Author Scott Sadil Heads Up the Columbia River to Save Fish

Here’s an initial report on the progress of angling author Scott Sadil, who’s navigating Washington’s and Oregon’s Columbia River and Washington’s and Idaho’s Snake River in hopes of drawing attention to beleaguered native fish in both rivers. Sadil is an outstanding author who lives in Hood River, Oregon, and is keenly aware of diminished steelhead and salmon returns to both rivers. We’ll keep you posted this summer as Sadil continues his trek in the name of salmon and steel.

Hood River, OR July 6, 2013  Local author and teacher Scott Sadil arrived today in Hood River, completing the initial 170-mile leg of his voyage from the mouth of the Columbia to Lewiston, Idaho.

Sadil hopes his journey will increase awareness of the health of both the Columbia and Snake rivers and their dwindling runs of anadromous fish.

Sailing and rowing Tia, a stitch-and-glue Swampscott dory he built last spring, Sadil completed the first leg of the trip in just thirteen days.  Today, he enjoyed a morning of typical summer winds in the Gorge, making the twenty-mile downwind run from Stevenson, Wash., in just under five hours.

“Once you pass the first dam, the current no longer plays such a significant role in the character of the Columbia,” said Sadil.  “That’s good for sailors but not for salmon.”

Dam regulations at Bonneville forbid boats without motors to pass through the locks, forcing Sadil to take out his boat at Beacon Rock State Park and put it back in the river at Stevenson.

“It’s kind of a hassle to have somebody show up with a trailer each time you reach a dam,” said Sadil.  “But imagine what it’s like for a fish.”

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