The Hatchery, Washington

Site Information

• Site Coordinator: Patrick Quigley
• Location: Washington, west of Underwood
• Property Owner/Managing Agency: Washington State Parks
• Other Details: See Columbia Gorge Recreation Coalition web site for GRC Proposals for The Hatchery.

Work Party Notes for This Year

• None scheduled yet for 2008 windsurfing season.

Beach Work and Site History

• 2007- Annual Spring and Fall clean-ups held in May and September. Work included vegitation removal, trimming and litter removal.
• 2006 Work- 2 work parties / Washington State Park permit fees refunded.
  • Primarily litter pickup as well as invasive weed control: blackberries, knapweed, and scotch broom.
  • DAKINE & Subway sponsored work party- Litter Pickup - lots of little stuff everywhere: parking lot, riprap rocks, beach areas, etc. Weed Pulling - knapweed, scotch broom, & blackberries are all back Pruning - the small new shoots head height & lower to keep access areas & views clear Beach Cleanups - along east end coves, of the deadwood & other debris that have collected with the water's rise. Establishing Rock Stairway - east of the vault toilet
• 2005 Work- Spread wood chips on footpaths, cleaned up debris and improving “staircase” near vault toilet.
• 2004- 4 work parties / A vault toilet (2-room) installed in May
  • Work Party- Parking improvements planned- CGWA volunteers are working with WA Parks to improve parking for RVs and autos. Hopefully, next season you will see the changes. CGWA has submitted requests under the WA Parks Community Projects category. WA Parks has accepted Project #1, which when completed will improve one parking area
  • 'Your Rental Center' sponsored Work party- Trash & debris cleanup, removal of non-native plants, repaired trails, cleaned coves and shoreline & brush removal for improved parking
  • Hatch-Match Donor Drive raises $700 to be used to improve the site. < More details >
  • DAKINE sponsored work party- CGWA volunteers picked up trash on the ground and in the rip rap, pulled knapweed and cleaned up and cut growth in the new rigging area on the west side. They had planned to help Washington State Parks with landscaping around the new vault toilet, but the trees and shrubs weren’t ready. < More details >
  • North Parking Lot Temporarily Blocked < More details >
• 2003- The CGWA submitted a proposal to the WA State Parks Foundation for some enhancements to the site. < More details >
• 2002- The WA State Park Commissioners decided to keep the parks open on a trial basis to be reviewed in September. Park fees charged for parking.
• 2001-
  • Work Party: Volunteers, under the direction of Washington State Park ranger Andy Kallinen and CGWA site liaison Patrick Quigley, cleaned up winter storm debris, trimmed dead branches off trees, cut out the remaining blackberry bushes on the west end, cleared Knapweed and cleaned out the cove.
  • Hatchery Celebrates Centennial < More details >
• 2000 Work- Some of these improvements were done to get the site ready for the 2000 Subaru Gorge Games windsurfing event.
• 1999- The Hatchery is now an Oregon State Park. < More details >
• 1996-1998 Improvements

Work Party and Site Images

Rigging area after pole removal 200	3 Rigging area before pole removal 2003	Volunteers doing cleanup 2000
Washington State Park ranger Andy Kallinen (left) and CGWA secretary Patrick Quigley (right). CGWA adopts the Spring Creek Hatchery State Park. 2000	CGWA volunteers picking up trash in the rip rap 2000	CGWA volunteers cleaning out the Cove 2000
The Cove 2000	The rip rap 2000	Volunteer with a weed eater. 2000
Washington State Park ranger Andy Kallinen spreading the gravel to improve access to the parking lot 2000	Fred Noble on left with other CGWA volunteers; Rich Davis, Washington Park ranger working with auger. They needed the auger to dig the holes for the signs. 2000	Limitless Events and Marketing (Peg Lalor) went 50/50 with CGWA buy to gravel to smooth out the lip between the road and the parking area at the Hatchery. 2000
A load of gravel goes fast. 2000	Fall 1998 cleanup day at the Hatchery. Lots of nasty weeds, not too much trash. 1998

2004 Hatch-Match Drive Donors

Total donated as of 10/5/04, $700

• Henry and Inge Stolz, $50
• Fred Noble, $50
• Gay Jervey, $300
• Matthew Bronson, $50
• Peter V. Erickson, $100
• Eric Sanford, $50
• Jay Sherrerd, $50
• Melanie Quigley, $50
• Brian and Karen Shortt, of SHORTT SUPPLY, Hood River's Best Road and Trail Running Store (1414 12th St), have matched Fred's $50 and Henry's $50. They will donate $5 for each CGWA Member coming through their store door that announces "I'm a Member of CGWA".

