Provides a penetrating account of a once-rich steelhead trout stream threatened by careless logging practices. Focusing on Oregon's North Umpqua River Basin, the film portrays the impact of clearcut logging on the small tributary streams where most of the rivers's steelhead are spawned and reared. The subtle interdependence of land and water, and the disruption of the aquatic environment caused by stream-clogging debris and warming water are dramatically presented. Hal Riney and Dick Snider, two weekend fishermen, produced the film and donated it to Oregon State University. It was widely distributed and viewed in Oregon and throughout the United States through the 1970s.
Caption reads: "How to ruin an estuary is clearly shown in this aerial shot. A summer housing development has changed the ecology of this coastal marsh in order to accommodate a few people who wanted a summer place on the water with a view of the ocean."
