Your disrespectful reply to Jerry West does not due the list a service, Patrick.
Your description of the demise of the salmon runs as the result of everything
but logging, and your flippant trivialization of landslides to a measure of
percentage of total area echoes your prostitution to a pursuit devoid of any
science. Simply unbelievable.
The major role of logging in the demise of the NW salmon runs has been amply
documented. Other factors have been important, and the major culprits can vary
from watershed to watershed (dams, for example are a critical element on the
Columbia, but not on the coast range runs; hatchery fish and their management
can also be very important in some watersheds), but the science is clear:
forestry practices are at the top of the list in every watershed I have seen
analyzed. Forestry practices dominate the spawning and rearing habitat issues,
and until these are corrected or on the way, the other issues are not the major
limiter. I do not mean to trivialize these other factors, and they will become
a limiter once the forestry industry gets its act together and quits blaming
everyone else. More critically, by keeping fish populations low, the forest
industry prevents the population and diversity that these fish require to
survive the major natural disturbances that this region sees on a historic
basis. For those interested in references, here are a few to study:
A Draft Proposal Concerning Oregon Forest Practices. National Marine Fisheries
Society (NMFS). February 17, 1998. Portland, Oregon. 110p. plus app.
Telephone: 503-230-5400. Highly attacked by the industry, but shows what must
be done to save the fish.
Factors for Decline: A supplement to the notice of determination for West Coast
Steelhead under the ESA. NMFS, Protected Species Branch, Portland, Oregon.
1996. 83p.
Conclusions regarding the updated status of coho salmon from the northern
California and Oregon coasts. Prepared by the West Coast coho salmon Biological
Review Team. April, 1997. 70p plus app. Includes British Columbia in the
study area; references the above document for in-forest stream issues.
Upstream - Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest. National Research
Council, 1996. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. A good summary report;
focus is mainly on the Columbia, but covers sediment, forest practices and
grazing issues (more important on the Eastside).
Spence, B.C. G.A. Lomnicky, et al. 1996. An Ecosystem approach to salmonid
conservation. TR-4501-96-6057. ManTech Environmental Research Services Corp.,
Corvallis, Oregon. Out of print, but NMFS is considering a reprint.
William R. Meehan, Editor. Influences of Forest and Rangeland Management on
Salmonid Fishes and Their Habitats. American Fisheries Society Special
Publication No. 19. 1991. In print. See the following web address for the
table of contents and the authors:
http://www.esd.ornl.gov/societies/AFS/catalog/toc_3.htm
Joseph Cone and Sandy Ridlington, editors. The Northwest Salmon Crisis: A
Documentary History. Oregon State University Press, 1996. Corvallis, Oregon.
A nice summary of press reports, scientific reports, and commentary going back
to the 1870s when declines were first noticed. The declines are not a new
phenomenon, nor are forest practices as a cause of the declines, even 100 years
ago.
==========
The following are unfortunately out of print, but are the classic foundation
pieces demonstrating the impact of forest practices on salmon. Another major
series of work was the Alsea study done in Oregon. Much of this work was done
in the early 1980's, and demonstrate the lag times in the system to get a
response:
T.W. Chamberlin, Editor. Proceedings of the Workshop: Applying 15 years of
Carnation Creek Results. Workshop held January 13-15, 1987. Nanaimo, British
Columbia. Published by Carnation Creek Steering Committee, c/o Pacific
Biological Station, Nanaimo, BC. 250-756-7071. Unfortunately, out of print. A
recent report was in Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 53(Suppl. 1): 237-251 (1996),
and it is also available on the www but I have mislaid the address.
E. O. Salo and T.W. Cundy, editors. Streamside Management: Forestry and
Fishery Interactions. Contribution 57, University of Washington, Institute of
Forest Resources. Seattle, WA. Again, out of print, but a classic set of
papers.
============
The major forestry practice problems are steam temperature increases,
sedimentation, and reduction of stream complexity. I did a separate electronic
summary on sedimentation which includes additional references. The major
sediment issues caused by logging are much more frequent sediment impulses and
at times an almost steady flow of sediment into streams. These impulses are
from landslides and disturbances associated with clearcuts, and landslides and
erosion from roads. Surprisingly, roads when used in wet weather can produce as
much sediment load in a watershed as a landslide (see the Clearwater article in
Salo and Cundy, above). Note: Even current practices are suspect as the recent
road building moratorium and study on US FS lands testifies. Several reports on
this study are available at the USDA FS web site, and the new proposed policy
will be out for public comment this fall.
Second, stream channels historically have used channel complexity and large
woody debris for sediment storage and management as well as for fish refuge.
For those not from the PNW, historical large woody debris is a downed tree with
bole, spanning or almost spanning the stream, and upwards of 30-90 inches in
diameter. Such streams and the fish in them can handle major amounts of
sediment on an irregular basis and the sediment can remain controlled even
during floods; modern day stream lack complexity and downed woody debris, can
handle only very small amounts of sediment, and the sediment moves much more
readily during floods. (The sediment buries spawning areas and in extreme cases
can kill the fish). Stream complexity (large woody debris and side channels,
e.g.) is also used by fish during floods (a common occurrence in the PNW) to
find refuge to avoid being swept downstream. Logging simplifies this complexity
(as does urbanization and agriculture in some, typically downstream, areas).
Tom Haswell
541-757-7608
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-forest@listserv.funet.fi
> [mailto:owner-forest@listserv.funet.fi]On Behalf Of Patrick Moore
> Sent: Saturday, June 06, 1998 9:33 PM
> To: FOREST@listserv.funet.fi
> Subject: Re: Environmental Call to Arms
>
>
> Jerry West, the Janitor writes:
>
> >I would just like to point out that in Patrick's home territory of
> >British Columbia we clearcut on very steep slopes. Who cares about soil
> >erosion? We have land slides bigger than city blocks and salmon streams
> >that are trashed beyond belief. And it is not for nothing that Nootka
> >Island is called by most of those who have seen it, even loggers, Nuked
> >Island. So, Aristotelis, clearcutting is possible on steep slopes, it
> >may be immoral but it is possible, just ask Patrick and his sponsors in
> >the BC forest industry.
>
> It doesn't make much sense to compare Greece with British Columbia. In hot,
> dry forests it is often best to use some form of selection, even single tree
> selection where the tree species are capable of regenerating in partial
> shade. The issue of soil loss by landslides is important, but in British
> Columbia this is a minuscule amount of the total area. Yes, even small
> landslides can cause negative impacts on salmon streams and should be
> avoided. But it is also very clear that overfishing, hydro-electric dams,
> agriculture, and urbanization, are far more destructive of salmon than
> logging, the effects of which are temporary as the impact of soil erosion is
> easily healed in time.
>
> Immoral is a big word to apply to the obtaining of wood by hard work. I
> would think twice about characterizing the people who do this work for all
> the rest of us as "immoral".
>
> Cheers
>
> Patrick Moore, Greenspirit
> http://www.greenspirit.com
> May the Forest be With You
>
> Snail Mail:
> 4068 West 32nd Avenue
> Vancouver, B.C. V6S 1Z6
> Canada
>
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