MRT has been working to restore salmon population from decades of development
Pre-colonization, stretches of the McKenzie River had slow, meandering flows.
Since western civilization came to the area, development funneled the river into a tighter track, speeding the flows tremendously.
Over the past two years, the McKenzie River Trust has worked to reverse some of those changes as part of the restoration of Finn Rock Reach, an area just east of the Finn Rock landmark.
“This sort of takes it back to that that older approach,” says McKenzie River Trust Executive Director Joe Moll, “that older reality was much better for water quality and much better for fish and wildlife habitat.”
Combining a lower grade slope and natural barriers in the river’s path has slowed the river’s pace and created a space that better cultivates wildlife within Finn Rock Reach.
One of the species at the center of this effort, wild salmon, have seen decades of decline in population.
“They are just a fraction of what it used to be,” Moll says, “just a single digit percentage of the returns we used to have.”
With a new space of slow flows, the trust is hopeful that they will begin to see increased salmon returns as early as this fall. They gauge successful salmon restoration by counting the amount of bedding area’s found within the reach.
“Last year, I think there were 25 this year,” Moll says. “We’re hoping to have at least double that.”
Early surveys of the area are already showing positive returns.
“As of last week, there were already 23 reds identified,” Moll says, “so we’ll do another assessment later this week. Hope to have as many as double that.”
Regardless of numbers this season, the salmon that make their way to the restored reach will be able to have a better chance at success down river and in the ocean.
“In January or February, when the young, the offspring the fry come out of these gravels,” Moll says, “they have a smorgasbord, more food, broad area to stay safe and grow big, so when they go downstream, they’re bigger when they get to the ocean, they survive better, they come back larger.”
Pairing promising early salmon data with the already evident signs of insect life have the McKenzie River Trust bullish for the future.
“It’s an incredibly hopeful thing to be a part of,” Moll says. “It gives us hope that yeah, there are things we can continue to do to help them make that journey.”
Source: KTMR
McKenzie River Trust is a nonprofit land trust formed in 1989 to protect critical habitats and scenic lands in the McKenzie Basin.