Rich,

Thanks for posting the article. I'd say it's more interesting than informative reading. It's important to be mindful that many of the facts in the article are really unsubstantiated assertions, that is, opinions. And, yeah, we all have opinions.

The key weaknesses in the author's assertions may be the claimed sockeye populations that inhabited the Queets and Quinault River systems. Compared to the ecologically richest systems known anywhere on earth, it seems unlikely that such large sockeye populations ever existed in these rivers. And given what we know about this environment, past and present, how would any credible person attribute greater productivity to these systems that are known to be less productive?

Additional clues to the lack of Mr. Goin's credibility are found in his claim of 12 to 14 pound steelhead/cutthroat hybrids. Do rainbow(steelhead) and cutthroat trout interbreed? Yes, of course we know that they do. And probably in most environments where their populations overlap, not just the Elwha River, where all that formerly existed has been extirpated, so the validity of the claim cannot be checked out. How about the Sol Duc? Why no 12 pound hybrids there? A modern day researcher could go look and attempt to verify or refute a claim.

Don't get me wrong. Fish populations on the OP have also experienced environmental degradation, especially in the last 50 years. But because the headwaters of most the the major OP river systems are in the National Park, they have experienced far less degradation than most other rivers in our state.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.