The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Here are some great articles about conservation efforts moving the needle towards more fish in our waters.

From The News Review -GILLIAN FLACCUS The Associated Press

Fishing, environmental groups sue over Umpqua River dam

WINCHESTER — A coalition of environmental and fishing groups are suing a water district in Douglas County over an aging, privately owned dam that they say hinders the passage of struggling salmon populations in the pristine North Umpqua River.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Eugene, asks a judge to order the Winchester Water Control District to build a new fish ladder and make major repairs to Winchester Dam, which dates to 1890 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The dam is one of the oldest in Oregon.

The aging fish ladder on the 130-year-old dam blocks the progress of migrating Oregon Coast coho salmon — a federally protected species — as well as spring and fall chinook, summer and winter steelhead, cutthroat trout and Pacific Lamprey, according to the lawsuit. There’s also no record that the water district has rights to hold and store water behind the dam under state law, the lawsuit said. Keep Reading here…

From the BBC -The rebirth of a historic river – By Alexander Matthews 10th November 2020

For over a century, one of the most important salmon runs in the United States has had to contend with historic dams – and now four of them are set to be taken down.

“My great uncle and my grandma and my great grandparents and, I’m sure, their great grandparents: they were all fishermen. That’s just what they did – they fished and it was out of necessity to support their families. And it’s because that’s what we’ve always done and we’ve never known another life,” says Amy Cordalis, the general counsel of the Yurok, and a member of California’s largest indigenous tribe.

It’s hard to overstate how important this livelihood has been to the Yurok people who have lived for millennia in rural Northern California. And yet this livelihood has been diminishing for decades after the Klamath River – which flows through the tribe’s territory – was dammed for hydroelectricity. But now, after years of painstaking negotiations, the fortunes of the Yurok could be set to change, with the largest dam removal project in US history given the green light. Keep reading this article here…

From The Salem Statesman Journal by Bill Poehler Zach Urness

Turbines at Detroit Dam temporarily turned off to help migrating fish

A win for environmental groups

In August, a U.S. District Court judge granted a summary judgment in a case brought by environmental groups WildEarth Guardians, Native Fish Society and Northwest Environmental Defense Center, finding the Corps is years behind in improving fish passage above the dams, correcting water temperatures and improving water quality.

The original decision ordering those changes was in 2008.

The court ruled that the Corps’ operation of the dams led to the initial Endangered Species Act-listing of Chinook salmon and steelhead, and contributed to their decline. Continue reading here…

From Our Friends at Native Fish Society

On Friday, October 23rd, Save California Salmon, the Klamath Justice Coalition, and Ancestral Guard are calling for an Un-Dam the Klamath Day of Action. This Day of Action is critical right now as the owners of the four Klamath dams that are slated for removal, PacifiCorp, and their parent company, Berkshire Hathaway, are threatening to pull out of the dam removal agreement and break their promises to Klamath River Tribes. The agreement to remove the Klamath River dams is the result of almost 20 years of scientific studies, advocacy and negotiation. During these 20 years, the Klamath has dealt with serious toxic algal blooms and salmon numbers have dwindled, threatening the West Coast fishing industry and Tribal subsistence.

Join tribal members from the Klamath River in advocating for a free-flowing Klamath River. Here’s how you can make an impact:

Participate in the Undam the Klamath River Day of Action, virtual rally at 3:30pm on October 23rd

Sign petition to encourage Warren Buffett and PacifiCorp to move forward with Klamath Dam Removal Agreement

Join us in creating a social media/twitter storm. Make a video, post a photo, make a sign, and/or hang a banner. Use the hashtags #UnDamtheKlamath #KlamathJustice and #WarrenBuffett. Tag @WarrenBuffett, @PacifiCorp and @PacificPower, @GatesFoundation, @GavinNewsom and @OregonGovBrown. We encourage you to post and email your friends so they can support the Day of Action.

Please use your voice this week and help advocate for justice and the removal of the four Klamath River dams. With your help, we can create the groundswell of public support needed to revive the Klamath River and its wild fish.

Register Here

Our friends at Rising shared this with us.

A tragedy is unfolding on the South Fork Salmon River Idaho. Midas Gold Corp is proposing a large scale mining project (Stibnite) at the headwaters of the East Fork South Fork Salmon River on the footsteps of the Frank Church Wilderness and tribal access of the Nez Perce indigenous people. It is the pathway for one of the longest fish migrations on the planet for chinook salmon and is designated critical spawning habitat for bull trout, chinook, steelhead and westslope cutthroat trout. The draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) is open for public comment and we need your help in making the voices of the fly fishing community heard in opposition of what is being “Fast Tracked” for permitting.

IDAHO RIVERS UNITED has put the following information together as well as a link to submit your comment to the US Forrest Service and Idaho State officials.

We need to act fast. The commenting period for the proposed DEIS ends October 28th. Let them know that as a fly fishing community we were ignored in their analysis.

#SAVETHESOUTHFORKSALMON

TAKE ACTION NOW BY CLICKING HERE

More Info on the Stibnite Mine and Salmon River HERE