Oregon Outdoor Journal

Adventure Fly Fishing Blog

2010-11-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

My brother just launched Stansberry Sportfishing. It's a blog about his travels fly fishing across the country, from the Pacific Northwest, to the NYC nearshore, to the Great Lakes steelhead scene. Check it out: Stansberry Sportfishing.

New Oregon fly fishing blog

2008-02-27T17:05:00.000-08:00

OregonFlyFishingBlog.comThis week The Caddis Fly shop in Eugene and the geniuses behind Oregon Outdoor Journal and One Mule Team joined forces to create an Oregon Fly Fishing Blog with river reports, fly tying tips and fly fishing adventure and disaster stories. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Oregon coastal coho protections restored

2008-02-05T05:17:00.000-08:00

NOAA fisheries announced its decision to restore federal Endangered Species Act protection as a “threatened species” for Oregon Coastal coho salmon. The agency, charged with salmon and steelhead conservation, had been under a court order to reconsider its 2006 decision not to list the Oregon Coastal coho. Trout Unlimited was among a group of fishing and conservation groups that sued to force a relisting.

According to Oregon Trout Unlimited volunteer Karl Mueller: To grossly simplify the state and federal position, a listing was not warranted because coho are particuarly resilient and are able to rebound from periods of low abundance. In other words, a small number of spawning adults can beget a large number of spawning adults three years later.

Oregon businesses support Rogue Wilderness expansion

2008-02-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

A column in today's Register-Guard says the BLM WOPR is bad for businesses in Southern Oregon and calls on elected officials to expand protections for the Rogue River. For more info, check out SaveTheWildRogue.org and find out how you can help protect one of the most diverse ecosystems in North America.

Oregon salmon collapse in 2008?

2008-01-31T20:58:00.000-08:00

According to the executive director of the the Pacific Fishery Managment Council, Donald McIsaac, the West Coast is facing "what appears to be an unprecedented collapse in the abundance of adult California Central Valley... fall chinook salmon stocks."

Blogger OneMuleTeam says: What really has fisheries managers (and me) worried is that only about 2,000 2-year-old juvenile chinooks — which are used to predict returns of adult spawners in the coming season — returned to the Central Valley last year, by far the lowest number recorded. On average, about 40,000 juveniles, or “jacks,” return each year. I was no math major but I know that 1/20th of average = not good.

Moose populations tracked in Eastern Oregon

2008-01-31T18:06:00.000-08:00

According to ODFW, wildlife biologists collared four moose in the northern Blue Mountains of Wallowa County the week of January 14, marking the first collaring of the animals in Oregon and an increased effort to trace moose activity in the state.

ODFW's Moose Fact sheet says Oregon’s moose are believed to have traveled south from Washington and Idaho to take up residency in the Blue Mountains. Although individual moose have occasionally been observed in northeast Oregon during the past 40 years only recently have animals been considered established residents.

The folks at the Testing the Waters blog have a great post with lots of photos of a Grande Ronde kayak trip where they spotted some Oregon moose last summer.

Help ban elk ranching in Oregon

2008-01-31T11:08:00.000-08:00

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is considering changes to its elk ranching policy in our state. I am a hunter in Oregon and I am against elk ranching. The ranches threaten the health and integrity of our wild elk and deer, and hunters pay almost all the costs of regulating the elk ranches!

It would be best if ODFW would ban elk ranching altogether, but falling short of that, the commission should consider the following safeguards:

Retire elk ranching permits as the permit holders quit or go out of business.

Ban the practice of selling “shooter” bulls to out of state canned hunting operations.

Require that the elk ranchers provide double fencing to reduce the risks of escape and disease transmission.

Require that elk ranches carry appropriate bonding and insurance to cover the cost of escapes and disease eradication.

ODFW is accepting comments on this issue through Feb 8. Send an email to Odfw.commission@state.or.us to have your voice heard on this issue.

Trout Unlimited Oregon State Council meeting

2008-01-30T13:01:00.000-08:00

TU Chapter 678 conservation officer Karl Mueller summarized the 2008 Oregon State Council meeting for Trout Ulimited in a recent blog post.

Issues discussed included:

An update on the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) Carmen-Smith relicensing. Carmen-Smith is a hydropower project on the upper Mckenzie that blocks upstream passage for ESA listed Chinook and Bull trout.

Excitement over the TU-spearheaded Copper-Salmon Wilderness.

A look at the potential settlement of the Klamath Pacificorp relicensing issue.

Here's an updated photo of TU's protect, reconnect, restore strategy:

Timber industry-linked hunters support WOPR

2008-01-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

This week the Mail Tribune ran an Op-Ed from timber industry linked sportsmen, Steve Mealey and John Lowe, calling out the sportsmen coalition that opposed the WOPR. Mealey is a retired forester and went on to work for forest products company Boise Cascade. Lowe is also a retired forester and has a really interesting presentation on the State of Oregon Web site, that quotes Teddy Roosevelt, "A forest which contributes nothing to the wealth, progress or safety of the country is of no interest to the government."

I have no business calling these guys out. Mealey is a badass. His bio says he was a grizzly bear researcher, comes from Oregon homesteader lineage and has probably spent more time in the woods than I'll ever do in my life. And these guys have a good point -- the anti-WOPR coalition never got a blessing from the Oregon Hunters Association. It didn't speak for everbody. But I can call out the Mail Tribune. They made them out to be unbiased hunters and that's just not the case. To quote Lowe's presentation again: Anyone who claims to be unbiased is fooling themselves or fooling you.

Lowe and Mealey have been at this way longer, and have more experience than I do -- but I think it needs to be clear where people's loyalties are. I'm opposed to the WOPR because I value biodiversity and healthy ecosystems. On the other hand, Lowe and Mealey have made their livings through managed forestry and that was not made clear in the Op-Ed.

