Fish get help from Blue Lake’s stainless steel ladder

Fish can now move from Suttle Lake to Blue Lake thanks to the installation of a unique new fish ladder at Camp Caldera.

The fish ladder will allow bull trout to move from pools on Link Creek near the west end of Suttle Lake into Blue Lake.

Instead of constructing a traditional fish ladder out of concrete, this one was built using stainless steel.

“We wanted to install a fish ladder with minimum impact on the stream bank,” said Chuck Newport of Construction Management Services of Sisters. Newport is the contract manager for the project.

The ladder runs about 75 feet winding through underbrush behind the main Camp Caldera building, starting in a deep pool at the base of a rock barrier in the stream. It is 36 inches wide and 42 inches deep. Water running through the ladder will vary in depth from 24 to 30 inches. Fish will travel from Suttle Lake up the one-half-mile long Link Creek to Blue Lake.

Lee Kelley of Portland, a well-known designer of public art, designed the ladder. It was constructed in Gresham, transported in sections to the site, and placed beside the creek by a crane. Baffles will slow down the water flow enough so that fish can move upstream. The fish will find places to rest in between the baffles before passing over small depressions on to the next baffle.

Cost of this privately funded project was not available.

Camp Caldera is a resident camp for at-risk kids, presenting educational classes on art, architecture, and theater in an environmental setting.

“There is a small hydro-electric facility on the creek that the camp wanted to revitalize,” Newport explained. “When they checked with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to do that work, they were asked to install a new fish ladder. Because they wanted to build something that would demonstrate an environmental concern, we came up with the idea of this design. A fish screen also will be installed in this facility.”

Blue Lake is over 300 feet deep and sits in a crater blasted out of solid rock over 1,500 years ago.

During the time that the Blue Lake Resort operated from 1960 to 1996, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife heavily planted brown trout there in exchange for public access to the area. That planting stopped when the land was sold to Camp Caldera.

The camp sits on land that was part of an early-day wagon road grant. Various private owners have owned the land over the years.

Corbett State Park covers 63 acres on the west side of the lake.