June 1999

VOLUME 6/NUMBER 3: June, 1999

	WIN A 5-DAY SEASIDE CONDO and assist "RHODODENDRON MEADOW" Thanks to teachers Mark and Trudy Reese of Vancouver, Washington, you can spend five special days and four nights at a beautiful condo at Seaside on the Oregon Coast. The cost per chance? Only $2 for a raffle ticket! And, all money raised will go towards retiring the debt at Rhododendron Meadow. This Seaside condo sleeps three and includes a microwave, coffee pot, refrigerator, and cable TV. The vacation residence is available Sunday through Thursday, from mid-September, 1999 through mid-May, 2000. This is a perfect deal if you want to get away from it all, relax, and explore the beautiful Oregon Coast with this great inexpensive vacation. Walk in the footsteps of Native Americans and follow in the wake of Lewis and Clark and the maritime fur traders. Raffle tickets may be purchased for only $2, with no limit to the chances. The drawing will be held on August 1st -- for which you do not have to be present to win. The winner will be notified by telephone and mail immediately afterwards and announced in the next Cascade Geographic Society Newsletter. All money raised through the "Seaside Condo Raffle" will go to retire the debt for the purchase of Rhododendron Meadow, which is part of the Cascade Geographic Society's Sanctuary Lands Program.
	WORK CONTINUES on PORTLAND'S INFAMOUS "UNDERGROUND" Progress continues beneath the streets of Portland in restoring the infamous "Shanghai Tunnels". In one area beneath the Old Town, rubble has been cleared away and artifacts organized. In addition, Cascade Geographic Society member Terry McAllister has installed special lighting to illuminate the "underground"; he has also constructed a replica of a "deadfall" trapdoor. The Cascade Geographic Society is planning a special member's tour sometime during the Summer. All members are eligible to venture "underground" even if they have attended previous tours. Stay informed through the next Newsletter. Contact Us
	HENRY CREEK CULVERT FIXED JUST IN TIME FOR WINDER STEELHEAD MIGRATION: Henry Creek is a major fish-bearing stream in the Mount Hood Area that is critical for the threatened and endangered Salmon and Steelhead. The stream passes through the Cascade Geographic Society's Rhododendron Meadow, a sanctuary for fish and wildlife, as well as historical and cultural resources. However, many years ago, a culvert that replaced a bridge on East Henry Creek Loop blocked the majority of upstream passage for fish. The once natural stair-stepping streambed now had a waterfall that was impossible for most fish to jump into. And, those that did manage such a leap were usually washed back down through the slick-bottomed culvert due to the velocity of the water. For over thirty-five years, fish passage was impeded by the culvert with no one knowing just what to do. Finally, Michael P. Jones, the curator of Cascade Geographic Society, decided to do something about the problem. He and other volunteers installed several logs below the culvert and created a jump pool. This allows anadromous fish, such as Coho and Chinook Salmon, and Steelhead, to get upstream to critical spawning habitats. The Great Winter Flood of 1996, however, washed some of the jump-pool components away. Divers Ken Lyttle of Milwaukie, and Dick Zschoche of Portland, however, came to the rescue. They donned their wetsuits, dove into the cold water of Henry Creek, and spent several hours doing the necessary repairs to allow fish to once again negotiate the culvert. The Henry Creek Fish Passage Project survived the raging waters of the 1997 Winter Flood, but not the one in 1998. With upstream passage now impeded for the Winter Steelhead who were supposed to begin their upstream migration, once again, Ken and Dick arrived on the scene. The water was even colder, but neither one hesitated. They dove in and began a long and tiring ordeal to help the fish maneuver the difficult culvert in order to get upstream. Ken and Dick were assisted by other volunteers who secured the necessary emergency permits, supplies, etc. These included: Michael P. Jones, Herb Forbes, and Jim Jones, as well as two individuals with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife -- Al Martin, a habitat biologist, and Dick Caldwell, the Salmon Trout Enhancement biologist. The Cascade Geographic Society undertakes fish projects on an on-going basis. If you would like to volunteer your labor, or contribute tools and supplies, please give us a call at (503) 622-4798.
	HENRY CREEK CULVERT MAY TURN INTO A COVERED BRIDGE: The culvert on Henry Creek, located in the Village of Rhododendron, is officially an orphan. Installed on East Henry Creek Avenue after a wooden bridge was removed, it has been a major source of headaches to biologists and fish conservationists, not to mention to the Salmon and Steelhead whose migration passage it blocked and interfered with for some forty years. However, none of the agencies who supposedly installed it are claiming responsibility. Neither the Clackamas County Road Department, which plows Henry Creek Avenue during the Winter snows, nor the U.S. Forest Service, who administers adjacent land for the public, claim to have any knowledge for installing it or maintaining it. Due to the listing of several Salmon and Steelhead species, as governmental entities they are required to maintain passage for fish. However, nearly a decade ago the Cascade Geographic Society did respond to the fish passage problems associated with the culvert, and installed and maintained a project to facilitate fish passage. In addition, the organization has conducted enhancement for downstream migration at this same location. Recently the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife identified culverts in the Sandy River Basin that were considered problems for anadromous fish. And, although the Henry Creek Culvert Fish Passage Project is currently functioning, the agency has given it a "priority" status. Future major flooding could cause problems and require additional repairs. With no governmental entity claiming any ownership or maintenance responsibility for the Henry Creek culvert, there is a strong likelihood of funding being available to improve on fish passage at this site. Money could be used for conducting some additional engineering to help improve on the Cascade Geographic Society's Henry Creek Culvert Fish Passage Project, as well as for some in-stream modifications. However, just before we went to press, the future of the Henry Creek culvert took an interesting twist. After careful study of Henry Creek, it was determined that the best things for fish and wildlife was to pull out the culvert and replace it with a bridge. Anything that we were to do to enhance the culvert would accommodate adult anadromous fish only, but not juveniles, which means that the stream would still be blocked to young endangered Steelhead and Salmon. In addition, the culvert would also continue blocking the migration of wildlife in and out of Rhododendron Meadow and to other habitat, which would not be the case with a bridge. So the plan now is to have Clackamas County construct a bridge over Henry Creek, but not your run-of-the-mill bridge; a covered one! Cascade Geographic Society would work as a partner and, if need be, secure any extra funds through a federal Community Development grant. The return of a covered bridge would be historically correct for the Mount Hood Area, which lost all of its covered bridges many decades ago.
