Every area has its own problems concerning salmon. In Oregon and California where I have permits to fish, I know what the problems are, and it isn't logging. Nor is it commercial trollers.
1. Water quality in California is being compromised by the irraigation diversions from the Trinity and Sacremento rivers.
2. Predation by sealions.
3. Tribal gill net fishing on river spawners.
4. Curtailed hatchery efforts, because the GreenPeople resent hatchery fish. They, (GreenPeople) say the hatchery fish compete with the wild fish. Fact is, both come from the same eggs. There is no difference between hatchery fish and wild fish, except where the eggs are incubated.
All fine points,but like I said,"competing industry focus".The L.A basin H2O grab is a classic example of power hating a vacuem.That exceptionally interesting story goes back to the 20's or 30's if Im not mistaken.Men with a vision grabbed water rights reaching all the way into other states,and diverted it to southern Cali.
Dont get me wrong,Im not on histories side here,but the facts remain,like the Columbia's salmon sacrificed perhaps not in writing but deeds for future generations.The Columbia was the WORLDS largest producing Chinook salmon river.But the $ potential overrode the industry as well as Indian claims on the river.
Sacrificed for eastern washington farming/barging/electro-generation capacity,and cementing the economics of aluminum smelting in the NW.
Logging west of the Rockies was killed by industry lacking vision on both sides of the boarder,not by the evil Greenies,industry merely uncorked that bottle,question is how to put that nasty geenie back in.The answer is recognizing better solutions,and addressing the situation,before the hammer comes down,as witnessed in logging and many other issues.
Greenie environmento stuff is a business unto itself.Think about it,if the world was completely green(whatever that means) what would happen to all those fancy Greenpeace ships plying the oceans,or all the regional directors salleries that surely must be paid to keep brain power.
Ive seen this pro-active approach personally in the unknown(as far as anybody here is concerned)dilemna of catching incidental endangered birds with long line gear,in the Aleutian chain/Gulf of Alaska.Exhibit A: the Short Tailed Albitross.An ugly bird that supposedly only breeds on some distant volcanic rock far from american shores or even the dateline for that matter.But spends its summers in the Far western Aleutians.Supposedly down to 200 breeding pairs at one time.
Rather than wait for the hammer and waste $'s for lawyers on retainer,the Hook n Line fleet went out and solved the problem more or less themselves,and paid for alot of it(unlike say tax payer funded logging road building subsidies,which is total BS in my opinion,and the only reason that logging operations on this side of the boarder were able to come close to competing with much larger BC industry subsidies).
Oh as far as the Elwah goes,shoot its been ATLEAST 10 yrs hasnt it,since the voter mandated demolition of that dilemna,its been along time maybe Im foggy on my facts,but I know Im close.
It will take nothing short of a miracle to save Washington salmon,and as far as long past logging not hurting fish,sorry public,private,federal,state science isnt on your side.And Cali salmon has indirectly been sacrificed for all them people south of Point Conception.Dont feel to bad,supposedly the mighty Colorado river is a mud pudlle by the time it reached upper Sea of Cortez.
Sea Lions n old Indian treaties with legal standing or court related cases is just a nail in the coffin on a direction decided at least 2 generations ago.
Somewhat related,ever hear stories about how the sacremento river basin used to get huge mud flows from time to time from hydraulic mining overburden tailings piles washing down from the sierra foothills?
What did that Newton guy say"Every action has an opposite and equal reaction."
Was he talking Physics or the wheel of life?
times change and so must we,and no it wont feel good....
ak4195
