It's rare to hear about one of the energy companies doing a good job. Well, times they are a changing.
Several employees of Portland General Electric, along with members of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff, braved severe winter conditions last month to avert the loss of up to 900,000 spring chinook salmon destined for release into the Clackamas and Sandy rivers.
The salmon fingerlings being reared at ODFW’s Clackamas fish hatchery were imperiled by a sequence of events that began with a power failure, following a major snowstorm... The situation at the Clackamas hatchery was just one of thousands of storm-related incidents that PGE employees had to manage across the region.
As Rachel says if you're worried about terrorists attacking our electrical grid, it should worry you that it can be taken down with a simple storm. This calls out for infrastructure upgrades to the electrical grid. But I'd just like to take a moment and thank the 200+ crews who gave up holiday time with their families to help the environment! After the fold, congrats to Harry Reid?!?
If you aren't caught up on Salmon news, I'd suggest checking out my big salmon diary - Salmon Bailout, Orcas Dying, Sea Lion Scapegoats That will get you up to speed on what is a serious environmental and economic disaster for Pacific fishermen, local retailers and friends of the environment. Things are bad, but today's news is all upbeat.
From Estacada News
Electricity is used to power intake pumps that pull water out of the Clackamas River in McIver Park and circulate it through a series of holding ponds at the hatchery and back into the river. A constant supply of fresh river water is vital to the survival of young salmon..."The river water provides the oxygen necessary to keep the fish alive until they are at the proper size and condition to be released,"...
A PGE line crew consisting of Mike Wolford, Kevin Akers, Grant Young, Nick Rost and Jim Sweet, summoned by PGE customer service representative Cari Place, was dispatched and arrived at the hatchery at approximately 3 p.m. on Dec. 24. They worked through the night until a blown transformer could be replaced and power to the hatchery intake restored at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Christmas morning. Power to the rest of the facility was restored the following day.
The salmon at the hatchery are due to be released into the Clackamas and Sandy rivers in March...
Under normal circumstances, 1 to 3 percent of spring salmon released into the Clackamas and Sandy rivers return to their respective river basins. Biologists believe that releasing the fish early, while they were still fingerlings, would likely have lowered survival rates and reduced the number of salmon coming back from the ocean in 3 to 4 years...
"Our crews worked tirelessly in very difficult conditions," said Medina. "What made this storm so different and challenging was that it just kept coming, with new outages occurring as quickly as our crews could repair existing outages. This was the storm that just wouldn’t stop."
During the 10 days that the arctic blast gripped the region, PGE handled more than 3,000 downed power lines and 400,000 customer outages
That's fantastic, I can't thank them enough. Using their figures between 9,000 and 27,000 of the juveniles will make it back upstream to spawn. The rest will either be caught by fisherman or hungry carnivores like the troubled orca whales. But the real miracle in this article is Harry Reid's efforts to push through some new protections for the Elk River in Southwest Oregon. It seems at times that Harry Reid never fails to fail. But today, Harry Reid failed to fail!!
More Protection Coming! The Copper Salmon Wilderness Act.
This act passed through the 110 House but was taken off the table through the efforts of Senator Tom Coburn.
Harry Reid Does Well??
The legislation containing the proposed 23,000-acre Soda Mountain Wilderness in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument and the roughly 13,700-acre Copper Salmon Wilderness in the Elk River drainage near Port Orford was introduced Wednesday morning by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
And the locals are quite surprised!
We were pleasantly surprised," Willis said of the bill's fast track. "We're glad it's moving. We're optimistic."..."There is a lot of Oregon natural heritage at stake," Beagle said. "With the Copper Salmon, it's not just local fishing and the economy. It's for anyone who loves to catch big fish and see big trees."
I'm shocked too. With so much going on it's nice to see that other good pieces of legislation that failed in the 110th are being fastracked in the 111th. Here's a little backstory from the 110th discussions of HR. 3513
From Pete DeFazio's speech on the House floor April 22, 2008
The Copper Salmon Wilderness Act would permanently protect nearly 13,000 acres in the headwaters of the Elk River on the southern coast of Oregon, and designate more than 11 additional miles of the river as either Wild or Scenic under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. This legislation would protect some of the last remaining stands of Port-Orford-cedar in the Elk River watershed, which has the distinction as one of the most productive salmon and steelhead rivers outside of Alaska. This is rugged, wild territory, and I am hopeful that it may finally become wilderness in the 110th Congress:
Renowned among fishermen, the Elk River watershed is one of the last intact watersheds on the southwest Oregon Coast and is widely regarded as Oregon's last, best coastal salmon and steelhead stream. Oregon State University researchers have concluded that the Elk River is one of the healthiest habitats in the lower 48 states for anadromous fish, and the stream is home to chinook salmon, winter steelhead, coho salmon, cutthroat trout, and rainbow trout...
H.R. 3513 enjoys backing from Curry County Commissioners, local elected officials, the local Chamber of Commerce, hunting and fishing groups, tribes, the timber industry, and all local conservation groups. This is a model for the community-based consensus approach to designating wilderness.
Copper Salmon is truly a rare coastal Oregon gem. It is almost entirely intact ancient forest, which supports healthy fish runs and great elk herds, blacktailed deer, bears, and other wildlife. It is adjacent to the existing Grassy Knob Wilderness, and combined, these two areas will be one of the largest intact areas of forest in the Coast Range. This is an area that deserves protection for the enjoyment of future generations.
from OregonWild.com
Its forests feature Douglas fir trees as large as 10 feet in diameter and up to 300 feet in height, and large disease-free stands of Port-Orford cedar, North America’s most endangered forest tree. Copper Salmon is also blessed with an abundance of wildlife--from endangered marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls to Roosevelt elk, mountain lions and black bears.
Despite all this, the headwaters of the Elk's North Fork do not now enjoy any degree of permanent protection. While the area does have some administrative protections, loopholes and congressional riders already allowed clear-cutting of 200 acres of healthy old-growth forest in the North Fork drainage. Future threats could come at any time despite broad support for the area’s protection.
There's a 25 year old organization called Friends of the Elk River which has more information about the clear cutting of the US Forest Services and the dangers to the Elk River.
So wow, this is a first, I'm congratulating both energy workers and Harry Reid for protecting our great natural resources in the Pacific Northwest! Thank you all! Now the Salmon roundup...
Other Salmon News
King County to restore habitats
The state’s salmon Recovery Funding Board has awarded nine grants totaling more than $1.5 million to King County for salmon habitat restoration. The funds will be applied to projects in King County’s four main watershed areas. Of the $1.5 million, $553,630 will be spent in the Snoqualmie watershed. The funds were awarded Dec. 12.
U.S. to compensate B.C. fishermen under latest pact to protect Pacific salmon
VANCOUVER, B.C. — The U.S. government will hand over millions of dollars to compensate the B.C. fishing industry for dramatic cuts to salmon fisheries.
The US$30 million salve is one of several changes that took effect in the Pacific Salmon Treaty at the beginning of this year, with the aim of ensuring the sustainability of declining Pacific salmon stocks in Canada and the U.S.
Salmon Superhighway
Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon are investing $108 million on an underwater fish tower designed to allow salmon and steelhead to maneuver around the Pelton Round Butte dams...
Slated to be operational in Spring 2009, the 273-foot underwater tower and fish collection facility would attract migrating fish by mimicking natural water temperature and current conditions. Once the fish are drawn to the tower’s fish collection station, they will be sorted by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel, with young steelhead and salmon being trucked downstream to continue their voyage to the Pacific Ocean.