River Steward Program

Rogue River

Among Oregon rivers, the Rogue has history and glory. It is a remarkably productive watershed for salmonids, and maintaining its international reputation is important to the state.

The river has wild, native spring and fall chinook, coho, and winter and summer steelhead. The coho are an ESA-listed threatened species. The spring chinook is also in trouble, and the ODFW is developing a conservation plan for this species. The conservation plan for coastal steelhead will also include the Rogue River.

Many problems face the native salmonids in this river, ranging from logging, farming, urban development, dams, water withdrawals and high summer water temperatures. Solving these problems in the mainstem Rogue and its many tributaries is a huge challenge, but it must be done if the river and its historical significance are to be maintained.

Peter Tronquet and Steve Haskell are the Native Fish Stewards for the Rogue. Peter is serving on the spring chinook conservation planning team for the river. His email is: petert@bierson.com

Their work is to identify the problems and advocate solutions. Some of the major ones are water temperature, Savage Rapids Dam removal, and salmon recovery plans for spring chinook, summer steelhead, and coho salmon.