Jennie Goldberg, Director
League of Northwest Whitewater Racers
3048 62nd Avenue SW
Seattle, WA 98116
206-933-1178
www.nwwhitewater.org
Sam Drevo running slalom gates and imparting wisdom on the Bull Run in Oregon
Check out this video the Mt. Hood Territory just produced about kayaking with Sam Drevo:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJCMUZVL_x8
This is a message for anyone in the Paddling community looking to paddle the Sandy River this summer. ….
June 2010 Update
Portion of Sandy River closed at Dodge Park
A portion of the Sandy River located under the Lusted Rd. Bridge at RM 18 near Dodge Park will temporarily be closed to boaters and anglers for 24-hours a day during three separate weeks in July and August. The river closure is necessary while the water pipeline bridge next to the Lusted Road auto span is dismantled as part of the Sandy River Crossing (SRX) Tunnel Conduit Relocation Project.
The July river closure will occur on July 19 and run through July 23.
The river under the bridge will be unsafe for boats to float under because temporary supports will be placed under the bridge as the old conduits are removed and the span is dismantled. Boating from Dodge Park downriver is not affected by the river closures, and the public may continue using the boat launch area downstream from the bridge.
An SRX virtual open house featuring a four-minute video has been posted on YouTube. The link for the video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSsMP0hGybI
Kiewit Pacific Co., the contractor for the project, is coordinating the closure with the Oregon State Marine Board and the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Call (503) 663-0261 for the exact dates of the river closure. The dates will also be posted on this webpage as soon as they are known.
Stay informed
To sign up for frequent e-mail updates and construction alerts, send me an email by clicking on my name below.
You also may call me at the numbers listed below.
Work: (503) 823-1168
Cell: (503) 823-8978
Just a reminder, some traffic controls will be necessary near Dodge Park during the first half of the year.
Trout on the Wind – The Hemlock Dam Removal Story
Trout Creek is located just north of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in Washington State. The creek flows south through the Gifford Pinchot National to the Columbia River about an hour and a half drive east of Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. Over 90% of the land in this 225 square mile drainage is owned by the public and is part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Mt. Adams is just a short distance to the Northeast as the eagle flies and the small towns in this area provide a gateway to Mt. St. Helens.
The canyons of the Wind River were wild and unsettled until the early 1900s. In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt’s sought to pull the United States out of the Great Depression by putting people back to work. Through his New Deal, Roosevelt formed the Civilian Conservation Corps and the CCC boys as they came to be known constructed the Hemlock Dam to provide water and power for a work camp in the area. In the 1970s, the dam fell into disrepair and resident fish populations were struggling to hold on. In 1995, the Forest Service began working with local organizations, contractors and citizens to figure out what needed to be done to recover the river.
In 2009, the Forest Service joined forces with local citizens, contractors and conservation groups to remove Hemlock Dam and restore more than 20 miles of habitat for Columbia River steelhead. Local filmmakers and avid whitewater kayakers Sam Drevo and Ralph Bloemers documented the project and produced a short film Trout on the Wind.
The film was completed in early May of 2010, and it documents the project from its start to its finish. After the dam was removed and within minutes of clean water being put back in the stream, a biologist working on the project shot footage of Steelhead trout making their way up the newly restored reach. Trout on the Wind takes you to the river and introduces you to the people that made this inspiring modern-day restoration effort a reality.
The role that dam removal plays in river restoration is beginning to unfold and each of these restoration projects offer us a chance to recover our natural heritage and celebrate the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. These are exciting times, where people are working together to employ different dam removal techniques to improve conditions for native fish in the gorge and learn many important lessons. The Columbia Gorge is fast becoming the heart of river restoration through dam removals and local people are getting excited as future projects to remove other dams in the region begin to unfold.
Last week, over 250 people attended the premiere of Trout on the Wind, a documentary about the removal of the Hemlock Dam (http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/04projects/hemlock-dam/) and the restoration of wild salmon runs on Trout Creek in the Columbia River Gorge. Mountain Khaki helped by sponsoring the event and the proceeds went to support the continued work of the Crag Law Center (www.crag.org) and the Gifford Pinchot Task Force (www.gptaskforce.org) to protect and conserve the forests, rivers, fish, and wildlife found in the Pacific Northwest.