One point of contention: The authors raise the spectre of declining elk and deer populations and blame it on the NW Forest Plan. That's bullshit. It's the old argument that ungulates love clear cuts. The browse available in a regenerated clear cut is better forage for a short period of time. But as soon as those stands turn into ultra dense, monocultured doug fir, they are biological wastelands for the next 50 years. And anecdotally speaking -- how much elk shit have you seen in a clear cut? Now how much do you see in a remote, old growth wilderness? I mean, the damn things are practically humping me in the backcountry so I gotta say a healthy old growth system wins out over clear cuts every time.

Register-Guard hopeful on Klamath River restoration

2008-01-27T20:09:00.000-08:00

Editors at the Register-Guard are hopeful now that talks are underway to remove dams on the Klamath Basin, opening up habitat for the Klamath’s devastated salmon runs. The project is dependent on the dam operators (PacifiCorp) to sign onto the plan, which seems possible at least. But conversation groups Oregon Wild and WaterWatch have flagged this plan as being flawed, stating that the salmon would not get the water they need to survive under these provisions. EarthJustice has a video that gives an overview of the situation on YouTube.

Conservation hero rejects BLM WOPR in Oregon

2008-01-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

The hook and bullet crew are coming out of the woodwork to slam the Bureau of Land Management’s shortsighted logging plan, the Western Oregon Plan Revision. It’s been panned by nearly every environmental and sportsmen organization in Oregon. Most recently, Field & Stream’s Conservation Hero of the Year, Brian Maguire, of Portland, took the BLM to task in The Oregonian: There is a place I fish that has a 13-feet-in-diameter, 1,000-year-old tree not far from the river bank. I don't see the tree as part of the economy but as a guardian of salmon spawning beds.

For the sake of salmon, no LNG terminal on the Columbia

2008-01-23T13:41:00.000-08:00

According to the AP in the Register-Guard: The National Marine Fisheries Service wants the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to at least temporarily deny a permit to dredge the Columbia River to build a liquefied natural gas import terminal below St. Helens. The terminal likely would harm valuable salmon habitat. Northern Star Natural Gas Inc. wants to build the terminal, one of three under active consideration in Oregon, at Bradwood Landing. The other two in planning stages are near Astoria and Coos Bay.

Columbia Riverkeeper is opposed to the terminal and has an awesome action sheet to tell your representatives to oppose the terminal.

BLM head visits Oregon, touts scheme to disregard Northwest Forest Plan

2008-01-22T01:03:00.000-08:00

Jim Caswell, nominated by President Bush last summer to head the BLM, said the agency plans to disregard elements of the Northwest Forest Plan in its efforts to increase timber harvest on O&C BLM land under the Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR). From the Register-Guard: The new plan will end watershed assessments, surveys of plants and animals before an area is logged, and upper management review of decisions made at the regional level, Caswell said.

Obsidians offer summer hike schedule for Eugene visitors

2008-01-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

Kind of odd, but I've been getting more press releases lately for the blogs. Here's one worth printing:

The Obsidians outdoors club has announced a schedule of 22 hikes for visitors to this summer’s U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials and concurrent Oregon Bach Festival. Outings include 12 coastal, forest and mountain hikes and 10 urban hikes, presenting visitors an introduction to both the natural wonders of western Oregon and the unique attractions of Track Town, USA.

The trials will run from June 27 through July 6, with a two-day break in action on July 1 and 2. The Oregon Bach Festival runs from June 27 through July 13. Most hikes will be easy to moderate, in the five to six-mile range.

The full schedule is available along with additional information and registration procedures on the Obsidians website. All sign-ups will be done online using a unique registration system designed by the Obsidians just for this project.

All hikes will be led by experienced men and women familiar with the areas. There will be a $5 nonmember fee per person (minors under 18 free, with parents) with a suggested sharing of driving costs.

OPB: Ghost nets video

2008-01-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

Awesome video on Ghost Nets from Oregon Public Broadcasting -- old gill nets tumbling around on the bottom of the ocean off the Oregon Coast. They keep killing, long after the commercial fishermen have discarded them. The nets kill dungeness crabs, sea birds and endangered salmon.

Plastic fades Oregon hunting and fishing licenses

2008-01-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

Attention Oregon hunters and anglers, don't put your 2008 fishing or hunting licenses in those plastic sleeves you get with the license. According to ODFW, the plastic will fade the new paper, which is supposed to be tear and water resistant.

“We are asking people to do something different with their new licenses. Please, don’t put them in plastic license holders or laminate them,” said DeAnna Erickson, ODFW License Services manager. She suggests carrying the license holder in your wallet as you would a receipt or using a paper or Tyvek license holder. Tyvek license holders will be available at ODFW offices beginning in mid-February.

Southern Oregon hunters get a shot at Aleutian Canada Geese

2008-01-13T13:28:00.000-08:00

According to a story in the Curry Pilot from last week: For the second year, ODFW has worked out an agreement with three farms near the New River in northern Curry County to allow hunters to go onto their pasture land to hunt the geese in hopes the pressure will scatter the birds and lessen the damage they cause. The special South Coast Zone goose hunt runs Feb. 23 to March 10. Hunters can contact the Gold Beach ODFW office for maps and to reserve a hunting spot (541) 247-7605).

Trapping on the rise in Oregon

2008-01-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

According to a couple of news outlets, including Portland Indy Media, trapping is on the rise in Oregon due to higher fur prices. There is a lot of uproar about it on the internet, as you might imagine. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it myself. I don't have any problem hunting any non-endangered furbearing animal, but I'm not so sure about killing animals non-selectively or over long periods of time (up to 48 hours), as is the case with trapping.

For more background, pro and against see the ODFW trapping backgrounder and TrapFreeOregon.org.

Thoughts on trapping anybody?

