Bobber Down,

Resolving many of our man-made barriers to fish is a good thing. It's simply amazing how resolving dams, culverts and irrigation diversions can lead to the instant colonization of fish species returning to a watershed. The issue(s) of what to allow as far as passage over Landsburg sounds like a trap and haul facility similiar to the White River, Baker River, Wynochee River and Sunset Falls on the Skykomish. But you'd have to check w/the folks at WDFW to see what Seattle is up to as far as a prescription to fish passage.

The sockeye of Lake Washington were introduced from the Baker River. That strain was toyed w/somewhat as well before the introduction into Lake Washington in the '50's. Artificial supplementation began in earnest in 1977 w/WDF's efforts to supplement production and increase harvestable levels w/ the Streamside Egg Incubation Box Program from '77 through I think 1982. The goal was to obtain a 360,000 sockeye escapement into the Lake Washington system so a sport and tribal fishery could occur. At it's peak, 12 million sockeye eggs were incubated at the Landsburg site. There was a little problem, a viral infection known as IHN and it all started with Sacramento Chinook! So WDFW may be looking to protect native species to this upper watershed,i.e., a pathogen free zone for chinook, coho and steelhead. I would gander a guess that a formal fishway would be the most cost effective w/ a fishway/trap shunt to select species for the upper watershed.