4i
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1960
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, ORE.
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The Rogue River Fisheries
Major. Causes of Fish Ruri' Decline Reviewed
Downhill Trend
Starts When Man
Moves Into Area
(Editor's not: Thil ii the
eighth in a series of article!
on the Rogue river fishery
and ill management. To
day'i article ii a ganaral ac
count of tht factori that
have bean reipomibl for
the decline of the migratory
and resident fish popula
tions in the Rogue drain
age.) By COLE M. RIVERS
Fisheries Agent
Stale Game Commission
i The runs of salmon and
steelhead in the Rogue river
system today are far below
their former
populi tion
levels. Actual
ally, there are
only a few
people living
who can
call the almost
unlimited
abundance of
these fish be
fore the de
cline began,
man's invasion
Prior to
I ilPll
" V-- - - , J
COLLECTED FISH Quart jars are filled
with small salmon and steelhead which were
collected from an unscreened irrigation
ditch before the Oregon state game com
mission started its screening program in
1945. This collection represents 1,465 fish
taken from a ditch, on the Applegate.
weather and the amount of
Dawning gravel were prob
ably the only factors that lim
ited maximum populations.
Records show this not to be
the case since about 1870,
when man began to change
the face of the Rogue river
valley.
But it was not until the
sports fishery became popu
lar in the 1920's did the gen
eral public become aware
that salmon and steelhead
were becoming scarce in the
Rogue system. This was over
fifty years after the decline
actually started. Yet, the
Rogue runs today are in far
better shape and are better
utilized than those runs re
maining in many other
streams in Oregon and the
Pacific Northwest.
Study Rogue's History
If readers would study
thoroughly the Rogue's his
tory in respect to its use and
development they w o u l a
understand the causes behind
the decline and probably be
amazed that any migratory
fish remain. Truly, the Rogue
salmon and steelhead are de
serving of admiration.
Slides in the lower canyon,
dams built without fishways,
unscreened irrigation ditches
and ' power developments,
early mining activities, heavy
silt loads, extensive commer
cial and sports fishing, lack of
protective laws and adequate
enforcement, and heavy egg
takes suggest that we have
hearty races of fish in the
Rogue to still be present in
the numbers we have today.
Too many words would be
needed to describe in detail
all of the factors that influ
enced the downhill trend, but
a few of the major causes are
described briefly.
Shortiy after the turn of
the century a dam was built
across the Rogue immediately
below the present Caveman
bridge at Grants Pass. At this
dam, steclhead and salmon
had to make a nine-foot jump
to pass to upstream spawning
areas.
Hamper Rum
The Anient dam between
Grants Pass and Savage Rap
ids ' seriously ' hampered the
runs for 18 years, with an un
satisfactory ladder In opera
tion during the last five years
of the dam's existence. In
1927, the story goes, "some
conservation - minded person
floated a boatload of dyna
mite down on the dam. The
result no dam and free pas
sage for salmon and steel
head."
Today, we know that sal
mon and steclhead that have
trouble passing difficult bar
riers arrive In the headwaters
wth fungus Infections, many
dying as a result before they
are able to spawn. In the past,
these losses must have in
volved thousands of fish. Re
cent changes and Improve
ments to fish ladders have
eliminated most Injuries and
resultant losses.'
Early packing records of
commercial fishing at the
mouth of the river tells a
story in itself. Annual packs
declined. year after year de
spite the heavy plants made
by stale, federal and private
hatcheries. When the fishery
could no longer be economi
cally pursued, the river was
closed to commercial fishing
in 1935.
Took Egg Supplies
Because the runs of salmon
and steelhead were thought
to be inexhaustible, the U.S.
bureau of fisheries in the
early days took large supplies
of eggs, many of which were
' shipped to all parts of the
world. The records of these
eggtakes show decided de
cline and by 1938 ail but one
of the stations had to be aban
doned because so few fish
were returning to the racks.