I couldn’t believe the syncronisity when a NY Times reporter called looking for kayaking spots off the beaten path. I spoke with her about We Love Clean Rivers- the lower Clackamas and how much cleaner it has gotten over the last few years. I spoke with her about the Hemlock Dam Removal and how a new section has emerged from the base of what was a reseviour for over 70 years- See a feature article in the July Issue of Outside Magazine about this. But what she was most interested in was the story of the Century Paddle’s emergence. She was fascinated as I am about the great expanse and the tremendous ecosystem of the lower Columbia River.
It is fitting that she asked for some kayak shots on the Columbia, and they picked a picture of my rafting mentor – Val Shaull kayaking with Mt. Hood in the background.
Check out the short blurb in the travel section of the NY Times. It is an honor to have an image published in such a prestigious newspaper.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/travel/16kayak-roundup.html?emc=eta1
To check out our end of summer event – go to www.centurypaddle.org
Will Obama Dam Salmon to Extinction?
On the heels of the catastrophic oil spill that is crushing wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration is poised to make a decision this week that could change the fate of endangered species in this country. On May 20, the Administration will release a federal salmon plan that will do one of two things for endangered wildlife: protect the Endangered Species Act, or weaken it. A decision to weaken the ESA for the West’s iconic Columbia and Snake River salmon could send an ecological ripple across the country — affecting every endangered species in the nation.
And the situation doesn’t look good. Instead of charting its own path, the administration is working off an illegal Bush administration plan for endangered salmon.
Because they return to the biggest, highest and best-protected habitat in America, endangered Snake River salmon are slated as the West’s best chance to save salmon for future generations in an environment threatened by climate change. These cold, crisp waters of spanning three Western states — Washington, Oregon and Idaho, will remain cold under warming climates, protecting these one-of-a-kind salmon with a one-of-a-kind habitat. Making the wrong decision on these rivers would effectively dam (pun fully intended) these salmon to extinction.
The Columbia-Snake Rivers may not be in your own backyard, but the effects of this decision certainly will be. Take action today to save salmon and protect America’s endangered species.
These fish are fighting right now to survive — tackling a gauntlet of dams, escaping predators and climbing higher than any salmon on Earth. They’re doing their part. Now let’s do ours.
Take Action: http://ga0.org/campaign/standforsalmon
Quotes to pull from:
“Conservation is a core priority for the outdoor industry, and wild salmon play an important role in the recreation economy. We simply can’t afford to lose them.”
— Lisa Pike-Sheehy, Patagonia’s Director of Environmental Initiatives, said in a press release. Patagonia has long supported restoring a free-flowing Snake River to recover salmon and steelhead, which the company has featured in their Freedom to Roam Campaign.
“The last cut at this plan largely ignored the impacts climate change will most certainly have on these salmon. And it ignored the unique habitat in the Snake Basin that these fish call home. The science tells us that getting these fish back home is the surest and perhaps only way to ensure salmon in the Columbia-Snake Basin under a warming world. Let’s hope that in addition to protecting the ESA, the administration prepares for the current and future harms caused to these fish from global warming. Let’s get these fish back to their habitat so we can ensure salmon in the Columbia-Snake Basin for generations to come.”
— John Kostyack, Executive Director of Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming for National Wildlife Federation in Washington, DC. NWF is the lead plaintiff in the fight to protect Columbia-Snake salmon.
“What is at stake here goes far beyond the issue of salmon recovery. To me, it raises the question of whether we have the courage and the will to reconcile the growing contradiction between the world we say we want to leave our children and the one we are actually creating through the decisions we make today. And it calls into question our capacity to take explicit and intentional action to shape our own future rather than to simply react to circumstances, allowing by default our future to become a matter of chance. It’s time to fight for salmon. It’s time to fight for us. It’s time to fight for our future.”— John Kitzhaber, former governor of Oregon and currently running for a second term, said in a 2007 Sea Grant-hosted keynote address.
“Federal Defendants have spent the better part of the last decade treading water, and avoiding their obligations under the Endangered Species Act… We simply cannot afford to waste another decade.”
— U.S. District Court Judge James Redden to Counsel of Record in National Wildlife Federation v. National Marine Fisheries Service May 15, 2009.
