CALAPOOIA RIVER STEWARD

Scott Nelson: twodudesflyfishing@yahoo.com

Beginning at its headwaters on Tidbits Mountain in Linn County, the Calapooia River continues its 72 mile journey to the Willamette River. This tributary empties into the Willamette near Albany after passing through the towns of Crawfordsville and Brownsville. The Calapooia hosts runs of native winter steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and spring chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Both are federally listed threatened species of anadromous salmonids.  The river is also the home of cutthroat trout, mountain whitefish, Pacific lamprey, Western brook lamprey, and several minnow and sculpin species. The Oregon chub (Oregonichys crameri), a small resident minnow, is a federally listed endangered species that is native to the Willamette basin.

The steelhead in the Calapooia are native and have never been augmented with hatchery stock. According to the Upper Willamette Recovery Plan (draft), the current abundance of steelhead returning to spawn is 600 total. 1,000 spawning fish would be needed to de-list the species from the ESA threatened list. A number that is attainable if the proper measures are taken in the future.

Spring chinook are also native, but today’s population is derived from hatchery stock as much of their natural production was considered minimal or non-existent by the 1970’s. The Recovery Plan (draft) currently lists less than 50 spawning fish and the de-listing number to be 1000-1400 returning fish.

The 365 square mile river basin has incurred a significant loss of fish habitat due to various activities such as timber harvest and grass seed farming. Much of the loss exists in the upper watershed which historically held the natural features needed to provide high fish productivity. These effects on the landscape are fortunately reversible.

There are various fish passage barriers such as dams, diversion ditches and road crossing culverts. The Brownsville dam was removed in 2007 which improved access to mainstem and tributary headwaters habitat. Currently, there are plans to remove the Sodom and Shearer Dams by the fall of 2011. The removal of these dams will aid in the continued recovery of the Calapooia spawning runs. There are other threats such as simplified habitat, summertime water temperature, loss of riparian forest and the large wood and dynamic habitat associated with it. By working with private landowners, these other limiting factors such as land use impacts and habitat degradation will hopefully create actions that will aid in the recovery of salmon and steelhead populations.