Smalma & CFM,

This is in regards to spring chinook and the Tilton River. Smalma, if you were to examine the Tilton R. today, with your background, you would understand that it is not suitable spring chinook habitat. Historically, it's upper reaches may have supported some springers, in the way that the upper Chehalis and Newaukum Rivers do. Low elevation headwaters, no snowpack, and extremely low summer flows with warm water temperatures during the spawning period.

Today, there is a low flow barrier on the lower Tilton a short distance upstream of its confluence with Mayfield reservoir. If chinook are going to be restored to the Tilton, there are two ways:
1) adult chinook bound for the Tilton (how would we know which fish these are?) could be trucked from the lower river and off-loaded upstream of the barrier, which has been done the last couple years.
2) fall chinook with a late enough spawn timing to migrate past the barrier after fall rains make it passable could do the migration job themselves with passage over Mayfield Dam and Barrier Dam.

Spring chinook have a good chance at recovery in the upper Cowlitz and Cispus Rivers upstream of Cowlitz Falls Dam, provided that effective downstream juvenile passage can be developed.

I realize that this discussion precipitated from CFM's comments about Koening's faltering on fish passage facilities in the Settlement Agreement, but that should be a separate topic unto itself. Succinctly put, Jeff was between a rock and a hard place.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.