Clearwater log drives

I enjoyed them all, including the log flume video. There's still part of a flume left in the Columbia gorge.
 
The Ottawa River Valley held log drives, and floated log rafts to Montreal and Quebec City for 150 years up until the mid 1950s. Mishaps and fatalities were commonplace enough to become became part and parcel of folklore and were the unspoken essence of a log driver's job description. Modern mindset about safety of workers was never an issue at the time and anyone that goofed (was hurt or drowned or died) was themselves deemed at fault.
Lucky for us that times and attitudes have changed!
 
You have to wonder what that level of activity did to mortality rates among the spring fish hatch. And just imagine how badly spawning gravels would get silted up. I bet both sport fisherman and commercial harvesters were glad when the practice ended.
 
Square_peg said:
You have to wonder what that level of activity did to mortality rates among the spring fish hatch. And just imagine how badly spawning gravels would get silted up. I bet both sport fisherman and commercial harvesters were glad when the practice ended.
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"EFFECTS OF LOG DRIVING
ON SALMON POPULATIONS

...During early development of logging
in the Pacific region of the United
States, log driving in many streams
with insufficient flow required periodic
releases of water from splash dams.
These surges of water and logs eroded
streambeds, gouged banks, straightened
river channels, and prevented fish from
spawning. Eggs previously deposited
were subject to heavy losses by scouring
and silting, or by the reduced flow when
the splash dam was closed. In addition,
rearing areas for stream-dwelling
species—such as coho and chinook salmon
and trout—were largely destroyed...
Besides harming the fish, splashing
often adversely affected the
stream environment. Moving logs
gouged furrows in the gravel, and
the suddenly increased flows scoured
or moved the gravel bars, leaving
only barren bedrock or heavy
boulders. New stream channels were
constantly being created and the
existing ones changed. If the
sudden influx of logs into the
stream below the dam caused a log
jam, as often happened, dynamite or
black powder was used to clear the
obstruction. In those days the
policy seems to have been that if
two boxes of powder would suffice,
four were used. On some areas
below dams in the lower Humptulips
region, an average of five boxes of
powder a day were used to break up
log jams. Great numbers of salmon
and steelhead trout were reportedly
killed by these blasts...

The effects of driving logs down a
salmon stream are illustrated well
in the Adams River. Bars and
shallows are deepened and pools are
filled due to gouging of the bottom.
Curves on the course are straightened
by the impact of floating logs
and the stream tends to become a
swift straight raceway of uniform
depth and velocity. When driving
ceases, the river begins a return to
the natural conditions, but the
process is slow. Eleven years later
the Adams River still shows markedly
the alterations due to the movement
of logs."

pages 8-10

from
USDA FOREST SERVICE
General Technical Report PNW-186
INFLUENCE OF FOREST
AND RANGELAND MANAGEMENT
ON ANADROMOUS FISH HABITAT
IN WESTERN NORTH AMERICA
William R. Meehan, Technical Editor
5. Water Transportation and Storage of Logs
JAMES R. SEDELL
Forestry Sciences Laboratory
Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station
Corvallis. Oregon 97331
WAYNE S. DUVAL
Environmental Sciences Limited
Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 3E4
1985
https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr186.pdf
 
I know we are still floating logs around here. But they are rafts pulled with a tugboat. Not at all sure what the environmental implications are.
 
That's cool. I'm surprised to hear that. I never see them on the Snake anymore and rarely see them on the Columbia. I know they still move rafts on the Frasier up in B.C.
 
Ah, so maybe those weren't entirely 'the good old days' after all!
When I was a boy in the late 1950s and during the 60s it was treacherous to run a motor boat or keeled sailboat outside of the buoy-marked main channel on the Ottawa River because of all the submerged logs that shifted around just below the surface. The ends of ones that poked up out of the water were always referred to as 'deadheads'. Many fishermen, rowers and canoeists of the time were conscientious enough to try to string-tie empty white Javex bottles to as many of them as they could. Because of this some bays and backwaters from a distance looked like they were fielding a magnificent crop of white water lily blooms. Of course bass and pike fishing tended to be very good in these locations too, thanks to the man-made habitat.
 
