Middle Fork trip brings back memories of the Kennebec
It’s hard to jump back into real life after a week on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.
The Middle Fork’s 100 miles of 100 class 3 and class 4 rapids running through the middle of Idaho’s wild heart in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness is the classic western river trip. I have done it four times now but no trip was better than last week’s high water trip with the guides of Rocky Mountain River Tours .
The river is managed as a true wild river, which means that each time you run it the rapids have changed, the landscape is different, the ecosystem reborn. Those changes were reflected in the relatively new rapid Tappen 3, so gnarly, guides will have to decide as the water goes down whether to make guests have to walk around it.
It made Pistol Creek, long a great rapid, even more technical and exciting. In high water -- four feet, three inches -- Redside Rapids flipped one of our boats, a reminder we were on an adventure trip, especially with the water at 47 degrees.
As we were floating down the river the spring Chinook salmon were swimming against the current heading for spawning grounds up the Middle Fork’s tributaries and in the river itself. Once again, these fish are really wild. Untouched by hatchery stocks, these fish that entered the Columbia in March, April and May carry the pure genetic material that may allow salmon to survive even climate change.
The trip reminded me of another very different river trip I made a decade ago thousands of miles away. I canoed the Kennebec River in Maine July 2, 1999 with a hardy group of people who had spent the decade before campaigning to remove the Edwards Dam.
The day before, workers had breached the dam, the first time a dam was removed because society valued its natural characteristics more than the power it produced. We paddled through rapids that had been covered with a reservoir behind the dam for 160 years.
It was an emotional day for my fellow boaters. A few years later I returned to canoe it again and the joy had grown as Atlantic salmon spawned upriver and a six foot long sturgeon tail-danced over the site of the now long gone dam.
Maine and the national river community are celebrating again this week on the 10th anniversary of that historic day.
Earlier this month I fished on the Sandy River in Oregon which saw the Marmot Dam removed in 2007 with the support of the utility that owned it. It’s still too early to tell how much the removal will improve its salmon runs but if the Kennebec is any guide my host on that trip Jack Glass will be crowing in a couple of years.
But I still haven’t gotten my head out of the Middle Fork, perhaps the wildest river in the lower 48 states. Like the other rivers, its fate and the fate of the wild salmon which replenish its watershed with their dead bodies after they have returned and spawned, are tied to dams.
Our lead guide Aaron “Bird Dog” Beck gave a presentation Friday to his guests about the salmon, the four lower Snake Dams in Washington and the future of the river he loves. It was a zealous appeal for the visitors from around the country to join him and the owners of Rocky Mountain River Tours, Dave and Sheila Mills in advocating for removing the dams.
Beck asked me to talk about the politics and the tradeoffs of removing the downriver dams and I gave a short version of the story that ran in the Idaho Statesman the day before we left .
His talk reminded me of the passion of people like Brownie Carson and Steve Brooke, two of the people who led the campaign to remove the Edwards dam. Their passion was remarkably similar to those of Ralph Broetje, the apple grower I interviewed in 2000 in Washington who gets his water from the reservoir behind the Ice Harbor dam.
He has dedicated his life to growing the best apples and providing his workers with a good life just as Dave and Sheila offer a memorable trip and good working conditions. We in the region and the nation must find a path forward that honors both their work and keeps our world whole.
I now have returned to the real world, a couple of pounds fatter from the tantalizing Dutch oven cooking and relaxed like I haven’t been for a long time. But the Middle Fork will never be far from my mind, a treasure shared by all who ever see it and all of us in Idaho.
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Edwards Dam
Rocky:
If I remember right, your last visit was for the 5 year anniversary of the Edwards Dam removal. I remember the day and the evening we spent on the river well, as well as the canoe trip the day after the dam breach. Remember listening to those stripers crashing bait in the dark against the river bank?
