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Anglers cast unique ploy for fish By MARK FREEMAN A Medford-based fly-fishing club has taken advantage of a unique donation program offered through an upscale fly-fishing manufacturer to help funnel $3,000 toward a planned project to improve steelhead habitat in the Little Applegate River. The Rogue Flyfishers Association has donated $1,000 toward a $1 million project designed to reduce summer irrigation withdrawals from the Little Applegate and keep the saved water in the stream for fish use. Since the group has sent the money through a special Orvis spring fund-raiser, both Orvis and the National Fish and Wildlife Federation will match the Rogue Flyfishers' $1,000 donation. Already, about $18,000 in checks collected by Orvis have been passed on to the Oregon Water Trust, a Portland-based non-profit group that is spearheading the project. The checks have been from across the country, including one from a Georgia couple donating on behalf of a son recently killed in an accident. "I've been struck by the broad geographic base of where the checks have come in," says Andrew Purkey, executive director of the Oregon Water Trust. "It's interesting to see what different people's motivations are for giving to this project." Another batch of checks is expected soon. The company's effort is expected to raise about $100,000. The plan is being pushed by the Oregon Water Trust to remove two concrete dams on the Little Applegate River. The dams divert water in summer to irrigators on two ditch systems, but they also harm water quality and impede migration for wild summer steelhead infants that grow in the Little Applegate. The $1 million project, which could be in place as early as 2001, will allow about 45 ranchers to use water pumped from nearby Applegate River instead of the Little Applegate, which is one of the big river's tributaries. This irrigation juggling act will allow enough water to remain in the lower stretches of the Little Applegate each summer to better suit infant wild steelhead that use the stretch as a nursery, backers of the project say. Orvis typically highlights an environmental project for donations annually in its spring catalog, and it pledges to match donations sent in by Orvis customers. "It's really exciting for us to know we're generating excitement, interest and money from fly-fishermen from all across the country," says Cheyenne Chapman, the water trust's communication and development director. Oregon Water Trust had been courting Orvis for about two years. In November, the company contacted Michelle Hanten, owner and manager of Morrison's Rogue River Lodge, which has been an Orvis-endorsed lodge the past 15 years. Hanten investigated the project and recommended in December that Orvis adopt it as its conservation project for this spring. The Klamath Fishery Management Council will meet Feb. 23-25 in Brookings to develop recommendations for this summer's salmon-fishing seasons and harvest levels for both sport and commercial fishermen along the Southern Oregon and Northern California coasts. The meetings, which will be held at the Best Western Beachfront Inn, are open to the public and participation is encouraged. The council is a federal advisory committee that makes harvest and season recommendations to the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The PFMC, in turn, makes recommendations on West Coast sport and commercial fishing seasons to the federal Department of Commerce, which in turn sets the seasons. During the meetings in Brookings, the regional council's own technical advisory team will present the final 1999 chinook salmon harvest figures. The group will then attempt to arrive at a consensus recommendation for this summer's seasons, including allocations for sport and commercial ocean fishing, as well as sport and tribal interests within the Klamath River. The Brookings meetings will run 1-5 p.m. Feb. 23; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 24; and 8 a.m. to noon Feb. 25. Follow-up meetings are planned for early March in Sacramento, where the PFMC will discuss salmon-season options. For more information on the Klamath Fishery Management Council and the salmon allocations, visit the Klamath River Basin Conservation Area Restoration Program Web site at: http://www.r1.fws.gov/yreka/kbfrp/index.html (Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Call him at 776-4470 or e-mail him at [email protected] ) Outdoor Journal Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Mail Tribune � 2000 -- Medford, Oregon USA