News
Salem Statesman Journal
Jerry Becker
April 27, 2007
Copper-Salmon: We know what we have and we don’t want to lose it
It’s often said that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
We hear all the time from our fathers and grandfathers how great the fishing used to be, and how schools of salmon and steelhead used to choke our waterways, before headwater forests were logged or roads were constructed along fragile coastal streams. Today it’s heartbreaking to see those schools of ocean-going fish hanging on by a thread.
Fortunately, there’s still a place where the fish are as healthy as ever. And fishermen are leading the effort to keep it that way.
The Elk River, near the coastal community of Port Orford, is one of our state’s last relatively pristine coastal salmon and steelhead streams. When other rivers in the region blow out after a good rain, the Elk remains fishable, thanks mostly to the lack of clear-cutting and road-building in its headwaters. As a result, the Elk has one of the best annual returns of salmon and steelhead in the Northwest, and the fishing is truly outstanding.
In this instance, we know what we have. And we don’t want to lose it.
Sportsmen in southern Oregon have worked diligently for years to gain wilderness designation for the Copper-Salmon area in the headwaters of Elk River. With this designation in place, we can cement the health of Elk River and pass our fishing heritage down to our children and our grandchildren. Instead of telling them how great the fishing used to be, we can simply take them fishing and show them the resource at their fingertips.
So far, Oregon’s federal delegation appears to support the Copper-Salmon Wilderness proposal, but their support needs backing from constituents. That’s why a couple of local residents and a couple of fishermen who depend on the river for their living and for recreation will make a trip to Washington, D.C. this month to speak to them. And the lawmakers need to hear from you, too.
This wilderness effort is unique in that it is being led by conservation-minded sportsmen who haven’t formed grand coalitions with environmental groups or spent a fortune lobbying lawmakers. With assistance from Trout Unlimited and a lot of volunteer help from the people who love the Elk River and its fish, we have created a wilderness proposal that will work for those it impacts the most — the people of southwest Oregon who benefit from the bounty the river delivers every year. What’s more, sportsmen from all over Oregon who have come to recognize the Elk as the last, best coastal salmon and steelhead fishery in the state will be beneficiaries, too.
There is great local support from elected officials and businesses for this modest, 12,000-acre wilderness proposal — opposition is virtually non-existent. It makes perfect sense for the people of southwest Oregon who benefit economically and culturally from the Elk River to protect the river’s headwaters.
By contacting your lawmakers, you can help ensure the river’s continued productivity and see that generations of future anglers can do more than just hear about how great the fishing used to be in southern Oregon. They can experience it for themselves.
Jerry Becker is a longtime forester from Port Orford. He can be reached at ecoforester@briskweb.net. Log onto www.sportsmenforcoppersalmon.org and send a note of support to Oregon’s congressional delegation.