Upstream Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest (1996) / Chapter Skim
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3 Human History and Influences
3 Human History and Influences
Pages 46-74
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From page 46... ...
Throughout the various environments that make up the Pacific Northwest, the life history of salmon is intertwined with human history. HISTORICAL SETTING The American Indian settlements in the Pacific Northwest constituted "one of the most densely populated nonagricultural regions of the world" (Boyd 1990:135~.
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From page 47... ...
By now, major impacts on American Indian cultures were well under way. The capture of Chief Joseph and his people during their flight toward Canada in 1877 was one of many events that marked the uneasy truce between the rights and needs of American Indians and the surging immigration of EuroAmericans.
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From page 48... ...
The transcript of the 1855 Treaty at Walla Walla gives insight into the cultural differences. Isaac Stevens, governor of Washington, commented about American Indian land ownership: "On these tracts the land was all in common: there were one or more larger fields for the tribes but no man has his special field" (U.S.
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From page 49... ...
Salmon canning spread from the Columbia River to Puget Sound, British Columbia, and Alaska; soon southeastern Alaska and Bristol Bay dominated. Columbia River packers sought to create and retain the advantage of highquality, prime spring-caught chinook salmon (Cobb 1930, Craig and Hacker
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From page 50... ...
Although much of the decline in the Columbia River fishery has been attributed to increases in inriver and ocean fishing, other factors, such as dam construction and modifications of freshwater spawning and rearing habitats in the Columbia basin, are important contributors as well (Simenstad et al. 1992, Bottom 1994)
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From page 52... ...
In the 1960s, the invention of pasteurized and formulated feeds that reduced the incidence of disease brought new expectations that artificial propagation could overcome negative dam effects and even increase salmon abundance (Anonymous 19591. Eventually, more than 80 hatcheries were built in the Columbia River Basin, with the Mitchell Act of 1938 playing a major role in the development of 39
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From page 53... ...
The history of artificial propagation reveals a recurring cycle of technological optimism followed by pessimism. With the increasing reliance on artificial propagation, concerns became greatly heightened that contemporary hatchery programs are having negative effects on the genetic diversity and persistence of wild populations and that increasing releases of hatchery fish cannot override iAll hatchery steelhead released from Columbia River hatcheries have the adipose fin removed so that adult wild fish can be identified.
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From page 54... ...
These include decreasing body size at maturity and increasing age at maturity of Japanese chum as total returns have increased, suggesting density-dependent rearing limitations in the oceanic environment (Kaeriyama 1989 cited by Riddell 1993a) ; reduced catches of chinook salmon in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, when hatchery releases exceeded 8.3 million fish per
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From page 55... ...
Although the forage productivity and resilience of this previously ungrazed region was initially able to sustain intense livestock pressure, ultimately the ecological costs of overgrazing western rangelands included increased erosion and surface runoff, loss of shrub and riparian communities along stream systems, extensive alteration of native plant communities, continued decline of beaver populations, widespread channel downcutting, and broad impacts on fish and wildlife habitats. In 1934, Congress passed the Taylor Grazing Act (TGA)
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From page 56... ...
. Source: Annual reports of Public Land Statistics, USDI Bureau of Land Management.
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From page 57... ...
Rivers used for navigation were routinely "cleaned" of all large wood and boulders to provide unobstructed passage for log rafts. Salvage logging of timber in rivers and streams, especially western red cedar, had a serious impact on small streams throughout western portions of Washington and Oregon.
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From page 58... ...
Splash dams consisted of temporary structures that created a sizable backwater pond. Logs were dumped into the pond and the waterway below it.
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From page 59... ...
HUMAN HISTORY AND INFLUENCES I A ~ GENE : fit' is J
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From page 60... ...
DAMMING THE NORTHWEST Of the various human-caused changes in the region, particularly the Columbia River Basin, perhaps none has had greater impact than dams. The potential for dams to affect salmon runs was recognized early in the Pacific Northwest's development.
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From page 61... ...
By 1975, 14 mainstem Columbia River and 13 Snake River dams were completed within the natural range of anadromous fish runs (Figure 3-8, Table 3-1J. Within the Columbia basin, 58 dams were constructed exclusively for hydropower and another 78 are classified as multipurpose (NPPC 1986~.
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From page 62... ...
