From the President by David Beatty As I write this column in mid-November with the rain falling heavily, I am reminded of the magnitude of the seasonal changes occurring in the region's watersheds. It is sometimes feast or famine. My longest term of experience is largely based on a tributary of Lake Samish where the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group has done habitat enhancement projects and coho production using remote site incubators during the past nine years. In the fall of 2002, the late rains resulted in a delayed migration and spawning of coho in this medium size creek. Adults could be seen assembling in the lake at the creek's mouth but the low flow impeded their movement upstream. Eventually, sufficient rains came in middle to late November and the coho, fish that were fertilized eggs in the fall of 1999, were able to complete their life cycle. During the egg incubation period in early winter, heavy rains resulted in very high flows of turbid water pushing gravel and sediment downstream. These were conditions for predicting a large loss of incubating eggs. However, by late spring and early summer, when the stream flow was declining, sizable numbers of juvenile coho were concentrating in pools many of which were the result of the habitat enhancement projects. As summer progressed with warm, dry weather, many pools became isolated as the flow in riffles went sub-surface, a common occurrence in this type of stream under dry weather conditions. The isolated pools were now the nurseries but some were obviously in danger of being death traps. For a few pools at risk and which were suitable for dip netting the fry, I moved fry to larger pools likely to remain functional through the season. Of course, the effect was an increase in fry density in these pools for a species whose juveniles can be very territorial. It was a decision in which the alternative was the certain loss of fry, a fact that occurred in other pools, which eventually either dried or became too deficient in good quality water. When rains eventually came in the fall and the stream began to flow above the surface, the surviving fingerlings were moving downstream to enter the lake. There they will continue their growth and development until the spring of 2004 when they out migrate down Friday Creek to the Samish River and eventually the ocean. These out migrants will be the survivors of what were diminished conditions for egg incubation and for fry and fingerlings. The ultimate outcome for this 2002-year class of coho from this stream will not be played out until the fall of 2005 when the eventual survivors return to their natal stream. This fall of 2003, the rains came earlier, in middle October. Coho were spawning in the creek nearly four weeks earlier than last year. The rain has persisted, the creek is flowing much faster and higher than in previous years at the spawning time. Will this have an effect on the spawning and subsequent egg survival? Will the wood structures, the logs and root wads placed in the stream, help retain the spawning gravel and diminish scouring? Did the pools, which formed in association with the placement of large woody debris, make a difference in juvenile survival in 2003? Have the habitat enhancement projects made a difference in promoting a sustainable run of fish in this creek; a creek that, in the total scale of coho production in the Samish River Watershed, is probably not of major significance? Habitat enhancement projects on smaller streams, when viewed individually, may seem inconsequential. However, when assembled across the watershed they can reach the level of major importance. Our monitoring program on this and other creeks where our projects have been done, suggests that there are improvements in the numbers of returning salmon. When I walk this creek at Lake Samish, which now holds promise for salmon, I recall 55+ years ago of walking a much smaller creek, a tributary of the California Creek in Whatcom County. A few coho spawned there each fall and sufficient juveniles reared to continue this small population. It was a stream, as was the main creek, in desperate need of attention, but there was no one to do the attending. I should return to that little stream to see if coho still come. My guess is no, as land use adjacent to the stream has become even more contrary to maintaining good habitat for fish. However, my prognosis may be wrong. Wild salmon are resilient; they often can adapt to varying conditions within limits. Nonetheless, we have too frequently pushed the essential habitat factors beyond these limits. Progress in habitat enhancement is incremental and failure can occur, but we can learn from failure. However, persistent failure is a certainty if nothing is done but to wait upon the salmons' ultimate fate in a system of continuously degraded habitats within a watershed. Our dedicated volunteers must be optimistic and be motivated by considering a stream being half full of fish with the potential to increase rather than the stream being half empty with the prediction of a continuing decline in numbers. The Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group will be holding its Annual Membership Celebration, for members, volunteers, project partners, and invited guests, on the evening of January 29th at Hillcrest Park Lodge in Mount Vernon. I anticipate seeing many of you there to celebrate another eventful and successful year for this organization. We all have stories to tell.