General irrigation projects
began in 1917 and 1918, but
the big developments did not
occur until after tne arougnt
of 1931 and 1932. Hundreds of
ditches were developed, and
only a few were provided
with screens for the protec
tion of downstream migrant
salmon and steelhead. The
losses of young fish in these
rrlgation canals were ex
tremely heavy until 1945- at
which time the game commis
sion began its screening
program.
For the first four years
after completion, the Savage
Rapids dam was without satis
factory fish ladders, seriously
affecting a complete cycle of
the salmon and steelhead
runs. In addition, the turbine
intakes and pumps took
heavy toll of downstream mi
grant fingerlings for 35 years
before the installation of the
llnkbclt screens in 1958.
The losses of fish at the
Gold Ray and Gold Hill power
plants went unobserved for
years. Work toward obtain-
UAW Review Board
Praised in Study
By College Center
New York - tUPn - A study
published this week praised
the work of a review board
set up by the United Automo
bile Workers union to review
appeals from some of the
union's own decisions,
The report was written by
Jack Stieber, director of
Michigan Slate university's
labor and Industrial relations
center: Walter Obcrer, Uni
versity of Texas law proles-
sor and a former executive
director of the board, and Mi
chael Harrington, a journal
ist specializing in labor problems.
Increased Awareness
Stieber said the board had
brought about "increased
awareness and respect on the
part of UAW leadership for
the Importance of due process."
Oberer said guarantees of
Highway Officials
Cite Seven Menaces
Washington - IUP1I - The
American Association of Mo
tor Vehicle Administrators
lists seven types of motorists
as "the biggest holiday men
aces on the road."
Here arc the seven types -and
the association's com
ments on each:
-The Speeder: Going too
fast whs a contributing factor
in 21 per cent of fatal acci
dents.
-The Drinker: About 10,000
of the 32,000 fatal motor-vehicle
accidents Involved a
drinking driver,
-The Sleeper: Non-collision
accidents (Involving only one
car) accounted for 40 per cent
of the fatalities registered in
rural areas and 16 per cent
in urban areas. Fatigue was
listed as a dominant factor in
most of these accidents.
-The Weaver: Improper
passing is listed as the cause
of over 5 per cent of all acci
dents.
-The Highway Hog: More
than 18 per cent of accidents
were due to failure to yield
right of way.
-The Road Bum: One out
of five passenger cars and one
out of four trucks sufetv
checked were found in need
of maintenance for safe driv
ing-
- The Blinder: Defective
headlights is the leading cause
for rejects among cars submit
ted to safety Inspections.
union members' "basic demo
cratic rights" were provided
by the UAW in the establish
ment of the board.
Harrington said that as a
result of the board's work
there was "practically no se
rious opposition to the review
principle in the union.
In a foreword to the study
report, University of Califor
nia President Clark Kerr said
the board "grew out of a vol
untary surrender of power
on the part of union leader
ship" and represented a "posi
tive step" in promoting due
process in UAW actions.
The report particularly
praised the UAW for contin
uing its support of the re
view board although the
board reversed six of 29 UAW
International Executive board
decisions it considered.
Considers Appeals
The board is empowered to
consider most appeals from
UAW executive board actions
which are not concerned with
collective bargaining. Its
members are Professor Jean
McKclvey, New York Slate
school of industrial and labor
relations; Rabbi Morris Adler
of Detroit; Magistrate J. Ar
thur llanrahan, Windsor,
Out.; Msgr. George G. Hlg
gins, director of the social
action department of the Na
tional Catholic Welfare con
ference; Judge Wade 11. Mc
Crce Jr., of Michigan's third
Judicial district; Bishop G.
Bromley Oxnam, Washington,
and W. Willard WIrtz, a Chi
cago attorney.
The report was published by
the center for the study of.
democratic institutions which
was founded last year by the
Fund for the Republic.
Cos's Less To Feed
A Larger Family
St. Paul, Minn. -IUPP- While
it may not be true that two
can live more cheaply than
one, the University of Minne
sota s Institute of Agriculture
says it costs less per person
to feed a large family than a
small one.
