Document text
53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 28, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 9, 2005 Group wants more tui chub study Plans to poison Diamond Lake’s tui chubs should be postponed until all the impacts are known, says Umpqua Watersheds By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Opponents of plans to poison millions of unwanted tui chubs in Diamond Lake say an environmental study on the project doesn’t adequately probe future plans for when the chubs return after treatment. Francis Eatherington, conservation chairwoman of the group Umpqua Watersheds, believes the Umpqua National Forest and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife should forego their plans for the lake’s fish-poisoning next year until they better study the impacts of what a study says is the chubs’ unavoidable return. The lake previously was treated for a similar chub outbreak in 1954. The Forest Service study concludes chubs likely will return, eventually, to the lake. But the plan spells out monitoring and other actions for five years. "It would be nice to treat Diamond Lake as a lake instead of a toilet you flush whenever it gets contaminated, just because it’s easy to flush," Eatherington said. However, Eatherington said her group has yet to decide whether to formally ask the Forest Service to reconsider its decision to move forward on its treatment plans to reclaim the lake’s water quality and its former reign as Oregon’s most popular trout-fishing lake. Advertisement Umpqua Forest Supervisor Jim Caplan said he sees no reason not to move forward while contingency plans get worked out. "I don’t think it would be prudent to hold up implementation while we work on details of something that will be going on in the future," Caplan said. The Umpqua Forest is in the midst of its 45-day administrative appeals period on Caplan’s decision as well as the environmental studies supporting it. The chubs were illegally re-introduced in the early 1990s, most likely as trout bait. Since then, the population has ballooned, altering the lake’s ecosystem to a point where water-quality and angling interest have plummeted. Now, most stocked trout cannot survive and toxic algae blooms caused by the chubs have forced periodic closures to swimming, boating and angling. After about two years of studies and public input, Caplan chose to draw the lake down, kill all the fish with the chemical rotenone and restock it with hatchery-reared rainbow trout. The plan includes mechanically removing as many of the chubs as possible before treatment. Just the chemicals alone will cost about $1.6 million, and the ODFW has joined with some angling groups to raise the money through donations and grants. The plan is to return Diamond Lake to a trout-fishing mecca, providing 100,000 visitor-days during its fishing season from late April through October. Eatherington, however, believes the ODFW and Forest Service should set their sights on achieving half those visitor-days. "Trying to eke out those 100,000 (visitor-days) is unreasonable," Eatherington said. "They’re trying to suck every penny out of that lake, but that’s what they’ve done all along." Dave Loomis, the ODFW’s Umpqua watershed manager, said his agency’s plan is first to treat the lake, then spend two years of monitoring water quality, fish growth and public use of the lake. Armed with that information, the ODFW then would hold public meetings and craft a new management plan for Diamond Lake — including a target for visitor-days, Loomis said. "This just isn’t the right time to make a good decision about that," Loomis said. "Let’s go through the process first." The final alternative Caplan chose was a new one not present in a previous draft study. After the draft was unveiled, the Umpqua Forest listened to public comments on it but did not have a formal comment period, which was not required under federal law. Eatherington said she was frustrated by the lack of a comment period, but that its absence likely isn’t grounds for an administrative appeal. "I’m disappointed," she said. "They had great public input until the very end. Then it crumbled." Loomis said he believes there was plenty of public involvement. "I think every comment, every issue has been addressed one way or the other," Loomis said. "Now it’s time to move forward." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers