Endangered Species Act

Methow Valley News

June 13, 2001

Endangered Species

The following excerpts are from an open letter sent to Rep. Mike Armstrong:

Your quote that you like what the $2.47 billion capital budget would accomplish through North Central Washington listed one of the projects as "good for property owners." That project was "nearly $6.7 million for streamside habitat work in the Methow Valley." That $6.7 million is for state acquisition of more land--not for "streamside habitat work."

In an area already 91 percent owned by state and federal government, many do not agree that almost $7 million dollars of state taxpayer money should be spent on even more private land consumed by state government or that it is good for property owners. The cumulative effect of this land acquisition package and several other state, federal and environmentalist group land, water and land-right acquisitions targeted for the Methow is devastating to the landowners and economy. Mislabeling this funding as "habitat work" only helps to accomplish these excessive land acquisitions to quietly take place at an alarming rate.

This land acquisition package would provide governor-approved funding for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to acquire approximately 2,350 additional acres and 55,000 feet of waterfront in the Methow. Labeled as Methow Watershed Phase 2, this project follows the Methow Watershed Project funded in the 1999-2001 biennium that provided almost $6 million dollars to purchase approximately 5,400 acres and 7,900 feet of waterfront. The funding is delivered through the tiered-bureaucracy process of the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program of the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation.

If 91 percent government ownership is not enough, how much is enough? That question was posed to three employees of the Department of Fish and Wildlife at a recent county commissioners meeting, and they could not answer that question. Like many fish "recovery" programs that cost taxpayers and ratepayers billions of dollars, they also could not provide documentation of the success or failure of such programs or measurable benefits to fish. This lack of accountability demonstrates the fish recovery programs that just assume that the only good "habitat" is land owned by the government while private property ownership is excluded from vast growing areas.

We ask your strong support to carefully scrutinize these funding programs, recognize them for what they are and ask for accountability from agencies and administration that rapidly move these programs forward. Further, it is imperative that communication be open between you and your constituents and local government so deeply affected by these actions.

Darlene Hajny

Okanogan

Target flows force ditches to close

By John Hanron

The Chewuch River dropped below its federally imposed target streamflow Saturday (June 9), cutting off thirsty landowners on the Skyline ditch, who enjoyed about two weeks of water after two years of doing without.

Though rains early this week brought river levels back up above minimum levels, Skyline president Jerry Sullivan said he would wait a day or so to see if they stay there before opening the ditch again.

In closing, the Skyline joined the Wolf Creek ditch, which shut off its members May 30 after just 16 days of watering. Traditionally, the irrigation season runs from May through October.

"It’s worse than sad," said Nim Titcomb, president of the 70-member Wolf Creek Reclamation District.

Wolf Creek’s diversion continues to pull water into Patterson Lake to try and bring it back up to the level it started at this spring. Titcomb said a week and a half of no irrigating has brought the level up about a foot. The lake provides domestic water for Sun Mountain Resort.

Titcomb speculated he might be able to fill the lake for another week at best before Wolf Creek drops below target flows imposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The early shutoff means that alfalfa farmers will get just one cutting rather than the usual three.

"They can only get one cutting and I’m sure it will not be super good," Titcomb said. Up at Early Winters ditch, another irrigation ditch governed by Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, spokesman Steve Devin said the creek is running strong so far. But in this dry year, he did not venture to guess how long his irrigators would be able to draw.

He expressed concern that the 35 cfs flow imposed by NMFS on Wolf Creek is not reasonable or sustainable.

And while ditches that start on federal land are bound by minimum streamflows set in biological opinions issued by the Forest Service, private ditches are not so tethered.

While the Skyline had to shut off, the neighboring Fulton and Chewuch ditches are still diverting from the Chewuch River and plan to continue through the summer.

"It’s not that we don’t want to cooperate and we don’t care about fish, it’s just that we’re in the process of trying to hammer out more realistic numbers," said Lori Lott, president of the Chewuch ditch.

She said the minimum flow of 425 cfs applied to the Chewuch River was "unnaturally high."

Private ditches are only prohibited from "taking" endangered species, such as spring Chinook salmon and steelhead. But, Lott pointed out, a "take"is a difficult thing to prove.

"We’re certainly keeping an eye on things."

The Chewuch ditch, along with the Fulton and Skyline, are continuing to try and renegotiate the target flow with NMFS as part of the Chewuch Basin Council. The council is also working toward establishing a habitat conservation plan.

Bucky Beaver, habitat specialist

Editor,

Long before man’s footsteps appeared in the Methow Valley, a meandering stream wandered through it. Hundreds of well- maintained ponds built by "Bucky Beaver" and his (her) buds assured the fish and wildlife an unending source of nutrient-rich waters.

The native Americans knew enough not to mess with perfection and utilized the valley with minimum impact. Along came the frontiersman who took little note of the pristine natural environment and instead decided to plunder and exploit her resources. Bucky Beaver and buds were first to go along with his abilities as habitat specialist.

The frontiersman cleared the "debris" left from this great dam specialist and along with it eliminated much of the water storage, carrying capacity of the valley. A tidied up clear channel now ran through it, having a fraction of the stored water and habitat of the beavers’ era.

Farmers came along and built canals, which watered crops and again built up water storage capacity replacing Bucky Beaver’s dams and habitat enhancement with new wetlands and bank storage.

But then came the government and its bureaucrats and specialists who chose to ignore the rich and all-enveloping tapestry of nature for their contrived and deeply faulted pseudo-scientific views.

They destroyed the beaver, eliminated the dams, water storage and fish habitat and now seek to do the same to the canal systems, which at least store water (large quantities) and create habitat.

All that will be left is a fast-moving "drainage" channel with little or no redeeming fish habitat and an aquifer that will be reduced annually until we will be expected to use less and less because of the government’s foolish mistakes.

The tragedy of tragedies is that not only are we in this mess but that few are willing to accept the responsibility that we are the cause of it and are doing little or nothing to correct the problem.

Jim Gerlach

Twisp

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