It seems as time goes on, the rivers get muddied up and go out faster than ever. We have had a good day and night of rain, but nothing that out of the ordinary. A pic of the Skagit, from 5:30 tonight, is below, showing the results:



A lot of fish are sucking mud right now. Can't be pleasant for them. Fortunately, the Baker is running so there is a few feet of clean water they can breath in. (Note the thin line of green running on the far bank).

We often think of preserving fish habitat by limiting development in and around the river area. I believe that, in and of itself, is a great thing. I also suspect that the development that goes on within miles of the river has an equal or worse impact. The worst of these is clear-cut logging.

I don't disagree that clear-cutting is healthy for the forests, but it sure doesn't help the watershed habitat! The more they cut, the less soil and foilage there is to hold the water..ergo it runs to the nearest stream, into the next tributary and eventually into the large river supporting the area.

Maybe it's just me, but are the rivers going out faster then they historically have, and, more important, is there anything we can do about it??

Mike