The per person cost of food
in a family of five is 5 per
cent -less than In a family of
four. In a family of six, it's
10 per cent less,
Foresters Studying
European Pine Moth
Seattle (Science Service)
Foresters of the U. S. forest
service and the Washington
state department of natural
resources have begun an ex
perimental program aimed at
e r a d i eating the European
pine shoot moth, an insect
whose larvae likes to chew
on tender pine shoots, by fu
migating the larvae.
'Hie moths have begun In
festing ornamental pines in
parts of the Seattle area and
could spread to lumber-producing
pines in eastern Wash
ington if not cheeked. Infect
ed plants arc covered with
a plastic covering and methyl
bromide gas is pumped into
the enclosed area. The larvae
do most of their damage in
the spring. They chew t h e
new pine shoots, which can
damage shrubs without kill
ing them. Distorted and dead
ends of branches are evidence
of attack.
ing corrections at these plants
has been of recent history.
Many studies in the North
west show that the rise and
fall of salmon and steelhead
population are directly relat
ed to logging of the drainages
and the changes that occur in
the pattern of season water
runoff. Some of the decline of
the silver salmon, steelhead,
and cutthroat trout in the
Rogue system follows this
same pattern.
There is little doubt that
the complexion of the Rogue
basin, with respect to cover
and natural stream flows, has
changed tremendously over
the years. What were once
stable tributaries now exper
ience low and warm water
flows during the summer
months and scouring high
waters in winter. With the
wild scramble for available
water, we are now facing
critical shortages, not only in
the tributaries but in the main
Rogue channel as well.
More Valuable
Today, each salmon . and
steelhead that escapes to the
spawning grounds becomes
more valuable than ever. In
spite of this, reports indicate
that more spring chinook are
being foul-hooked in the up
per river sections than ever
before. For every foul-hooked
fish landed, better than four
others are lost. Those that are
lost usually die before spawn
ing because of the serious
wound which becomes infect
ed and kills the fish. Pitch
forking and gaffing of spawn
ing salmon and steelhead
from tributaries continue at
an alarming rale.
Although a few appear in
court each year, these flagrant
violators are difficult for law
enforcement agents to appre
hend. In addition, most ang
lers turn their backs on the
practice, and refuse to report
or appear against the gaffers,
pitchforkers or the foul-hookers.
The increased numbers of
people that fish the Rogue
annually, combined with the
public s need for more out
door recreation, are creating
a fishing pressure problem.
Smaller Supply '
As mailer supply of fish and
fishing waters in the valley
must be distributed among a
larger number of anglers. The
problem becomes even more
acute in southern Oregon
where anglers insist on more
fish per angler day to be
satisfied than in any other
section. of. Oregon.
The sports fishing industry
has attracted thousands of res
idents, to, the Rogue basin an
nually and it entertains large
numbers of tourists each year.
From three to five million
dollars are spent annually In
the pursuit of the Rogue fish
ery - dollars- on which the
basin's economy is in part de
pendent.
Many river systems -have
completely lost their migra
tory salmon and steelhead
runs. The disappearance and
decline follow a pattern that
is related to the rate and kind
of development. With valu
able segments of the Rogue's!
resources still Intact, we have
a great opportunity to bene
fit from the mistakes made
elsewhere. Public agencies
and much of the public at
large are ' truly concerned
about the fishery in the Rogue
river system, and they are
striving to work out a pro
gram of orderly development.
Moon Roundtrip, $10,000
Cape Canaveral-fflPD-Look-ing
for a vacation that's dif
ferent? How about a round
trip to the moon, or a one
way flight to Mars-for only
$10,000?
Some American scientists
predict that programs already
underway to tame the unseen
pieces of energy that make
up the universe may some
day make space travel as sim
ple as air travle for Mr. Av
erage Citizen.
The day may be less than
a few decades in the future
-and if this all sounds far
fetched, remember there was
a time when predicing that
jet planes would flit about
the sky at faster than the
speed of sound would not have
been considered sane conversation.
