by Grant Werschkull
The Smith River watershed in northern California and southern Oregon is a land of superlatives. Ancient redwood forests stand along the lower river as it flows through Redwood National and State parks. The Smith is the only major undammed river in California, and it contains the highest density of Wild and Scenic River designations in the U.S. Anglers have landed record king salmon and steelhead trout here, and the Wild Salmon Center describes the Smith as “irreplaceable salmon habitat.” Thanks to layers of protection and vast public ownership (over 80%) the watershed is recognized as one of the premier salmon strongholds along the Pacific Coast.
Most of the mid and upper watershed is managed by the Forest Service. However, existing protections fall short of what’s needed to deter the threat of devastating strip mining in the Smith headwaters. Passage of the Smith River National Recreation Area (NRA) Act of 1990 was inspired by strip-mining threats and included a ban on new mining claims, but the NRA boundary stops at the Oregon border, leaving 58,000 acres of the Smith watershed unprotected. The watershed is part of a cluster of salmon stronghold rivers in the Klamath Mountains threatened by strip mining in their headwaters.
Residents of downstream communities are alarmed by this proposed strip mining, which threatens not just salmon, but also the communities’ drinking water sources. Protecting potable water has proven to be a unifying issue for every stripe of citizen. Allowing this threat to such an invaluable fishery also flies in the face of the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on habitat restoration and recovery measures for salmon and steelhead across the bioregion.
For example, the Smith watershed abuts the Klamath River watershed on the south, and their mouths are a mere 29 miles apart. Removal of four Klamath River dams is underway, and the expected cost is $450-500 million. River health, including recovery of salmon species, has been a principal driver for dam removal with strong support coming from tribes, sport and commercial fishermen, and the many communities that have historically benefited from a thriving salmon fishery.
Salmon strongholds are critical to a functional ecosystem in this region. Salmon have survived vast landscape-scale change over the millennia. Volcanoes erupting and wiping out multiple spawning cycles of salmon didn’t permanently eliminate salmon from those rivers. Rather, some number of salmon — from adjacent streams and rivers that weren’t affected by the volcano and its lava flows — strayed into the devastated rivers. And when conditions were right for spawning, that’s exactly what they did. It’s a proven long-term salmon survival mechanism, and it highlights the importance of our salmon strongholds, further underscoring the importance of the Smith River watershed to the Klamath region.
Indeed, a cluster of salmon strongholds are threatened by strip mining in the Klamath Mountains. Several miles north and west from the Smith watershed are the headwaters of Pistol River and Hunter Creek. Both of these beautiful streams flow directly into the ocean south of Gold Beach, Oregon. Then, abutting the eastern edge of the North Fork Smith watershed in Oregon is Rough and Ready Creek, a tributary to the Wild and Scenic Illinois River, which flows into the Rogue River. These wild headwaters areas of Hunter Creek, Pistol River, North Fork Smith River, and Rough and Ready Creek share a common geologic feature — ophiolite, a suite of rock types rich in magnesium, iron and other metals with geologic origins in ancient oceanic crust and the upper mantle.
“Geology is destiny” explains why these watersheds share certain characteristics such as soils, vegetation, water-holding capability, and so much more. These rivers and streams flow emerald green and clear rapidly after the pounding rains of winter. How much rain? In one location near Gasquet in the Smith River watershed, as much as 45 inches of rain fell in a three-day period, and a U.S. record — 254 inches of rain — fell in a single year.
In addition to shared geologic history and climate, these salmon stronghold watersheds have extraordinarily high biodiversity, including more than 21 species of conifers. In some locations, unique serpentine-influenced wetlands or fens, where insectivorous plants dominate, meter out the rainwater. Welcome to the Klamath Mountains Geomorphic Province, also known for its long period, at least 9,000 years, of Indigenous history — and salmon.
A Regional Solution
In response to overwhelming support from local communities, the Southwestern Oregon Watershed and Salmon Protection Act (SOWSPA) has been introduced and incorporated into the Oregon Recreation Enhancement Act (S. 440) to permanently ban new mining claims across the headwaters of Hunter Creek, the Pistol River, the North Fork Smith River and Rough and Ready Creek — an area of roughly 100,000 acres. The Smith River National Recreation Area Expansion Act (S. 162) has also been introduced. It would also permanently ban new mining claims from all Smith River watershed land in Oregon and would designate 75 miles of the North Fork Smith River and its tributaries in Oregon as Wild and Scenic Rivers. Nearly all of the land proposed for protection by the two bills is managed by the Forest Service.
This legislation would provide critically important protections and, in the case of the Smith River NRA Expansion Act, would complete the NRA by expanding it to include land omitted in 1990, protecting drinking water supplies and salmon populations. Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Representative Val Hoyle have been leaders in support of both measures. Please urge your congressional delegation to support these bills. They enjoy broad support from local communities, and we need to get these protections done! (Click here for more information.)
To learn more about the outstanding natural resources of this headwaters region, The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History by Michael Kauffmann and Justin Garwood is recommended reading.
Featured Photo: Fall Chinook salmon thrive in the Smith River, one of a cluster of salmon stronghold rivers threatened by strip mining in the Klamath Mountains (photo by Thomas B. Dunklin).
Grant Werschkull is the Co-Executive Director of the Smith River Alliance (SRA, smithriveralliance.org) a 44-year-old nonprofit watershed organization with a mission of natural resource restoration, protection, and stewardship. The Smith River Alliance is focused on salmon habitat restoration and cooperative projects with public and private partners. In 2012, the Forest Service recognized the SRA with their national award for Outstanding Stewardship for Wild and Scenic River Resources.
