The Wild, Wild West Fork : Wheelchair Access Ramps Are a Big Plus for San Gabriel River, but There Are Still Plenty of Problems That Need to Be Addressed

They gathered at the base of the cliff, a sheer and imposing mass of granite somehow supporting towering, weathered pines and smaller trees and shrubs, all green and lush.

Nearby, a stream bubbled swiftly down a meandering course under the shade of young alders, oaks and willows. Birds darted under the flourishing canopy.

Pauline Cathcart was among the crowd of 40 or so that had left civilization behind for a visit to the Glenn Camp area of the West Fork of the San Gabriel River. She stood in a small clearing under the trees, on a concrete platform on the river bank, and casually cast a dry fly onto the water. It drifted downstream as might an insect atop the surface.

There were no takers, but then, this was merely a demonstration. Jim Miller sat in a wheelchair and watched as Cathcart, the former women’s national casting champion, explained the proper way to fly-cast. Miller was next. Barry Thomas and Robert Jones, also in wheelchairs, awaited their turns.

Officials from the U.S. Forest Service, the state Department of Fish and Game, and members of various conservation groups were on hand. It was a day of celebration--the grand opening of four wheelchair access ramps that lead to various sections of the West Fork of the San Gabriel River.

Another chapter, one of many and certainly one of the rosiest in the tumultuous history of the West Fork, had been completed.

“I don’t know of any other place in the state of California where (people in wheelchairs) can go and fish on a wild-trout stream,” William Brown, a U.S. Forest Service biologist, told the crowd. “I know there are other facilities in Northern California where you can fish on a regular stream, but on a wild-trout stream this is it.”

Miller, 39, a resident of Rancho Cucamonga who organizes activities for the physically impaired, said he has fished all his life.

“(But) I never did much fly-fishing,” he said. “Now I can come here.”

The West Fork of the San Gabriel is one of only five wild-trout streams in Southern California, and one of only two in Los Angeles County. The other is a 1.3-mile section of Piru Creek near the Ventura County border.

All have their problems, with dams and development atop the list, but those of the West Fork are unique. The 7.2-mile section of river, just off California 39 above the San Gabriel Valley, because of its beauty and accessibility, is one of the most heavily used streams in the state.

On a given day, particularly during the summer, families and large groups can be seen wading the chilly waters of the lower West Fork. Litter invariably finds its way into the wild-trout section, which begins 1.6 miles from the highway and ends six miles upriver at the base of Cogswell Reservoir.

The paved road that winds alongside the West Fork is closed to automobile traffic but is a favorite route of bicyclists. Picnickers delight in the pristine wilderness of the region.

“It’s nice to see bicycles up there,” said Will Trefry, 49, a board member of the Pasadena Casting Club, one of several groups that have fought to maintain the fishery over the years. “But it’s discouraging to see some of the abuses at the lower stretches.”

Trefry’s group, as well as other such organizations, among them California Trout, Inc., a statewide organization dedicated to the preservation of wild trout, is involved extensively with the maintenance of the wild-trout section of river.

“It’s one of the most incredible trout streams anywhere,” Trefry added. “But people don’t realize that it’s so close to Los Angeles, and that, being very fragile, it can be destroyed by too many users.”

But too many users seems a minor problem compared to one that arises from time to time, courtesy of Cogswell Dam and the Department of Public Works, which manages large portions of the San Gabriel River for flood-control purposes.

Cogswell looms, a huge and menacing mass of concrete, just above the wild-trout section of river. In 1981 the DPW opened its sluice gates and released 200,000 cubic yards of sediment, killing thousands of fish and burying their habitat.

“That’s the Rose Bowl 10 stories high,” said Jim Edmondson, a past president of the Pasadena Casting Club and now regional director for CalTrout. “It wiped it out.”

The Department of Fish and Game, which admitted that the massive fish kill was in part a result of a communications breakdown with the DPW, filed a $2-million lawsuit. The litigants eventually came to an “understanding” and settled out of court.

Heavy rains in March of 1983 finally washed out enough sediment to enable a slow recovery. The Pasadena Casting Club donated more than 10,000 hours of volunteer work to build spawning beds, plant trees and provide shrubbery and other improvements along the river’s banks.

But in 1985, fire raged through the San Gabriels and the West Fork, choking the fish and covering their spawning beds with silt and ash. And in 1986, the DPW decided to test its valves, releasing tons of water and washing away what Edmondson said was much of “a generation of trout” in only 70 minutes.

It became clear that for the fishery--one that has been in existence since before the turn of the century--to survive, the DPW, DFG, Forest Service and California Trout would have to work together.

“We had a heated discussion that resulted in a working program to balance everybody’s needs,” Edmondson said.

Or so it seemed. At a recent meeting of the involved agencies, however, the DPW announced that it is trying to contract for the removal of about 5 million cubic yards of sediment that had accumulated over the years in Cogswell, now all but dry, and that it plans to flush the dam periodically.

CalTrout, the DFG and Forest Service had been under the impression that the sediment would be removed beginning this summer, which would mean low flows and some damage to the fishery. But after the cleanup, things were supposed to get back to normal, and the fishery would recover and eventually thrive.

“I thought we negotiated an agreement,” Edmondson said. “Short-term harm for the next three years in exchange for long-term good.”

But Don Nichols, the senior hydraulic engineer for the DPW, said that he has no intention of allowing sediment to rebuild after the cleanup, necessitating another such cleanup that would cost taxpayers another “king’s ransom.”

“In smaller storms, I insist that I be allowed to pass through that (debris) which comes to me,” he said. “Not in the larger storms. In the larger storms I’ll store some of the debris.”

Of the possible impact to the fishery of free-flowing sediment entering the river, Nichols said: “The fish, if they are able to live in a natural environment, should be able to withstand that because we’re not going to add anything that would not get there if there wasn’t a dam.”

Neither CalTrout, which said it is not ruling out legal action if a more equitable solution isn’t reached, or the DFG is buying Nichols’ claim.

“Frankly, we’re not working on a natural system,” said Fred Worthly, regional manager for the DFG’s Region 5, which encompasses most of Southern California. “We’re trying to (maintain) this very nice trout stream in an artificial system.”

Barrett McInerney, an attorney who has worked for and belonged to CalTrout, pointed out that sediment can be released only from the bottom of the dam.

“And that stuff is considered toxic waste,” he added.

The Department of Fish and Game, according to Worthly, has requested that the DPW complete an Environmental Impact Report pertaining to its cleanup plans over the next few years. Nichols, who said he doesn’t want to leave the dam in the same shape for his predecessor, is fretting over the request for an EIR and says because of it he hasn’t been able to contract the work.

Meanwhile, others are hoping that the matter will be resolved without creating more animosity. That an alternative solution to the sediment problem can be found. That a resource that has existed for so many years can continue to do so, and that people, including those with disabilities, can cast a fly and possibly catch a wild trout.

“It is genuinely a wild-trout stream,” Trefry said. “It is beautiful. It is close to L.A. and it does represent a resource that we should maintain and preserve for our children. And it is a struggle.”