Siletz Anglers Association

In January of 2019, guides Scott Ammerman, Mike Kelly, and Grant Scheele, formed a volunteer organization to generate funding for improvement projects on their home river. The Siletz Anglers Association is a non-profit organization designed to raise money and awareness for the Siletz wild broodstock program. With a goal in mind to improve infrastructure at the Alsea Hatchery and projects pertaining to the broodstock program, they've accomplished a great deal in a short amount of time and with limited resources. "Tillamook area guide Jack Smith (who helped build the foundation for the Hatchery Wild Coexist) walked me through getting SAA started. I consider him a mentor through the whole process," says Mike Kelly. Smith runs the North Coast Salmon and Steelhead Enhancement fund, and adopted the SAA as a subsidiary.

Through it's primary fundraiser, the North Coast Salmon Rendevous, the NCSSEF has provided recirculation pumps and screens for raceways at the Trask hatchery, habitat restoration on the Necanicum river, livewells for transporting wild broodstock on the Nestucca and Wilson rivers, and a portable liberation tank for the Tillamook district, primarily used for recycling steelhead. "Anyone who fishes for salmon and steelhead in Northwestern Oregon owes Jack Smith a thank you for all the work he's done," says Scott Ammerman. Ammerman attended the first Rendevous as a teenager when it was hosted by the Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation. "The model for the SAA and support for our wild broodstock program is built from the work of the NCSSEF." Ammerman sat beside Smith during the development of the Nestucca and Wilson wild broodstock programs.

The SAA is still in it's infancy. However, it's the ambition of young, energetic guides that depend on their home water to make their living that has made the SAA a formidable and cohesive group, hyper-focused on make big changes within a small region. In it's first year the SAA raised $18,000 in donations by spring. "We contacted ODFW and asked what we could do to help. They said the area of greatest need was improving the acclimation ponds," says Grant Scheele. Two dozen guides donated trips, selling roughly 60 seats for the event between $250-500 a seat. The Original Siletz River Shuttle Service provided free shuttles during the event as well. White Oaks Construction provided catering for the event with raffle donations from Oregon Rod Reel & Tackle, Clackacraft, BnR Tackle, & LURED. Sandy River Marketing designed a SAA logo and provided hats and t-shirts. Table Mountain Forestry, Dahl Sanitation, Peterson CAT rentals in Salem, and Knife River Building Materials were among the major donors whose efforts went towards upgrading the acclimation pond near Palmer Creek on the Siletz. Rearing smolts at an acclimation site increases the number of adults that "home" and return to that site.

Next on the SAA's radar are constructing a second lower river acclimation pond on the Siletz, and partnering with the Rock Creek Hatchery (owned by the Siletz Tribe) which is beginning a program raising 5,000 smolts this year. They are hopeful that this number will increase in the future. Also on the to-do list are upgrades to the Alsea hatchery, where the Siletz wild broodstock are spawned and hatched. "If we get all of our coastal rivers having great returns, it will spread out people and create that much more of a chance for people to catch a fish," says Scott Ammerman. Upgrades to the facility could benefit both sides of the mountain that separate the two major river basins.

Historically, the Alsea Sportsman's Association has generated funding for projects related to the wild broodstock program at the Alsea Hatchery. More recently, the SAA has gathered fresh ideas, bodies, and funding to make upgrades and improvements to existing infrastructure. This year, the Alsea Hatchery is trying to transition away from using tubes to collect wild fish for the broodstock program by boat on the Alsea River. Instead, ODFW approved livewells are being introduced to the program. Each boater participating in the program must apply for a permit to transport wild steelhead back to the Alsea Hatchery. Assistant District Biologist Paul Olmsted says the number of these permits will be "kept to a limited and manageable number to minimize wild fish impacts and mortalities." Meanwhile, the SAA is lending a hand to the neighboring system by contributing batteries to operate the aerators on the new livewells, and nets to ease handling of fish during their transition from the livewell to the raceway or the new collection pen that is being installed at Mike Bauer Wayside.

"Jack, Grant, Mike, and I are all members of CCA, and support the work they are doing at the state and federal level. Our small organization aims to fill in the gaps at a local level, focusing on the Alsea and Siletz," says Ammerman. As the SAA continues to foster growth with the local community, the three founding members intend to form a board. "The work of the SAA will quickly outgrow the work that Mike, Grant and I can manage."

The next SAA fundraiser is set for March 8th at the Logsden Grange. The SAA is expecting to have 30 boats sell their seats for this year's event. If you'd like to contribute to the SAA, you can make tax deductible donation via the NCSSEF website salmonrendevous.com (leave a note the donation is for the SAA). The North Coast Salmon Rendevous is set for October 28th, 29th, and 30th at the Old Mill Event Center in Garibaldi.

This article was published in the February 2020 Issue of Northwest Sportsman Magazine