Bull trout need help

Stream protection will include using boulders like these to keep traffic back from stream edges. Photo provided

Bull trout habitat in the Metolius Basin is another of our local treasures that people are loving to death.

The same cold, clear streams where campers prefer to congregate are the only places where the bull trout can play out its life cycle. Recreation activity compacts streambank soils, tramples vegetation and stirs up sediment -- all of which are harmful to the bull trout and its long term future.

The Forest Service is taking some steps to help protect the fish, which was classified as a threatened species in 1992.

Sort of like a Douglas fir isn't a true fir, the bull trout isn't actually a trout -- it's a char. The local fish were once referred to as Dolly Varden, but biologists have since drawn a distinction between the coastal and inland varieties.

So, "bull trout" is what we call our inland fish, now.

Once considered an undesirable voracious predator of "other" trout, the bull trout has more recently come to be something of a litmus test for the health of stream systems.

Since bull trout thrive only in cold, clear water, they are the first to suffer when temperature goes up and clarity goes down.

Scott Cotter, a fishery biologist with the Sisters Ranger District, is working on a project that is designed to help mitigate some of the damage to local bull trout habitat in areas adjacent to "dispersed campsites."

"At a lot of these sites, you're basically able to drive right up to the stream edge," Cotter said. "These sites become denuded of vegetation and the rain just runs right into the stream without any vegetation to help filter it out."

As a result, he explained, erosion results in more sediment reaching the stream.

That and a lack of shading vegetation also contribute to rising water temperatures.

Cotter is quick to explain that the Forest Service does not intend to prevent people from using the dispersed sites, just to give the streams a little breathing room.

"We're not blocking them out. We're not closing roads," Cotter said. "We're just trying to pull them back a bit from the edge of the streams. Most of the work is along the 400 road off the 12 road."

He placed the number of dispersed camps and horse camps in the area at about 12 to 14.

Forest Service officials also expect that the "renaturization" of the damaged areas will help provide an enhanced outdoor experience for users of the sites.

One of the principal strategies will be to move boulders into the damaged areas to keep vehicles and campsites from encroaching directly onto the stream banks.

Canyon Creek has been hit especially hard by recreational users and will see much of the biologists' attention.

"We're not going to just dump big rocks in there," Cotter said. "We're collecting natural-looking moss-covered rocks and using a landscape architect to make them aesthetically pleasing."

No in-stream work is planned in order to eliminate further disruption of fish spawning.

It is believed that these low-impact rehabilitation efforts will go a long way toward helping protect the fish.

Remedial work is planned for this year along portions of Canyon Creek, Jack Creek, Roaring Creek and Brush Creek.

At 38 degrees, Roaring Creek is the coldest waterway, and the mainstem of the Metolius River ranges from about 44 degrees to 46 degrees.

Bull trout are generally absent from streams that reach a level of 56 degrees in August.

Cotter said that bull trout eggs take four to five months to incubate, a period that may be several weeks longer than other native fish. As a result, stable water temperatures are extremely important for the viability of the fish.

While other fish may be more tolerant, the absence of bull trout may be an indicator that a stream's health is being compromised.

According to Cotter, healthy bull trout have been known to live for up to 12 years and don't spawn until they are four to seven years old.

Next year, biologists plan to continue the restoration project along sections of Candle Creek, First Creek, Lake Creek and the Metolius River, itself.

Interested parties are encouraged to submit comments on the project. All comments must be submitted by Friday, February 28, to Scott Cotter, c/o Bull Trout Streamside Protection Project, Sisters Ranger District. P.O. Box 249, Sisters, OR 97759.