National Wild and Scenic Rivers and State Scenic Waterways in Oregon by Andy Kerr1
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Larch Occasional Paper #13.4 December 2016 National Wild and Scenic Rivers and State Scenic Waterways in Oregon by Andy Kerr1 Abstract Oregon has more units and miles of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System (NWSRS) than any other state. There are 59 units of the NWSRS in Oregon, totaling over 1,908 stream miles, representing 29 percent of the individual units and 15 percent of the miles in the national system. The area of water and land protected in these Oregon units of the NWSRS is 595,456 acres. The Oregon Scenic Waterways System (OSWS) is complementary to the NWSRS and includes 1,099 miles in 19 units; 79 percent of OSWS miles are also in the NWSRS. Still, fewer than 1 percent of Oregon streams are included in the NWSRS. An estimated additional 10,000 miles (less than 3 percent of the total mileage) of Oregon streams are eligible for inclusion in the NWSRS and OSWS. Introduction In the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, Congress stated with unusual eloquence: It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress declares that the established national policy of dams and other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes.2 1 Andy Kerr ([email protected]) is czar of The Larch Company (www.andykerr.net), which has offices in Ashland, Oregon, and Washington, DC. 2 The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, 16 U.S.C. § 1271. National Wild and Scenic Rivers and State Scenic Waterways in Oregon Larch Occasional Paper #13.2 1 The original Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA), establishing the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System (NWSRS), included eight stream segments totaling 774 miles, among them the Lower Rogue River in Oregon. Since then, the WSRA has been amended repeatedly by Congress so that as of December 2016 the NWSRS included 208 units totaling 12,708.8 miles.3 Congress added more Oregon segments to the system in 1975, 1984, 1988, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2009 and 2013. Oregon’s National Wild and Scenic Rivers The 58 units of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in Oregon, totaling 1,908 stream miles, are shown in Table 1. These represent 28 percent of the individual units and 15 percent of the stream miles in the national system. The area of land and water protected in these Oregon units of the NWSRS is 594,624 acres. Figure 1. Koosah Falls on the McKenzie River. The segment between Clear Lake and Carmen Reservoir is included in both the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and the Oregon Scenic Waterways System. George Wuerthner. 3 River Mileage Classifications for Components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, December 2016, www.rivers.gov/publications/rivers-table.pdf. National Wild and Scenic Rivers and State Scenic Waterways in Oregon Larch Occasional Paper #13.2 2 Table 1. Units of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in Oregon Stream Federal Y Miles Upper Lower EPA Segment Administra e Terminus Terminus Level III 0tive Unit a Wild Scenic Rec. Total Eco- r region Big Marsh Deschutes 1 0.0 0.0 15.0 15.0 NE1/4, Confluence East Creek National 9 S15, T26S, with Cascades Forest 8 R6E4 Crescent Slope and 8 Creek Foothills Chetco Rogue 1 25.5 8.0 11.0 44.5 Headwaters Rogue Klamath River River- 9 River– Mountains Siskiyou 8 Siskiyou National 8 National Forest Forest boundary Clackamas Mount Hood 1 0.0 20.0 27.0 47.0 Big Springs Big Cliff Cascades River National 9 Reservoir Forest 8 8 Collawash Mount Hood 2 0.0 11.0 6.8 17.8 Headwaters Confluence Cascades River National 0 of East with Forest 0 Fork Clackamas 9 Collawash River River Crescent Deschutes 1 0.0 0.0 10.0 10.0 SW1/4, W line of East Creek National 9 S11, T24S, S13, T2S, Cascades Forest 8 R6E R7E Slope and 8 Foothills Crooked Prineville 1 0.0 0.0 15.0 15.0 Crooked Confluence Columbia River District, 9 River with Dry Plateau BLM 8 National Creek 8 Grasslands boundary Crooked Ochoco 1 11.9 8.5 13.8 34.2 Source at One mile Blue River, North National 9 Williams upstream Mountains Fork Forest, 8 Prairie from Prineville 8 confluence District, with BLM Deschutes River Deschutes Deschutes 1 0.0 30.0 143.4 173.4 (a) (a) Bend East River National 9 Wickiup Urban Cascades Forest, 8 Dam; (b) Growth Slope and Prineville 8 Odgen Boundary Foothills, District, Falls; (c) (SW corner, Columbia BLM Pelton S13, T18S, Plateau Reregulatin R11E); (b) g Dam Reservoir Billy Chinook; (c) Confluence with 4 Some terminus locations are indicated using the section-township-range system, where NE1/4, NW1/4, S15 denotes the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 15, T26S means township 26 