Winter madness: Circumnavigating Crater Lake

2008-01-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

Snowshoeing or Cross Country Skiing Crater Lake has been on my Oregon to-do list for about a year. So I was pretty excited when Bill Sullivan outlined the trip in the Register-Guard this week. He made it clear that this trip is not for the faint of heart and better attempted in the early spring to avoid storms. Speaking of which, the road to Crater Lake was recently closed due to an avalanche.

Six reason's the BLM WOPR won't work

2008-01-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

There's a great guest column in the Register-Guard today laying out six reasons why the BLM WOPR won't relieve Oregon county funding woes. Here is a summary of the six reasons:

1. Timber prices have fallen by as much as 50% since 2005 thanks to the mortgage crisis.
2. Because of public opposition to old-growth logging, the BLM is unlikely to meet its goals.
3. The market for old growth is limited since most Oregon sawmills have retooled for smaller trees obtained from thinning.
4. BLM’s proposed increased harvests will depress timber prices further.
5. Clear cuts and narrower stream buffers threaten wildlife and the values that draw people to live in Western Oregon.
6. U.S. taxpayers spend more than $40 million each year to recover Willamette and Coast Range steelhead and salmon stocks, which the BLM plan threatens. Each wild fish caught is worth an estimated $200 to sportsmen.

The BLM comment period on the WOPR wraps up January 11.

Oregonian, Weyerhauser address global warming and salmon decline

2008-01-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

A lengthy article in this week's Oregonian illustrates how climate change will likely affect salmon in the Columbia River Basin. A lot of this isn't news if you've been following along with the National Wildlife Federation's Target Global Warming Campaign to get anglers and hunters fired up about the issue in Oregon.

These are the projections: Warming by the 2040s will turn rivers and streams across 20% of the Northwest, including much of the main Columbia and Snake rivers, lethal for salmon in summer. About 80 years from now, up to 40% of salmon habitat in Oregon, and 20% in Washington, will be too warm for salmon to survive.

But there is an unexpected voice amongst the scientific panels -- timber giant Weyerhauser. The Oregonian quoted Robert Bilby, an aquatic ecologist with timber company Weyerhaeuser and a lead author of a new scientific assessment of how global warming will affect salmon:

"We're talking about the survival of a cold-water fish in warming conditions," he said. Rising temperatures "potentially will make large areas of the Columbia Basin uninhabitable to these species in the not-too-distant future."

Ok, so what's Weyerhauser doing here? Read on: We may have to identify areas that are totally uninhabitable and not spend resources there. I don't think Weyerhauser is paying aquatic biologists out of altruism. They're working an angle, and it sounds like finding "uninhabitable" land to ease protections on is a potential motive.

Toxic fungus continues to spread in Oregon

2008-01-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

Cryptococcus gattii, a microscopic pathogen normally found in tropical and subtropical locales in Australia, Africa, India or South America is popping up in the Pacific Northwest. It was discovered in British Columbia in 2001, and recently sickened a woman in Junction City, Oregon the Register-Guard reported last week.

The article quoted associate professor of environmental health at the University of British Columbia: One theory suggests that the microscopic, yeastlike fungus only recently arrived in the Northwest from the tropics, where it’s long been established... Perhaps it stowed away on a tropical plant imported to Canada or was carried by migrating birds.

A competing theory holds that the fungus has been here for a long time, unnoticed until changes in climate or land use patterns allowed it to grow in high enough concentrations that it became airborne and available for causing disease in humans and animals.

Scary thoughts for hikers in Oregon and the Pac NW in general. Talk about the dangers of climate change! The University of British Columbia has been researching the spread of the fungus.

The photo (from a 2007 article in the Globe and Mail) shows the lung x-rays of a fungus victim from British Columbia.

Oregon State Parks photo calendar now available

2008-01-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

Oregon State Parks published its 2008 calendar, full of photos shot by park visitors reports KATU. The contest to get a photo in the calendar is open to anyone with a digital camera. You can find all of the 2008 winning photos here, including shots of Face Rock, Harris Beach, and more. It seems the 2009 contest deadline is over, but the 2010 Oregon State Park photo contest opens up spring break this year.

Hunters and Anglers oppose BLM WOPR in Oregon

2008-01-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

This is a press release from a coalition of hunting and angling groups in Oregon, opposing the BLM's Western Oregon Plan Revision:

The Bureau of Land Management plan to roll back habitat protections on 2.6 million acres in western Oregon is a threat to the state’s legacy of hunting and fishing, according to a report released today by Oregon sportsmen’s groups.

“For most Oregon hunters and anglers, our public land is the only hunting and fishing estate we will ever own,” said Mike Beagle of Eagle Point. “The Bureau of Land Management proposal lacks the balance needed to support Oregon’s priceless outdoor heritage.”

The report comes from Trout Unlimited, Oregon Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, Oregon Division Izaak Walton League of America, Oregon Council Federation of Fly Fishers, Northwest Steelheaders, Berkley Conservation Institute and Native Fish Society.

The groups released a report critical of the Bureau of Land Management’s Western Oregon Plan Revisions, or WOPR. The WOPR ramps up development on 2.6 million acres of public forests managed by the BLM. Scattered throughout western Oregon, the land includes watersheds critical for salmon, steelhead and trout as well as forests that are habitat for Oregon’s prized big game species such as Roosevelt elk, blacktail deer and black bear.

The report highlights several specific areas of concern:

Reduced protections for spawning streams. The BLM plan would significantly reduce the current “no-logging” buffer on fish-bearing streams, allowing logging within 25 feet of the bank.

The BLM’s proposal would reduce critically important “Late Successional Reserves” or old growth forests by more than 40 percent. Oregon’s most popular big-game species count on mature forests for a certain degree of security, cover and winter forage.
The agency’s proposal to build 1,000 miles of new roads would open up areas that have traditionally been valuable for hike-in hunting and secure habitat.
The BLM proposes making several areas high-intensity ATV playgrounds. Sportsmen and wildlife will be crowded out of valuable habitat if those lands are handed over to motorized traffic.

