Lake Creek Lodge earns tourism eco-award

Lake Creek Lodge in Camp Sherman has been honored with the prestigious 2007 Gene Leo Memorial Award for Tourism.

The award recognized the lodge owners for their environmental stewardship and socially responsible practices in the tourism and hospitality industry.

The award was presented at the 24th Annual Oregon Governor's Conference on Tourism in Portland last weekend. The award focused on the restoration of Lake Creek, an important tributary of the Metolius River.

"When the lodge was built originally in 1935, they built a pond in the creek to serve as a swimming hole and that blocked the migration of fish and destroyed the habitat," said Jeffrey Jones, who owns Lake Creek Lodge with his brother Gordon.

The nomination for the award came from Bill Bellamy, Jefferson County Commissioner, who believes that good development can work hand-in-hand with preservation of the environment and that the two do not have to be mutually exclusive.

"The Lake Creek restoration project includes 725 feet of stream channel restoration. Since the 1930s the reach (section of stream) has been dominated by a large pond flanked with concrete and rock retaining walls. In 2004 the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council entered into a partnership with Lake Creek Lodge and the Deschutes National Forest to restore fish and wildlife habitat by replacing the retaining walls and pond with a more natural stream channel," said Bellamy.

The major concern for the area is the habitat necessary for the fish that will be returning to the watershed.

"Lake Creek is one of the most important tributaries in the Metolius basin for the reintroduction of Chinook and Sockeye scheduled to begin in 2008. Before the Pelton-Round Butte dams blocked fish passage, both Chinook and Sockeye salmon migrated up the Deschutes into the Metolius River. Many of these Chinook spawned in Lake Creek and in the Metolius River near Lake Creek. The Sockeye migrated up Lake Creek to Suttle Lake where they spawned in the lake and in Link Creek, a small tributary," said Bellamy.

The Lake Creek project provides a critical link in a delicate network of streams.

"Because Lake Creek travels only about six miles from Suttle Lake to the Metolius River, each reach is critically important for sustaining local fisheries," Bellamy said. "The restoration will benefit resident and anadromous fish for years to come and serve as an outstanding example of working with private landowners to restore important habitat."

The success of the project was the result of solid teamwork and cooperation.

"This project was the result of a partnership between the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, the Deschutes National Forest and Lake Creek Lodge. Major grant funding was proved from the Deschutes National Forest, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, the Deschutes River Conservancy, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lake Creek Lodge and the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council," said Bellamy.

Most of the work was done by locals.

"Once the earth moving was completed, a crew from the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC) came in to plant over 4,000 plants, tress and shrubs throughout the project zone. Aided by Ryan Houston of the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, the COIC crew planted new vegetation that was grown by Mike Lattig of Clearwater Native Nursery of Redmond. Some of the plants came from seedlings that were taken from Lake Creek's property over a year prior to the start of the project and raised at the nursery specifically for the project," said Bellamy.

The award dates from 1994 and honors the late Gene Leo, known for his Oregon tourism contributions as Director of the Oregon Zoo, the Portland Rose Festival and Director of Tourism at what was then called the Portland Oregon Visitors Association. Leo was an enthusiastic and energetic leader in the tourism industry. He revered Oregon's natural beauty, loved her people and relished the outdoors.