Story by: Gail Oberst

Date Published to Web: 1/13/2009

When summer arrives in Polk and Benton counties, what few steelhead and trout there are in the Luckiamute River system head for cooler waters upstream in the Kings Valley, Pedee and Falls City areas. So say preliminary results from a fish survey conducted last summer by the Luckiamute Watershed Council.
   The survey team, headed by Steve Trask's Bio-Surveys of Alsea, waded, snorkeled and swam through 214 miles of river and creek to complete the first official count in as many as 50 years in some places in the watershed.
   "The first year of the inventory was very successful," Trask said.
   At a public meeting planned in May, Trask will talk about his plans for a follow-up survey and he'll outline in detail the results of this first survey.
   Although statistics from the survey are still being reviewed, Trask's preliminary findings back up what longtime residents already know: There aren't as many steelhead and trout as there used to be in the Luckiamute River watershed. Past and present land-use has warmed the river, a boon to the warm-water fishes that now thrive while trout and steelhead falter.
   It is no small task to create a watershed more attractive to steelhead and trout, but the Luckiamute Watershed Council, a volunteer group made up of people who live and work in the watershed, believe the task is worth taking on, said Kenn Carter, a Dallas engineer and past chairman of the Council. Helping improve water quality is ultimately most valuable to people, he said.
   The unique fish count was the first of its kind ever in the Luckiamute River's tributaries, although Trask has done several similar counts in other Oregon watersheds. Aiming for accuracy, the surveyors snorkeled every fifth pool in many of the Luckiamute River watersheds' rivers and creeks.
   Preliminary statistics indicate that about 80 percent of the cutthroat trout and steelhead, both salmonids, head for the upper Luckiamute River tributaries in the summer -- the area that includes Pedee, Kings Valley, Hoskins and Ritner Creek, and the Little Luckiamute below Falls City. Coho salmon were almost nonexistent.
   "We had no idea where the fish were in the watershed until this summer," said Michael Cairns, project manager for the Luckiamute Watershed Council. "Now that we know where they are and where they are not, we can start to prioritize where stream improvement work should be done."
   The council operates on private and public grants and contributions. This project was sponsored by a grant from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, which garners most of its funds from state lottery dollars.
   Planning for watershed work will begin in May with the public meeting to be announced.
   The watershed council's web page is available at: http://luckiamute.watershedcouncils.net/
   For more information, or to have survey information mailed to you, call the council office, 503-838-8804.