The report urges the BLM to go back to the drawing board, and make wildlife habitat and fisheries a higher priority.

“Hunters and anglers know how important habitat is for the future of our favorite activities,” said Brian Maguire, of Portland. “Oregon sportsmen need to be heard loud and clear. Tell the BLM to keep habitat protections on the books, so we have fish in the rivers and game in the woods. Our kids deserve it.”

“I understand the need for logging, because I come from that world,” said Bob Gerding of Philomath near Corvallis. “We do timber thinning on our land all the time, because it’s sound management. But the kind of large-scale clearcutting the BLM is proposing now is bad for everyone.”

More than 750,000 people hunted and fished in Oregon in 2006, generating nearly $900 million for Oregon’s economy, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

You can check out the full report on Trout Unlimited's Web site.

Hunters cited for CWD infringements in Oregon

2007-12-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

According to the Eastern Oregonian: Recently, Oregon State Police cited six Oregon hunters who brought harvested deer and elk into the state from Montana, a state that has experienced a documented case of CWD. Citations were also issued to hunters who harvested and brought back game from the states of Colorado and New Mexico.

Here is a definition of CWD from the ODFW site: A transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that has been documented in deer, elk or moose in the following states: Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Illinois, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, West Virginia and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It has not been detected in deer or elk in Oregon.

Looters boost fossils from John Day Monument

2007-12-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

Seattle-PI says looters are stealing fossils from the John Day Fossil Beds. From the article:

In the fossil beds, there are places where scientists have taken pictures of fossils on the ground and come back later to find them gone, said Ted Fremd, chief paleontologist at the monument. And there are other places where people have dug pits or tried to remove bones but did a messy job of it, he said.

We saw traces of similar activity at the Clarno unit on our Central Oregon Roadtrip earlier this fall.

Call for hunters to drop the NRA

2007-12-18T11:54:00.000-08:00

If you're a hunter and you support the NRA, it might pay to read this great article from the Washington Post. From the article:

If the threat to honest citizens' right to own firearms ever dipped below the radar, so too would the association's political might. That's why the NRA leadership will never tolerate the give-and-take that makes up real problem-solving. It would be bad for business.

Former NRA lobbyist Richard Feldman takes on his old organization for corruption and overplaying the specter of gun-control to rile up its base and bilk $35 from hardworking hunters trying to protect their sport. But it's pretty clear after the Jim Zumbo fiasco that the black-rifle base that the NRA caters to doesn't have anything to do with hunting and actually looks at us as "Fudds". So maybe its time to cancel those memberships.

Bush turns to science on spotted owl?

2007-12-18T08:53:00.001-08:00

The Bush Administration has agreed to have a respected scientific panel review the Spotted Owl plan according to The Oregonian.

Pressure mounted, as scientists and Senator Wyden called bullshit on the adminstration's draft plan for the spotted owl which would have dramatically boost logging in old-growth forests and undercut endangered species protection.

Much of the scrutiny focuses on Julie MacDonald, a former deputy assistant secretary of fish, wildlife and parks that tampered with scientific findings in the Northwest.

For a solid look at the Bush Adminstration's War on Science, check out this article from Wired.

Winter Whale Watch Week starts Dec 26th

2007-12-16T16:07:00.000-08:00

Oregon Parks & Recreation are launching "Winter Whale Watch Week" on Dec 26th. According to the Web site: "Gray whales migrate past the Oregon coast during two special times of the year. The southbound migration peaks just around the winter holiday season and the northbound migration has one of its two peaks near the end of March."

An AP report says whale sightings have been running at record levels in 2007.

Oregon tells PacifiCorp to stuff its coal fired power plants

2007-12-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, PacifiCorp has abandoned plans to build three new coal-fired power plants. The utility operates in six states, with most of its power feeding Utah and Oregon.

Energy activists in Oregon have put the plan to build new facilities under a microscope. And Oregon State Representatives like Ben Canon are trying to shut down the practice of buying dirty energy from the Rocky Mountain states.

PacifiCorp whined that it's going to cost more to use natural gas (a cleaner option). But I think Oregonians are willing to pay a little more to preserve what's left of their wild ecosystems and to try to stimey global warming.

Correction: PacifiCorp operates a hydropower dam on the Klamath and this post blamed PacifiCorp's dams for the Klamath's massive 2002 adult salmon kill -- which isn't the case. Nonetheless, they're not exactly blameless. Here is a note from Klamath Wildlife Advocate Jim McCarthy:

Oregon Wild would be the last to praise PacifiCorp for their activities in the Klamath, and their dams have certainly contributed to the steep decline in salmon runs in that river and create huge water quality problems. However, there is no evidence that their dams contributed to the 2002 kill. You'll find the definitive CDFG report on the kill here.

The blame with that kill lies primarily with low flows in the Klamath River as a result of a bad federal water management plan put in place due to political meddling by Vice President Dick Cheney and other White House appointees. Cheney and his cronies suppressed the findings of their own biologists who said that the plan would harm salmon. You'll find that story here.

It is true that many consider PacifiCorp's dams responsible in large part for the juvenile salmon kills due to unnaturally large salmon parasite hot spots that break out on the Klamath in spring. Unnaturally low flows due to irrigation diversions also play a big role in these springtime parasite explosions. These juvenile kills don't get the press coverage like the adult kills do, but many observers believe these kills led to the closure of much or all of the commercial chinook salmon seasons in Oregon in 2005 and 2006.