The five years since you were last here in Maine have seen some big changes on the river. Perhaps the most significant is the return of the shad. It's still pretty under-utilized, but from late May to early July, we have a tremendous fishery for American shad. I'm willing to bet this will grow into a huge lcoal recreational resource.
In addition, just last summer an upstream dam, the Fort Halifax Dam, at the mouth of the Sebasticook, was also removed. This spring 1.3 million alewives (and the first American shad since the 1830's) passed up through the fish lift on at the Benton Falls Dam. Benton Falls, as well as fish lifts at the Burnham Dam and the Lockwood Dam on the Kennebec, came on line in 2006.
We've also seen two towns restart their historic, town-managed commercial fisheries for alewives. Zero to 1.3 million, plus 2 restored commercial fisheries, in just 10 years. It's been something to watch.
I'm sure things will continue to change over the next decade, but if anyone is wondering whether dam removal leads to fisheries recovery, I think the Kennebec serves as a pretty good case study.
You owe yourself another visit. Come back next June, and bring a 7 weight rod, a full sink line, and some small orange, pink and chartreuse flies for shad. You can bring the 9 weight and some 10 inch alewife patterns too if you want to chase stripers . . . .
Jeff Reardon
I remember
That evening well and the next day. You were a great host and catching stripers near the mouth of the Sebasticook was an unforgettable experience.
yummm
Shad and alewife.
Jus kiddin Al.
I don't know-- when I see the picture of the dam breech I just see sediment flowing down the river covering spawning beds. No wonder why it took so long for the fish find their way upriver.:
http://www.americanrivers.org/newsroom/blog/edwards-anniversary.html
If you chase stripers the head nurse will throw you out...
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
River Rats
The Mills really do run a great outfit there at Rocky Mtn River Tours. A shout out to kevin too.
****
I'm wondering if that's a free perk of the job, Rocky, or do you have to save your own pennies for that trip?
Oh yeah, let's not forget the dynamite logjam clearing efforts back in 06- so when you say "a true wild river" let's not forget the comparison of dynamite and access with dozers and access. Everything is relative.
And BTW, Barker, everytime I run the Payette and even the Boise, the rapids have changed, the landscape is different, the ecosystem reborn (geez, that's so flowery I'm getting nauseous). Does that mean those are 'wild rivers' too?
Saved my pennies
I paid for my wife and I and it was worth every penny! Glad to see you are a river person Uda. The dynamite made little impact but the Forest Service fights that kind of intervention tooth and nail.
The points you made on the Payette are apt. Nature bats last.
Breach Barber Dam
Looking at that picture of Edwards Dam make me wanna get a grass roots committee together, drink Starbucks and file a lawsuit to breach Barber Dam and Diversion Dam.
Think of it!
Brown trout will finally be able to swim freely from Barber Park to Sandy Point Park. Won't it be glorius!?!
Don't gain much by removing Barber or Diversion dams...
But we can gain a lot by removing four dams on the Lower Snake River in SE Washington State.
Here's the big picture: there are 228 major dams in the Columbia River Basin at last count (source: US Army Corps of Engineers). Four of them, on the Lower Snake River in SE Washington State, are the bottleneck for 70% of the region's salmon recovery potential, much of it in protected places like the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. We are talking about only FOUR dams (2% of the total in the Columbia Basin) that generate only 2% (1000 megawatts out of 50,000 megawatts) of the region's power.
So, we can remove only 2% of the dams, replace only 2% of the region's energy, and by doing so, accomplish 70% of the region's salmon recovery potential. Dave and Sheila Mills of Rocky Mtn River Tours are correct to press for that action.
Thanks for the fine article, Rocky.
Warm and fuzzy part
Tom, If those dams are removed, what will happen to the cargo transportation on that part of the Columbia?
Where are you going to get those 1,000MWatts on an already overburden power grid?
And how is Ralph Broetje going to get water to his apple orchard?
When viable solutions and alternatives are created, NO ONE is going to be opposed to breaching those dams. Alternatives must be present FIRST.
