Wynoochee....7400 Line, WDFW Purchase

Here ya go.........

WDFW is thinking about buying the access.....

see:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/lands/acquisitions/

Would be nice to see a few bucks spent of land, in the Black Creek area!!!!!! Sure could use more parking there..!!!!!

good luck using it after they give all the fish to the indians

This needs to happen in a big way! Glad they finally acknowledge it's importance to us.

Sure hope the state of Washington isn't giving these logging companies any kind of tax breaks. [Bleeeeep!] bastards!!!!!

That would be a huge gift to the fishing community. I really regret not talking my kids down that drift before it was closed off.



Fingers crossed!

Money well spent! Hope they get to an agreement. Looking at the map it might even allow for a launch below the bridge, which will make the logging truck/fisherman parking a non issue.

It's supposed to be down river quite a bit. Accessing at the gate on the left before you drop down the hill to the launch. No interaction between the two user groups.

A move in the right direction.

They should increase the site size by including the land to the South East.

The road just east of the site and running south, midway between the east site boundary and Schafer creek, provides access to the large gravel bars below.

15 years ago saw responsible use of this large area for overnight camping and multiple uses.

Put up signage to encourage people to report unreasonable conduct of others and set rules.

Placing below the bridge might not be the best. High water floods in that area and screws up the access roads. Huge deep puddles form preventing access. The high bank from the bridge up would survive any high water event.

it is things like this that the WA steelhead license plates should fund

Down the river, camping and party's, noise got more than a few access points closed down, and are still closed to this day. Big gravel bar below the "culver" has been shut off to drift boat put in/take out, Yellow house/pump house, just above Wynoochee Wild Wood, was another one, Carter Creek was another drift boat put in, even Sterling Bar, Twin Bridges, people ignored the Port posted signs....camped over night, trash, parties.

Property owners wanted to close gravel bar access, across from White Bridge, because of the above mentioned problems, even had a cable across road at on time BUT power lines kept the road open.

Just following the rules, written or not written.....access is so important!!!!

That looks good. Much better than the pay to play crap many were clamoring for around here a few weeks ago.

This is exciting, but I'd be a lot more excited to hear they were planning to reopen the Puget Sound rivers. Sadly, based on what the project description says, I think WDFW's already given up on that, and they're trying to sell improved access to the Wynoochee as mitigation for the loss of those fisheries. That's not the sort of "Wynoochee Mitigation" folks around Grays Harbor have been trying to get done. On that note, WDFW had better get to work on the "original" mitigation. The Nooch is going to need a lot more fish to support all of Puget Sound.

On another, related topic, can you guys running sleds with 5 and 6 guys in them please STOP? This ain't the Cowlitz, people, and it can't sustain that kind of onslaught for long. I'm not looking to ban sleds. I just think a little restraint is in order, considering that this #1 steelhead destination in Western Washington thing is looking more and more like a long-term deal.

No $hit!









That was my understanding as well from the people I've talked to. There isn't and won't be any more launching from the bridge. The gate on the left before the hill WAS the main access years back and I think that is the intent again.




With some re-grading and bulldozer work, perhaps a little rip-rap here and there, I think a lot of those concerns would be addressed. I remember some of those deep puddles…..but I also don't think they'd seen any maintenance in decades. Pretty easy fixes IMO.

The Wynoochee Mitigation......23 years that the funds were set aside. The fund was for both Coho and Steelhead. Over the years, lots of meeting, lots of promises by Region 6 personnel that it is indeed being worked on.....even the WDFW Commission said to "get it done" and set a goal of September 30, 2014.....well guess what......more meetings but STILL NO FISH IN THE RIVER.

IMO-----conflict between the agencies, WDFW and QIN, is a major stumbling block. What ever that block is,,,,needs to be resolved. I have made a few presentations at the WDFW Commission meets, now when I go, I carry a "can on a rope", and basically tell Commission.."NO MORE KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD", 23 years way to long.

Somebody who has been it longer then me should chime in but thought that "Wynoochee Mitigation" money being talked about now is only for salmon, primarily coho.

If I understand the history (remember that it was separate state agencies that made the agreement) the Game Department agreed that if they could use the money to fix up Lake Aberdeen Hatchery that WDG would pay for the steelhead production agreed to. In perpetuity.

WDF agreed to mitigating x salmon (primarily coho because WDF said there weren't spring Chinook up there). For a while, the agency wanted to use the money for habitat improvement which would provide significantly fewer fish. Which seems to open them to criticism for telling the public we will get you X and then settle for Y but "it's better".

