Friends of the Cowlitz, Fish Restoration, Habitat Restoration SW Washington

The Friends of the Cowlitz get the "SHAFT" from WDFW

Well once again WDFW has managed to put the screws to our Cowlitz Summer run fishery. For almost 20 years now the Friends of the Cowlitz (FOC) has reared hundreds of thousands of summer run steelhead in their off station rearing sites so that sport fishers could spread out there fishery instead of the zoo zones around the Cowlitz Hatcheries. They have been tremendously successful at doing this with net pen projects at such places as the Askins Gravel pit just above the Toledo Bridge and the Wallace Gravel pits down below the I-5 boat ramp.

Hundreds of thousands of summer runs have been imprinted to these local areas where these pits are located along the edge of the Cowlitz River so that sport fishers could get away from the zoo fishery at Blue Creek and the Barrier Dam. The FOC has spent hundreds of thousands of both man hours and funds so that we sport fishers could have the opportunity to enjoy these fish that are meant for sport and harvest needs on the Cowlitz. During the development of the new Cowlitz River Fish hatchery Management Plan (FHMP) the WDFW asked for public impute and developed a group of sport fishers and small business owners to represent the sport fishers best interests in Cowlitz River Advisory Group. That group had well over 16 separate meetings lasting at least 4 hours or more each.

They had the "fishing guides" and all the "local sport fishing groups" and local fishing merchants and even fishing lobbyists to represent all of fishing interests on the Cowlitz. Never once did the WDFW mention anything about eliminating the FOC's summer runs rearing projects in any of those 16 different advisory meetings. In fact, members were even asked by the WDFW staff to locate new offsite rearing areas along the Cowlitz to raise additional fish for sport fishing needs. All Advisory members were given a copy of the new FHMP (the August 5, 2011 Draft) to read and to make comments to, but the WDFW did not support giving the public any more than two weeks of time to make any public comments on the new FHMP. The August 5 at was the only FHMP that the public was ever allowed to see, read, or to make public commit on.

Now, we have just found out that the new version of the FHMP that was turned into FERC is a different FHMP version then what was given to the Advisory Group members to read and make comment to. Apparently, behind closed doors, in some special secret dealings, our dear WDFW has now approved a different FHMP that puts all of their eggs into one basket and eliminates all rearing of the FOC summer runs on the Cowlitz. This deal was all done in secret, without any public viewing and some WDFW heads should now fly! How on earth can we support our trust our WDFW when they do secret back door deals such as this one? This game is not over, and there are people and groups that intend to take this to the commissioners if these secret deals are not corrected.

According to the story that WDFW is telling us now, is that they are now concerned about summer runs "straying into a couple of the Lower Cower Tributaries". That story may carry some weight if it was true, but here's the kicker and the facts to their story! WDFW told the advisory group that THIS WON'T BE ANY PROBLEM IF THEY GOT FUNDING TO PUT IN THEIR NEEDED WEIRS IN THESE TRIBS. The advisory group accepted their BS and blindly supported WDFW requests for these weirs, and WDFW got the money from a special Lower Columbia fund that all sport fishers had to purchase if they wanted to fish in the Lower Columbia or its tributaries for the past two years now.

WE were told by WDFW that these weirs would stop any straying with hatchery fish and that we could continue to increase the numbers of hatchery produced summer runs from 550,000 thousand to 650,000 if the weirs were in place. But they flat out lied! Now WDFW is telling us that they are afraid that the off-site summer runs will "stray" and that they now must raise all of them at their hatcheries that they get funded to run.

Maybe some of you can tell us why the FOC summer runs stray more than the WDFW summers runs do? The FOC summer runs are reared at River Mile 28 and River mile 35, while WDFW summers are at River Mile 42 and 49. What kind of a fish biologist with a degree can support such ludicrous assertions that a couple miles difference in a fifty mile stretch of river is really going to matter when you have weirs in place at the tributaries of concern?

This may be one of the WDFW biggest blunders ever on the Cowlitz when it's all said and done!"

And WDFW wonders why no one supports or respects them anymore!