THEN the enviros can campaign against the next dam, and then the next dam, and so on...
If the four Lower Snake dams go...
alternatives can be implemented, fairly easily.
- barge transportation on the Snake River would begin at Pasco (Tri-Cities), rather than at Lewiston/Clarkston and ports up the Snake. Columbia River cargo barging is not affected by removal of four dams on the Lower Snake River. On the Snake R, more cargo could be shipped by rail - since tracks exist now all along the shoreline, or shipped to Pasco for loading on barges, if desired. Many companies (including Potlatch) ship exclusively by rail now, direct to Seattle & Portland.
- Replacing 1000 MW - there are many cost-effective options, and the power grid in the NW isn't overburdened now. The Northwest Power & Conservation Council reports that 3700 MW has been gained through new energy efficiencies in recent decades; at least 3000 MW more has come on line in the past 5 years (most from gas-fired turbines, immediately responsive to load), another 3000 MW or so of wind power is on the way, with lots more available.
- Take a look at www.lightintheriver.org/brightfuture to read a 2009 study by the NW Energy Coalition, explaining how the region can handle all its energy growth and remove the four Lower Snake dams to restore most of the region's salmon.
- I assume Ralph Broetje irrigates his orchard from the Ice Harbor pool near Pasco, since that's the only reservoir we're talking about that has any agricultural withdrawals. If so, Ralph can continue to draw water for his apple orchard by extending his pump intakes to the natural river level. Salmon advocates strongly support making this adjustment for Ralph and other farms that might be affected, and are actively working to do so.
Bottom line, there are viable solutions (if we seek them) for removing those four dams. Note also that ONLY those four dams need be removed, to achieve the massive salmon restoration possible in the pristine habitat of central Idaho and Eastern Oregon.
- All dams are not created equal. Over time, those with the lowest value and highest cost might well be retired, for reasons of safety, cost, obsolescence, whatever. It's happening elsewhere (as Rocky reminds us). I think of it like Model Ts, 1960 pickups, and obsolete factories. Each has a useful life - one that eventually comes to an end.
Hope more folks become open-minded Uda, as you are.
Shut up, Tom. You've lost your mind.
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
FO. let me know what part of my explanation...
you don't understand, or where your information disagrees. The facts aren't complicated; it's only the politics.
None of these dams are outside their lifespan, especially McNary
Stop spouting self-serving garbage for no good reason. PLEASE.
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
FO, McNary isn't one of the dams in question.
The four dams that ought to be removed are Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice Harbor. All lie on the Lower Snake River between Lewiston ID and Pasco WA.
Correct information will lead to better decisions.
McNary is outside Hermiston. Why...
would you make life a living hell for the few people living in ARLINGTON AND CONDON?
That kinda makes me squeamish.
That's out to lunch with nothing in the wrapper.
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
Don't worry...you'll want them ALL before long.
it's an obsessive disorder.
Where have you been hiding for so long? Rebuilding strength?
THIS WAS ABOUT ROCKY'S VACATION ANYHOW. Boy howdy.
Correct information is that if they shake hard enough the river gravel will fall out.
FINAL ANSWER
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
FO, I don't feel compelled to post on every article.
Take a vacation - and consider the Middle Fork. As Rocky points out, it's an amazing place.
Neither do I, been there, buy me a car.
Thank you for posting and obviously baiting. It's not my favorite job either. Still, we haven't had a decent break from it since the Larry Craig scandal. I am sick and tired of hearing every wacko theory and being assaulted by some ten-year old version of the same cut-and-paste know-nothings I've seen on Usenet for 10 years. You tell us we are idiots if we don't think like you do and wonder why you can't get any traction at all. After a while, all your kind are spurned.
We learn quickly.
This site loses control because the employees have also.
Consider it a PSA. This is a double-edged Wilkinson Sword needing a new blade.
