Jackson County is hoping to remove the decommissioned Gold Ray hydroelectric dam in 2010, which will eliminate a fish-counting station. Fishing guides such as Vernon Grieve are concerned that in place of accurate numbers, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife will use inaccurate estimates, making his livelihood less certain. The dam is most important for monitoring the wild spring chinook run, the most sensitive fish run. In addition to numbers, the count can differentiate between wild and hatchery chinook. Since the spring chinook and summer steelhead migrations overlap, the counting station has helped differentiate between the two populations.
My take: Since, as the Mail Tribune states, the fish ladder in question is “one of the 10 worst impediments to wild salmon in Oregon,” anglers and guides have more to gain than lose from the removal of the dam. Healthy fish populations require healthy rivers, and such dams are like clogged arteries to anadromous fish runs.