Dear HCN,
As always, your Aug. 28
issue was quite informative and very enjoyable. One critique I must
make, though, has to deal with Rocky Barker’s analysis on the
latest federal salmon plan. A reference was made about the Middle
Fork of the Salmon River in the central mountains of Idaho. He went
on to write: “Yet in two of the last five years, no salmon have
returned to the Middle Fork.” I believe Mr. Barker may be referring
to sockeye salmon, which are lake-spawning salmon that have failed
to return three of the last five years via the main fork of the
Salmon River. Chinook salmon, a river-spawning species, have
returned each of the last five years to the Middle Fork, although
in alarmingly decreased levels compared to the pre-dam
era.
Greg
Burak
Boise, Idaho
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Was it chinook or sockeye?.
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