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
foreignoregonian your geography appears to be in error
I appears to me you've made an error in Washington State geography. As I look at my map, the Snake River is in the far SE corner of the State, with four dams on it (the ones pro-salmon folks want removed). I see McNary dam on the Columbia River border of Oregon and Washington, but McNary isn't on the Snake R at all, and nobody I hear about is talking about breaching it
Arlington and Condon are both a long way from the snake dams - Arlington north of Seattle, and Condon close to Spokane.
So, what point are you trying to make about far away Condon and Arlington?
If you take away river traffic between Lewiston and Spokane,
as others were against, you take away vital trade links for grain growers and others in that area. We have a dock up there, hombre! We have a huge grain growing region served by PGG and others. Grain trading relies on the river too.
Any part of that system you screw up will in essense help kill an already battered regional economy.
That is why you cannot just scream about the good of the one being the good of the many. You ain't a Vulcan. Humans will help you if you show them you will help them back and you ain't done squat for a Plan B. Spawning fish don't pay bills.
Ths is why we rail at you when you rail at us. You have no idea about anything but pretty words.
PS Taking away relatively "carbon-neutral" hydropower in favor of gas, nuclear or god forbid COAL shows that you guys are just scrambled eggs en la cabeza. You need mental health and we need to sell more overpriced pharmceuticals to your ilk.
Happy Independence Day, Ecolocos! Go party.
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
Killing the economy of a vital northern region, incl IDAHO is 2.
We practically STOLE the Capital of the state from them in their minds and now you'd love to finish the metaphoric rape completely?
Good call. Megalomaniac.
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
Open minded.
Ah yes that's me.
Alright then, the river folk should worry about creating those alternatives instead of breaching the dams. The horse leads the cart and the alternatives are (is) the horse. It's pretty simple.
So when you create cheaper (or equal) transportation for Lewiston goods you have one less obstacle. Good luck with that!
The national power grid is overburdened. Try saying these words 'rolling black-outs', 'growth', and new power plants. If you think it's not overburden explain the need for the 3000MW in the last 5 years and the future 3000KW of future wind. Your information is conflicting.
Good ole Ralph can just adjust his water rights and buy a longer pipe eh? What's Ralph say about that?
And then you can figure out what to do with those millions of salmon that are going to magically appear in the spawning beds.
It costs a fair amount to dredge that channel
If the shippers paid for that directly, the costs would be a lot closer to in line with using the train. At least that is how I understand it. I am a bystander and no expert.
Truth is hard to come by
Trains barges and automobiles
For us 'bystanders' there are several reports out there to read. The problem is finding something that does not have a political, economic, or emotional agenda. My reading says that IF the barge transportation did move to rail or truck there is an inherent capacity problem with the alternative transportation.
Imagine the state saying you can't drive on I-84 between Nampa and Boise. Okay fine. There are alternative routes. But when the load is shifted to those routes, ie Franklin Rd, Overland, Victory, Chinden, etc, those routes then are overburdened. We have all experienced 'detours'. With some planning those alternatives could be built up to handle the capacity but it's not an overnight or 'free' process.
So it costs to dredge (it costs to maintain I-84). It would also cost to maintain the alternative routes. One of those alternatives is cargo trucks driving East/West on Oregon and Washington highways. That has maintenance costs too.
My point is dam haters (and such enviros) only think of the first step that makes them warm and fuzzy. Ohhh the dams are gone- isn't that wonderful. Ohh the wolves are here- isn't that wonderful. Ohh the lightning fire was stopped before it burned my cabin- isn't that wonderful....
****
It would be easy to make the shippers pay for the dredging 'directly'. And then you would pay more for your goods. Or at least someone would pay more for their goods. Do you wanna pay for dredging or do you wanna pay more for your goods and services?