south, and R6E means range 6 east. All of Oregon is defined by the Willamette Meridian (WM). National Wild and Scenic Rivers and State Scenic Waterways in Oregon Larch Occasional Paper #13.2 3 Columbia River Donner und Burns 1 72.7 0.0 0.0 72.7 Headwaters Confluence Northern Blitzen District, 9 with South Basin and River BLM 8 Fork Blitzen Range (Steens 8 and Little Mountain Blitzen; Coop. including Mgmt. and tributaries: Protection Little Area) Blitzen River, South Fork Blitzen River, Big Indian Creek, Little Indian Creek, Ankle Creek, South Fork Ankle Creek, Fish Creek 2 14.8 0.0 0.0 14.8 0 0 0 Total 87.5 0.0 0.0 87.5 Eagle Creek Mount Hood 2 8.3 0.0 0.0 8.3 Headwaters Mount Hood Cascades National 0 National Forest 0 Forest 9 boundary Eagle Creek Wallowa- 1 4.0 6.0 17.0 27.0 Headwaters Wallowa- Blue Whitman 9 below Whitman Mountains National 8 Eagle Lake National Forest 8 Forest boundary at Skull Creek East Fork Mount Hood 2 0.0 0.0 13.5 13.5 Oregon Mount Hood Cascades Hood River National 0 Highway Forest Forest 0 35 boundary 9 Elk River Rogue 1 2.0 1.5 17.0 20.5 Sources of Confluence Coast River– 9 North Fork of main Range Siskiyou 8 and South stem with National 8 Fork Anvil Creek Forest 2 7.7 0.0 0.0 7.7 0 0 9 Total 9.7 1.5 17.0 28.2 National Wild and Scenic Rivers and State Scenic Waterways in Oregon Larch Occasional Paper #13.2 4 Elkhorn Willamette 1 5.8 0.6 0.0 6.4 Willamette Where the Cascades Creek5 National 9 National segment Forest 9 Forest leaves BLM 6 southern land boundary Fifteen-mile Mount Hood 2 10.5 0.6 0.0 11.1 Senacal Western Cascades, Creek6 National 0 Spring edge S20, East Forest, 0 T2S, R12E, Cascades Prineville 9 WM Slopes and District, Foothills BLM Fish Creek Mount Hood 2 0.0 0.0 13.5 13.5 Headwaters Confluence Cascades National 0 with Forest 0 Clackamas 9 River Grande Wallowa- 1 26.4 0.0 17.4 43.8 Confluence Washington Blue Ronde Whitman 9 with border Mountains River and Umatilla 8 Wallowa National 8 River Forests and Vale District, BLM Illinois Rogue 1 28.7 17.9 3.8 50.4 Rogue Confluence Klamath River River– 9 River– with Rogue Mountains Siskiyou 8 Siskiyou River National 4 National Forest Forest boundary Imnaha Wallowa- 1 15.0 4.0 58.0 77.0 Headwaters Confluence Blue River Whitman 9 of South with Snake Mountains National 8 Fork River Forest 8 Imnaha River John Day Prineville 1 0.0 0.0 147.5 147.5 Service Tumwater Blue River District, 9 Creek Falls Mountains BLM 8 and 8 Columbia Plateau John Day Wallowa- 1 27.8 10.5 15.8 54.1 Headwaters Confluence Blue River, North Whitman 9 in North with Camas Mountains Fork and Umatilla 8 Fork John Creek National 8 Day Forests Wilderness John Day Malheur 1 0.0 0.0 47.0 47.0 Malheur Confluence Blue River, South National 9 National with Smoky Mountains Fork Forest 8 Forest Creek 8 boundary Joseph Wallowa- 1 8.6 0.0 0.0 8.6 Joseph Wallowa- Blue Creek Whitman 9 Creek Whitman Mountains National 8 Ranch 1.0 National Forest 8 mile Forest downstrea Boundary 5 Congress provided for “double-wide” lateral boundaries. 6 Ditto. National Wild and Scenic Rivers and State Scenic Waterways in Oregon Larch Occasional Paper #13.2 5 m from Cougar Creek Kiger Creek Burns 2 4.3 0.0 0.0 4.3 Headwaters Where creek Northern District, 0 leaves Basin and BLM 0 Steens Range (Steens 0 Mountain Mountain Wilderness Coop. Mgmt. and Protection Area) Klamath Lakeview 1 0.0 11.0 0.0 11.0 J.C. Boyle California East River7 District, 9 Powerhous border Cascades BLM 9 e Slope and 4 Foothills Little Deschutes 1 0.0 0.0 12.0 12.0 Source in N Line, S12, East Deschutes National 9 NW1/4 of T26S, R7E Cascades River Forest 8 S15, T26S, Slope and 8 R6E Foothills Lostine Wallowa- 1 5.0 0.0 11.0 16.0 Headwaters Wallowa- Blue River Whitman 9 in Eagle Whitman Mountains National 8 Cap National Forest 8 Wilderness Forest boundary Malheur Malheur 1 0.0 7.0 6.7 13.7 Confluence Malheur Blue River National 9 with National Mountains Forest 8 Bosonberg Forest 8 Creek boundary Malheur Malheur 1 0.0 25.5 0.0 25.5 Headwaters Malheur Blue River, North National 9 National Mountains Fork Forest 8 Forest 8 boundary McKenzie Willamette 1 0.0 0.0 12.7 12.7 Clear Lake Confluence Cascades River National 9 with Scott Forest 8 Creek, not 8 including Carmen and Trail Bridge reservoirs and dams Metolius Deschutes 1 0.0 17.1 11.5 28.6 Deschutes Reservoir East River National 9 National Billy Cascades Forest 8 Forest Chinook Slope and 8 boundary Foothills below Springs of the Metolius Middle Fork Mount Hood 2 0.0 3.7 0.0 3.7 Confluence North Cascades Hood River National 0 of Clear section line Forest 0 and Coe of S11, T1S, 7 State scenic waterway designated in 1988 and included in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System by the secretary of the interior at the request of the governor of Oregon pursuant to Section 2(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C.