Fellowship in
Journalism Set
At Columbia
New York - fliPD - Colum
bia University President
Grayson Kirk has announced
establishment of a new ad
vanced fellowship program in
international reporting at the
university's graduate school
of journalism.
Kirk said the project will
provide an opportunity for
outstanding mass media re
porters to spend an academic
year at Columbia acquiring
specialized knowledge for
careers in reporting and in
terpreting international affairs.
One Year's Tuition
It is distinct, he said, from
the recently established in
ternational fellow program,
which is designed to give
younger students in various
Columbia professional schools
improved backgrounds for
careers in the international
community.
The new fellowships cover
one year's tuition and fees
and provide grants of ud to
$4,400 for travel and living
expenses for the nine-month
academic year.
At least six fellows will be
accepted for the first year
of the program, which begins
in September, 1961.
United States Army heli
copter pilots help out as cow
boys during the annual round
up of buffaloes on the Wich
ita, Kan., wildlifs refuge.
Scientists Develop
New Feed 'Wringer'
San Jose, Calif-IUPD-Scien-
tisls at Food Machinery and
Chemical Corp. have develop
ed new equipment that can
literallly wring water out of
fresh fruit, vegetables, meat
and fish without changing the
shape or size of the product.
Food processed in this way
will keep without refrigera
tion and weighs only a frac
tion of its original volume
And Clie product can be re
stored to its fresh state by a
quick soaking in water.
The company researchers
explain that the new equip
ment dehydrates foods by a
freeze-drying principle.
Lady Cops Have Names
Written on Pavement
Scituate, Mass. -IUPD- Out-of-town
motorists, passing
through Scituate, are puzzled
by names of girls on the pave
ment at various intersections.
Dotty, Peg, Rose and Helen
-painted in 18-inch letters in
side large ovals-designate the
spots where trim-uniformed
lady traffic cops are on duty
to safeguard children going to
and from school.
Police Chief William Kane
says the idea of personalizing
the women traffic guardians
has proved popular with the
townsfolk.
Despite some startling ac
complishments, the world still
is in the gaslight era of space
exploration-with "horse-and-buggy"chemical
rockets that,
at best, can lift only small
payloads (anything under 10,
000 pounds is considered
small) into the skies.
The big dream is exploring
and . possibly colonizing the
moon and planets. But human
beings are delicate creatures,
and the sheer weight of equip
ment needed to protect them
would impose severe prob
lems in getting sufficient rock
ket power.
Most scientists consider
chemical rockets-solid or liq-
ued fucled-almost out of the
question. Instead, they are
looking to the energy of
atoms, ions and photons-the
invisible "building blocks" of
the universe for power for
interplanetary flights.
Nuclear Rover
The United States already
has begun development of a
nuclear-powered rocket called
Rover which it hopes to test
in space in 1965. Rover will
be boosted by a chemical
rocket, the 1.5 million-pound-thrust
Saturn.
In the nuclear engine, hy
drogen will be heated by a
reactor and rammed through
a thrust chamber. The result,
says Maj. Gen. Don R. Os
trandcr, Air Force director of
launch vehicle programs, is
that Rover "can potentially
double the thrust" of the most
powerful liquid rocket.
This means simply that a
nuclear rocket will need less
fuel for more power. Rover's
first flights will test an
atomic system that American
scientists are seriously con
sidering using to' land a man
ned spacecraft on the moon
and return a 10,000-pound
payload to earth.
Engine Need Drops
Once in space, the need for
gigantic rocket engines im
mediately drops off since the
pull of gravity has been over
come and air friction is prac
tically nil. Unless you are in
a hurry, your spaceship can
use another type of propul-
sion-ion, plasma or photon
Ostrander explained that
ion or plasma systems rely on
the speeding up of electrically-charged
particles, rather
than the physical expansion
of hot gases, to get push. Pho
ton systems would use the
radiant pressure of light to
drive a spacecraft on its way.
In contrast to the mighty
power of chemical rockets,
these "electrical" systems gen
erate less push than the pres
sure of your little finger on
a set of scales. But at inter
planetary distances, a small
but steady thrust can build up
near-fantastic speeds.
