An article popped Monday in the Spokesman-Review (an unusually good print and online paper run out of Spokane, particularly when it comes to outdoor issues) – Steelhead Forecast Downgraded Again – that’s worth a read if you have any interest at all in PNW steelhead.(Image above cut from the online version of the article.)
The title presents the crux of the matter, that being that once again A and B steelhead runs in the Columbia and Snake systems look frankly terrible, particularly when considered in the context of longer-term historical data.
Channeling a Bit of John Wooden’s Wisdom for Steelhead
The ongoing fiasco that is PNW / West Coast steelhead management continues to produce dismal, diminishing returns despite the application of lots of dollars, hand-wringing by advocacy groups, hatchery hijinks, and seemingly endless finger-pointing.
Basketball great John Wooden once said –
“Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be.”
Reasonable minds have to, at some point, say enough is enough, and radically change the approach to managing steelhead on the West Coast. Granted, the solution isn’t clear, but it’s crystal clear that the current approach is fiddling while Rome burns.
Here’s an example of what I’m suggesting in terms of radical change: How about everyone, including the tribes, stop harvesting steelhead for a time, even a three year window, and see what the hell happens? Of course there needs to be ongoing work in terms of habitat preservation and improvement, of course the dam debates will continue, and of course arguments over hatchery supplementation aren’t going away either (though the damn hatcheries should be shuttered once and for all).
Wooden was right, and his maxim certainly applies in this case – failure to change the current approach keeps the West Coast steelhead train headed for disaster.