Shrimpin' ain't easy, but it is sustainable in Oregon

2007-12-11T13:17:00.000-08:00

According to the Statesman Journal:

Oregon's pink shrimp fishery has achieved a new distinction that might appeal to environmentally conscious consumers. The industry has received the world's first sustainable shrimp certification under the Marine Stewardship Council certification program.

Apologies to Ice-T for the headline. And oddly enough, I'm not the first one to say "Shrimpin ain't easy"...

Redden slams salmon plan

2007-12-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

U.S. District Judge James A. Redden slammed the latest Columbia River salmon recovery plan. According to this article in The Oregonian, this plan is actually worse for salmon than the last one. I can't imagine what the people putting this plan together are thinking -- are they trying to let the salmon go extinct so they don't have to worry about it anymore?

Wolves traveling together in Eastern Oregon

2007-12-10T21:14:00.000-08:00

According to the Baker City Herald, wolves in Eastern Oregon are traveling together. There is no confirmation that these wolves are a breeding pair, but ODFW has reviewed 101 reports from people who said they saw a wolf or wolves, or tracks, or heard wolves howl -- more than double the 46 reports catalogued in 2006. Most of the sightings are near the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Wolves are native to Oregon, and according to ODFW: The last wolf bounty was paid in 1946 and wolves were considered extirpated in Oregon. Between 1974-1980, there were four recorded sightings of wolves in Oregon nevertheless.

Save Our Wild Salmon Photos

2007-12-10T15:02:00.001-08:00

Wild & Smart, originally uploaded by Save Our Wild Salmon.

The peeps at Save Our Wild Salmon now have a Flickr page.

Unexpected ally: Shamu pitches in to save our wild salmon

2007-12-05T10:51:00.000-08:00

Here at Oregon Outdoor Journal we've been pushing for the removal of the four lower Snake River Dams for a while, mainly because we're salmon crazy. But there is a constituency out there that is even more salmon-crazy than we are -- and potentially more popular than us: Orcas! A post in the Seattle P-I blog addresses the problems Puget Sound orcas are facing:

The connection has been made and the science is clear: If we hope to recover the iconic orcas of Puget Sound, we need to find them more salmon to eat, and fast.

RIP: Klootchy Creek Giant -- Oregon Sitka blows down

2007-12-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

My pal BP has a great post about the giant Oregon Sitka Spruce that blew down in the storms last weekend:

This is one of the oldest living things in Oregon, and one of the biggest trees in the state as well. The tree was coming to the end of its natural life cycle, and showed signs of wear long before this storm finally snapped its trunk.

Here are a couple of other great blog posts about The Klootchy Creek Giant:

Travels With A Muse got to spend some time with the tree last month and took some photos before it fell. And The Grumpy Forester has an amazing retrospective on the Klootchy Creek Giant.

Wyden, Devaney investigate political influence on engangered species science

2007-12-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

According to The Oregonian, the Interior Department's inspector general will expand an investigation into the alleged political manipulation of decisions on 18 endangered species, including the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet and bull trout.

From the article:

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. requested the investigation and Inspector General Earl Devaney will look into whether "improper political influence" by department officials led to reduced protections for those key Northwest species and others

Devaney is primed to dig deeper into the activities of Julie MacDonald, a former deputy assistant secretary of fish, wildlife and parks who was found to have bullied biologists and altered scientific findings.

Steens Little Blitzen makes BLM's 10 best hikes in the west

2007-12-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

The American Hiking Society named its top ten hikes on BLM land in the West. Thanks to Tom Mangan at Two-Heeled drive for the heads up.

In Oregon, the Little Blitzen Gorge hike in Steens Mountain made the cut.

From the site: This well-maintained trail follows Little Blitzen Creek, in the shadow of the headwall of the 10,000-foot Steens Mountain. There are numerous shady campsites, and thousands of wildflowers cling to the nearly vertical walls of the gorge. Lucky hikers might see elk, and early risers could even catch a glimpse of a mountain lion! The trail itself is well graded and not strenuous, but the remote location and possibility of extreme weather present unique challenges.

Here is a roundup of the five days I spent at Steens Mountain last August.

Central Oregonians turning Deschutes into poop-chute

2007-11-30T11:17:00.000-08:00

I know some of us on think the sprawling development in Cetral Oregon is a pile of shit, but this is ridiculous. According to a study from the U.S. Geological Survey:

The Deschutes and Little Deschutes Rivers in southern Deschutes and northern Klamath Counties, which receive part of their flow from ground water, are vulnerable to contamination by wastewater from conventional on-site wastewater treatment (septic) systems, according to the findings of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS investigation was a part of efforts by Deschutes County and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to assess environmental impacts in a 250-square-mile area near La Pine, Oregon, where increasing residential development has led to increases in nitrate concentrations in ground water that drains to rivers.

Nitrates from people's home septic systems are leaching towards Oregon's blue ribbon trout stream. Nitrates promote excessive growth of aquatic plants and algae, causing large variations in dissolved oxygen concentration and pH that can be harmful to fish and other aquatic organisms.

Deschutes County is battling the problem by trying to establish new rules, including the requirement that new construction projects adopt the highest performing nitrogen removal systems available and all existing systems need to be upgraded in ten years. So why not a closed loop sewer system? County officials say it would take too long.

Audubon: Oregon birds spiraling toward extinction

2007-11-30T09:13:00.000-08:00

The Oregonian wrote up a survey by the Audubon Society that says more than 50 birds that spend part of the year in Oregon are spiraling toward extinction:

While the list includes some species such as the spotted owl and marbled murrelet that have received wide notoriety because they are in trouble, it also includes lesser-known species such as Lewis' woodpecker (pictured), the willow flycatcher and varied thrush.

Cabela's real estate arm betrays hunters?

2007-11-29T16:30:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Tony Heckard at BHA for passing this on: According to a column in New West, Cabela's is getting itself in trouble in Montana for promoting the privatization of hunting land through its real estate marketing arm, Cabela's Trophy Properties LLC.

