I did get a chance to chat with a fellow who knows that section of river quite well, and his impression is that very little impact, if any, was had on redds or smolt in that area. Granted, that river holds many ESA redds and fish, but apparently (in his opinion) this specific area and the work that was done should not have harmed any of the future stocks.

I don't know enough to say yea or nay on his opinion.

JohnnyCoho: In many areas I do agree with you, but folks who have lived up here for so many years should also know that this river can get her dander up and wreek havoc at will...and therefore this needs to be accounted for when buying/building a home.

At some stage in the future (depending on how many more floods we have like last years) I too will have to do something to protect my home. What I would LIKE to do is to bring in about 5 loads of large (1/2 volkswagen sized) boulders and just roll them off the back bank onto the beach areas against the high-water bank. This would have -0- impact on the normal flow of the river (or even up to the 25' mark), but would provide a barrier for the flood waters to bounce off of when running above 30'.

If that ever becomes the case, rest assured I'll be the first guy in line with plans and looking for a permit.

Mike B