The report I read was barging vs rail
I don't remember capacity being addressed, and have no idea what kind of spare capacity may or may not exist on that route. As to dredging cost, I pay for them, but get no direct benefit. The goods I buy don't likely come from that area, I think most of that wheat is shipped to Asia. At any rate, I am not complaining about dredging costs, merely bringing them up to add to the discussion of the true costs of moving product. I am ambivalent about dam removal. Like you I have a real hard time finding any reports that are biased in favor of the people who commissioned them.
Truth is hard to come by
some 411
a reasonable resourse:
http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/html/OFFICES/PA/FactSheets/FishFacts.pdf
I thought I was busy.
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
ROFL
Truth is hard to come by
Six day's on the Middle Fork
It was great fun spending river time with you on my favorite river in the world. Thanks for tag-teaming the political portion of the Salmon story with me. Keep an eye out on PBS's "Nature" in the next year, a good friend is working on a story about the Pacific NW salmon - it will no doubt be incredible. Life is Grand!
Birddog
http://www.aaronbeckphoto.com
Enviros
They're for the environment, but
They're against dams.
They're against grazing.
They're against mining.
They're against nuclear power.
They're against coal.
They're against clear cutting.
They're against lead sinkers.
They're against lead bullets.
They're against lead shot.
They're against Hummers.
They're against roads.
They're against off road vehicles.
They're against snowmobiles.
They're against winter travel in Yellowstone.
They're against gill nets.
Theyr'e against pesticides.
They're against herbicides.
They're against GMOs.
They're against mercury.
They're against erosion.
They're against hunters.
They're against fires.
They're against noise.
They're against transportation.
They're against overpopulation.
They're against children.
They're against using water.
They're against eating exotic foods.
They're against farm animals.
They're against methane.
Theyr'e against smoking (okay me too).
They're against pipelines.
They're against landfills.
They're against oil rigs.
They're against whaling.
They're against EMFs.
They're against monocultures.
They're against the warming sun.
They're against extinction.
They're against evolution.
They're against change...
And who said liberals wanted change?
They aren't liberals, they are LEMMINGS
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
They're against EMFs?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5kr2OBhh4c
yyy?
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
Tom Stuart & Biomass
Maybe my head is getting soft from repeated blows, but a good share of what Tom Stuart writes about breaching the 4 Snake River dams seems to make sense.
As udapimp points out, though, there have to be solutions first.
Irrigation lines need to be extended and intakes kept clear, so farmers will have to be guaranteed longterm rights and financed. Using railroads instead of barges works, creates jobs, but requires lots of additional energy. Same with replacing Kw on the power grid.
And yes, as udapimp also points out, Enviros are against just about everything. My experience has been that they are primarily shrill obstructionists and generally have little knowledge or experience in the natural environment. More experience in the courtroom, media, and street theater environments, maybe.
So how about compromise? The Enviros get to remove the 4 (and ONLY 4) Snake River dams, the farmers are assured of water rights and necessary funding AND power is added to the grid by logging off the millions of dead and dying trees on Idaho's federal lands and converting them to merchantable products (to pay for the process and create needed rural jobs) and electricity.
That would work wouldn't it? And all those Congress people that think CO2 is a pollutant or want to continue believing in Global Warming should also be made happy by the reduced need to burn fossil fuels.
Of course it wouldn't.
No more than Chamberlain was right about working with Mr. Hitler. All mania ends with a trainwreck.
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
All generalities are false.
It was a rhetorical question, FO. Most train wrecks are caused by well intentioned human error at some level, not mania -- that's usually reserved for blogs and padded rooms with locked doors.
Maybe not.
And you're welcome.
Your title was a generality in itself. Now what?
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
Now laugh.
Or grin wryly or grimace. That was the joke, FO.
Now I'm less certain.
You're welcome.
