02-22-2008, 06:10 PM
The long-simmering dispute between two outdoors agencies over whether fishing should be allowed in Spirit Lake is heating up again.
State wildlife director Jeff Koenings says he will talk with U.S. Forest Service leaders in Washington, D.C., next week about allowing a very limited trout fishery in Spirit Lake.
Around eight years ago, reports of lunker trout in the 2,200-acre lake at the foot of Mount St. Helens began to circulate. Anglers started clamoring for access to the lake.
Among the groups lobbying for fishing is the Clark-Skamania Flyfishers, which have been discussing the matter with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Gifford Pinchot National Forest for five years.
The Forest Service is not receptive, countering there are other nearby places to fish, including Coldwater and Castle lakes.
"Spirit Lake is a large lake with large fish," Clark-Skamania conservation chair Craig T. Lynch told the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission earlier this month. "It's been closed to the public since the mountain blew (in 1980)."
Koenings said the state already has approached local and regional Forest Service officials about fishing in Spirit Lake.
"It's my intent when I go back to D.C. at the end of February to have a discussion in D.C. as well," he said. "They're the landowner. We've got to have their permission if we want to have access unless by helicopter."
Peter Frenzen, scientist for the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, said Congress set aside 110,000 acres following the eruption for natural recovery of the landscape.
He doesn't see a new fishery at Spirit Lake as part of that process.
"It's public land, and we understand state fish and wildlife has its view," Frenzen said. "There's an equally strong scientific and biological community who see it as a long-term resource and a place for research and recovery."
The north side of Mount St. Helens, including the Spirit Lake basin, is considered the highest value area for research and most ecologically sensitive, he said.
Sampling has found Spirit Lake full of large rainbow trout, some the size of steelhead, said John Weinheimer, a state fish biologist.
Spawning success in the lake appears intermittent, with the trout using springs on the lake bottom and bits of tributary streams, he added.
"There's a certain sense of urgency to getting some public opportunity at the lake," Weinheimer said. "As we have seen at Castle Lake, the size of fish at Spirit Lake is going down over time. As the lake and stream habitat stabilizes the number of fish increases. There is going to be more competition for food."
In 2001, the average size of a rainbow trout was 4.2 pounds. In 2007, it was about 2.8 pounds.
"It would be nice for the public to experience catching these fish at this large size while they are still available," Weinheimer said.
State officials have considered a permit-only, catch-and-release fishery open Saturdays between Memorial Day weekend and Oct. 31 with no angling from shore or a floating device equipped with a motor. Permits would be limited to 10 per Saturday.
Sportsmen would have to check in and out at the end of an access trail and record data on the fish they catch and release.
Pat Michael of the Department of Fish and Wildlife said the policy-setting Fish and Wildlife Commission did not consider such a season for the 2008-09 regulation cycle because there is no agreement with the Forest Service.
Frenzen said there are safety concerns about allowing fishermen in float tubes or rubber rafts on Spirit Lake.
"Those logs on the surface are large and shift with the wind," he said. "I'd not go in there in a float tube or raft. It's hazardous enough in an aluminum boat. Those are 3- and 4-feet diameter logs."
Weinheimer said research and recreation co-exist all over the world, citing Yellowstone park as an example.
Harmony Ttrail No. 224, which is one mile with 700 feet of elevation gain, is the only point where the public can get to the shore of Spirit Lake.
Coldwater Lake, an approximately 800-acre lake created in 1980 when the eruption dammed Coldwater Creek, has a boat ramp, fish-cleaning station and 16-inch trout.
Frenzen said the management strategy always has been to provide recreation at accessible locations such as Coldwater Lake, not at remote places such as Spirit Lake.
"People who know how to fish Coldwater Lake quit when their arms get tired. These are people who know how to match the insect hatch and where the fish are eating and when."
The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument has not allowed off-trail travel on the fragile north side of the peak, but has agreed to a loosening of that restriction to permit some limited elk hunting in the future.
Frenzen said allowing limited elk hunting near Spirit Lake is intended to bring the herd down to a size more appropriate for the habitat, not to provide more recreation.
As forest plantations around the peak mature, the amount of forage for elk is decreasing, he said.
"Our decision to allow a limited elk hunt benefits the native vegetation, not just the elk," Frenzen said. "It's an apples-and-orange thing to compare it to fishing in Spirit Lake. It's not the same situation."
Public access around Mount St. Helens is dwindling, Lynch, a Ridgefield-area resident, told the commission.
He mentioned Weyerhaeuser's sale of the High Lakes, which in past years were popular fishing spots.
"On the south end, a private developer has put in houses on Pine Creek, which is the largest stream that spawns endangered bull trout," Lynch said. "The Gifford Pinchot sport fishery is being squashed both places. If we could get some mitigation by opening Spirit Lake on some limited basis I think it would be a good thing for everybody."
Frenzen said priorities for the Forest Service include repairing damage done in the flooding of November 2006.
Road No. 83 just east of Marble Mountain Sno-Park and Road No. 81 north of Kalama Horse Camp are major travel routes still waiting repair, he said. A trail bridge in Lava Canyon was blown away and there are impassable washouts on the Loowit and Truman trails.
