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MEDFORDJfcTRIBUNE
SECTION B MEDFORD. OREGON. SUNDAY. AUGUST 12. 1962 PAGES 1 to 16
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Operation Fish Lift
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By State Game Commission Staff
Host Oregon anlgers are quite familiar with normal
fish stocking operations and have probably observed
many times a big liberation tank truck roll up to a
river bank or lake shore and discharge perhaps a
half a ton of trout. Or it may have been a planting
boat as it first takes on its load from a tank truck,
then sweeps down-river unloading trout cargo as it
goes.
In fact, it is rumored that some anglers are in
trepid lib truck or planting boat "chasers", following
the loads to the release site to get in on ground-floor
angling. And sometimes it pays dividends in quick
limits of trout, but fish being what they are, the chas
ing may also be about as fruitless as a bait dunker
trying his luck in a bathtub.
Aerial Fish Plants
But there's a fascinating kind of fish planting
the average angler seldom sees, yet he reaps the
rewards year after year in supurb angling. This is
the high lakes aerial fish plants where automation and
airplanes have taken over from the laborious bucket
brigade and pack strings of a score of years ago.
Anglers packing into the back country lakes of
MEASURES TROUT Monty MonlRomery, district fishery biologist at Bend,
carefully measures fingerling trout from a pond at the game commissions Fall
River hatchery. The young trout are then transferred to aerated tanks for an
aerial fish lift into Oregon's back country lakes. (Game Commission photo)
SECOND PHASE Operation aerial fish lift in second phase of transferring
fingerling trout from aerated hopper aboard a flat-bed truck into the aerated
hoppers aboard the aircraft. (Game Commission photo)
the Cascades and Wallowa mountains next year will
be catching scrappy rainbow trout or eastern brooks,
the result of the game commission's aerial fish lift
this year which was completed just a week ago. Not
that anglers won't catch fish in the high lakes now,
for without exception every lake and pothole ill the
high country that will support fish life has been
stocked with fish at one time or another during the
years. Some lakes receive stocks of fish every year,
while others may be planted anywhere from one to
six years apart depending on the size of the lake and
the angler pressure.
Glamour and Excitement
Although aerial fish planting is fast and efficient,
biologists, especially the old-timers, feel that the
glamour and excitement is gone from the challenge of
providing a sport fishery in the out-of-the-way places.
And there is little doubt that the modern fishery
biologist is missing out on a thrilling and challenging
experience.
For the day of the pack string in fish planting is
past. So, too, is the sweat and toil of juggling heavy
cream cans in which the water must be changed at
each creek crossing if the loads of fish are to reach
their high altitude destination alive. Gone are the
long, dusty days on the trail, the grime, the worry
and the fun. So, too, is the risk of losing pack horse
and fish load on a steep mountain slope; or perhaps
a balky mule that decides lie likes it better down
the mountain than he does up.
Campsite Scene Recalled
There were fried bacon and beans, smelly socks
hung on a forked stick to dry, the creak of saddle
leather, and the musical tinkling of the bell mare on
a frosty morning. There were sweaty men and sweaty
horses who aired themselves somewhat in a cold
mountain lake in the heat of the day. A week end
down the mountain may mean clean garments, a hot
bath, and shave unless trout were waiting and time
would not allow.
Perhaps as many lakes were planted then as now,
but it was an all-summer job that began with the
spring thaw and ended when snow and cold again hit
the high country. And each time a cream can of rain
bows or eastern brook trout was dumped into a lake,
there was deep satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment,
as horse wranglers and biologists alike watched the
little youngsters swim away into the depths. They'd
grow in a year or two and provide even more excite
ment and satisfaction to a pack-in angler with rod
and fly. Then it was down the mountain to reload,
only to return again to the next lake, and the next,
until blizzards and a lowering snowline called a halt
to the high lakes operations.
Aerated Tanks Instead of Cream Cans
But methods change with the times and the aerial
fish lift has now replaced the pack string, and test
tubes and aerated tanks have pushed the cream cans
aside. During this year's aerial fish lift which took
nine days of flying time, nearly a million trout were
dropped like falling rain into some 250 lakes in the
Wallowa and Elkhorn mountains of eastern Oregon
and along the backbone of the Cascades from Ml.
Hood on the north to the Wild Lakes Primitive area
on the south.
Operation "fish lift" stemmed from the Hood
River airstrip, the Chiloquin airstrip, the Fall River,
airstrip, and the airstrip at Joseph. Each field is lo
cated a short distance or few miles from a game
commission hatchery for quickness in the transfer of
fish from hatchery to plane. At the Fall River landing,
the transfer is made directly from hatchery to plane,
while at others the fish are first hauled to the air
strip by tank truck.
Also Golden Trout
Rainbow and eastern brook trout raised at several
game commission hatcheries form the bulk of the
high lake plants. Cutthroat trout are stocked in a few
lakes, and for the angler who likes a trophy fish in
the hard-to-get places, the beautiful golden trout is
stocked in a few selected lakes at high elevations.
