A Touchet River Blue River Fishery – Can It Be Done?

A soft morning mist floats just above the waterline as the sun begins to paint ridge tops with blending hues of orange and yellow, highlighting cliff swallow nests: pin-dot shad­ows in stark relief upon the dun features of the bluff. The smell of the river is clean, earthy, moist, alive. The hiss and burble of water flowing among rock and root fills the senses with wonder at the beauty of the morning.

A thick white line floats on the surface of the river, bending with the current, wending its way back to the angler. At the end of the tippet a dry fly floats and bobs along the blue-green ripples heading toward an anonymous brushy under­cut bank where a 4-pound steelhead trout (Oncorhyn­chus mykiss) can be seen - the early morning light shimmering along its flank. Languidly stroking back and forth, ducking out occasion­ally for the morsels floating towards its hungry maw, the fly only semi-sparks fishy interest. A semi-rise to investigate and then back behind the ebb line, we play together for a while until patience wears thin. I tie on a different fly - a secret pattern that almost always works in these early hours. As predicted, after a couple of passes my rod whips, almost doubling over as the water breaks through the efforts of an angry fish. The scream of an osprey erupts overhead mimicking the scream of the reel - its high pitched whine announcing the steelhead in flight, taking as much as it can in an effort to escape the waiting net. At dusk, at home, as the embers cool and the beauty of this magnificent fish is evident, drizzled in olive oil and gleaming awaiting the sting of the grill, the memo­ries of that moment are in­delibly etched upon myself, my daughter and those in attendance for a royal offer­ing that is only available by leaving well enough alone. These moments happen on clean rivers - rivers allowed to be rivers - those perfectly balanced eco-zones of magic that support the entire web of life along and between their banks. These moments do not happen in a channel designed to maximize the ef­ficiency of transport of water away from the surrounding communities. Fish don't like it, won't use it, won't tolerate it, and neither should we the people. How do you put a price tag on nature? What is the value of a healthy river system for the surrounding community? Can a blue ribbon fishery not only pay for itself but support the sur- rounding communities as well? These are complicated questions and for every an- swer - and believe me, there are a lot of answers, many of them conflicting with one another - there are just as many soapbox preachers who will sell you the next Brooklyn Bridge if you're in the market. But there are also answers worthwhile and reasonable that lend hope to some seemingly intractable positions and problems.

Take a snapshot scan of the many components that comprise a healthy and bal- anced river system. One angle is a thoroughly veg- etated riparian zone border- ing both banks of the river. Grasses, forbs, shrubs, trees large and small, vines and creepers all the way down to the lowly mosses. A wa- tercourse that supports fish needs dense cover for long uninterrupted reaches be- cause these vegetative zones are the number one regulat- ing thermostat keeping the water cool enough for the fish to not only survive, but to thrive. They become even more critical when a river is wide and shallow - like the Touchet. This riparian zone is the number one criti- cal element that paves the way for either a continuing healthy water course or to start the healing process of a waterway that has been damaged - even one that might seem hopelessly be- yond redemption and cure. Like the Touchet once was.

Next up is a meander- ing water track - with its cut-backs, bends, arcs, undercut banks, cascading drops, pools, flowing ever downward towards the sea. The more a river meanders the easier it handles higher water flows and the better it manages the deposition of the silts flowing downhill. It may look like a mess at the time but the silt that is being deposited is a natural part of the rebirth and enhancement of top soils. Once things settle down, what remains after a high flow event - sure - call it a flood - is much richer than what came before.

Next up are the land- based fauna. The fauna col- lective needs to be balanced and inclusive - not just what is safe, pretty and conve- nient. From predators large and small, to rodents, grazers, amphibians et al. If the natural and rightful denizens of the ecosystem biota are a no-show then the eco-sys- tem is damaged. Plain and simple, there is no science except bad science that will ever show anything other than this truth. You want good hunting? Better stop poaching and poisoning because without those bigger predators out there the bal- ance of the faunal system is shot and sooner, rather than later you get nothing, nada, zero, zilch - it's all gone for all of us! That includes fisheries too - once one part of the system goes into freefall collapse the other parts quickly follow.

