The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1919-11-06
H.R.G.P.A. ASSN
STOCKS STREAMS
god FISHING DECLARED AN ASSET
Men Who Participated in Banquet Last
Night Look to Future in
Tourist Attraction

lZaak Walton. patron saint of anglers
t erywhere. in his reverles, contem-
! atng the allurlng stream with it,
lmeTous and eager tnny denizens,
4yer for moment dreamed of the
t DIS to which subsequent generations
c. men would go to participate in his
beloved sport. Could the spirit of the
philosopher.angler be brought to Ore
gon today and taken for tour of the
big state fish hatchery at Bonneville
and lesser plants in other parts of the
state, undoubtedly it would be inoIdin
ately pleased.
The maintenance of game and fish
preserves, restocking them and con-
trolling the poacher, who it seems.
must remain in existence as surely as
the poor. is an old story. The game
keeper and the poacher recur at fire.
quent intervals in the novels of Sir
Walter Scott and Thomas Hardy.
They were and are types of earlier and
contemporary English and continental
European history. But over there,
both then and now, fishing and hunting
have been perpetuated as the sport of
the rich men and aristocrats.
In America, and we deal more es-
pecially with Oregon, the barefoot
farmer lad and the millionaire may
with equal pleasure and each Just as
freely, whip the stream for mountain
trout or troll for the royal chinook.
All that is required is state license
that costs annually Sl.50. Healtful
recreation is nations greatest need,
and the section of country equipped
for furnishing that recreation enjoys
an set Just as surely as do the rich
farm lands of the Mississippi valley in
taeir adaptability to corn. Oregon
long ago realized this. and her enter
Using citizens are beginning to reaD
profits from gifts of prodigal Mother
| Nature. A quarter of century ago
Oregon mountain streams fairly teemed
with gamey trout. The early adoption
of conservation might have avoided
much of the later day expense of prop.
| agating fry and restocking the noun
tain waters. But in the days of plenty
| fobodv thought of the future.
Ten years ago the Hood river, once
one of Oregon's finest fishing streams,
had lost so many of its tinny inhabit-
ants that it was in dlsfavor with an.
glers. In order to catch a mess Of
| trout it was necessary to travel far to.
ward the headwaters. Only the species
permanently living in the stream s
waters were caught. Chinook. steel
eads and salmon trout, migratory
pecles. ceased their annual runs. 1t
as in 1912 that the cause of the de-
cimation of the migratory game fish
vas discovered. Formerly Hood river
entered into the larger stream oblique-
| ly. Men s meddling with the conflu
ence, however, had caused debris to fill
INTO the old channel and the stream
Rad formed a great sand delta. In.
stead Of the formerl deep, swift chan
mel. Hood river entered the Columbia
over shallow bars. the numerous small
stream Joining the Columbia almost
at right angles. A study of the habits
of the migratory game species of fish
developed that they were attracted.
when on their spawning runs, only to
tributaries of the Columbia entering
the northwest mighty river by Deep
swift channels that penetrated the
greater stream in an oblique course. 1t
happened that Burnette E. Duncan in
1912 received an appointment to the
Oregon State Game and Fish Commits
sio. Naturally, he had at heart the
betterment of fishing in Hood River,
and receiving a nominal appropriation
for improvement of Hood river, de
clared closed salmon spawning stream
the year before, he raised larger ad-
ditional fund by subscription from local
anglers for construction of diversion
dam at the mouth of Hood river. Mr..
Duncan supervised the work himself.
Many men contributed their labor to
the crude dam. The structure lasted
only long enough to prove its worth.
The old channel was swept clear, and
Immediately the game chinooks, salm.
on trout and steelheads began to
swarm again in Hood river. A winter
freshet, howevr. swept away the DAM
The temporary success of Mr.. Dun
cans improvised dam attracted the at
tention of subsequent State Game anC
Fish Commissions, and further funds
were appropriated for building q
permanent diversion dam. Sportsmen
again contributed libeAlly and the
city, interested because the old chan
mel was needed in clearing an outlet
sewer, made an appropriation for the
work Today. with the stream made
available to the migratory fish and
with millions of mountain trout,
rainbow and steelhead fry plantec
here. Hood river is again becoming one
of the favored streams of Oregon ant
visiting anglers.
The diversion dam incident is i'm
portant in two ways. 1t has made
Hood river a practical spawning
stream for royal chinook, the Colum
bias great commercial fish. and it lee
to the organization of the Hood River
County Game Protective Association,
the members ofswhich have ceaselessy
worked for restocking of streams. for
est highways, makingiavaliable former
remote fishing waters and the genera
policy Of fish and game protection
The late D. Mcdonald, lover of out OF
door sports, has been known as the
daddy" of the game protective asso
citation. Its promotion was hobby OF
the last years of his life.
A criticism, oftime merited one
directed at sportsmen s associations j!
that they usually are formed of cit,
business men and merchants, who pro
mote the conservation of game fol
their own selfish ends. Mr.. Mcdonald
and his fellow officers succeeded in or
, ganizing membership with a major
| ity of ranchers and orchardists. 1t.
| members afe drawn from all section!