good spawning areas oontinue to occxir in the next 2 miles to the 

 mouth of Cougar Creek. From Cougar Creek to the impassable 25 

 foot falls, a distance of about 1 mile, the rubble is too large 

 for the most part to be considered good spawning area. It is 

 estimated that there are more than 120,000 square yards of 

 suitable spa'vming area below the falls. During the spring and 

 early summer and even for short periods during the fall spawning 

 period the river becomes turbid with glacial silt. 



Large runs of blueback and chinook salmon entered the White 

 River in the early days, but were depleted to a few hundred fish 

 by the year 1935. Since 1939 most of the chinooks and a good 

 share of the bluebacks that were trapped at Rock Island Dam on 

 the main Colvmbia River and liberated in Lake Wenatchee have 

 spawned in the White River. The chinooks spawn mainly in the 

 three mile section from one mile below the Worth Fork up to 

 the mouth of Cougar Creek, while the blueback spawn in larger 

 numbers on the riffles below the North Fork, where the gravel 

 is smaller. In the year 1946 the blueback spawning ground count 

 was 2,063 live spawners on redds, 410 dead spawjied-out, and 1,182 

 redds. In 1947 the count was 5,787 bluebacks and 1,656 rfedds, 'In 

 1948 it was estimated that nearly 10,000 bluebacks spawned in White 

 River. 



1?ith the exceptions of the North Fork and Cougar Creek all the 

 tributaries are too small, steep, or inaccessible, and of little 

 possible value to salmon. 



12J-(2)a, North Fork of T/hite River .— (Surveyed at various 

 times, 1942-1945, Zimmerj and 1947=1948, Fulton and Gangnarko) 

 Enters White River about 11 miles above the mouth. The stream is 

 over 15 miles long, of which the lower 4 miles up to an 8 foot 

 falls were surveyed. It is EO-30 feet wide in the lower section, 

 and the discharge usually ranges from 50 to 100 c.f.s. The North 

 Fork is somewhat larger than main White River at their confluence, 

 and carries most of the glacial silt into Tfiiite River, the main 

 stream usually being cle&r above the confluence. The lower 2 miles 

 exhibit excellent spawning riffles with large amounts of the small 

 pea gravel particularly suitable for blueback spawning. The gradient 

 and the percent of large rubble in the stream bed increase in the 

 next 2 miles until the stream forms a nearly continuous series of 

 cascades. The 8 foot falls located 4 miles above the mouth is 

 believed to be a barrier to salmon. 



It is estimated that the lower 4 miles could accommodate at 

 least 2,500 pairs of blueback salmon. Bluebacks were observed 

 spawning in scattered groups in this section in 1942 and 1943, and 

 in 1948 3,400 blueback salmon were counted in one day in the lower 

 2 miles. No chinook salmon were found in the North Fork. The 

 etreeon supports a good population of native cutthroat trout. 



The outlet stream from Twin Lakes enters the North Fork 1 l/2 

 miles above the mouth, but is steep and inaccessible to salmon. 



78 