All donations have been placed in Access for the Hatchery. After the work party there will be a site review to see what's next. We're spending your money wisely.

2004 Work Party Sponsored by DAKINE

August 7, 2004- The August 7th work party at the Hatchery was characterized by record-breaking attendance and effort. Fifteen dedicated volunteers even stayed an extra two hours to load as much tree debris and other material as possible on a truck heading for the dump. They did general cleanup. CGWA volunteers picked up trash on the ground and in the rip rap, pulled knapweed and cleaned up and cut growth in the new rigging area on the west side. They had planned to help Washington State Parks with landscaping around the new vault toilet, but the trees and shrubs weren’t ready. The east cove area was transformed. Low-lying branches were trimmed from trees; brush and dead, fallen trees were removed to make room for more rigging. Picnic tables were moved to new sites: a viewpoint above the launch and under the shade of a newly cleared area adjacent to the launch. The group also prepared plans for additional parking spaces along the roadway. A highlight of the work party was a drawing for door prizes. Everyone went away with T-shirts, packs, gloves, and good feelings, thanks to generous support from DAKINE, Real Wind, and Washington State Parks. Thank you! Thank you, volunteers: Sharon McCormack, Fred Noble, Neal Pearson, Ken Maddox, Ann Peacock, Patti & Charlie Langmaid, Steve VanTuyl, Meri Stratton, Fran Dickson, Roger Meier, Chris Creasy, Chris Bahrey, Frank Saab, Robin Schwartz and liaison Patrick Quigley.

CGWA members Sharon McCormack, Ken Maddox and Neal Pearson discussing work project with WA Ranger Andy Kallinen. New vault toilet in background.

2004 North Parking Lot Temporarily Blocked

March 24, 2004- Parking in the vacant lot on the north side of Highway 14 has been blocked to provide space for a school bus turn-around. CGWA is working with the property owners and the school to adjust this situation. The school bus will need part of the area Monday-Friday (excluding school holidays & summer vacation), but shouldn’t have a major impact on windsurfer parking. It needs to be noted that this is private property, and the owners allowed parking. So, once the lot has been opened up, please do not park where the signs say, “no parking” or access could be closed completely again. Please tell your friends.

2003 CGWA Applies for Grant

August 26, 2003- The CGWA submitted a proposal to the WA State Parks Foundation for some enhancements to the site.

Although CGWA’s proposed Hatchery project didn’t make the cut for this $5,000 grant, the Association will continue to request improvements from Washington State Parks and will help in procuring funding for them. The Association adopted Spring Creek Hatchery State Park some years ago through Washington State Parks’ “Adopt-A-Park” program and will continue to help maintain this site.

CGWA also formed the Columbia Gorge Recreation Coalition to seek Scenic Area Recreation Construction Funds for access improvements, which includes the Hatchery site.

2002 Work Party Report

Work Party summary, by Patrick Quigley

May 18, 2002- This work party was held on the same day as the SOLV effort on the Oregon side. Our major activity was Knapweed removal. We are finding that over time we are indeed making progress reducing the presence of this highly invasive and hardy weed. But it is an ongoing battle, and we must continue to dig it up by hand (and shovel), complementing Washington Park's application of weed killer. We also found and disposed of two large piles of dead Knapweed on the grounds that could have been contributing to the population. At least 20 large garbage bags were filled with the green stuff. We left feeling good about our team effort. We also did a general litter patrol.

A Knapweed Narration by Patrick Quigley ("Webster's Dictionary: A widely naturalized European perennial with tough wiry stems and knobby heads of purple flowers"

The above nomenclature doesn't sound too nasty, but I feel it necessary for all to know that this nauseous, nearly noxious, notorious non-native nuisance of the Northwest needs to be knocked out! I hate to be negative, but if we neglect to knuckle down and end up doing nothing, if we don't make noise about this nonsense, take note now that their numbers will nourish and the next thing we'll know is that we'll have our nose in this nightmare forever. We don't need this news, none of our neighbors do, but nevertheless, it's still here in our neck of the woods. Nope, it's not natural or normal or neat or nice. For myself, I'd rather nest in nettle than walk thru this stuff or get it on my new sail. So I say for the ninth time: JUST SAY NO TO KNAPWEED!!

