Farmers Volunteer To Help Fish

WAITSBURG - Farming practices in the Touchet Valley aren't always healthy for fish in local streams and rivers, but local farmers are taking a stand against farming that hurts streams to clean up the water and enhance fish habitat.

Conservation agencies that help restore water quality and are focused on bringing native fish back to the rivers offer a variety of programs to help farmers help the environment.

Brian Burns, a project manager at Tri-State Steelheaders, based in Walla Walla, said farm- ing can do some major damage to rivers and the wildlife that call them home. Farmers who let their animals, like cows, wade in the river can inadvertently make the water toxic with coliform bacteria that are harmful to other wildlife. The chemicals used to spray crops leave chemical resi- dues in the water and removing trees to make for more farmable ground means less shade near rivers to keep the water, and its fish, cool. Also, farmers have driven tractors through steams on their property, plowing through areas where fish may be spawn- ing and pushing more sediment into the stream. Burns said some negligent farmers have even placed machinery, such as ve- hicles, in the streams to protect the stream's banks, and in turn polluting the stream.

Luckily, Burns said not all farmers use these poor practices.

"Farmers aren't just out there dumping stuff," he said. "The more I've worked with landown- ers and learned - it's not always as bad as we might think it is."

In fact, it's the farmers who step up and volunteer to help streams and fish.

Dave Karl, a watershed stew- ard with the Washington Depart- ment of Fish & Wildlife, said in Columbia and Walla Walla coun- ties, in his work he sees that these farmers really care.

"We are in an area where there is a lot of social capital," Karl said. "The people in these communities really work hard to make this a nice place."

And that means a nice place for fish, too. Karl is very proud of the farmers, about 80 to 90 percent of farmers in this area, who have chosen to stop tilling the land to protect fish.

Tilling the land, a very tra- ditional farming practice, turns the dirt into powdery sediment that makes its way easily into streams via rainfall. The silt erodes the streams and makes it difficult for salmon to spawn, he said. Farmers have been changing their farming methods to no-till or minimumtill practices, where the straw is left in the ground and the seed for new plants is drilled into it. Karl said this method builds healthier soil with microbes and fungi and protects water and fish. Farmers need a pat on the back, Karl said, because the no-till equipment is expensive and requires a change in tradition. He credits locals Bob Hutchens and Larry Hooker with the local conservation districts for educating farmers on no-till methods and benefits.

"The farmers really have to take a leap of faith," Karl said. "I've always felt the farmers don't get enough credit." Burns, whose Tri- State Steelheaders group works on fish habitat en- hancement, said he often works with farmers on restoration projects in the area. His group approaches farmers who may be having problems on their land with flooding and he said sometimes the farmers take it upon themselves to contribute labor and even funding to the projects. Burns said it is help- ful to work closely with the farmers because they know the land better than anyone else.

Ward Leland had the Tri-State Steelheaders improve fish pas- sage on his father's 1,300 acres of land on Whitney Creek, south of Dayton, in 2010. Leland said the Steelheaders were "great to work with" and he's happy that the new fish passage allows fish to spawn in the stream.

"It's nice to see the fish get up the waterway now,"

Leland said. "It's a neat program."

Mike Den- ny, the ri- parian habitat coordinator and co-outreach and education coordinator for the Walla Walla County Conservation District, said the farmers observe fish habitat enhancement projects tak- ing place at their neighbors' farms and seeing a job well done, they often volunteer to be next.

"We're all about working with farmers to improve their crop pro- duction and retain their property," Denny said.

The conservation district of- fers a variety of programs, from in-stream work to stop erosion to installing fish ladders. The district partners on these projects with the Confederated Tribes of the Uma- tilla Indian Reservation, Walla Walla Watershed Management Partnership, the state department of Fish & Wildlife and the Walla Walla Watershed Council, to name a few.

First, farmers volunteer their time and land to protect the streams, the district staff members analyze and evaluate, install the project, and depending on the type of soil, the landowner can lease acreage to the federal government in a 10- to-15-year contract to pro- tect the stream and the work that is done, Denny said. The district also helps farmers with piping projects to make sure landowners get full water rights and to make sure fish get plenty of water. In addition to helping farmers retain land and water rights, these proj- ects bring in millions of dollars into Washington State when the work is performed, Denny added. And the programs to help farmers help fish doesn't stop there. The Walla Walla Watershed Manage- ment Partnership, based at Walla Walla Community College, has a water banking program that works to enhance and restore local streams and allows landowners to hold onto their water rights, said Cathy Schaeffer, the partnership's executive director. Agreements for the water banking are already in place on the Touchet River, Coppei River, Patit Creek, Mill Creek and the Walla Walla River. By banking the water landowners aren't using, the fish benefit from enhanced river flows and stream passage, she said.

With all of these farmer-in- volved projects running concur- rently, conservationists are seeing the fish come back to local rivers in large numbers.

"All over this basin the fish numbers have been greatly en- hanced," Denny said.