.” associated with that,” Tome said. “There wasn’t one clear tion has always been threefold: For the economy, the council said. “It’s more than it’s the single stream. The valley was community, economy and envi- has worked to give jobs to local trend, and we see that it’s a sta- wetted across valley walls. It ronment.” contractors for the restoration ble population. It’s strong.” was an integrated system, there Environmentally, the council projects. Tome noted that salmon pop- was a lot of tree, wood and has been restoring the habitats “On a given project, we can ulation has dipped in the last swamp habitat. And now, we over the past 21 years with the hire multiple contractors some- few years, but that is from nat- have mostly single threaded help of hundreds of volunteers times,” Tome said. “As much ural causes. channels. We simplified the and donors giving their time. as we can, and we usually do.” “The ocean is in a cycle right waterways because it works “One cool project we have in And then there’s is trickle now where there are less nutri- better for the human landscape the summer is a large wood down throughout the economy, ents,” Tome said. “The more to have one channel.” placement project,” Tome said. where locals spend their money nutrients that are available for Area loggers also used rivers “We go through the stream and in the community. fish that are in the ocean can as their primary mode of trans- we look at areas that the trees Saving the habitats can also help make them stronger so portation for equipment in the would have naturally accumu- have a greater impact on water they don’t die off. That’s mak- early days, when roads were lated from what would have quality, holding the water in the ing it harder for the salmon. limited in the Siuslaw region. been delivered through land- system for longer, filtering Those conditions go on a rela- But to get the barges next to the slides, or something on the through the natural filters of the tively reliable cycle. We expect river bank, they had to clear out landscape would have tied landscape. the ocean conditions to be poor the logs and complex systems them up. We go through and The council’s work also for the next, this year and next that made up the habitat. strategically place large trees helps with flood retention, year at least.” Those who worked to rebuild into the water. And so we have slowing down water in the Tome also stated that the the salmon population also cre- excavators that tip the trees rainy, winter seasons. oceans have been warmer ated problems. Thinking that over and carry them down to If there’s one thing that recently due to climate change. log jams posed a barrier for the the river. And then we put them Tome felt the SWC do better “But we can expect the num- fish, restorers began to remove in these log jams.” with, it’s with communicating bers to go back up after that. It them from the habitats. They’ve also worked to cre- with the community. has to do with nutrient cycling “And that turned out to be ate bipartisanship between the “We’re bad at telling our in the ocean,” Tome said. wrong,” Tome said. “Science is environmental movement and story,” he said. “A lot of our So what is the future really an iterative process and we’re the timber industry. work happens deep in the like for the salmon population always adapting and learning “The environmental move- woods. It’s not where people go and those who fish in the from our mistakes. We learned ment as a whole has said they and see it. And they might not Siuslaw region? that wood was important for don’t want clearcutting,” Tome know that their neighbor was “There’s definitely a bright fish. What we do now is have said. “So we went through and hired by us to do this work.” future here,” said Tome. “With big trees with holes in them. figured out what particular The council has been work- a lot of the work that we’ve Water is flowing through them, trees existing in the basin need ing with the Siuslaw Vision been doing with our partners in as they’re like a big sieve. The to be protected because they 2025 group on hiring an educa- the basin, I think the salmon tion and outreach position at have a better shot. We have a the council. lot of organizations and a lot of Tome envisions birding tours groups that are working toward and kayaking trips, as well as a their recovery.” river clean up scheduled for the Let me Showcase your property. thank you Price Reduced Sincere gratitude to our founding sponsors: Jenna Bartlett Deb Williams Stephanie Sarles Dan & Dina Pavlis Mary Ann Cleary Frank Hungate Peggy Gooch Susy Lacer Judy Kinsman Karen Earnshaw Paula Burnette Rebecca Goehring oehring Wellspring Clinic Arnie Roblan an Jennifer French ench Peggy & Bryan Bradley Joann Henderson Allan & Lori Muir Kim Shields Carol Clark Kelly Ross Katherine Johnson Justine Parker Susan Rousset Clare Brien Dan Gilday Broker 541 554-1844 Save for a rainy year. Sue Gilday, Agent State Farm Agent 1275 Rhododendron Drive Florence, OR 97439 Bus: 541-997-7161 Get a 30 Month CD FDIC-insured CD 2.30 % Bank with a Good Neighbor . CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION. *Annual Percentage Yield as of 05/02/18. 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