	HENRY CREEK CULVERT FIX ALLOWED MIGRATION OF STEELHEAD: The Cascade Geographic Society's Henry Creek Culvert Fish Migration Project that was damaged in the Winter 1999 flood waters and blocked fish migration, was fortunately repaired just in time. In February, with endangered Winter Steelhead ready to head upstream to spawn, long-time Cascade Geographic Society member Ken Lyttle of Milwaukie, and Dick Zschoche of Portland, saved the day. Dressed in wetsuits and scuba gear, they entered the cold water of Henry Creek and repaired the "log weir" that Society members had built over a decade earlier to help fish negotiate an improperly placed culvert. Fish surveys along Henry Creek, Little Henry Creek, and Meadow Creek showed that Winter Steelhead had indeed benefited from the repairs. Pairs of these anadromous fish spawned in these streams during the months of March and April. A good many of these laid their eggs in streams within the boundaries of Rhododendron Meadow, a sanctuary land owned by Cascade Geographic Society.
	VOLUNTEER WORK AIDS FISH & WILDLIFE & THEIR HABITATS, & THE OREGON TRAIL: Work by volunteers aided fish and wildlife and their habitats on Mount Hood and Burlington Bottom in 1998. An estimated 1000 volunteer hours removed Scotchbroom and Himalayan blackberries, enhanced and restored fish and wildlife habitats, not to mention removing illegal trash dumps. For the year 1999, the Cascade Geographic Society is hoping to match or surpass this number of volunteer hours. Like the year 1998, needed would be adults and students of most any age. The "targeted" work sites on Mount Hood include areas along the Salmon and Sandy Rivers, and Henry and Little Henry Creeks. Several major areas that will be tackled will be an Oregon Trail segment in the Village of Welches, and three segments in the Village of Wildwood. In Rhododendron, Scotchbroom along the Zig Zag River in "Pioneer Meadow", the former Zig Zag Campground, and at "Indian Camp Natural Area". Elsewhere, the Cascade Geographic Society will also lend a hand. Work sites include Deep Creek Canyon near the Clackamas River, and Burlington Bottom near Sauvie Island. Volunteers are the "lifeblood" of this organization. Whether it's opening up sections of the Oregon Trail, restoring fish and wildlife habitats, cleaning up Portland's Shanghai Tunnels, assisting in the building of living history exhibits at the "Oregon Country Settlement", working at "Stage Stop Road Interpretative Center, or assisting at Cascade Geographic Society's Festivals, the work is important. If you, your family and friends, co-workers, or organization, would like to assist in restoration efforts, please give the Cascade Geographic Society a call. Fish and wildlife will indeed benefit, not to mention our historic sites. Contact Us
	SCHOOL GROUPS' EFFORTS ASSIST BARLOW TRAIL AND FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITATS: The unselfish work of school groups have assisted greatly in the preservation of the Barlow Trail and fish and wildlife habitats on Mount Hood this past year. Thanks to Sabin School of Portland, Hollydale School and Lynch Meadows of Gresham, Scotchbroom and blackberries have vanished from the natural landscape. This enables not only the native vegetation to return, but also reveals sections and sites related to the Oregon Trail on Mount Hood. The results of the school's efforts became very clear within a relatively short time. Along the Zig Zag River where Scotchbroom came in about 15 years ago, Nita Kreuzer's fifth grade class from Sabin School not only removed a good portion of this invader from the north bank, but they also cleaned up a major trash dump downstream, as well as took on blackberries and Scotchbroom that had begun to cover the slopes of Owl Mountain on the Salmon River. Hollydale School and Lynch Meadows made progress on the "jungle" of Scotchbroom on the Sandy River at the mouth of the Salmon River where Oregon Trail travelers were forced to "ford" an often times flood-swollen stream.
	CGS MEMBERS CAN TOUR SHANGHAI TUNNELS MORE THAN ONE TIME: If you are a member in "good standing" with the Cascade Geographic Society, you may tour Portland's Shanghai Tunnels as many times as you like, as long as there are scheduled tours and there is room. If you toured them in past years, you wouldn't recognize them due to the efforts of volunteers. Contact Us.