The Corps of Engineers is rebuilding the Minto Fish Collection Facility on the north bank of the North Santiam River, four miles downstream of Big Cliff Dam and seven miles downstream of Detroit Dam. Construction is scheduled from January 2011 through March 2013.
The original facility collected adult fish for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery program at Marion Forks to compensate for habitat blocked by construction of Detroit and Big Cliff dams. The new facility will continue to support the hatchery program, but will also safely trap and haul adult fish upstream of Detroit Dam via transport trucks, where they will be released to spawn naturally.
This project is required under the 2008 Willamette Project Biological Opinions produced by the National Marine Fisheries Service and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and is part of our ongoing efforts to restore Upper Willamette River spring Chinook salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act.