From the column: Cabela's doesn't actually buy and sell land. Instead, it licenses its brand to local real estate brokers and allows them to market prime hunting and fishing properties under the banner of Cabela's Trophy Properties. The brokers pay Cabela's for the license, probably with a license fee and a slice of the commission on property sales... Licensing your name to realtors who use it to market property definitely makes you part of the real estate biz--and not just any real estate biz, but the worst kind.

The article goes into depth explaining how Cabela's exacerbated the problem in Montana. But it's not just the Rocky Mountain states that need to worry about this public access issue. Cabela's is marketing prime wildlife habitat here in Oregon and it could drive the loss of public hunting access on private land in other states.

Here are a few of Oregon's properties listed under Cabela's Trophy Properties:

About 600 acres in the Ochoco Creek Valley southeast of Prineville, OR is going for $16.6 million.

Or you could pick up the Inshallah Ranch for $12 million. "Tremendous potential for an appreciation of value on this acquisition exists, as demand for quality big game hunting ranches continues to accelerate," the Cabela's site says.

Is it time to start sending back the catalogues?

DeFazio seeks predator poison ban

2007-11-28T21:46:00.000-08:00

According to the AP, Oregon Rep Peter Defazio is petitioning the EPA to ban the use of two dangerous chemicals sodium cyanide and sodium fluoroacetate, commonly known as Compound 1080, on federal lands. The poisons are used to kill predators in the West, but DeFazio says they also end up killing endangered species and injuring humans.

Climate change to boost invasive species in Oregon

2007-11-26T20:45:00.000-08:00

The Statesman Journal has a great article about how global warming is giong to impact invasive species in Oregon:

Invasive species by their nature are opportunistic," said Patty Glick, senior global warming specialist for the National Wildlife Federation. "If you have environments weakened by drought, often invasive species can take advantage of that situation. A lot of invasive species introduced into the United States are limited by some factor, usually temperature.

Oregon salmon runs continue nosedive: Egg hunters to blame?

2007-11-25T21:18:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year ODFW said the salmon run on the Rogue River was weak. Guides called it the worst season in 30 years. I've been bombing out on salmon(which doesn't mean much, but still).

And now this, Shane at The Quiet Pool seems to be seeing the same thing, especially on the Kilchis where he blames the egg-gathering bubbas that throw back a bright buck for a ripe hen with eggs.

We know out of date hydrosystems, ocean conditions and clearcutting are the primary factors in salmon decline, but on small streams, Shane sees another factor:

While egg hunters are not the biggest suspects in the salmon decline they surely have played a part in it especially in coastal rivers which are primarily wild fish. The commercially sold eggs are generally from hatcheries surplus and are not sports caught. The recognition of the impact of this "egg hunting" is slow in coming but there are some that are now not keeping females and that is a good sign. Hopefully the enlightenment of some will influence others and that can indeed make a difference.

Tidal extremes on the Oregon Coast this weekend

2007-11-23T08:34:00.001-08:00

Several news outlets report that the Oregon Coast will have extremely high and low tides this weeekend. Coupled with great weather and calm seas, it should be an excellent time to go beach combing. But watch out for sneaker waves, which can be more deadly during these extreme tidal conditions. Also be on the lookout for giant floating logs that were lifted in the high tide. Nature is going to be rearranging the beach furniture.

National Geographic Adventure sells Columbia River salmon short

2007-11-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

In an article in the December/January 2008 issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine, Paul Kvinta illustrates the struggle between protected sea lions and fishermen skirmishing over the last dwindling stocks of Columbia River salmon.

Unfortunately, Kvinta doesn't address the real problem facing our endangered salmon run until the very end of the article (several pages and jumps into the piece). Kivnta finally gets to it here:

The government built 14 dams on the main stem of the Columbia River and more than 250 in the basin. The salmon population dropped from some ten million fish to less than 300,000.

Of particular concern are four dams on the lower Snake River build between 1960 and 1975 to make Lewiston, Idaho -- 465 miles inland -- a port. Until then, Idaho had produced half of the Chinook salmon in the Columbia Basin. The dams generate less than 5% of the electricity used in the Northwest, they provide no flood control, and they supply irrigation to fewer than 20 farms.

Why couldn't that be in the front of this article? Most likely because Kvinta or his editor John Rasmus made an editorial decision: ODFW agents spraying giant pinnipeds with rubber bullets is way more compelling to the average reader than salmon slowly dwindling to extinction due to beuracratic inertia.

But nonetheless its a huge waste in my opinion. NG Adventure is a big publication and Kvinta is a very talented writer (his article on Rory Stewart is the best article I've ever read in one of the "outdoors" magazines).

A: Kvinta is a good enough writer to make this issue interesting to a much wider audience.
B: Isn't the National Geographic Society responsible to fight species extinction? I haven't read its charter or anything, but I idolized National Geographic writers and photographers since I was a kid and always thought of them as environmental stewards.

Bottom line: Kvinta and Rasmus dropped the ball. They had an opportunity to raise awareness about a species that is circling the drain and instead they relegated that info to the back of the magazine.

Luckily, YOU CITIZEN ENVIRONMENTALISTS can affect change where these folks fell short. Send a message to the Federal Government on this issue at GiveADamForSalmon.org.

New way to drag blacktail and elk out of the Oregon bush

2007-11-14T23:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a video that's pretty much an ad for the people behind HawkeyeBilt, a personal tow-behind trailer unit for deer and elk carcasses in Oregon's backcountry. Getting a big ungulate down miles from a road is one of my worst nightmares.