"We're interested in trying to maintain and restore what's out there," Frenzen said.
State wildlife director Jeff Koenings says he will talk with U.S. Forest Service leaders in Washington, D.C., next week about allowing a very limited trout fishery in Spirit Lake.
Around eight years ago, reports of lunker trout in the 2,200-acre lake at the foot of Mount St. Helens began to circulate. Anglers started clamoring for access to the lake.
Among the groups lobbying for fishing is the Clark-Skamania Flyfishers, which have been discussing the matter with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Gifford Pinchot National Forest for five years.
The Forest Service is not receptive, countering there are other nearby places to fish, including Coldwater and Castle lakes.
"Spirit Lake is a large lake with large fish," Clark-Skamania conservation chair Craig T. Lynch told the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission earlier this month. "It's been closed to the public since the mountain blew (in 1980)."
Koenings said the state already has approached local and regional Forest Service officials about fishing in Spirit Lake.
"It's my intent when I go back to D.C. at the end of February to have a discussion in D.C. as well," he said. "They're the landowner. We've got to have their permission if we want to have access unless by helicopter."
Peter Frenzen, scientist for the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, said Congress set aside 110,000 acres following the eruption for natural recovery of the landscape.
He doesn't see a new fishery at Spirit Lake as part of that process.
"It's public land, and we understand state fish and wildlife has its view," Frenzen said. "There's an equally strong scientific and biological community who see it as a long-term resource and a place for research and recovery."
The north side of Mount St. Helens, including the Spirit Lake basin, is considered the highest value area for research and most ecologically sensitive, he said.
Sampling has found Spirit Lake full of large rainbow trout, some the size of steelhead, said John Weinheimer, a state fish biologist.
Spawning success in the lake appears intermittent, with the trout using springs on the lake bottom and bits of tributary streams, he added.
"There's a certain sense of urgency to getting some public opportunity at the lake," Weinheimer said. "As we have seen at Castle Lake, the size of fish at Spirit Lake is going down over time. As the lake and stream habitat stabilizes the number of fish increases. There is going to be more competition for food."
In 2001, the average size of a rainbow trout was 4.2 pounds. In 2007, it was about 2.8 pounds.
"It would be nice for the public to experience catching these fish at this large size while they are still available," Weinheimer said.
State officials have considered a permit-only, catch-and-release fishery open Saturdays between Memorial Day weekend and Oct. 31 with no angling from shore or a floating device equipped with a motor. Permits would be limited to 10 per Saturday.
Sportsmen would have to check in and out at the end of an access trail and record data on the fish they catch and release.
Pat Michael of the Department of Fish and Wildlife said the policy-setting Fish and Wildlife Commission did not consider such a season for the 2008-09 regulation cycle because there is no agreement with the Forest Service.
Frenzen said there are safety concerns about allowing fishermen in float tubes or rubber rafts on Spirit Lake.
"Those logs on the surface are large and shift with the wind," he said. "I'd not go in there in a float tube or raft. It's hazardous enough in an aluminum boat. Those are 3- and 4-feet diameter logs."
Weinheimer said research and recreation co-exist all over the world, citing Yellowstone park as an example.
Harmony Ttrail No. 224, which is one mile with 700 feet of elevation gain, is the only point where the public can get to the shore of Spirit Lake.
Coldwater Lake, an approximately 800-acre lake created in 1980 when the eruption dammed Coldwater Creek, has a boat ramp, fish-cleaning station and 16-inch trout.
Frenzen said the management strategy always has been to provide recreation at accessible locations such as Coldwater Lake, not at remote places such as Spirit Lake.
"People who know how to fish Coldwater Lake quit when their arms get tired. These are people who know how to match the insect hatch and where the fish are eating and when."
The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument has not allowed off-trail travel on the fragile north side of the peak, but has agreed to a loosening of that restriction to permit some limited elk hunting in the future.
Frenzen said allowing limited elk hunting near Spirit Lake is intended to bring the herd down to a size more appropriate for the habitat, not to provide more recreation.
As forest plantations around the peak mature, the amount of forage for elk is decreasing, he said.
"Our decision to allow a limited elk hunt benefits the native vegetation, not just the elk," Frenzen said. "It's an apples-and-orange thing to compare it to fishing in Spirit Lake. It's not the same situation."
Public access around Mount St. Helens is dwindling, Lynch, a Ridgefield-area resident, told the commission.
He mentioned Weyerhaeuser's sale of the High Lakes, which in past years were popular fishing spots.
"On the south end, a private developer has put in houses on Pine Creek, which is the largest stream that spawns endangered bull trout," Lynch said. "The Gifford Pinchot sport fishery is being squashed both places. If we could get some mitigation by opening Spirit Lake on some limited basis I think it would be a good thing for everybody."
Frenzen said priorities for the Forest Service include repairing damage done in the flooding of November 2006.
Road No. 83 just east of Marble Mountain Sno-Park and Road No. 81 north of Kalama Horse Camp are major travel routes still waiting repair, he said. A trail bridge in Lava Canyon was blown away and there are impassable washouts on the Loowit and Truman trails.
"We're interested in trying to maintain and restore what's out there," Frenzen said.