Scappoose Creek Population

Milton Creek 

Milton Creek flows through the town of St. Helens, OR and is located within the Scappoose Creek population (Figure 1). Historically, this was the best Chum Salmon stream within the Scappoose population, with an estimated 200-1,000 Chum Salmon present based on historical estimates (Parkhurst et al. 1950, Willis et al. 1960, Fulton 1970, Myers et al. 2003) and habitat area. As was typical from the 1880sthrough 1950s, Milton Creek was splash dammed during early logging operations, resulting in the removal and transport of most large woody debris and spawning gravels. The current channel is primarily bedrock dominated, narrow, incised, and developed tight to the stream banks with little channel complexity, wood, or sufficiently deep pools (Alfonse et al. 2017a). Despite poor habitat in the lower reaches, Coho Salmon and Steelhead do spawn in the upper reaches of Milton Creek (above the Chum Salmon distribution). No hatchery salmonid releases occur in the basin. A rotary screw trap was installed in 2012 and 2013 immediately upstream of tide water and fished in that same location from late February through mid - June in both years (Figure 2).