Between the Gravel and the Sea: Vital Role of the for Chinook

“The Willamette River from a Mountain” Paul Kane, 1847 Willamette Riverkeepers Kirk Schroeder Luke Whitman Brian Cannon Paul Olmsted Department of Fish and Wildlife

USFWS – Sport Fish Restoration Funds Army Corps of Engineers Willamette Basin: Largest watershed in Oregon 70% of Oregon population

Largest urban areas in Oregon

Dams block access to upper reaches of Salem Spring Chinook North rivers

Albany Corvallis Spring Chinook ‘threatened” species 1999 Harrisburg Recovery Plan 2011

Eugene-Springfield Between the Gravel and the Sea

Building Your Conceptual Model

I. Willamette as II. Willamette River within Migration Corridor Connected Landscape

Reductionist Reservoir Complexity releases Dams control River Life History Expression Spawning Hatcheries control Fish Area Seasonal habitats Production Flows & Temperature Single Life History Access to Floodplains Legacy of Pollution Willamette Cold Water Refugia River = Bad Neighborhood River Restoring Channel Complexity & Connectivity Flow Management = Flushing Flows Columbia River Pacific Ocean Life History Diversity Wild Juvenile Chinook in McKenzie at Leaburg Dam Migration from Spawning Areas Migration of Wild Juvenile Chinook past Willamette Falls Tagged at Leaburg Dam in fall or spring

Most Fall migrants overwinter in Willamette Spring migrants spend < 1 month – 3 months in Willamette Fry Dispersal & Rearing Santiam basin – early migration Influence of dams

McKenzie – later migration Colder water

Migration to lower Willamette & Columbia

Fry dispersed throughout Willamette by late February to early March

Most migrate as smolts in June & July

March 2011 (37 – 72 mm) Long Distance Fry Dispersal – What’s up with that? Hypothesis: Adaptation to access productive rearing habitat in Willamette Fall Chinook absent upstream of Willamette Falls

Visualization of upper Willamette River downstream of McKenzie - 1850

Hulse et al. 2004. Ecological Applications 14: 325–341 Length of spring captured as fry ( ) or juveniles ( ) Willamette and upper McKenzie rivers 2012 Willamette Juvenile Chinook Diversity (Bet-Hedging)

Spawning Precocial Male

Fall Spring Fry Fingerling 2-year Migrant Migrant

Lower Tributary & Willamette River

Winter-Spring Spring-Summer Summer Fall-Winter Spring

Non-natal Streams Fall Fry Subyearling Feb- Migrant May Spring Migrant Mar- May- Jun- Oct- Nov- Feb- Jan- ? (Aug-Sep) Jun Jun Jul Dec Jan Apr Columbia River

May- Mar- Apr- Apr- Jul May May Jun Ocean Life History Diversity – Spreading the Risks

Spawning Fry Migration

Subyearling

Dave Herasimtschuk © FI

Willamette Rearing Yearling

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Poor freshwater conditions

Subyearling

Yearling

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

Poor ocean conditions

Brian Franklin Life History Diversity Provides Stability to Populations Proportion of returning adult Chinook that migrated as subyearling or yearling smolts

1998 – 2006 brood years McKenzie North Santiam South Santiam Clackamas

1998 2000 2003 2005 McKenzie River Return of Wild Spring Chinook Salmon

CV = 48%

CV = 55% Temperature Density Flow Floods WillametteIncubation ChinookSpawners Challenge Incubation or Model TimingThis! Rearing Fry Rearing Magnitude Migration Subyearlings Migration Connectivity Fry Movers Stayers

Jan–Jun Apr–Jul Oct–Dec Feb–May

Upper Willamette Upper Willamette

Mid Willamette Autumn/Winter of Mid Willamette first year

Summer of first year Spring of second year Apr–Jul Feb–Jun Subyearling Smolt Yearling Dynamic Rivers provide Diverse Habitats that support Diverse Life Histories

Pools for larger fish Refuge areas during floods

Productive riffles Narrow channels with shade

New gravel bars & Small side channels islands

Cold water pockets Shallow edges for fry

Willamette River downstream of McKenzie confluence – Green Island David Hulse, U of O, Landscape Architecture & River Design Group Measuring Progress—Biological & Social Connections

Life History Diversity Channel complexity

Water Quality Native Species Richness

Working Farms & Conservation Connect People to River

Historic Trajectory Future Trajectory?

Historical Willamette River Channel Change - S. Gregory, L. Ashkenas, D. Oetter, P. Minear, K. Wildman In honor of Jim Sedell (1944 – 2012)

Within the time scale of a person’s lifetime and the lifetimes of his or her children and grandchildren, entire ecosystems change. Ironically, however, it is within this time scale that people are most blind to changes occurring around them.