OREGON
When Ed and Janice Hopper bought a 27-hole golf
course at the base of Oregon’s Mount Hood in 1989, they dreamed of
coho and steelhead salmon swimming in the small stream that runs
through the course.
More than 100 years ago, the
fish were there in the Wee Burn, a tributary of the wild and scenic
Salmon River. Then, irrigation ponds, built when the golf course
was created, damaged spawning areas, and the fish
disappeared.
The Hoppers started a stream and
fish restoration program in 1995, with the help of Wolftree, a
nonprofit river restoration organization, the Mount Hood National
Forest and more than $200,000 in grants. Then, aided by hundreds of
volunteers, from schools to conservation groups such as Trout
Unlimited, they rerouted the Wee Burn. They put in twists and
turns, built natural fish ladders and transplanted sedge, cut
willow and rushes on the stream banks.
Wild fish
began the journey up the Wee Burn last year, but were stopped by
muddy water in places where the restoration wasn’t complete. Next
year, the hope is that fish make it far enough up the stream to lay
eggs and start the ancient cycle that keeps spawning fish returning
to the same tributary year after year.
“We will
celebrate the return of the fish,” says Ed Hopper. “We want to
educate our golfers about the restoration.”
Copyright © 2000 HCN and Dennis
Cleary
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Tee off for salmon.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
