The Rogue
May 11, 2011
Gold Ray Dam
Gold Ray Dam no more
It’s rare to see a dam removed from a river, let alone two. The Rogue River has had two dams removed in the past few years, the Rogue now runs free 157 miles from Lost Creek dam to the pacific.
Bear Creek and it’s tributaries are major spawning and rearing habitat for the Rogue’s salmon and steelhead. The pics below follow Lone Pine Creek, a trib. to Bear Creek.
Lone Pine just above its confluence with Bear Creek
Falls below Table Rock Rd underpass
Passage beneath Table Rock Rd
Above Table Rock Rd, Lone Pine turns into an irrigation ditch
Lone Pine Creek then crosses under Biddle Rd and continues into a concrete canal through the Medford International Airport.
Lone Pine entering the airport canal
Lone Pine emerging from several hundred yards of pipe into concrete
Lone Pine's entrance into a several hundred yards of pipe
Lone Pine flowing freely
Habitat
And the fish are there. Through two miles of ditch, canal, pipe, chain-link, concrete, and grates. Wild coho and steelhead smolt are there.
Currently there is a proposed riparian corridor expansion for 7.16 miles of fish bearing creeks throughout the city of Medford. Including Lone Pine Creek. All of the creeks in the proposed plan are used by salmon or steelhead. While this won’t take out concrete canals and underground pipes, it will protect the creeks from future decimation. A step in the right direction.
This post is a call to the fishing residents of Medford, or if you know somebody who does. At the past hearing there were only of few of us. We need a lot more voices for the fish.
Thursday – May 26th, 2011
5:30 pm
Medford City Council Chambers
City Hall, 411 W. 8th St
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email.
Rich
wish i couldve joined you. keep up the good fight.
Wish I had stumbled on this before the meeting. I would have come. This creek runs through Navigators Landing where my office is. It then runs under Table Rock Road then into Bear Creak a few hundred yards further I believe. The developer did an excellent job of developing around the creek. It flows freely and has a wide walking path and expensinve landscaping the full length of it. I wondered if there were fish in it. I am so happy to know there are. I hope to someday see people fishing Bear Creek on their lunch hours and these small streams as well. Catch and release of course. Thanks for posting these pictures.
Hiram, that would’ve been great if you were able to come. The riparian corridor expansion did pass the city commission and is now headed for the city council. The coucil meeting is the really tough one, there is no date set for this meeting I will post it when I find out. We’re going to need as many people as we can to voice their support for this then. Keep an eye out here for the date, would be great to see you there.
Rich