It is both steelhead and Coho on this Mit funds CM.




That was the original funds for the dam and yes that is what was agreed.



Yup that was back when Sue Patnude was regional Director. Having met WDF&W's engineering department the thought of a 2.5 million buying nothing but a show piece for habitat that did about zero for the numbers of fish required I was right with everybody else calling BS.

That was a lot of years ago CM. Did I mention you take great notes.

Somebody has to. Causes problems when they can be referred to when somebody wants to say "I never said that"

Hope this access happens.Good luck,

SZ

As of last Friday, It looked like a no go. Green Diamond told the dept, they changed thier minds and want to lease it instead of sell it. Grant money can only be used for purchase. It was thru to the point of public testimony, and they changed the game. So when I talked to the dept last week, they did not know where it was headed.......

Bummer. Too bad there's no steelhead groups that lease land and give back to sportsmans. Or some wealthy fella that'll get the lease and sell keys.

What?! A timber company acting all greedy? Unheard of! I would rather see it shut off then sell keys to a bunch of inclusive P.O.S. Bob R

If timber companies instead of developers owned all the stream banks we would have a ton more fish.

I say lock it up and plant trees.

That being said I do feel sorry for my friends who chose to base their careers in the area because of the great fishing once offered.

WOW!!!!! Now that is a change......Positive side, evens out the access for power boats...during periods of "runable water", like right now.

Would be a "walk in" area during the summer months...

I think the WDFW is looking at this in a small way. Blake has been working on getting money for the purchase of the 7400 line as well as the Beaver Slide put in. This is being done through the supplemental capital budget process. One roadblock on the process is representative Tharinger. Please contact him to have him put the funds into the capital budget.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/memberEmail/24/2

That way if Green Diamond does decide to go through with the sale, WDFW has the funding needed.

Are you certain of that?

The USFWS non traditional section 6 conservation grant program CAN be used to secure conservation easements.

Under eligible projects in the WWRP page it says "Acquisition includes the purchase of perpetual interest in real property or non-perpetual interests such as leases and easements."

An easement can be perpetual, or it can be for a fixed period of time, with renewals, like a lease.

The state then would be required to manage the easement for the duration of the term of the easement.

OK, ok, I give........been up and down the Wynoochee River for many years.....where the heck is the Beaver Slide put in??????? Maybe its at a place that others call some else??????

WDFW has chosen NOT to do this. There were places on the Humptulips, the Wynoochee and the Satsop, that active partition on part of the Agency...public would have many access points, "on 99 year leases".

Hope WDFW can get it done????? I just don't see much wiggle room in the State budget for anything, UNTIL the School funding Court mandated, is fully taken care of. Kids should come 1st, they are the leaders of tomorrow.

The Beaver Slide is aptly named, although I've never seen a beaver on it. It's basically a trail through the woods that comes out at the bottom of the Wynoochee Gorge. It's really not much of a put-in for anything larger than a pontoon, but I've seen guys beat the crap out of a drift boat on it. I'm sure you'd know the place if I showed you on a map (I will NOT be posting a map, just in case it gets opened up again some day).

The annual cost of negotiating a lease is generally fairly small compared to a lump sum payment. Also, the grant monies help reduce out of pocket costs.

Does anyone know the the structure of the lease as proposed by GD?

Thanks for the information..........I fished an area, with Larry Eddlemen, back in the mid 80's. We put his drift boat in waaaay above Sheafer Ck., there was no 7400 bridge, and I remember roping that boat down a long steep hill.

We did that float a few times, summer time, never saw anyone the whole way to White Bridge. I've posted many times, how beautiful the Wynoochee River is.....always upset me, to have this river closed, last winter closing was terrible.

Its by save creek. Or at least that is the old usgs station I would check before fishing. Did they change the USGS station? You want a long rope. Been 10 plus years since I have fished it. A little more technical than the lower river. Beautiful water. Don't bring bait. Drifter that would be a helluva long float in summer flows.

We never used a rope, and launched a db there without much hassle other than getting the bow under the big fir tree that used to lay across the slide.

Haven't done that drift in a few years, though.

The gamies keep a pretty good eye on that stretch though, so don;t bring bait, and don't fish from your boat.

Doesn't matter much anymore unless we can get some access!

The fishing from a boat restriction went away a few years ago. The bait stuff is still in place though.

So what happened to the Save Creek USGS station?

If its icy, you want a rope.

Nothing. It's still there.

Wish I could say the same for the access.

