Fish and the Forest

These streams hold salmon. For each one, here is what the public record shows about the fish, and about the logging happening above them.

This does not claim logging caused any salmon decline. Escapement is shaped by ocean survival, fishing, climate, hatcheries, and survey effort, and counting methods have changed over the decades. The point is narrower and still fair: before more forest above these fish is logged, the public should be able to see the full record. The salmon counts are recorded escapement from DFO's NuSEDS database; treat the trend as a signal, not a precise census.

San Juan River

• The salmon: Coho peaked near 75,000 in 1964, latest count about 721 (2024); Chum peaked near 10,500 in 1986, latest count about 411 (2024); Chinook peaked near 7,500 in 1970, latest count about 2,788 (2024).
• Logging above the fish: about 11,422 ha of recorded harvest (17.1 percent of the watershed), 4 blocks proposed for logging next (about 194 ha), and an estimated 622 road-stream crossings (a GIS estimate, not a field count).
• The records gap: 11 recent high-risk blocks here sit near old growth, a deferral area, water, fish, or recreation, with the site-level records not public. See the records-request guide and the interactive map.

Gordon River

• The salmon: Coho peaked near 7,500 in 1960, latest count about 732 (2024); Chum peaked near 6,000 in 1986, latest count about 42 (2024); Chinook peaked near 3,500 in 1972, latest count about 80 (2024).
• Logging above the fish: about 6,746 ha of recorded harvest (21.9 percent of the watershed), 13 blocks proposed for logging next (about 130 ha), and an estimated 459 road-stream crossings (a GIS estimate, not a field count).
• The records gap: 6 recent high-risk blocks here sit near old growth, a deferral area, water, fish, or recreation, with the site-level records not public. See the records-request guide and the interactive map.

Harris Creek

• The salmon: Coho peaked near 8,000 in 1984, latest count about 2,332 (2024); Chinook peaked near 298 in 2020, latest count about 55 (2024); Chum peaked near 39 in 2017, latest count about 0 (2024).
• Logging above the fish: about 3,973 ha of recorded harvest (27.4 percent of the watershed), 8 blocks proposed for logging next (about 136 ha), and an estimated 277 road-stream crossings (a GIS estimate, not a field count).
• The records gap: 4 recent high-risk blocks here sit near old growth, a deferral area, water, fish, or recreation, with the site-level records not public. See the records-request guide and the interactive map.

Caycuse River

• The salmon: Chum peaked near 15,000 in 1972, latest count about 200 (2024); Coho peaked near 750 in 1968, latest count about 150 (2019); Chinook peaked near 75 in 1990, latest count about 1 (2019).
• Logging above the fish: about 2,026 ha of recorded harvest (10.6 percent of the watershed), 3 blocks proposed for logging next (about 50 ha), and an estimated 234 road-stream crossings (a GIS estimate, not a field count).
• The records gap: 7 recent high-risk blocks here sit near old growth, a deferral area, water, fish, or recreation, with the site-level records not public. See the records-request guide and the interactive map.

Renfrew Creek

• The salmon: Coho peaked near 2,240 in 2011, latest count about 643 (2024); Chum peaked near 832 in 2011, latest count about 162 (2024); Sockeye peaked near 200 in 1984, latest count about 9 (2024).
• Logging above the fish: about 1,229 ha of recorded harvest (24.3 percent of the watershed), 4 blocks proposed for logging next (about 18 ha), and an estimated 88 road-stream crossings (a GIS estimate, not a field count).
• The records gap: 5 recent high-risk blocks here sit near old growth, a deferral area, water, fish, or recreation, with the site-level records not public. See the records-request guide and the interactive map.

Lens Creek

• The salmon: Coho peaked near 1,742 in 2010, latest count about 500 (2024); Chinook peaked near 119 in 2017, latest count about 16 (2024); Chum peaked near 35 in 2008, latest count about 0 (2024).
• Logging above the fish: about 2,356 ha of recorded harvest (19.2 percent of the watershed), no blocks currently on the Forest Operations Map, and an estimated 39 road-stream crossings (a GIS estimate, not a field count).
• The records gap: 9 recent high-risk blocks here sit near old growth, a deferral area, water, fish, or recreation, with the site-level records not public. See the records-request guide and the interactive map.

Sources: salmon escapement from DFO NuSEDS (data/nuseds/port-renfrew-nuseds-timeseries-summary.csv); logging, crossings, and proposed blocks from the project's official-data layers. Built by scripts/build_fish_and_forest.py.