Return of sockeye in Sisters country

Every once in a while, wildlife scientists get a big win. The recent return of the first ocean-run sockeye salmon to the Metolious River in 45 years is one of those times.

The recent de-listing of the bald eagle is another win.

Those projects didn't succeed by accident; it requires a lot of hard work, along with a great deal of planning, money, and dedication to see the salmon return and to continue to see eagles in the sky.

It comes down to habitat.

Wild salmon and trout cannot live in the creeks, streams, rivers and lakes without the natural elements they need to breath, feed and reproduce. To produce or restore those ecological necessities takes partners in all facets of resource management. The return of the sockeye is a demonstration of how that works.

In July 13, 2004, legislation was passed with the cooperation of 19 partners in saving salmon dependent on the Deschutes River and its tributaries.

The document is known as a "Settlement Agreement Concerning the relicensing of the Round Butte Hydroelectric Project FERC Project No. 2030." Portland General Electric Company (PGE) and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Spring Reservation of Oregon were - and still are - the main movers and shakers of the agreement and provides the partners with methods to implement the intricate procedures for salmon welfare.

It's tough to point to a single person who started the ball rolling for the recovery of ocean-run sockeye to the ancestral streams and lakes, but Tom Davis of Sisters, a long-time fishery conservationist and sport-fisherman says, "Bill Platts - an old Idaho friend - and his research for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) was the first to point out the negative impact of cattle grazing on riparian zones, stream banks and consequently the aquatic ecosystem.

No one has had a more beneficial impact on USFS and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) management (to preserve salmon habitat) ...

and ...

Walt Megahan also had a similar impact on the very negative effects of erosion from forest roads and logging."

The late Harold Winnager of Prineville, a longtime habitat biologist with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, blew the whistle again and again on the destruction of Bear Creek's water quality by cows grazing in the riparian zone. His effort to maintain the water quality of Crooked River is a legacy.

The collective voices of all those concerned - biologists, sport fisherman and land managers - had impact on determining what could and should be done to restore salmon to our streams and lakes.

One must also take into account the hours and hours of time volunteers have dedicated to restoring fish habitat within the entire Deschutes River watershed. Students from schools throughout Central Oregon have worked alongside USFS fishery biologists, PGE biologists and construction crews placing woody debris back into the creeks and rivers and replanting the riparian zone with thousands of shrubs and trees, and the students will be doing more this October.

Thanks to the efforts of the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council and other partners, thousands upon thousands of riparian shrubs and trees have been planted along the banks of rivers and streams to help maintain temperature and biological quality of the water. Volunteers can take credit for these replantings, along with private, state and federal fish biologists and the millions of dollars poured into the projects. PGE, the Confederated Tribes and the partners for fish conservation have led the way in bringing the salmon back to their ancestral streams and lakes.

Sockeye are an andromomous (ocean-going) variety of salmon known in the scientific circles as Oncorhynchus nerka, of which the land-locked from is known as kokanee. Just as the sockeye are returning to their home rivers and lakes to spawn, so are the kokanee leaving the lakes to make spawning runs up their home streams.

The cycle is critical well beyond the water. If you visit Brown's Creek, between Wickiup and Crane Prairie, you may also see between 10 and 20 bald eagles enjoying the kokanee returning to spawn.

One of the big problems ocean-run fish have is the youngsters returning to the ocean. As they meet the warm waters of the reservoirs and follow the flow, they meet up with the more desirable and cool water of the Metolious and head upstream again. Thanks to the engineers who set to work building the Selective Water Withdrawal Tower (SWWT) at the PGE Round Lake Dam - the first sockeye in 45 years have come back to spawn.

The massive $100-million SWWT structure is truly unique; its design combines fish collection and water flows for power generation. The structure draws water both from the surface and from the bottom of Lake Billy Chinook, accomplishing several things:

• Changes the currents to attract fish into the fish collection facility.

• Lowering the temperature of Lake Billy Chinook, providing healthier conditions for the fish.

• Modifying the temperature of the Lower Deschutes River to more closely match what it was before the dams were constructed.

• Improving the water quality both in the reservoirs and in the river.