FORKS (Aug. 6, 2002) — A cloud of mosquitoes follows Gene Gaddis and his crew of two as they scramble over a fallen tree in a small tributary of the Bogachiel River on the Olympic Peninsula. Swatting at the ravenous pests, the Quileute fisheries crew proceeds upstream, stopping at regular intervals to measure the width of the stream, noting tributaries and fish barriers, and checking for the presence of fish.
The crew is helping to complete the stream typing for the Bogachiel River watershed, a task that has already been completed for every other major watershed in the Quillayute River system. Stream typing is a system of identifying types of habitat for fish, water flows and obstacles to fish passage. Tribes, as co-managers of the salmon resource, have surveyed thousands of miles of stream, inventorying fish habitat and identifying problem areas that can be fixed to improve conditions for salmon survival.