This should go right along with just how screwed up WDFW is!

Friends of the Cowlitz was formed in 1988 by a group of concerned individuals who had watched the runs of salmon and steelhead become smaller and smaller each year after the hydroelectric dams were constructed by the City of Tacoma.

At the time Friends of the Cowlitz was formed, it was decided that the main goal of the organization would be to work to restore the runs of anadromous fish (salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout) to the Cowlitz River and it’s tributaries. To accomplish this they would work to make Tacoma live up to it’s obligations that had been agreed to the in 1967 mitigation agreement between Tacoma and the Washington Departments of Fisheries and Game.

The goal of the restoration effort would be to see that an opportunity to harvest these returning fish by sport fishermen was available each and every year (for all species). As part of our over all goal, FOC also decided to work to restore anadromous fish to the watershed above the dams. This effort is ongoing at this time, with coho, spring chinook, steelhead and cutthroat trout all being released into the watershed above the dams. This has been possible because of FOC being able to work successfully with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lewis County PUD and BPA.

We have worked hard to have a juvenile collection facility installed at Cowlitz Falls Dam where the juvenile salmon and steelhead are captured and then transported downstream by tank truck to the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery. At the Salmon Hatchery they are placed in stress relief ponds for a couple of days and then released into the Cowlitz River to continue their journey to the ocean.

Among our other goals that have evolved over the years has been our fish rearing projects. Our fish rearing started with a net pen in an old gravel pit below Interstate Highway 5 that was known locally as Wallace’s Pit. This endeavor was so successful with summer-run steelhead that some of the guides actually left the area around the Trout Hatchery to concentrate their efforts in the area out in front of our rearing facility. This portion of the river was and is known as the Vader Pump House drift.


