Monthly Feature Hosted By:
	David Phipps, GCSAA Class A member at Stone Creek Golf Club, Oregon City, OR

Often case studies will come by way of innovative ideas stemmed from an IPM program. In the case of Tony Lasher, CGCS, his came from the necessity to protect his property from a meandering wild and scenic river.

The “wild and scenic” designated Salmon River runs along side of the Resort at the Mountain in Welches Oregon, located just under the shadow of Mt. Hood. In 1996 Northwest Oregon experienced one of its largest floods in recent history. The Salmon River overran its banks beyond levels ever witnessed by our generation. Flood waters scoured over 100 feet of stream bank and threatened the first hole on one of Tony’s three nine-hole courses. A sewer line that ran parallel to the bank was also in danger of being exposed and damaged.

Tony knew that immediate action needed to be taken to preserve the property and protect the Salmon River from an eminent environmental catastrophe. Nearly ten years later Northwest Oregon experienced another rain event equally as great as the 1996 flood and Tony is happy to report the his stream restoration project is complete and it was instrumental in protecting his property and the river. .

Tony’s project not only provided protection to his property but also enhanced the salmon spawning habitat adjacent to his property. His project reflects multi-agency cooperation, his grant seeking initiative, and successful ecological restoration practices.

Tony, one of my fellow Oregon superintendents is no stranger to exhausting environmental work. He has also reestablished a native Coho salmon run which runs through a small stream throughout his property – another demonstration of grants and multi-agency cooperation.

Follow Tony’s case study and learn how he jumped through the permitting hoops with multiple governmental agencies and received grants in excess of $360,000 to complete the project.

If you are compelled to share an environmental case study, we would love to hear from you. Your completed case study will earn you 0.25 service points. If you have any questions feel free to contact myself at dcphipps@bctonline.com or Mark Johnson, GCSAA’s Senior Manager, Environmental Programs.

April's Guest:
	Duane Bishop, Acting District Ranger and District Fisheries Biologist, Zigzag Ranger District, Zigzag, Ore.

When I was first contacted to contribute to the Green Links with The Environmental Institute for Golf, I was perplexed at how I would possibly describe our outstanding partnership with the Resort at the Mountain in the article’s allotted space. There are so many elements to the project, from conservation education to small stream and large river restoration to ongoing outreach to other landowners in the basin. I have tried to distill a few segments of the project in the next few paragraphs, but I would strenuously encourage you to contact Tony or Ed to ‘hear the rest of the story’. 

I accepted the position at the Zigzag Ranger District seven and half years ago and during the first week I was introduced to Tony Lasher, the golf course superintendentat the Resort and Ed Hopper, the owner of the Resort. I thought it was both exciting and interesting to talk about riparian forest types and habitat for salmon spawning and rearing with two people, whom operated a golf course. After the introduction, I was amazed at what had been accomplished to date; largely from thousands of hours of volunteer labor completing fish habitat improvements by hand as well as projects involving tracked excavators and dump trucks, all of which were funded by the Resort and several grants. The second fall season I was at Zigzag was exhilarating to see adult coho salmon returning to Wee Burn Creek, a small stream that flows through the Resort, for the first time since 1928! It was equally exciting when, in the spring of the next year to see small schools of twenty to fifty baby salmon, referred to as “fry”, moving about in Wee Burn. Since that time, we have seen seven to fifteen coho salmon nests, referred to as redds, in Wee Burn every fall. Also, the Wee Burn channel has quickly changed from a trapezoidal ditch with little to no vegetation or cover to a much narrower, deeper more complex stream with a dense overstory made up of planted native trees and shrubs. These are some of the key elements of exceptional salmonid habitat. When I am hosting other practicing restoration biologist, hydrologist or state and federal agency representatives to the basin; the Resort is a required stop of mine. Tony and Ed also have hosted numerous tours to golf course professionals, explaining what ‘great salmon habitat’ looks like and what being thoughtful stewards of the 300 acres of Resort’s property is about.

In November 1999, western Oregon and Washington experienced a severe tropical storm that caused flooding and washed out roads. In the Salmon River watershed, where the Resort property lies within, this storm was a fifty-year flood event. Some believe this was larger in magnitude than the recent 1996 flood. Eighty to one hundred feet of the stream bank along the Resort property was washed away as the Salmon River laterally migrated. Buried in this streambank is a sewer line that services most homes in the area and upon its failure would drain raw sewage directly into the National Wild and Scenic Salmon River, likely affecting the three Federally Listed salmonid species and other resident fish. Ed Hopper, owner of the Resort immediately was on the phone making calls to federal, state and county agencies alerting them to the dire conditions. Growing up in rural Idaho, Ed understood that rivers can migrate across their flood plain because ‘that’s what they do’, but he was concerned about the horrible effects of loosing this sewer line would do to the river and the downstream residents.

The accompanying case study is a culmination of many actions that have happened since the 1999 flood. It has involved numerous grant applications, meetings and show-me trips with the goal of fixing the problems while maintaining or improving wildlife and fish habitat and meeting the stringent requirements of a Wild and Scenic River. Both Tony and Ed have been strong proponents of other restoration actions not only in the Salmon River, but also in the entire Sandy River basin, of which the Salmon River is a major tributary. In the last ten years the Forest Service and many other agencies and conservation groups have realized that improving or restoring our watersheds really needs to happen on private lands to been completely successful. Helping those landowners understand their critical role in stewardship of their land and the animals and fish that depend on it for habitat. To this end is truly how salmon recovery will succeed.