Back in the day.....NO BAIT restrictions, no float/jigs.....plugging, spinners, and sand shrimp/eggs was the standard. Early put in, before 4 a.m., if we got to Carter Ck. and there was a couple of boat trailers, we just floated out...cast spinners and cast bait......those were the days!!!!

No cell phones, no internet, actual not many computers, not many people even fished summer run.....fewer drift boat for the whole summer, than I see in one weekend now. Xhit, 30+ years has flown by, so glad my career allowed me the summer off, fished lots, every day, day light until about 9.

Yup the good old days back before AIDS.

I was there and those were some glory days to be sure.


http://youtu.be/6vQpW9XRiyM


Change is unavoidable. Zip codes and age are irrelevant. Keep up or get run over. Celebrate that there is still fishing to be had.

Fishing the summer fish with a small sand shrimp and a noodle was fun stuff.

Got our first unpunched fish ticket there around 1980.

Good times.

Not many on here can say they fished the Wynoochee, for summer run, in that era.......Hell, many were not even "a smile in daddy's eyes", yet !!!!

Here's some interbred hillbillies fresh of the Wynoochee in the summer of +-80'.
It and the Kalama were stuffed with summer fish back then.

Anyone ever fish in the annual Kalama Summer run light line tournament??

Im Glad nobody fishes the upper nooch for summer runs anymore. There May not be many fish around like the old days. But it sure is a peaceful day on the water. And sometimes you get a fish or two to make the day special

Pussy...

Taint

Track Palin

Who would put a delicatessen next door to a chit house?

They caught a couple since this pic too.

Particularly miss those mid-80's post-St.Helens eruption days on the Kalama. If I knew then what I know now.

I miss what are now the gene bank rivers as well.

Yep, it just keeps getting better and better.

I'm starting to think Oregon or Idaho will be a better place to retire. This state's in a downward spiral I don't think it's going to recover from.

Unfortunate.

I'm hoping that Florida is still above water in 20 years... otherwise I'll be retiring in Georgia or Louisiana

[img:left]http://www.fws.gov/wafwo/fisheries/Publications/FP069ch3-4.pdf[/img]

In reality the summer Skamania stock was not introduced to the Chehalis basin until 1979 and averaged only around 700 adults through the mid 80's.(mainly the Wynoochee/Hump) I was living in Westport those years and had a lot of time off summers so I floated the river tons in the old blue canoe. If you were were lucky you may find 1 a day but lots of blanks especially later in the summer as flows dropped.
The only time I ever saw another boat was one time a local farmer in a drift boat with 3 or 4 Hispanics swimming next to him. As I paddled by he claimed he was swimming his Mexicans, dog was sitting up in the bow.

I remember well the Mt. St. Helens eruptions. On May 22, 1980, I was drinking coffee, waiting for it to get "lighter".....it never really did that day, walked outside and the air was full of ash and it was a light rain, of course EVERYTHING was covered with the ash.

2 things.....Wynoochee River was open for steelhead fishing, that year in May, and was for many years.

and the Wynoochee River had not only the summer steelhead but a run of SPRING CHINOOK. Dick Stone, WDFW, called the springers "dip in" and did his best to eliminate, that run......enough said about that.

When I was in 8th grade, we camped on Charlie Wincewicz's big gravel bar - just below the crossover bridge. This would have been 1981. My buddy and I caught several summer steelhead that weekend just bank fishing, with little skill being employed.

I also remember the day St. Helen's erupted - May 18th - it was a clear day, because we drove up to Capitol Forest and watched the monster ash cloud rise from the mountain. No ash fell that day, because the prevailing winds were going east, which is why it was dark in Spokane that whole day.

Life seemed a little better back then. Of course I didn't live along the Toutle, so maybe those folks see it differently.

Charlie Wincewicz was a very nice person. He allowed me to drive "down the hill" to the gravel pit and fish that area. I met him, soon after I moved to Grays Harbor.....1968, fish his property for winter run steelhead and then in later years for summer run.

Just got to be to many people, so he closed it off.......grrrrrrrr

One of the nicest guys I ever met. Every time I fished his bar, he'd climb on his tractor to come down, say "hi", and give me some tips.

He'd let me go down there until he passed away and his farm changed hands. The world lost a great man that day.

May 18th, 1980.

Camped at Mission Bar.
Whaled on the springers the day before.
That Sunday morning things were different.
We were on our way to getting blanked when we saw the cloud with lightening shooting everywhere in it.

Ran down, loaded the boat, and got in the truck.
Headed up by the Toledo airport.
Took a zillion cool pictures with the trusty 35mm.

Headed home to find out we had no film in the camera.
Good times.