2001 Work Party

October 6th, 2001- Volunteers again came out to do an end-of-season cleanup...trash cleanup, and yes, windsurfers do leave trash; much of it shoved into the crevices of the rip rap at the Hatchery! One of the CGWA volunteers said, "It was very embarrassing to be working alongside the park rangers and to have them see that windsurfers would leave this kind of trash at one of their favorite sailing sites." Photo: Hatchery ringleader, CGWA Secretary Patrick Quigley

Hatchery Centennial

On September 8, 2001, the Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery will formally celebrate its 100-year anniversary. As many as 5,000 guests may visit the hatchery on this momentous occasion. The event will include all-day educational activities, formal ceremony beginning at 10:30, viewing of adult Tule fall chinook salmon, hatchery tours, tribal cultural demonstrations, an official U.S. Postal cancellation station, Migration Golf miniature golf course, storytelling and much more.

The Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery, located near Underwood, Washington, started in 1901 as an egg-hatching substation of the Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery. The hatchery originally was established to compensate for the demise of the commercial salmon fishery from over-harvesting in the late 1800's. The hatchery's role grew as salmon mitigation was needed for Bonneville Dam, which was constructed in the mid 1930's. Added responsibilities came in the 1940's and 1950's, when the hatchery became a key component of meeting the U.S. government's trust responsibility to provide salmon for Columbia River tribes. Finally, in the 1970's, the hatchery was further enhanced and expanded to mitigate for native salmon lost due to the construction of the John Day Dam.

Today the Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery raises over 15 million Tule fall chinook salmon annually. They are an important stock for commercial, sport and tribal fisheries in the ocean and the Columbia River. Spring Creek was built on this site to take advantage of the pure spring water from the cliffs just north of the hatchery. To conserve water and reduce pollution, 90% of the hatchery's water is recycled through oystershell filtration beds and reused in the rearing ponds. For further information or questions regarding the Centennial, please call the Columbia Gorge Information and Education Office at 509-538-2242, or email cheri_anderson@fws.gov You can also check out their website at www.r1.fws.gov/gorgefish/.Recently CGWA executive director Diane Barkhimer met with the Hatchery Centennial Committee and others regarding safety and traffic control during the Centennial celebration. CGWA members: you may want to avoid the crowds and sail at another favorite location that day. You may also want to attend the ceremonies.

Photo: Hatchery Centennial meeting. Skamania Co Sheriff, WA State Police, WA State Parks, and US Fish & Wildlife, & CGWA

The Hatchery is Now a Washington State Park

September 24, 1999 - Name changed: They decided to change it from their original choice of "Chinook Winds State Park"... after a few comments from many, to "Spring Creek Hatchery State Park." Thanks for participating in the naming of the site.

September 7, 1999 - Initial Name Chosen: We recently received a letter from the Washington State Parks recommending naming the "Hatch" Chinook Winds State Park. Some feel this has a nice ring to it, but we suspect some individuals may not agree. We would just like to say who cares what they call it as long as we have a place to sail. CGWA has been working for years to keep our sites open, providing funds and countless hours of labor. We don't need to get into a hassle regarding the name of a site. We encourage everyone to go along with whatever name that comes up. Just as East Mayer State Park has remained "Rowena" for the sailors so can Chinook Winds remain "The Hatch."

August 5, 1999 - Need New Name Ideas: Washington State Parks has signed the lease with the US Army Corps of Engineers to take over management of the Spring Creek Fish Hatchery windsurfing area. They requested suggestions from CGWA and others for a name. We polled our members and sent in the 3 top suggestions: The Hatchery State Park, The Hatch State Park, and Spring Creek State Park. Check out the list of suggested names.

Improvements, 1996 - 1998

During late 1996 and 1997 progress continued on the development of the master plans for the Hatchery by the Washington Parks and Recreation Commission. Ken Maddox has monitored the progress of this effort by attending the meetings of the large task force advising on this effort. The planning consultants, OTAK, have held two public open houses. The latter one was on June 4th in Hood River. It was attended by many CGWA members who suggested a number of good ideas and changes. We are working to keep a maximum number of parking spaces on the south side of Highway 14, in order to avoid parking and traffic congestion. The latest plans in the first phase of construction call for 160 improved parking spaces, pedestrian walkways on the south side of the Hatchery road, and possibly a comfort station and viewing area on the south side of Highway 14 . A second phase may add improvements to parking on the north side of Highway 14 and possibly a pedestrian or even auto underpass between the south and north parking areas. The first phase of improvements is scheduled for the two-year period July 1, 1997-June 30, 1999, perhaps beginning in the spring of 1998.

The designs were completed in July for presentation to the Washington Parks and Recreation Commission at their meeting scheduled for September 5th. The sum of $250,000 has been allocated for construction during the next two years both for Doug's Beach and the Hatchery. It will likely be spent on a first phase of improving the Hatchery, with improvements to Doug's Beach not yet scheduled. CGWA members continue to work with Washington State Parks and with their consultants on these plans and their realization. If you have interest in the issues concerning this site, contact CGWA.