Protect Oregon's sea floor

2007-11-14T22:55:00.000-08:00

Robin Hartmann of the Oregon Ocean Shores Coalition makes the case to protect Oregon's ocean floor in today's Regisiter-Guard:

Our sea floor is the unsung hero of Oregon’s land base. Extending three miles off our coast, it is covered with communities of plants and animals that require and deserve protection, even though these special areas aren’t visible from the shore.

Video: Coastal cutthroat and steelhead fishing in Oregon

2007-11-13T20:19:00.000-08:00

Couple guys dropping egg patterns on coastal cutthroat and native steelhead in Oregon's coast range. Close to home.

Video: Sturgeon Fishing on the Columbia River

2007-11-13T20:11:00.000-08:00

Yeah dude... it's another keeper. Sturgeon fishing on the Columbia. I got to do it.

Authorities scale back search for Oregon professor

2007-11-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

The Register-Guard reports: After eight days of combing the dense forests near Cougar Lake, Lane County sheriff’s search and rescue officials called off the active search Monday for Daming Xu, who disappeared Nov. 4 after failing to return home to Eugene from a solo day hike.

There is a site called Find Our Friend dedicated to updates on Daming Xu's situation.

Oregon Coast: Stormwatchers beware of sneaker waves

2007-11-13T10:14:00.000-08:00

The winter storm season is upon us and the Oregon Coast is an awesome place to watch the raging Pacific Ocean. But sneaker waves can pose a threat to stormwatchers. Beach Connection offers a set of tips to avoid getting washed out to sea:

Sneaker waves are common and often catch people off guard while standing onshore. You can't see them and they are impossible to predict. These occur when smaller waves pile up on top each other to form one large wave – sometimes twice as large as the previous sets. Also, they can carry large pieces of debris with them such as logs, which present a whole set of other dangers.

Fishing bloggers, enviros rejoice over Measure 49

2007-11-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

This week Measure 49 passed in Oregon and the fishing blog community is excited. From the new Fly-blog supergroup Buster Wants to Fish:

It’s now gonna be way harder to put a huge strip mall, a McDonald’s, a 230 McMansion development, 230 white picket fences that house an overmortaged American “Dream” lifestyle financed on credit and a killshot into the streambottom of our natal salmon and steelhead waters.

The folks at the Oregon Environmental Council are excited as well. The raised a specter that's near and dear to my heart, the Sixes River:

A Measure 37 claim has been filed at the mouth of the wild Sixes River—perhaps the greatest natural estuary remaining on the Coast. The claim threatens wild salmon and steelhead habitat with 150 housing units, a 250-room hotel, golf courses, and parking lots on land that is in a beach and dune conservation area.

DeFazio responds to my WOPR rant

2007-11-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr. Stansberry:

Thank you for your message regarding the Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR) process. I appreciate hearing from you.

I share your concern about the WOPR. According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the agency is currently considering several action alternatives that will significantly change how BLM lands in southern Oregon are managed. Reducing riparian buffers, shifting to shorter rotations, and managing owl habitat according to a highly dubious Northern Spotted Owl Draft Recovery Plan (2007) is no way to manage these valuable public lands. Moreover, I am deeply troubled that this process is being undertaken as a result of a "sweetheart settlement" between the timber industry and the Bush Administration.

Despite these concerns, the BLM is legally permitted to undertake Resource Management Plan revision as necessary, even if the result of WOPR is a return to legal gridlock in the courts. I would prefer that the BLM - and the Forest Service - manage public forests in a more sustainable and ecologically-sound manner. To that end, I have introduced a bill in previous congresses that would direct the Forest Service and BLM to concentrate scarce dollars on thinning fire-prone and overstocked plantations on federal lands, rather than on logging old growth forests that are resistant to fire. I plan to reintroduce that bill again this year, and would like to count on your support for this legislation.

Thank you again for writing. Please stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Rep. Peter DeFazio
Fourth District, OREGON

Give a dam for salmon

2007-11-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

Bobby Hayden and the folks from Save Our Wild Salmon have set up a new public comment page Give A Dam For Salmon where you can send a message to federal agencies and Congress that you'd like to see the lower four Snake River Dams removed.

From the site: The federal government is allowing four costly, out-dated dams to limit our jobs, our fishing, and our outdoor recreation, and to threaten a healthy food source. Those four dams are destroying a national treasure and renewable natural resource. Wild salmon and steelhead are vital to the culture, economy, and balance of nature that the Pacific Northwest has relied upon for years. If we don’t act - in Congress, the courts, and our own communities - these salmon will disappear forever. The time is now.

The also have this awesome dancing salmon video, "Buster, the wild Snake River Salmon".

Oregon Old growth park pops up on the Coast Range

2007-11-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

From the Register-Guard last week: Fergus McLean isn’t bothering with whatever bureaucratic process it takes to create a public park. He’s just gone ahead and declared one in an expansive stand of huge old trees on federal land in the Coast Range.

Stop the WOPR folks, before it's too late. Contact your local reps and tell them to stop the clearcutting of Oregon Old Growth Forests:

Governor Ted Kulongoski

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden

U.S. Senator Gordon Smith

Representative Peter DeFazio

Also, send a letter to the BLM through The Cascadia Widlands Project’s action site.

Cascadia Wildlands presents on Copper River Delta

2007-11-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

EVENT TONIGHT! Gabe Scott, Cascadia Wildlands Alaska field staff, will be presenting tonight at the Eugene library. Gabe will be presenting images from wilderness photographer Brett Cole and talking about his cutting-edge conservation work in south-central AK.

Details:
"At the Edge of the Ice Age: Alaska's Lost Coast and Copper River Country"
Tuesday, November 6 * 6:30-7:30 pm
Tykeson Room, Eugene Public Library (10th and Olive St.)
Join the Cascadia Wildlands Project (CWP) for an informative and stunning slideshow presentation about Alaska's unparalleled Copper River, its rich Delta and threats they face from the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline and commercial extraction interests. CWP staff has spent the past 8 years in Cordova, a quaint fishing village on the mouth of the delta and on the eastern shore of Prince William Sound, working with fishermen and locals to ensure the world-class salmon fishery and surrounding wildlands remain unspoiled for future generations.

