ON BOARD AT LONG LAST!

https://www.conservationnw.org/news-upda...chehalis-river/

Let's hope this really sets the scene for the death of this project.

And let's hope that on APRIL 21RST during the next webinar for public comment on this project that we get MORE THAN 3 FISHERMAN /GUIDES to actually comment! The turn out for the last webinar was f@cking embarrassing!

That's good news from the Quinault Tribe.

And a correct conclusion by the tribe, in my opinion.

The upper Chehalis spring chinook are the result of long-term historic annual temporal isolation resulting from naturally occurring summer low flow and thermal barriers in the mid-river reaches during the mid-summer low discharge periods. They ascend the Chehalis early each year before those low flow and high temperature conditions restrict chinook access to the headwaters until later in the year when rainfall and lower temperatures eliminate the mid-basin migration obstacles for fall chinook run timing. The early spring chinook were historically abundant- and still occur- above Pe Ell in the canyons below Fisk Falls and and in other upper chehalis headwater streams including Stillman Creek, S Fk Chehalis, and Newaukum drainages. Currently, the importance of those upper watersheds and the mid-summer chinook migration separation has been under-appreciated in the dam discussions. The dam has a high potential to disrupt this natural separation of chinook timing. This I know from my 40 years as a professional fish biologist very familiar with the Chehalis watershed.

Good decision by the Quinaults.

Give the man a cigar! MR that is the best description of Chehalis Springers I have seen. In the natural state we had Springers outlined by MR, Summers mostly on the Satsop and some other locations, fall which where dispersed all over and Dec returning to the East Satop, Delezen, and Cloquallum. The Chehalis being rain driven allowed the Chinook to develop to varying conditions in the basin. Just as the late Coho primarily came from the East Fork Satsop and Bingham and other tribs this was driven by the dry bed creeks not watering up until the aquafire was fully charged in late Nov and Dec. It is the environmental conditions that created the huge genetic diversity in the Chehalis Basin salmon.

Talking about history is great.

No different than looking in the rearview mirror to see where your driving. Our managers only see tail lights getting further and further away.

Our fish are screwed.

If you don't know where you came from you will not know where you are and will be totally clueless as to where you are going.

Now to get the Chehalis tribe to write a letter.....they need to be more active on the anti dam movement....The dam will have a negative affect on the Chehalis tribe...imo

Plant fish or talk.

Reading the history, it makes me wonder about previous posts
that stated the Department did not think the Skookumchuck dam would
effect springers. I still think that would be a prefect place to plant springers.

If they really want a dam for flood purposes, I don't know why they could not do a diversion or or over flow type dam, where the after a certain flow the water is diverted into a channel to a holding area and then slowly let out when flows are down.

That holding area you speak of is call a "Flood Plain". Just where would you propose putting all that water, where would the "holding area" be that would keep that many square miles dry?

Actually that was old WDF and mitigation for Springers was not required because Region 6 staff stated the dam was to have a tri level discharge creating ideal conditions for Springers and a " vibrant " fishery. Several other measures also and one was a separation wier that was not done or given up on, I do not remember which. They even moved Skook salmon mitigation construction and rearing funds and all to the East Satsop at Simpson Hatchery. ( now Bingham ) That was stopped years back by citizen activist mostly from the upper basin. Kinda sounds like the Wynoochee Mit thing the agency is pushing through don't you think? Some things never change.

Old game got a conditioning pond for steelhead near the dam but most of the funds went to another facility. Locals said paving and landscape at Chambers Cr but one of those things that never had much conversation that I was around taking place.

One last thing. When the Dam went in HS thought a Springer hatchery program linked to mitigation would work. Years later shooting the breeze over some Chehalis things he said he was OK with not having the program but still called BS on Region 6 thoughts. In the end it was simply that the natural population was to small and fragile to support the harvest that would come with hatchery production and damage the natural production in other Chehalis tributaries. You see he had seen it before with Hood Canal Chum and it was a lesson learned.

Thanks to ALL who testified LIVE at the webinar public hearing this evening OVERWHELMINGLY in OPPOSITION to the Chehalis dam project.

Stonefish, Thanks for posting the link to this film. Just watched the first seven minutes and decided I wanted to watch the rest on the big screen. It appears to be an excellent production.

It's an excellent video.

We should be embarrassed that this dam project ever got past the "Hey, you know what we should do..........." phase.

Thanks for the link, stoney!

Yes but were any Bigfoot spotted??

Pretty good show there.
Many local folks that I recognize and some I know.

Building a dam is ridiculous.

This dam can only be built with OPM - Other People's Money. Keep an eye out for the con.

Very informative. Thanks for the post!