PORTLAND, Ore. - Within a few hours of opening the Minto Fish Collection Facility’s entrance gate on April 1, the first winter steelhead had made its way through the facility and back into the North Santiam River below Big Cliff and Detroit dams.
It’s no joke: Project manager Chris Budai opened the Minto Fish Collection Facility’s entrance gate April 1 at 11 a.m. Within a few hours, the first winter steelhead had made its way through the facility and back into the North Santiam River below Big Cliff and Detroit dams.
Thirty one fish had joined him after only five days of operation.
The new facility provides passage for endangered winter steelhead that spawn between Minto and Big Cliff dams. The facility also traps endangered spring Chinook salmon for transportation to their natural spawning grounds upriver of Detroit Dam.
For more information about the Minto Fish Collection Facility Rebuild Project, visit http://go.usa.gov/T3AK.