Aerial fish planting began more than a dozen years
ago on an experimental basis in an attempt to speed
up the high lakes fish plants as well as reduce Hie
manpower required. It has since developed into a fast
and efficient method of stocking Oregon's back coun
try waters.
The pilot project was contracted by Sam Whitney a
Air Service at Newberg. This year he brought a new
aircraft into operation, a Piper Pawnee single-seater, a
faster craft modified to hold a five-compartment
aerated tank and capable of stocking five lakes on a
single flight.
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AND AWAY THEY GO A lever is pulled and trout and
water are sluiced from the plane to fall like raindrops
into the lake below. Release here waa made over upper
The flight plan for earn trip and the allocations
for each lake on the flight schedule is prepared well
in advance. Large waters such as Marion lake in the
Jefferson park country may require the entire pay
load, or even two flights, while smaller lakes such
as Jorn or Mowich in the same area may take only
a single tank compartment, or two or more depending
on its size and the normal angling pressure.
Aerial fish planting begins at the hatchery when
fish to be stocked are seined into a holding pen.
From the pen, or from a tank truck previously brought
from the hatchery, biologists carefully weigh out
the required number of trout for each lake on the
flight schedule. These are placed In a five-compartment
aerated hopper mounted to a hydraulic lift on
the stern of a truck. Each compartment is marked a
different color, as are the compartments aboard the
plane. Careful timing, essential to the welfare of the
fish, completes this work as the plane touches its
wheels on the runway.
Aerial Photographs Used
It is then a simple procedure to back the truck
against the plane, hoist the tank overhead, and flush
fish and water into the corresponding compartments
below. The pilot is then instructed on the flight
schedule and, for ease in their location, given an
aerial photograph and maps of the lakes to be stocked.
The time lapse from touchdown to take-off is seldom
more lhan ten minutes.
As he approaches the target area, the pilot locales
the lake or lakes from his aerial pui.ion, ..u
makes his run. The dropping of fish is much like skip
Hanks lake, located about one half-mile north of th
Taylor Rum rd. a few miles from Little Cultus lake In
central Oregon, (Game Commission photo)
bombing practiced extensively during the last war
but minus the skip. The center of the lake is the
target bulls-eye.
Accuracy is uncanny, even in a pothole no more
than an acre or two in size, as the plane glides In on
a shallow run, then up and out as fish and water
are released. Often pack-in anglers fishing from a
rubber dinghy or pole raft have been surprised to
see an airplane bearing In on them and suddenly
find themselves sprayed with wriggling fish and soma
20 gallons of water.
Aerial fish drops are made at elevations of not
less than 100 feet above the water. Elevations under
100 feet may result In injury or death to the fish as
their air speed has not been reduced to the normal
fall rate by the time they hit the water. Optimum
elevation is from 150 to 500 feet. Higher elevations
cause no harm, but the accuracy of the drop diminish
es as elevations increase above that point.
Entire flights seldom take an hour's flying time
from take-off to landing. Most flights are set up on
30 to 45-minutc schedules. This gives the one to three
man biological crew time to weigh out allocations
for the next flight, load the hopper for transfer, and
make other preparations necessary.
Storms or bad air may hall flying operations for
a day or two. Early morning Is usually the best fly
ing, hut If air and weather permit as many as eight
to ten flights may be made in a day's lime. The entire
air lift this year for the stocking of nearly a million
trout Into 250 hack country lakes spanned less than a
three-week period.
Planes Carry 1,454 Patients in 13 Years
Mercy Flights
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By SANDRA ARANT
Mail Tribune Staff Writer
Thirteen years ago, in the
month of August, the idea
was conceived for the ser
vice of Mercy Flights. Inc -a
non-profit air ambulance
service.
A fund-raising campaign
was begun in the fall of 1949.
and continued until Decern
Kr ai that time the first
airplane was purchased, and i
Mercy Flights came into be-1
ing. Since then a number of
planes have been used :
There are three in operation
now.
Since its establishment, the
service has carried 1.434 pa
tients. Of these, the majority
have been memocrs of the
subscription plan. George
Milligan is chairman of the
voluntary board of trustees.
Each of the three planes is
equipped with stretchers and
oxygen, and has ample room
for medical equipment. In
one recent case, an incubator
was carried in the airplane.
About six pilots are avail
able to fly the planes A list
is kept by Mercy Flights,
and the corporation calls on
whichever pilot is available
at the time.
The planes are on call 24
hours t day - vni days a
week. They are available for
use in all kinds of missions,
including search and rescue,
as is illustrated by the case
of Fred Hale.
On a December night Hale,
a flying service operator in
Grants Pass, flew a mission
to drop food and supplies to
several small communities
downstream on the Rogue
river. The small towns were
isolated by the river, which
was at flood stage. Hale did
not return, and by nightfall
his wife notified the state
search and rescue coordina
tor for the area, Harold Con
nor. Connor requested Mer
jcy Flights to make a night
time search along the river
before an approaching storm
reached the area.
