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, _ lssaquah School Board
sldent Brian Thomas said
Week he will not abandon
hooi board should he
elected a state
esentative. Thomas won
. §th District Republican
Mination in the September
Primary election.
M«'tlntaining both positions
.lee him unique insight,
mas maintains. He added
he will resign from the
WI board if the task of
no in the legislature be-
s.oven~helming and at:
.- his performance on the
——ln a little red
to while her 69"
aw McKean
‘tter drive ‘roun‘d
n this Weekend
Salmon Days means
.fun and crowds, lots of
8.
Cause the festival is so
lat. lssaquah’s Police
ailment will close a num-
:01 roads over the week-
Front Street from Gilman
, e to Newport will be
,d Saturday from 7 am.
Pm. The streets will be
- from 8 am. to 6 pm.
asunclay.
addition, Gilman will be
~atgy1c2losed from 7:30
I :30 pm. Saturd
the Salmon Days paras);
= festival's road race will
Gilman briefly from 9:30
m. on Sunday.
c south of the City is
to SFl-QOO to get
(d Issaquah, pence
1‘_
, uah’s moths
lit the bad kind
e,‘Irhe 16 moths trapped
, Ssaquah area by the
8 Department of
‘ iture aren't Asian
> i h Moths as feared.
e" . the department re-
the moths are
an Gypsies, a rela-
armless cousin of the
asatrain.
9 department trapped
“flth this summer’in an
0 determine locations
on Stan. strain, which
coniferous trees. As
ember 18, 22 moths
“M in traps in the
ah area.
3;: quah
2/ is :ted as a
.......... .. ‘ :\‘ :hery
no. it
‘ a re—
nter ....... u! i ,
/$5' 3,
............ .. 2 N .l in the
I___ .redttto
i Ed"
“S T ? , . ,
lNTES alter
\G I?‘ raring
(5R0.
i it b
Geno use the MayVailey ‘
Salmon Hatcher
y slated to close
Budget cuts responsible for roable clsur next spring
b Andrew McKean
Just as hundreds of thousands of
Salmon Days visitors descend on Is-
saquah, the state’s Department of
Fisheries has announced that it will
likely close the town’s salmon
hatchery.
The facility is one of a dozen
hatcherics statewide targeted for
closure because of budget shortfalls,
the department acknowledged last
week. ’
If the budget cuts are approved by
the legislature, the hatchery could
close by late next spring, ending a
54-year marriage between Issaquah
and its salmon.
The proposed hatchery closure is
the subject of a public hearing sche-
duled for next Wednesday, October
7, in Seattle. The department wants
comments on its proposed budget
that could reduce fisheries activity
by a third statewide.
The fate of hundreds of thousands
of Chinook and Coho salmon—and
Issaquah’s Salmon Days—rests on
the state’s decision, which will be
finalized December 9.
If the hatchery is closed, no more
. eggs would be, hatched and no more
juvenile salmon would be raised in
Issaquah, said Paul Seidel, manager
‘of the state’s Puget Sound hatch-
cries.
The thousands of salmon rctum?
ing to their spawning grounds next
fall would be either caught in the
ocean or allowed to spawn in the
upper reaches of Issaquah Creek,
said Seidel. Their path upstream is
currently blocked by the hatchery.
According to the state’s plans, the
hatchery buildings would remain on
the Sunset Way site. A single care-
taker would maintain the facility in
case thebud'get improved and the
state decided to reopen the hatchery
in the future. The other two staff
would be either laid off or trans-
ferred to other facilities in the state.
Issaquah was targeted for closure
because of its location and its
salmon stock, said Seidel.
The department is closing stocks
that aren’t genetically unique. Since
Issaquah’s salmon were originally
imported from the Green River, they
have little biological value to the
Fisheries Department.
Seidel also said that the depart-
ment wants to spread the impact of
hatchery closures statewide. A
dozen hatcheries are slated to be
closed; another dozen are targeted
for major reductions.
Seidel admitted that the public
education role of Issaquah’s hatch-
ery wasn’t taken into account when
compiling the closure list.
"The agency is aware of the pub-
Mlke Griffin and Jane Norwood, workers at Issaquah's Salmon Hatchery,
wash off their nets in preparation of
another season harvesting salmon eggs. Photo by Andrew McKean.
E"ir"marlh~llm 1‘ 4w MWIWW‘W'ANWWVJW WW“?! 2‘8?
l‘l‘.‘ 2' ‘l. '7'
as, hymn at). If! ‘o‘i‘, Imam; QWEIH' 370“ .‘Xib‘fi‘x
was,” I» ,." Mali 5.831121 7r Kfimx
Late rain aids returning Chinook, Coho
Rod Henderson looks at the
gloomy sky and smiles.
Last weekend’s rain was a bless-
ing for Henderson and his staff. This
summer’s drbught has kept creek
levels low into the fall, and the
Chinook salmon run was running
weeks behind schedule.
Until last weekend, that is.
Three hundred fifty Chinook had
returned to the hatchery by Monday,
That’s still behind normal, but
Henderson was visibly relieved after
counting just 150 by last
Wednesday. .
“They’re coming,” he said_
The Chinook, or king salmon,
will keep Salmon Days visitors en-
iranced. The smaller Coho, or silver,
salmon won’t begin returning until
All aboard
, to Issaquah
Historical society wants
to reactivate train line
b Melissa London
In 1983, it was the historic
Gilman Town Hall, now a museum
of early Issaquah artifacts. In 1984,
it was the Issaquah Train Depot,
followed by the Alexander House.
