[ODFW-News] Fish Restoration and Enhancement Program funds fish passage upgrades at Smith and Bybee Lakes Wildlife Area

[ODFW News]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Contact: Information and Education, or toll-free within Oregon at
800-720-6339 
Fax: (503) 947-6009
Web: www.dfw.state.or.us 

For immediate release	Thursday, October 14, 2004

Fish Restoration and Enhancement Program funds fish passage upgrades at
Smith and Bybee Lakes Wildlife Area

PORTLAND - A $8,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife's Fish Restoration and Enhancement Program will be used to
help improve rearing habitat for juvenile chinook and coho salmon at the
Smith and Bybee Lakes Wildlife Area, located near the confluence of the
Willamette and Columbia rivers. The grant was awarded to Metro Parks and
Greenspaces, which manages the wildlife area.

Encompassing nearly 2,000 acres of lakes and wetlands, the area
historically has been an important rearing location for young salmon. A
dam built in 1982 created the lakes and eliminated much of the wetlands.


Working with Ducks Unlimited, Metro Parks and Greenspaces recently
constructed a water control structure to increase wetland habitat and
provide fish passage over the dam so juvenile salmon can once again use
the habitat. Recent surveys have confirmed the presence of both chinook
and coho salmon in the area.

"It was a $600,000 investment," said wildlife area manager Elaine
Stewart. "During the first year of operations we found some things we
wanted to tweak to do a better job."

Those refinements, for which the Fish Restoration and Enhancement
Program is providing funding, include installing trash racks that will
catch logs and other floating debris to prevent damage to the fishway,
as well as a number of other improvements to increase the fishway's
strength and efficiency. These improvements are scheduled for completion
by the end of the year.

The Fish Restoration and Enhancement Program was created by the Oregon
Legislature in 1989 and is funded by a surcharge on sport and commercial
fishing licenses and commercial poundage fees. The program is overseen
by a seven-member citizen board that reviews proposals and makes funding
recommendations to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission for fish
restoration and enhancement projects throughout the state. 

 For more information on the Fish Restoration and Enhancement Program,
or to view information regarding current R&E Program applications, visit
www.dfw.state.or.us/ODFWhtml/InfoCntrFish/RnEProgram/R&EHistory.html, or
call program coordinator Gary Galovich at503-947-6232.

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