I have no kb on this Sony
I have no kb on this Sony vaio usb or wireless only
other comp down msg all cut and paste Hard......Hang on this took time
Train wrecks are well intentioned...Maybe not.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hQkSBcJYEealqbWm6v_FoKe1gknAD998FM082
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
Why heck Bob, I thought all the repeated blows were on my head;
sounds like you and I could reach agreement and help solve this argument, if any in the region would listen to us. There are solutions, if people actually seek them.
I'd sign up today for (and actively work to implement) removal of the 4 (and only 4) Lower Snake River dams; protect current water rights; extend pump intakes for farmers who pump from Ice Harbor pool and help pay increased pumping costs; find alternate shipping strategies to replace the minimal amount of barging that would be eliminated; and lastly, provide plenty of reliable, affordable power by the least cost means.
There are probably other particulars to address, but the gains would be well worth it.
Let's keep working for sensible, workable solutions.
Mine are mostly self-inflicted
One thing I've learned is that if you keep beating your head against the wall long enough, you'll eventually see daylight. The question is whether its from cracks in the wall, or cracks in the skull.
The trick is finding people who will listen, that are in a position to do something about what they hear, and that can actually get things done. I think that eliminates most of the politicians, lawyers, journalists, scientists and activists I've encountered through the years and leaves mostly (hopefully) a small handful of young impressionable adults with good intentions -- wherever and whoever that might be.
Stating (and working toward) common sense solutions is one thing -- getting anything accomplished via that process is something else entirely. As Mark Twain or Will Rogers or someone similar once said: the problem with common sense is that it is so darn uncommon. Finding someone with common sense, a mutual interest in common problems, and the ability to engineer solutions is almost unheard of -- hence, the current conditions of our forests, rivers, cities, and bank accounts.
Rocky thinks that people like Andy Kerr need to be involved. Others think that Al Gore speaks "science." Some people need the threat of an Apocalypse to catch their attention.
It's a thick wall. What do you have in mind?
a small handful of young impressionable adults...?
a small handful
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There is no life in Idaho...it is a mirror site on god's server. You were dreaming but it is over. Go to your residence and await our commands and THEN we will restore control...
BobZ, it's a thick wall indeed,
but some optimism is warranted, primarily because of a courageous, clear-headed Judge who has repeatedly thrown out insufficient, radical, illegal salmon recovery plans offered up by the federal gov't to date. Judge James Redden has shown remarkable courage and clarity here. He has indicated that he will rule against the latest Bush salmon plan (offered in 2008), but recently granted the Obama Administration additional time to figure out how it wants to deal with the situation. The Judge has indicated that the Bush plans are still illegal, and that far more is required under law.
So, I think we wait for the Judge to rule, when the new Administration has had a chance to choose their directions. I expect news on this front after August 14. Undoubtedly, the Idaho salmon question is not yet resolved. Although Judge Redden will probably clarify legal and scientific requirements, political and economic questions will likely remain on the table. There will be updated information to gather, choices to make, citizens and politicians to educate.
Lots of work to create a 'package deal' like the one we both suggest. The first steps might be, simply, to continue helping people sort accurate information from all the misinformation.
thanks for the comment; we ought to meet for a cup of coffee sometime.
You're missing something important and vital...
Salmon never recover. They all die. In fact, everything alive dies. Addicts stay sober or clean. Recovery nil, death an all-important 1.
This has been today's Nihilism Report, brought to you by Gloom, Despair, Agony, Deep-down Depresssion and Excessive Misery (OHHHH). Brought to you from the Empty Arms Motel.
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There is no life in Idaho...it is a mirror site on god's server. You were dreaming but it is over. Go to your residence and await our commands and THEN we will restore control...
I know Stacy Orrico better than Rhett Orrical.
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
ahhh
one more thing to piz on the Statesman for---
This article is in today's paper.
When I finally decide to spring 50 cents for some fire starter, the articles are already A WEEK OLD from the online edition. I guess it allows Rocky time to figure out his spell checker and for some college intern to proofread his krap.
Once again, not worth the 50 cents.
Where are the matches?