Medford Station 10: A Place in Transition

THIS IRRIGATION DIVERSION dam on Bear Creek was built in 1960 by the Division of Highways after the previous dam was washed away in the 1955 flood. It has a fish ladder to assist salmon and steelhead in swimming upstream; the fish ladder is a series of steps giving the fish places to rest for a more gradual ascent past the dam to their spawning ground.

Fall chinook salmon are known to spawn in creek gravel near Phoenix, and Coho salmon have traveled upstream as far as Ashland. Steelhead roam up and down Bear Creek, and, unlike salmon, may spawn several times before they die.

The concrete canal on the right takes water out of Bear Creek, under the freeway, and into a culvert. The water could eventually return to Bear Creek downstream through the canal at Greenway Medford Station 14.

For the present, the dam has backed up the water, creating this wetland. Because the dam has slowed down the stream, the water has dropped its load of silt, creating these mud flats.

Most backwaters such as this have the familiar cattails. In spring, the soft yellow cluster at the tip of the cattail spike is the male flower; the more noticeable fluffy brown mass below it is the female flower. After pollination, the female flower develops into innumerable seeds packed together and covered with hairs. Indians used cattail fluff for padding cradles and dressing wounds. The pollen can be used for making bread; the young shoots eaten raw or cooked. The starchy roots are also edible. They can be roasted, boiled, or dried and ground into flour.

One of the most common inhabitants of the marsh is the red-winged blackbird. Smaller than a robin, males are all black except for a red shoulder patch. In spring, they arrive in flocks and begin nesting. In courtship, males typically perch on a cattail, spread their tails, half open their wings, and ruffle their feathers. The female builds a nest by weaving marsh vegetation around cattails and suspending it over the water for protection. The male's call is a gurgled "konk-la-ree."

The presence of mud creates an excellent opportunity to look for tracks of animals that live along the Greenway.

Photos by D.L. Mark.