Columbia Land Trust

1351 Officers' Row, Vancouver, Washington 98661
360.696.0131 voice, 360.696.1847 fax

In Our View: Thursday, November 15, 2001 Holy Waters Land trust's efforts exemplify the need to preserve fish habitat Over the last decade, as politicians, policymakers and lobbyists grappled over how to rescue salmon, the Columbia Land Trust saved more than 2,500 acres of our region's prime wildlife habitat from development. Already, that remarkable achievement has begun to seem comparatively modest. In just the last few months, the Vancouver-based nonprofit group has closed deals on another 790 acres; now it is seeking funds to protect a still largely pristine stretch of the Kalama River, known to local anglers as the Holy Waters. Let's hope the latter effort, too, is a success, and that it is followed by more of the same. The trust's work deserves to be cheered by all, regardless of where they might stand in the environmental debate. By purchasing or accepting donation of development rights or the land itself from willing property owners, the organization is preserving sensitive and scenic lands without invoking the specter of regulation or confiscation. The trust's recent acquisitions demonstrate just how effective that approach can be. As The Columbian's Kathie Durbin reported Tuesday, the group has gained title to almost 600 acres along the Klickitat River and the entire 210-acre Lord Island in the Columbia River just downstream from Rainier, Ore. Stream rehabilitation has allowed the return of spawning salmon to the Klickitat tributary Dillacort Creek; Lord Island likewise provides spawning and feeding habitat for migratory fish. Similarly, the Holy Waters stretch of the Kalama -- that rarest of things, a river undammed along its entire length -- provides ideal habitat for salmon as well as elk. The $425,000 that the trust needs to raise before February to purchase five miles of riverfront property is a bargain; such habitat, once housed over, is irreplaceable at any price. The group rightly focuses its efforts on preserving places threatened but still largely untouched by development. A more difficult question is how already developed areas can be made more fish-friendly. In particular, concern is growing that higher urban densities, which help prevent sprawl, also result in greater runoff, increased sediment and more pollution -- all things that kill fish. The work of the Columbia Land Trust won't save salmon by itself, but it is a key factor in the equation. Much of the public-policy debate over salmon survival in recent years has focused on such large-scale steps as removing dams and banning gillnets. Recent legal developments have raised anew questions about hatchery fish -- whether they are almost as healthy as, or clearly inferior to, naturally spawning salmon. However, no amount of effort to change the hydroelectric system, restrict harvest or reform hatcheries will be of much value if the fish don't have the habitat in which to feed, spawn and migrate. Let the politicians, policymakers and lobbyists deal with the big, important issues. And hope that the Columbia Land Trust can keep succeeding at the little, equally important things. -- Michael Zuzel, for the editorial board Web editor for Opinion is Michael Zuzel.

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