Columbia River Bonneville 1933 1938 233 The Dalles 1952 1957 307 John Day 1958 1968 348 McNary 1947 1954 470 Priest Rapids 1956 1959 639 Wanapum 1959 1963 668 Rock Island 1930 1933 729 Rocky Reach 1956 1961 763 Wells 1963 1967 832 Chief Josepha 1950 1955 877 Grand Couleea 1934 1941 961 Snake River Ice Harbor 1957 1961 538 Lower Monumental 1962 1969 589 Little Goose 1963 1970 636 Lower Granite 1965 1973 716 Hells Canyona 1961 1967 919 Oxbow 1958 1961 961 Brownlee 1955 1958 980 Swan Falls 1906 1910 1,255 C.J. Strike 1950 1952 1,313 Bliss 1948 1949 1,423 Lower Salmon 1910 1910 1,444 aBlocks anadromous-fish migration.
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From page 63... ...
Of the original salmon and steelhead habitat available in the Columbia River Basin, 55% of the area and 31 % of the stream miles have been eliminated by dam construction. Habitat availability for salmon and steelhead before 1850 and in 1975 is shown in Table 3-3.
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From page 64... ...
In addition, instream barriers prohibiting the upstream migration of adult salmon were built during the construction of many Pacific Northwest fish hatcheries; although these barriers were apparently installed because of concerns about disease in hatchery fish, the structures delineate watershed areas that have become off limits to anadromous fish. Dams of various sizes and functions provide important benefits to human populations and industries, but their ability to eliminate habitat access constitutes a major contribution to the decline of salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest.
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From page 65... ...
Before construction of the Chief Joseph Dam in l95O, the Grand Coulee Dam inundated a 103-mi stretch of river that once supported great numbers of chinook salmon that spawned on gravel bars in the main river and near the mouths of tributaries; it also eliminated access to other upriver areas in the United States and Canada (NPPC 1986~. Fish-passage facilities have been installed at many of the mainstem Columbia River dams and other dams in the Pacific Northwest.
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From page 66... ...
WATERING THE LAND As rainwater or snowmelt flows to lower elevations, it is used for hydropower, irrigation, industrial, and municipal demands. Not surprisingly, of all the water withdrawn from lakes, streams, and rivers, irrigation uses the most (Figure 3-12~.
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From page 67... ...
bFishway at Willamette Falls constructed in 1971 increased habitat in the Willamette River Basin. CReason for increase in fish habitat not identified in original report.
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From page 68... ...
In 1840, missions near Walla Walla, Washington, and Lewiston, Idaho, were the first sites to use irrigation for crop production. In 1859, the first irrigation project began in the Walla Walla River Valley; it was followed soon by projects in the John Day, Umatilla, and Hood River valleys of Oregon.
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From page 69... ...
Water that returns to a stream from an irrigation project is often substantially altered and degraded (NRC 19891. Problems associated with return flows include increased water temperature, which can alter patterns of adult and smolt migration; increased salinity; increased pathogen populations; decreased dissolved oxygen concentration; increased toxicant concentrations associated with pesticides and fertilizers; and increased sedimentation (NPPC 19861.
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From page 70... ...
~' ~ _ ''' 1 1 1 1 1925 1966 1980 2030 Year FIGURE 3-13 Area of instigated lands in Columbia River Basin. Source: NPPC 1986.
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From page 71... ...
Upper Columbia, above Chief Joseph Dam; Mid-Columbia, between confluence of Snake River and Chief Joseph Dam; Lower Columbia, below confluence with Snake River; Snake, Snake River basin. Source: NPPC 1986.
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From page 72... ...
For the Salmon River estuary of Oregon, 75% of the wetlands had been isolated from the rest of the estuary by dikes (Frenkel and Morlan 1991~. For salmon that prehistorically used freshwater and estuarine wetlands for rearing habitat, the conversions and losses of Pacific Northwest wetlands constitute a major impact.
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From page 73... ...
Only a few research efforts have attempted to understand some of the ecological consequences of past human activities for aquatic resources and fisheries; the studies that have been done are often of limited geographic coverage. Although various land uses and alterations were generally considered on an individual basis, their capability, in combination, to alter aquatic habitat or affect fisheries often involves complex interactions with other land uses and with natural disturbance regimes that operate across the region.
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From page 74... ...
It Ma question of cultural values, stewardship, and living with the land instead of Off the land. In the 1970s, a Pacific Northwest River Basins Commission report (1972)
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