We humans are only a small part of this system - intruders if you will, and it's best to not forget that. Once we separated ourselves by creating our own food production through raising domestic livestock and staple crops, then shopping at stores where most of our sustenance comes from far off places (even though we may also produce these same items locally) we essentially left our place at the ecosystem table and went our own way unlike any oth- er species on earth. Does that mean that we don't belong at the table? Of course not. Does that mean that we can and should reset every other place setting at that table? Of course not! And yet we as a species do this over and over again throughout history and always to the detriment of everything around us including ourselves. We've already proved this by the fact that EVERY major and the vast majority of minor waterways on the face of our planet have been severely and negatively compromised by human presence. We wouldn't need the Clean Water Act if this were not true - and that is just here in America.

There are those who would have you believe that straightened, cement-lined, power-generating channels with hydroelectric dams every few miles are a per- fectly viable alternative to a naturally meandering river or stream. This is purely old, bad science. The adjunct argument that these courses of action are taken with public safety in mind make this argument even more dubious in light of the places that have elected to restore their dead fisheries and com- munities by removing these barriers to nature and being a part of the rebirth of a natural ecosystem and in turn the rebirth of their own towns.

The value of a healthy and balanced ecosystem is very real and measurable us- ing an economic modeling system known as the Value of Ecosystem Services - an index of price point valua- tions. While the analysis us- ing this modeling system is complex and time consum- ing, it is an excellent method for determining just how valuable each mile of clean, free-flowing water is.

There are communities just like ours here in the Touchet Valley who reap the benefits of careful stew- ardship of their natural resources. History at a very localized level shows that the value to surrounding communities who protect and promote a healthy and balanced eco-system that of- fers a wide range of outdoor activities and related tour- ism, wins each and every time.

Delivering a blue ribbon fishery in the Tucannon and Touchet River drainages is a look-back-to-move-forward strategy which can deliver an intertwined, economically healthy and vibrant community based upon more than one or two econo- mies. However it takes time, money and other resources to restore what it took us a mere half century to destroy. And it's not wholly our fault that our waterways and ecosystems were damaged even though it is our col- lective fingerprints all over the trigger. We, as a people, were working within a world where knowledge and real science was not only scarce but in most instances just plain non-existent. It was learn-as-you-go and there was some harm done along the way. That reality does not relieve us from the re- sponsibility that we inher- ited through our own actions and later inactions, to correct the misdeeds bestowed upon our own communities.

Where does all this lead? To a healthy blue-ribbon fishery of course. Do you know what a healthy fishery does? It prints money. It sometimes prints so much money for the local econo- my - if the fishery is restored correctly and managed well - that the door has to be shut because a healthy, vibrant fishery attracts a lot of fish- ermen and women - all who spend a lot of money within the community - and the risk of overfishing shuts the whole engine down again.

What are the elements that make up a "blue rib- bon" fishery (of which there is no true definition but just think healthy, vigor- ous, self-sustaining)? One critical element is Instream Water Flow. This designa- tion does not represent peak flow during the warming trends of winter snow pack melt. This is the free water flow that is left after water extraction for irrigation, reservoir filling and stabil- ity, aquifer recharging, and other acceptable uses. The amount of leftover free flow must be enough to maintain and enable the natural status quo and potential growth of an existing aquatic re- source along with associated wildlife and riparian habitats. Coupled with Instream Water Flow is the carrying capacity of the river in rela- tion to fish distribution. An Ideal concentration for a river the size that we have here is 1000 healthy fish 13" or larger per mile of free flowing water. This supports natural recurring genetic variation and self-sustaining breeding patterns. That's a lot of fish, a lot of fishing and a lot of anglers spending time and money in the com- munity, supporting these rich resources.

Sounds complicated but it's not. Want to see the hotels full? The bars and restaurants making money? A few new businesses open- ing doors and hiring local people? Book stores follow, as do more businesses like guide services, gear and tackle shops and more ser- vices too because the area will see enough tourism to support locals making a liv- ing. What a concept. It just takes the will of the people to say we're tired of seeing shuttered stores and people driving THROUGH town instead of coming TO town! There is a big difference be- tween the two and it can be done. After all the Touchet river has been beckoning us all along with its whispers of enticement and song.