Home	Join Us	Karens Fishing Report	Officers	Contact Us	Photo Gallery

President's Message The 2012 Women in Waders calendars are now in. If you are interested in purchasing one please call the Barrier Dam Store at (360) 985-2495 or the FOC office at (360) 864-2647. Looks like a few warm days coming. Time to get the yard work done. We have released all our fish out of the net pens now. They were nice healthy fish. So that's done for another year. Have a great week. Don Glaser FOC President The Friends of the Cowlitz get the "SHAFT" from WDFW Well once again WDFW has managed to put the screws to our Cowlitz Summer run fishery. For almost 20 years now the Friends of the Cowlitz (FOC) has reared hundreds of thousands of summer run steelhead in their off station rearing sites so that sport fishers could spread out there fishery instead of the zoo zones around the Cowlitz Hatcheries. They have been tremendously successful at doing this with net pen projects at such places as the Askins Gravel pit just above the Toledo Bridge and the Wallace Gravel pits down below the I-5 boat ramp. Hundreds of thousands of summer runs have been imprinted to these local areas where these pits are located along the edge of the Cowlitz River so that sport fishers could get away from the zoo fishery at Blue Creek and the Barrier Dam. The FOC has spent hundreds of thousands of both man hours and funds so that we sport fishers could have the opportunity to enjoy these fish that are meant for sport and harvest needs on the Cowlitz. During the development of the new Cowlitz River Fish hatchery Management Plan (FHMP) the WDFW asked for public impute and developed a group of sport fishers and small business owners to represent the sport fishers best interests in Cowlitz River Advisory Group. That group had well over 16 separate meetings lasting at least 4 hours or more each. They had the "fishing guides" and all the "local sport fishing groups" and local fishing merchants and even fishing lobbyists to represent all of fishing interests on the Cowlitz. Never once did the WDFW mention anything about eliminating the FOC's summer runs rearing projects in any of those 16 different advisory meetings. In fact, members were even asked by the WDFW staff to locate new offsite rearing areas along the Cowlitz to raise additional fish for sport fishing needs. All Advisory members were given a copy of the new FHMP (the August 5, 2011 Draft) to read and to make comments to, but the WDFW did not support giving the public any more than two weeks of time to make any public comments on the new FHMP. The August 5 at was the only FHMP that the public was ever allowed to see, read, or to make public commit on. Now, we have just found out that the new version of the FHMP that was turned into FERC is a different FHMP version then what was given to the Advisory Group members to read and make comment to. Apparently, behind closed doors, in some special secret dealings, our dear WDFW has now approved a different FHMP that puts all of their eggs into one basket and eliminates all rearing of the FOC summer runs on the Cowlitz. This deal was all done in secret, without any public viewing and some WDFW heads should now fly! How on earth can we support our trust our WDFW when they do secret back door deals such as this one? This game is not over, and there are people and groups that intend to take this to the commissioners if these secret deals are not corrected. According to the story that WDFW is telling us now, is that they are now concerned about summer runs "straying into a couple of the Lower Cower Tributaries". That story may carry some weight if it was true, but here's the kicker and the facts to their story! WDFW told the advisory group that THIS WON'T BE ANY PROBLEM IF THEY GOT FUNDING TO PUT IN THEIR NEEDED WEIRS IN THESE TRIBS. The advisory group accepted their BS and blindly supported WDFW requests for these weirs, and WDFW got the money from a special Lower Columbia fund that all sport fishers had to purchase if they wanted to fish in the Lower Columbia or its tributaries for the past two years now. WE were told by WDFW that these weirs would stop any straying with hatchery fish and that we could continue to increase the numbers of hatchery produced summer runs from 550,000 thousand to 650,000 if the weirs were in place. But they flat out lied! Now WDFW is telling us that they are afraid that the off-site summer runs will "stray" and that they now must raise all of them at their hatcheries that they get funded to run. Maybe some of you can tell us why the FOC summer runs stray more than the WDFW summers runs do? The FOC summer runs are reared at River Mile 28 and River mile 35, while WDFW summers are at River Mile 42 and 49. What kind of a fish biologist with a degree can support such ludicrous assertions that a couple miles difference in a fifty mile stretch of river is really going to matter when you have weirs in place at the tributaries of concern? This may be one of the WDFW biggest blunders ever on the Cowlitz when it's all said and done!" More Articles: And WDFW wonders why no one supports or respects them anymore! This should go right along with just how screwed up WDFW is! About Friends of the Cowlitz Friends of the Cowlitz was formed in 1988 by a group of concerned individuals who had watched the runs of salmon and steelhead become smaller and smaller each year after the hydroelectric dams were constructed by the City of Tacoma. At the time Friends of the Cowlitz was formed, it was decided that the main goal of the organization would be to work to restore the runs of anadromous fish (salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout) to the Cowlitz River and it’s tributaries. To accomplish this they would work to make Tacoma live up to it’s obligations that had been agreed to the in 1967 mitigation agreement between Tacoma and the Washington Departments of Fisheries and Game. The goal of the restoration effort would be to see that an opportunity to harvest these returning fish by sport fishermen was available each and every year (for all species). As part of our over all goal, FOC also decided to work to restore anadromous fish to the watershed above the dams. This effort is ongoing at this time, with coho, spring chinook, steelhead and cutthroat trout all being released into the watershed above the dams. This has been possible because of FOC being able to work successfully with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lewis County PUD and BPA. We have worked hard to have a juvenile collection facility installed at Cowlitz Falls Dam where the juvenile salmon and steelhead are captured and then transported downstream by tank truck to the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery. At the Salmon Hatchery they are placed in stress relief ponds for a couple of days and then released into the Cowlitz River to continue their journey to the ocean. Among our other goals that have evolved over the years has been our fish rearing projects. Our fish rearing started with a net pen in an old gravel pit below Interstate Highway 5 that was known locally as Wallace’s Pit. This endeavor was so successful with summer-run steelhead that some of the guides actually left the area around the Trout Hatchery to concentrate their efforts in the area out in front of our rearing facility. This portion of the river was and is known as the Vader Pump House drift.					Fish Pond Function at Barrier Dam Campground 273 Fuller Road Salkum, Wa. Memorial Day Weekend May 26th and 27th 10:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M Anyone wishing to help please call Don 360-985-2495

					Support Our Advertisers

Other Helpful Pages River Flows Tacoma's Report