News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Rich Madden (on truck) and Scott Lewis (with net)
of PGE release steelhead into Squaw Creek.
Steelhead may swim again in Squaw Creek in 10 years.
That is one of the major goals of the "Back to Home Waters" project spearheaded by the Deschutes Basin Land Trust.
According to trust project manager Brad Nye, Back to Home Waters is "an attempt to identify what the habitat needs are to reintroduce anadromous fish into the upper (Deschutes) Basin."
Portland General Electric (PGE) and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs are critical players in the fate of fish in the upper basin. Those two entities, who are seeking dam relicensing together, will be responsible for fish passage around dams on the Deschutes.
Last month, PGE released some 300 one-year-old steelhead into Squaw Creek at the Deschutes Basin Land Trust's Camp Polk Meadow Preserve.
Biologists will monitor the fish to learn more about their migratory behavior.
According to Nye, experiments with fish migrating back to sea have shown fish have a hard time getting through Lake Billy Chinook because a mix of currents from three rivers "basically confused the fish."
PGE and the Tribes are working on modifying currents in Lake Billy Chinook to help out-going fish make it to collection points where they can be transported into the lower river.
The project is technically difficult and expensive, but all the players seem eager to make it work.
"There's a pretty strong commitment to make that happen," Nye said. "I think there is a lot of momentum."
While PGE and the Tribes work out relicensing and current modification, the Deschutes Basin Land Trust will continue working on what Nye calls its "bread and butter issues."
As studies continue, the trust will prioritize actions needed to make the streams hospitable for fish. That may mean conservation easements, working with land owners on habitat restorations, or, in exceptional cases, acquiring land along streams.
Besides the trust, Back to Home Waters involves local governments and a variety of state and federal agencies that have an interest in restoring fish runs.
Those interests are not strictly environmental, Nye pointed out.
"We think there's some economic benefit to the community from having these fish back," Nye said.
Steelhead were played out in Squaw Creek by 1961-62, Nye said. The damming of the Deschutes River was the major factor in bringing an end to the runs, but steelhead populations were apparently in decline before the dams were built.
Water withdrawal for irrigation may have degraded habitat.
"It's likely those factors contributed to the demise of steelhead runs," Nye said.
As landowners and conservationists work to restore habitat and return water to the creek and as utilities work to improve fish passage, the return of steelhead in Squaw Creek is in sight -- a ways down the road.
"I would guess that steelhead will be back in Squaw Creek in 10 years," Nye said. "It could be longer than that; it's probably not going to be a lot shorter than that."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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