Video:
Link: http://www.vimeo.com/11825460
Embed: <object width=”400″ height=”225″><param value=”true” /><param value=”always” /><param value=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=11825460&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1” /><embed src=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=11825460&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1” allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” width=”400″ height=”225″></embed></object><p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/11825460“>Save Wild Salmon</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user1133057“>Epicocity Project</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com“>Vimeo</a>.</p>
Sign up now to attend the 2010 WW symposium at NOC in North Carolina.
Early bird special through June 15th.
Hope to see you there!
-Sam
http://www.heartandstroke.on.ca/site/c.pvI3IeNWJwE/b.5900769/k.89E3/HeartStroke_TV.htm
Check it. Do you carry one with you on Grand Canyon River Trips?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 28th, 2010
Local Film Provides First Hand Look at Unique Dam Removal and Restoration Project in the Wind River watershed in the Columbia River Gorge.
What: Portland Premiere of Trout on the Wind and 3 other short films: Ascending the Giants, (John Waller, Portland), An MBA Meets a Fisherman, and SalmonsKin. (Available for Advance Review)
When: May 13th, 2010, Doors 6:30 PM
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd
Cost: Tickets are $7 and proceeds benefit the Crag Law Center and Gifford Pinchot Task Force
Contact: Ralph Bloemers, (503) 525-2727 or Megan Hooker at 525-2724
On Thursday, May 13th Crag and Gifford Pinchot Task Force will host the Wild Rivers Movie Night at the Hollywood Theater. The evening will feature the Portland Premiere of Trout on the Wind, a locally produced documentary about the removal of the Hemlock Dam from Trout Creek in Washington. Trout Creek is a tributary of the Wind River in the Columbia River Gorge, and in the summer of 2009 salmon and steelhead made their way up the creek without the aid of a fish ladder for the first time in decades. The Forest Service worked with local organizations, contractors and citizens to joined forces to remove Hemlock dam and restore over 20 miles of prime habitat for Columbia River Steelhead. This film provides a first hand look at how this successful restoration project was accomplished from start to finish.
Three additional selections from the Wild & Scenic Film Festival will be shown, including John Waller’s Ascending the Giants, the Good Life Parable: An MBA Meets a Fisherman and a short called SalmonsKin by Thomas Dunklin.
All proceeds from the showing will benefit the Crag Law Center and Gifford Pinchot Task Force. Crag is a public interest environmental law center that supports community efforts to protect and sustain the natural legacy of the Pacific Northwest. Gifford Pinchot Task Force supports the biological diversity and communities of the Northwest through conservation and restoration of forests, rivers, fish, and wildlife. The two organizations have worked together for many years on projects in Washington, played a role in the removal of Hemlock dam and restoration of Trout Creek.
The films will be shown at the Hollywood Theater in Portland (4122 NE Sandy Blvd). Doors open at 6:30 pm, films start at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $7 and are available at the door or in advance via the Hollywood Theatre website. For more information, visit www.crag.org/support-us/crag-events and http://www.gptaskforce.org/get-involved/upcoming-events
Here are some comments / feedback from Vance Cordell after our 4/17-18/2010 Oregon Whitewater Association Swiftwater Rescue Workshop powered by Northwest River Guides LLC.
General comments about the class. I thought the class was extremely good. I think everyone who is a serious non-motorized boated should take this course. Particularly, I think anyone that is going to fill the function of a “trip leader” for any of the rafting clubs should be required to take the course. I think anyone taking the course should first take a course in basic knot tying or on their own practice knot tying until they are proficient prior to the beginning of the course. For people like me who didn’t know knots, the course is too compressed to become proficient in knot tying before having to apply knots in making anchors and setting up mechanical advantage systems.
Safety during the class. The instructor was extremely safety conscience and several times pointed out very quickly safety infractions that the students were making.
Comments specific to your instructor. I think Sam Devro is very qualified to teach this course. He has both the knowledge and temperament. I think he did extremely well.
For another well written review see the latest issue of the OWA newsletter here….
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=1283834394069274&mt=application%2Fpdf&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com%2Fmail%2F%3Fui%3D2%26ik%3D7234df14e6%26view%3Datt%26th%3D1283834394069274%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dattd%26realattid%3Df_g8gqfxyd0%26zw&sig=AHIEtbQRCLTCdaaj3KYp8KnmlRmrSKjmsg
