Joy Riders Damage Salmon Spawning Streambeds

A multi-agency task force says joy riders using four-wheel all-terrain vehicles damaged 1-1/2 miles of chinook salmon spawning streambeds during the Labor Day holiday.

Last week, an Idaho Fish and Game Department employee discovered that a stretch of the Salmon River near Stanley had been damaged by all-terrain vehicles driven over the gravel bars where the rare salmon lay their eggs.

Only two female chinook salmon have been counted as returning to the spawning area above the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery during the summer. Disturbance to the streambed was so extensive that biologists were unable to determine whether any redds or nests had been destroyed.

The Columbia Basin Salmon Enforcement Team, a multi-agency task force, is investigating the stream damage incident.

Conservation Officer Paul Valcarce said the damaged area contains some of the best spawning gravel in the head-waters of the Salmon River. Historically, that area has supported a lot of spawning chinook, averaging over 500 reds annually during the early 1970s.

“The section was the site of three redds two years ago,” he said. “This area in Blaine County is the furthest stretch of river for spawning chinook in the Northwest.” Adult chinook salmon travel 900 miles from the Pacific Ocean to reproduce in the headwaters of the Salmon River.