300Six said:
Ah, so maybe those weren't entirely 'the good old days' after all!
When I was a boy in the late 1950s and during the 60s it was treacherous to run a motor boat or keeled sailboat outside of the buoy-marked main channel on the Ottawa River because of all the submerged logs that shifted around just below the surface. The ends of ones that poked up out of the water were always referred to as 'deadheads'. Many fishermen, rowers and canoeists of the time were conscientious enough to try to string-tie empty white Javex bottles to as many of them as they could. Because of this some bays and backwaters from a distance looked like they were fielding a magnificent crop of white water lily blooms. Of course bass and pike fishing tended to be very good in these locations too, thanks to the man-made habitat.
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There has to be a gold mine of sinker logs on many of these rivers. Probably plenty of red tape to retrieve them and much difficulty involved.
 
garry3 said:
There has to be a gold mine of sinker logs on many of these rivers. Probably plenty of red tape to retrieve them and much difficulty involved.
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This is indeed the case! River's End Company, with boats, chains, winches and scuba divers on staff, sprung up to capitalize on recovering these sinkers already 2 decades ago but have had to pay stumpage and royalties on all of them, which has proven not to be a joke financially. The butt stamp JRB shows up on a lot of these (19th century lumber baron J R Booth) and various agencies and levels of gov't (municipal/provincial/federal) plus Estates have all cheerfully been busy jockeying around within the courts endeavoring to cash in on the efforts. The recovered logs are being handled by a prominent local sawmill and urban Yuppies and rustic-pretend fashionistas are paying an exorbitant premium to have the privilege of showing off 'reclaimed timber' floors, mouldings, cabinets and countertops.
 
300Six said:
This is indeed the case! River's End Company, with boats, chains, winches and scuba divers on staff, sprung up to capitalize on recovering these sinkers already 2 decades ago but have had to pay stumpage and royalties on all of them, which has proven not to be a joke financially. The butt stamp JRB shows up on a lot of these (19th century lumber baron J R Booth) and various agencies and levels of gov't (municipal/provincial/federal) plus Estates have all cheerfully been busy jockeying around within the courts endeavoring to cash in on the efforts. The recovered logs are being handled by a prominent local sawmill and urban Yuppies and rustic-pretend fashionistas are paying an exorbitant premium to have the privilege of showing off 'reclaimed timber' floors, mouldings, cabinets and countertops.
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It's interesting that estates have been wanting a piece of the pie also but I shouldn't be surprised.

Some of those sinkers are of a quality that simply is not available today. Add in the different minerals that can be absorbed depending on the make up of the river bottom and how long it's been down there and it's very desirable lumber indeed.
 
I've had the opportunity to dive (only 10-15 feet deep) at a former mill site that folded in the 1930s not far from here. It appears to have specialized in hardwoods and most of the sunken saw logs have turned out to be Red Oak. The current owner of the site has had a hankering to dispense with formality/legality and spirit a few out of the water after dark every now and again and discretely mill them but so far it hasn't happened. I suspect that timber that has been exposed to small amounts of sunlight and oxygen (ie not buried in the mud, or down in deep water) won't be of superior quality but then again there's a lot of firewood down there if it comes to that.
 
Square_peg said:
I enjoyed them all, including the log flume video. There's still part of a flume left in the Columbia gorge.
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The flume that started in Willard, WA out of the Little White Salmon river. I worked for the Forest Service out of the Willard office while the mill and flume were still in actual operation. Lassie rode a log down it once before I started there.
It is in pretty sad shape these days.
 
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When I pulled that Youtube video up I found they had the Lassie version too. I had never actually seen it so I was surprised to find she went down the mountain in flume boat. What I do remember is how many nice trout were in the little pond they made to feed the flume!
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
The flume that started in Willard, WA out of the Little White Salmon river. I worked for the Forest Service out of the Willard office while the mill and flume were still in actual operation. Lassie rode a log down it once before I started there.
It is in pretty sad shape these days.
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I understand originally it carried firewood for the riverboats, then transitioned to logs & semifinished lumber.
It was shut down in '85.
For the folks living nearby or kids drinking parties along its right of way, It made a great garbage disposal.
 
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