Most recently, the Issaquah
Historical Society began renovation
of an old warehouse at First and
Bush Streets in downtown Issaquah.
This year, the society plans its
biggest undertaking yet: to restore
passenger train service to the north,
along a route that will eventually
connect Issaquah with Woodinville.
The tracks run along Lake
Sammamish, parallel to the East
Lake Sammamish Parkway.
The society has appointed Ted
Cook Jr. as chairman of its recently
formed Train Committee, charged
with looking at the cost and fcaSibil-
ity ofreactivating theold steam
engine line. Although passenger
service was discontinued in the
1940s, Burlington Northern still
uses the track for commercial trans-
port.
As a future tourism and market- ‘
ing enterprise, reinstating the line
will bring a piece of historic
Issaquah back to life. and it will at-
is
tract'thousands of new. visitors to
the area each year, explained Cook.
Like the upcoming Salmon Days
festival, “the train could also bring a
large number of visrtors to Issaquah,
the difference being that they would
be spread out thIOUEhOUt the spring,
summer and. fall seasons without,
impacting the city all at one time,"
he noted.
“In addition to Preservmg the
past, this could the second big
boom for the city and its busi-
nesses,” Cook added.
While committed to seeing it
through, Cook notes It 18 still early
in the process. .
“There's a host of engines avail-
able out there. bl" “‘6 Purpose of
this [committee] is to get peeple’s
interest up and ms“ the SUPPOI't of
area clubs and cities,”
he said. _ v .
The future plan IS to run train
service from Issaqilah to the north,
eventually connectingihe city with
a turn-around point just north of
Woodinville’s Chateau Ste.
Michelle winery.
Winery officials said they would
A
See TRAIN on page 3
l ,
it ..
late in the month.
Henderson noted that a higher
than normal number of Sockeye
salmon have come to the hatchery
this fall. The Sockeye are bright red
with mOSSy green heads, and aren’t
raised at the hatchery.
This week marks the normal high
point in the salmon run. Issaquah V
needs still more rain to raise the
creek level and get salmon moving,
said Henderson.
“If things don’t change substan-
tially, We 00"” be looking at a
shortage for fall Chinook,” he said.
Last year the creek level was also
low andrthc hatcbcry didn’t get
normal numbers 0f the big fish.
Henderson had to import Chinook
eggs from lhe Green River to meet
The Historical sOclety expects to have a train like this one, circa 1988,
his production schedule.
The Coho run should be normal
because the creek’s level is substan-
tially higher later in the fall.
3,123 r},
tr count
Chinook \ 350
Coho ooo
running the ""68 between Issaquah and Woodinville.
Ted, Cook, 5"- checks out an old engine In Tacoma that needs much
restoration work.
. t
, l
lic information function of Issa-
quah,” said Seidel. “More visitors
come into Issaquah than any other
[of the 22 Puget Sound hatcheries].
Is that a high priority? I don’t
know.” .
Seidel noted that the closure list,
compiled earlier this month, is pre-
liminary and was intended to trim
16 percent from last year’s budget,
which was itself nine percent lower
‘You could see
what’s proposed
new change any
number of times.’ .
— Paul Seidel
Salmonculture manager
than in 1990. Issaquah’s hatchery
consumed about two percent of the
state’s $8.1 million salmonculture
budget last year.
The budget cuts will likely be in-
corporated in Governor Booth
Gardner’s 1993-95 spending plan,
but since a new governor will be
elected in November, the budget
could change by the time it reaches
the legislature in the spring.
“You could see what’s proposed
now change any number of times
between now and then,” Seidel said.
Salmon hatcheries aren’t the only
budget items on the state’s chopping
block this fall. Revenue projections
have shown a $1.6 billion shortfall
for next year, mainly because the
sluggish economy isn’t generating
sufficient sales taxes to keep state
spending at even last year’s levels.
State parks, transportation and
wildlife departments have all been
targeted for substantial budget cuts.
But the impact of Issaquah’s , a:
hatchery closure can’t be measured
in dollars, say local officials.
For instance, would Salmon Days
continue if the hatchery closes?
“As long as salmon come up the
creek, there will be a Salmon Days,"
said Chamber of Commerce
President Jack Porter. “If the salmon
stop coming, the community will
have to decide the future of the fes-
tival.”
The chamber sponsors the annual
event, which brings about 200,000
visitors to Issaquah each fall. The
festival will be held this weekend,
October 3 and 4.
The public hearing on the
Fisheries budget is slated for
Thursday, October 7, at 7 pm. The
hearing will be held in Room RS—
79, South Seattle Community "4’
College, 6000 16th Ave. SW in~
Seattle.
Salmon
Days
returns
Issaquah residents and mer-
chants are welcoming the annual
return of the salmon, along with
the area’s biggest festival—
Salmon Days 1992.
The festival begins with its
traditional Saturday morning pa-
rade at 10, and ends with a vari-
ety of entertainment for all
tastes. Festival hours are
Saturday, October 3, and
Sunday, October 4, from 10 am.
to 6 pm.
On Sunday, the Rotary 5K and
10K run will start the festivities
at 9:30 am. ,
Activities scheduled for both
days include the Issaquah histor-
‘ ical display, the Kids’ Fair, trout
fishing and salmon watch creek
walks. Salmon Days also tradi-
tionally features a variety of ‘
food, arts and craft vendors.
Festival programs detailing all
the events are available at The
Issaquah Press on Front Street
and the Salmon Days staff office
at the Issaquah Depot.
Salmon Days is one of the
largest regional festivals in the
Northwest, attracting more than
230,000 visitors in 1991. It is
sponsored by the Issaquah
Chamber of Commerce.