The
INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published twice
monthly, on the first and third Wednesdays of each
month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge
Street, Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper. Edi
tors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Phone/Fax:
(503) 429-9410.
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With very little advance notice, nearly 30 people
turned out to talk with the Columbia County Board of
Commissioners last Friday afternoon, Jan. 28.
In addition to making a pitch for the benefits of the
linear trail extension, several of them wanted to talk
about safety. To be more precise, they wanted to talk
about the lack of safety on the path next to heavily
traveled Hwy 47 between O-A Hill and Washington
Grade School.
Through no fault of their own, Commissioners Jack
Peterson and Rita Bernhard were unable to get to Ver
nonia in time for the meeting. They did finally arrive
Ike Says a a a
and, with Commissioner Tony Hyde and city adminis
trator Mike Sykes, took a driving tour of the trail ex By Dale Webb, member
Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter
tension. They also looked at the path, but only from
There is good news in our local watershed
the comfort of a vehicle, they didn’t walk it.
and
beyond. Coho salmon numbers appear to
Before people left the aborted Friday meeting, Hyde
said it would be re-set so people could talk with the be significantly up from past years. Even though
the numbers are much improved, Coho salmon
commissioners. That would be the right thing to do.
are not yet out of the woods. A couple of exam
By Monday, Jan. 31, when The INDEPENDENT ples of the Coho rebound are the success in the
asked Bernhard whether a date had been set, she Fishhawk Lake system, which saw Coho in
said the commissioners would not re-set it. They had Boxler Creek for the first time in years and three
seen the project and didn’t feel a need to talk with any fold survey counts in the Tillamook system.
Boxler Creek just this summer had an impass
body. Are we surprised?
able culvert removed and replaced by a railroad
They don’t want to hear from the students who were car bridge. While the actual number of Coho
concerned enough to use their own time to attend a counted in Boxler Creek was around forty fish,
meeting on a sunny winter day when there was no the ramifications of these fish finding and using
a stream that had been cut off to them for years
school.
is exciting. Also, counts at the fish ladder of fish
They don’t want to hear from the mother whose moving over the structure indicated that well
young daughter is afraid to walk on the only path be over 1,000 fish moved into the upper Fishhawk
tween the hill and the school.
system between late October and the end of No
They don’t want to hear from the man whose vision vember. The project to replace the culvert was
is so limited that he can’t drive, and needs a smooth, spearheaded by the Upper Nehalem Watershed
Council, with help from Natural Resources Con
safe surface for walking.
servation Service and Oregon Department of
They don’t want to hear from the mother who can’t Fish & Wildlife (ODF&W). Funding was provided
use a stroller for her toddler because the path is too by the Governor’s Watershed Enhancement
Board (GWEB) and the Oregon Wildlife Heritage
narrow.
They sure don’t want to hear from the student who Foundation. A great deal of time and effort was
expended by Maggie Peyton, the Upper Ne
fell from that path.
halem Watershed Coordinator, and members of
The commissioners are focused only on the trail ex the Fishhawk Lake home owners association.
tension and refuse to look at the safety problems the
In talking with our District fish biologist, Keith
Braun
of Tillamook, he indicated that their peak
trail can help mitigate.
Incidentally, Bernhard also said that, if we wanted to survey counts had gone from 13 to 42 on an in
dex scale used by the department. This news is
talk with a commissioner, we could call Hyde because very welcome in the Tillamook area, since their
he lives here. Perhaps it’s time for him to step up to Coho runs have been pitiful when compared to
the place and insist on representation for everyone.
the Nehalem runs. Neither river system, though,
AGO I LANDED o H
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TURNLR AND A/Ok/GET
TO B u il d o / j i t i
Help Wanted - No Pay
The City of Vernonia is seek
ing applicants for a vacancy on
the city Planning Commission.
Before you stop reading, re
member that the planning com
mission plays a key role in land
use and in the development of
ordinances. If you are interest
ed in effective government, but
don’t know much about how it
works, this is a great learning
opportunity.
Anyone interested is asked
to send a letter stating why you
are interested in the volunteer
position, along with your quali
fications and background, name,
address and phone number.
The appointment will be
made by Mayor Art Parrow,
with the approval of the City
Council.
Letters of interest should be
sent to City of Vernonia, 1001
Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR
97064, Attn: Julie A. Coonlz.
Letters must be submitted no
later than March 2, 2000.
is anywhere close to historic levels that once
saw over 200,000 Coho in the Nehalem alone.
Population estimates were not yet available at
press time.
Much of the credit for the turn-around lies with
the renewal of upwelling and cooling of the East
ern Pacific (That’s our side of the ocean.). It ap
pears that the cool, wet cycle we may be head
ing into may be very favorable for Salmonids.
Steelhead numbers are also showing good
strength as preliminary numbers start coming in.
I guess I’m going to have to eat a little Crow
for giving ODF&W such a hard time about hav
ing an ocean fishery for Coho. While I still do not
believe that we should be fishing on a listed fish,
it appears that the wild Coho runs were not sig
nificantly damaged by having an ocean fishery.
_______
This is partly due to the fact that the ocean fish
ery did not meet its target on the number of fish
caught, due to abnormal fish migrations and in
clement weather conditions that hampered fish
ermen. I hope ODF&W will not rethink this con
servative fishery and bump up the allocation
numbers. We really need to capitalize on the in
creased returns that are now starting to show
up. Let’s get these fish off the ESA list.
Another bright spot may be the resumption of
a consumptive trout fishery for Coastal Cutthroat
Trout. A proposal that is supported by all the
Coastal District fish biologists would allow a dai
ly bag limit of two, eight inch or longer, fish in all
Coastal waters that are now open to catch and
release fishing. Again, this is just a proposal and
will still have to be acted upon by the Commis
sioners before it would be effective in 2001. Cur
rent restrictions on tackle would still have to be
in force, meaning artificial flies and lures would
be the only tackle allowed in the Nehalem during
this fishery.
Another success story is our Summer run of
Chinook salmon. The Izaak Walton League con
ducts spawning counts of these fish in our local
area. This year’s counts, while being only 62
percent of the brood stock counts, still brings on
a sigh of relief since those fish were the ones
that had to endure the flood of *96. Two hundred
and two fish were counted, collectively, by Mag
gie Peyton, Dennis Nelson and Don Webb on
each of their survey routes. Many fish biologists,
and I, were concerned that the flood of ‘96 might
have decimated this year’s class of fish, but it
appears they were much tougher than thought.
What is going to be interesting is next year’s re
turn on one of the largest returns we have
recorded since we started surveying these fish.
In the summer of ‘96, we had a record count of
over 450 fish in our surveys. With improved
ocean conditions, river conditions, and the new
salmon treaty with Canada, we may have fish
coming out our ears.
Steelhead fishing in the local area has been
fair and if water conditions remain a lot better
than in past years, fishing can be expected to
pick up as we get into the more traditional timing
of the wild run of fish.
There has been an interest expressed by
some of the local fishermen to try and start a
brood stock collection and rearing program, as is
being done down on the Wilson River. If you are
interested in such a program, please contact me
or attend the next Izaak Walton League meeting
on Feb. 17. The meeting will be held at my home
unless a lot of interest is generated and space
Please see page 3