The National Aeronautics
and S p a ce .Administration
(NASA) has ordered a test
model of a small iron engine
it said could send spaceships
soaring among the planets.
The Hughes Aircraft Co. of
Culver City, Calif., is expect
ed to have the engine ready
sometime in 1961.
The government also has
awarded Electro-Optical Sys
tems Inc. of Pasadena, Calif.
a $1,190,000 contract to de
velop a tiny ion engine to
control the direction of space
craft, which would need only
a small push to change course.
M. W. Hunter, a space sys
tems engineer for the Doug
las Aircraft Co. of Santa Mon
ica, Calif., has taken things
a step further and proposed
what he called "the nuclear
solution to the high cost of
space travel."
Same Cost
Hunter suggested that re
fined nuclear rockets work
ing on the Rover reactor prin
ciple, built to be used for at
least 100 trips, "would be able
to haul cargo and people
around the solar system for
essentially the same price and
degree of convenience that
now applies on the surface
of this planet."
In his calculations, "pas
senger costs are of the order
of $10,000 per roundtrip to
the moon and the same price
for a one-way trip to Mars,"
although Hunter explained
this operation would be "lim
ited to the tourist season."
He said further improve
ments in nuclear engines
could reduce-these figures to
$1,000 per roundtrip to the
moon and $3,000 one-way sea
sonal fare to Mars, "although
the year-round price Is still
well over $10,000 per passen
ger." But even at that, $10,000 is
little more than some people
pay these days for round-the-
world trips now-pay later" deals-except.
And your travel agency perhaps, on Hunter's one-way
may offer one of those "go flight to Mars.
VERL G. WALKER CO.
SP 3-7S57
205 W.
Jackson St.
Mcdford, Oregon
THE
DANMOORE
HOTEL
1217 SW Motriion St.
PORTLAND, OREGON
All transient guests. All those who
co mi, return. Rates not high, not
low. Free garage, TV's and radios.
Reputation for cleanliness
Children Under
Seven No Charge
Holiday Season Glose-Oul
Burn-Rite Logs
KOGAP Lumbor Industries is liquidating, their stock of Burn
Rite Loqs. Now you can save as much as 26c per carton.
Burn-Rite Logs are packaged in easy to carry 10 packs and
6 packs. Each log is 3 inches in diameter and 12 inches long
and will give hours of warm, comfortable heat. Burn-Rite
logs are available at our
mill on South Pacific
Higway 99 or w will
deliver orders amount
ing to $1 5.00 or
more.
Sorry No Charging
on these special prices
For More Information
Call . . .
SP 3-6601
Ext. 46
Pn mfl, &
JUST
AAOGSE
3 DAYS
TO SHOP
On AAEDFOI&D!
GIFTS YOU DON'T HAVE TO TRAVEL EXTRA
MILES TO GET! From near and far, from at
home and abroad has come the wide and
wonderful selection of all that's new and ex
citing in the way of gifts. Shop right here in
your home community, where the best costs
no more. There's a cheery welcome awaiting
you in the colorful lights, glittering tinsel and
beautiful displays you'll see right now!
SHOP FOR NAMES YOU KNOW AND
BRANDS YOU TRUST! Gift-giving time is no
time to take a chance on unknown or off
brand merchandise. Here, in your home com
munity, our Christmas-minded merchants have
gone all out to bring you the famous names
that stand for quality, at prices that make giv
ing and getting a positive pleasure. Shop
with confidence. Our Medford merchants are
your friends and neighbors.
SHOPPING IS MORE FUN WHEN YOU SHOP
AT HOME! We could devote pages to explain
ing why, but here are just a few reasons.
You save the cost and inconvenience of trav
el time, the harassment of looking for park
ing space. You pay no more, often less for
the same merchandise. You help boost local
prosperity and make our community a bet
ter place to live in. AND, you will find that
after -sale service and exchanges are SO
MUCH SIMPLER!
JOIN THE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
PARADE TO MEDFORD MERCHANTS
Medford Mail Tribune