The Osprey: Salmon and Steelhead Lose to Gold Mining In SW Oregon

 

  • Salmon and Steelhead Lose to Mining in SW Oregon,, by Lesley Adams, pp 1 & 4-6, Issue No. 66, May 2010. Adams, of the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center, details how recent a California mining moratorium has helped reinvigorate a small scale gold rush on Southwestern Oregon rivers. The Rogue and Chetco rivers are seeing increasing mining pressures, activity that causes further harm to the region's salmon and steelhead. Oregon legislators are pushing the federal government to improve outdated mining laws. Keywords: Almeda, Applegate River, suction dredging, Clean Water Act, Wyden, Merkley

  • Editor's Message: Going for Gold at Expense of the Fish, by Jim Yuskavitch, p2. Issue No. 66, May 2010. The editor remarks that Oregon must quickly find solutions to stop mining activity that harms the real treasure in rivers-wild salmon and steelhead.

  • Chair's Corner: More Thoughts on Recovering the Elwha, by Bill Redman, pp 3-19, Issue No. 66, May 2010. Outgoing Chair Redman criticizes the Elwha recovery plan for relying on hatchery supplementation due to its inconsistency with the recovery act as well as the harm that hatchery fish exact on their wild counterparts. Redman recommends using hatcheries only as a backup if wild colonization and productivity is inadequate.

  • Hatchery Salmon Zones: Long-term use of hatchery salmon zones causes wild pacific salmon extinctions, by Sam Wright, pp7-8, Issue No. 66, May 2010. Wright explains how, as a WDFW employee, he worked to end practice of Hatchery Salmon Zones. These areas, found in Washington and Oregon, encourage deliberate overfishing and lead to the extinctions of wild stocks. Keywords: Pacific Fishery Management Council, Lewis River

  • A PNW Solution to Saving Wild Salmon and Steelhead, by Dick Burge, pp 9-14, Issue No. 66, May 2010. Burge, of the Wild Steelhead Coalition, details past and emerging threats to salmon and steelhead, ranging from forest practices to climate change. He argues we must utilize various means of protection and restoration for rivers that are in the best condition, including federal protections as well as supporting local land trusts. Keywords: Forests and Fish Report, Hoh River Trust, FEMAT, ManTech, Pacific Salmon Stronghold Conservation Act

  • IHN on the Olympic Peninsula, by Pete Soverel, p16, Issue No. 66, May 2010. Soverel reports that countless fish in the Bogachiel hatchery as well as wild fish in the Bogachiel and Hoh have contracted IHN, a fatal virus. Soverel suggests an end to the Snider Creek program and advises against transfers of stock from the Hoko.

  • Cured Salmon Eggs Kill, by Jeff Mishler, pp17-19, Issue No. 66, May 2010. A recent study by the ODFW documents that cured salmon eggs can be lethal to juvenile salmonids and recommends that the toxic substances be banned. Keywords: sodium sulfite

 
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