Connor and the plane's pi
lot spotted a fire about 25
miles downstream, near a
settlement called Black Bar
lodge. The settlement was
about 47 miles from Medford
!-Mercy Flights' base airport.
1 To check out the fire,
thought to be a signal fire,
two rner guides set out
down the Rogue Their ob
ject was to float down to
Black Bar. pick up Hale, and
j continue dow-n the river to
civilization. However, it was
.found that the guides could
only get as far as another
isolated lodge, Marial. Word
was sent out that Hale was
injured, and a U.S. Forest
service plane returned to
Grants Pass to pick up Dr.
B. E. Mikkelson.
The pilot flew Dr. Mikkel
son as near as possible to
Marial, a strip seven miles
away. From there the pilot
and the doctor hiked back to
Marial.
Hale had been injured
when his plane was caught
in violent turbulence and
crashed in the trees behind
the lodge. Plans were made
by the rescuers to clear an
old logging trail to Marial,
and bring Hale out with an
ambulance and bulldozers.
However, Hale's was not
the only case Mercy Flights
was handling at the time.
Residents of Klamath, Calif.,
were forced by the flooding
Klamath river to evacuate to
Crescent City. That city was
leut off by swollen rivers and
jrock slides. It was necessary
to carry blankets to the city
for life by the extra people
.in the Crescent City gymnas
iium shelters. This task was
performed by Mercy Flights.
I In addition, a young girl
'in Medford was stricken
iwith polio, and it was neces
sary to take her to the polio
clinic in Eugene. The plane
had trouble with wing icing
and headwinds, and was con
sequently late in returning
from the trip and continuing
to its appointed meeting over
Marial.
The rescue operations were
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MERCY FLIGHTS PLANE One of the largest owned by the corporation and was
three planes owned by Mercy Flights, Inc., purchased only last fall. The planes fly all
Is shown at the Medford Municipal airport, kinds of mission Including search and
This plane, a twin-engine Bcechcraft, i the rescue.
going slowly. Hale's rescue
by land was proving mucn
too slow, and too expensive.
An Air Force helicopter was
brought from McChord field
in Tacoma, Wash., to help
with the operation.
Dr. Mikkelson decided
that rescue by helicopter
would be less harsh on the
patient than continuing tha
ground rescue, so Hale was
moved by 'copter. The entire
rescue operation had taken
from Saturday, when Hale
disappeared, until the fol
lowing Thursday, when he
was finally taken to a Granls
Pass hospital.
Other missions have also
been performed by Mercy
Flights planes. At one time
two members of a Boy Scout
troop on a hike down the Il
linois river canyon fell and
were Injured. Each had mul
tiple fractures of the arms
and legs. The scoutmaster,
after examining the boyr,
sent two others on an 18
mile hike to the Forest ser
vice gunrd station at Agness.
As a result, three Fores.
Service Smoke Jumpers ar
rived on the scene, bringing
with them collapsible
stretchers and medical sup
plies. The men gave first aid
lo the scouts, and then start
ed the trek toward Agness.
This was accomplished part
ly by land and partly in a
small flat bottomed boat
floating down the Rogue
river.
The Mercy Flights plane
picked for the Agness rescue
was a "souped up" version of
the Twin Cessna "Bamboo
Bomber." After some trou
ble wilh air turbulence, the
pilot succeeded in landing in
a cleared area at Agness. Af
ter waiting for several hours
for the scouts to arrive, the
plane, carrying the pilot,
the patients, and a good deal
of medical equipment, was
able wilh some difficulty to
take off. A 30-minute flight
brought the boys to Med
ford. In still another case, two
teen-age boys from Happy
Camp, Calif., were injured
by shrapnel and burning
powder from the explosion
of a homemade rocket. Thia
necessitated flying over the
Siskiyou mountains to get
the boys lo medical facilities.
To meet the emergency, a
plane carrying a nurse and
medical supplies flew down
the Klamath river.
The two badly injured
boy were treated by a nurse
while flying back to Med
ford. With the pilot, nurse,
and both young men in the
plane, plus the equipment
wnicn nad been brought lo
assist, the nlane wn
heavy that the boys' moth
ers could not fly to Medford
with them.
The pilot of a light plane
offered to fly the mothers to
Medford so they would not
have lo make the fnur.hnup
trip by car.
The Mercy Flights plane
arrived safely in Medford,
and the youths were taken to
me nospital by ambulance.
Only then was it discovered
that the plane carrying the
mothers was lost somewhere
above the cloud cover.
Through the use of a direc
tion finder at the Medford
Municipal airport, the plane
was directed to a cloud-free
airport some 50 miles away.
Mercy Flights then sent a
plane to bring the mothers
on to Medford.
Week in and week oi t
Mercy Flights performs such
acts of rescue and medical
aid. The flights provide ser
vices to all people in need of
help. Subscriptions are avail
able to all valley resident!.