Over the last ten years the Tualatin Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited Christmas for Coho program has been a success both financially and environmentally. People drop off their trees at two locations staffed by volunteers on two Saturdays in January, and volunteers load the trees each Saturday and Sunday onto an ODFW staked flatbed trailer and take them to a storage area and unload them. Later in the year volunteers reload the trees onto the transport and take them to stream placement locations where they are offloaded. Volunteers then place and stake the trees in side channels, alcoves and other suitable instream spots. But logistical hurdles threaten C4C’s continuing future. 

There are three major GO/NO GO challenges that must be overcome.

The first is Storage of Trees.  At the end of this summer the storage site outside Barton Park that has been used for years is no longer available.  An easily accessible and suitable storage site must be found near the Clackamas River to hold the 350 to 400 trees typically collected each year.

The second is Transportation of Trees. Typically, 75 to 100 trees are collected at each site each Saturday.  The ODFW trailer and the truck that pulls it have been the transport, but they are not guaranteed to be available when needed in the future. Experience shows that having a rig at each site on Saturdays and possibly Sundays is desirable. Therefore, the need is for a second comparable rig or two rigs, in case the ODFW rig is unavailable. In addition, currently a stalwart TU member is the approved ODFW driver, which means that a driver for the second rig and a back-up ODFW rig driver need to be lined up and vetted.

The third is a need for Volunteers to Load and Unload the Trees. The physical demands of all the loading and unloading of trees are taking a toll on the list of aging volunteers such that adequate staffing is less than certain. Therefore, we are seeking volunteers to be added to the Volunteer Roster. We also invite anyone to join a Working Group to determine the future of C4C. 

Please send your comments and suggestions regarding the three GO/NO GO challenges to TVTU Board member and Vice President Peter Gray, Working Group chair at bccpjgray@yahoo.com. This will enable the TVTU Board by October to answer the question Will Christmas for Coho Continue?