Check out this video on commercial fishing in the delta:

Make the pledge to Switch For Salmon

2007-11-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

Trout Unlimited is rolling out a new pledge for salmonid conservationists in the Pacific Northwest. TU wants customers who buy the power produced by the Northwest's dams send a strong message that we're willing to use less of it. "Perhaps then the dam operators will hear us, and decide they too, can change for fish."

Sign the pledge today and you can save on your energy bill and send a message to the hydrosystem folks. Here are the changes you would have to make:

Switch out just three-quarters of my light bulbs to compact fluorescents: save 5%
Switch to running only full loads in the dryer: save 2%
Switch off lights when not in use: save 3%
Switch to air drying half my washed clothing: save 3%
Switch to running only full loads in the dishwasher: save 1%

The State of the Rogue River fishery

2007-10-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

The Mail Tribune ran an interesting article recently on the manual labor involved with sampling anadromous fish runs on the Rogue River. ODFW and volunteers have been seining the river at Huntley Park, about 8 miles east of Gold Beach off Jerry's Flat Road, since the early 1970s.

Unfortunately, the Rogue fishery has taken a nosedive. Local guides say it’s the worst season for Fall Chinook salmon fishing in thirty years, in an article in the Seattle P-I. This collapse seems especially hard after the 2002 and 2003 fish counts over Gold Ray Dam on the Rogue River included record-breaking numbers for two runs of steelhead and two runs of salmon.

The Rogue River is one of the last places in Oregon to catch wild fish in a wild environment. I am concerned about threats to the Wild and Scenic section of the river. The agencies that manage public land and water should be managing the land to preserve the wild and scenic qualities of the region, but instead they are looking to clear cut regions around the Rogue River tributaries. The problem clear cuts pose to the spawning tributaries for coldwater fish like salmon and steelhead are the potential to raise stream temperatures and bury eggs in sediment. Check out this league of environmental groups, guides, local businesses and concerned citizens to learn about saving the Wild Rogue River.

Diamond Lake fishing is back in business

2007-10-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

According to ODFW, the rotenone project on Diamond Lake to get rid of invasive tui chub has been a huge success.

The trout are back in large numbers (thanks to heavy stocking), and so are anglers. And the removal of chub has helped the lake in other ways:

From an article in the Grants Pass Daily Courier: The chub had eaten the insect population down to 6.2 pounds per acre in August 2006. Last month, the lake bed sported 127 pounds of insects per acre. As for water clarity, it was so poor last year that visibility at times measured less than one meter. In late June, the visibility measured 12.5 meters.

Chetco River Hogs are in

2007-10-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

Larry Ellis at the Curry Pilot says the ground is saturated and water levels are fluctuating nicely on the Chetco -- and fishermen are banging big bright Chinook. Ellis offers tips for bank fishermen and an outlook on crabbing and fishing the Rogue.

Lazy Oregon hunters blow chukar hunting with ATV abuse

2007-10-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

According to Pat Wray of High Country News, there are right and wrong situations for ATVs. Right usage scenarios included search and rescue for his son, and helping to tow his elk carcass out of the Wallowas on established trails. But Wray says too many hunters rely on ATV use, and he lists separate experiences where chuckar hunting and habitat were impacted on the Owyhee River and Malhuer River valleys.

From the article: Hunters using ATVs were busting through the desert, creating their own trails so they didn’t have to walk while they hunted some of the best chukar ground in North America. And it was flat! What incredible laziness!

Oregon Hunters Association publishes Chukar tips

2007-10-24T09:14:00.000-07:00

Veteran chukar junkie and Oregon hunting celeb Gary Lewis published a funny sidebar in Oregon Hunter this month about 10 things not to do on a chukar hunt. Here is the abbreviated list of how to do it right:
1. Bring a topo map, GPS and compass.
2. Hunt into the wind (for your dogs to catch the scent).
3. Keep your yap shut -- no yelling at dogs or buddies.
4. Buy No. 6 shells rated at 1,300 fps.
5. Assume more birds are in the covey than the ones that first flushed.

From the article: If there is one great “everyman’s hunt” left in Oregon, where a hunter can walk his own (public) ground for miles, it’s the pursuit of the Himalayan import called the chukar. All it takes is a shotgun, a bird dog, and a pair of boots.

Register-Guard says scrap BLM WOPR

2007-10-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

A brand new editorial in the Register-Guard hammers the BLM and Dirk Kempthorne for risking our watersheds and rolling back protections on endangered species. The EPA and a cadre of scientists have bashed the plan for being politically influenced and scientifically unsound as the BLM blindly plods on.

It's bad for spotted owls, bad for rivers and bad for fish. How much more information does the U.S. Bureau of Land Management need before it yanks its plan to dramatically increase logging on 2.2 million acres in Oregon?

Bubbas: Pick up your trash or we lose timber land hunting access and shoot each other in the face

2007-10-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Shane Ullrich at the Sweet Home News says he’s seen the garbage and vandalism on the timber lands that cause these companies to lock down access to hunting. Ullrich says the game animals flee public lands for the protected private land, which is bad enough, but he also notes that it bottlenecks hunters onto public lands and there is more opportunity for a nasty accident. “A lot of lead will be coming and going,” Ullrich writes.

I have to ask, because I hunt some timber lands near the Smith River drainage, why the hell would you haul an entire range and stove out into the woods to shoot holes in it? Beer cans, sure -- you’re a piece of shit, but I get it: Drink beer, throw it in the dirt and shoot the gun. But the oven? Why? Why?

Agencies improve central Oregon coastal stream habitat

2007-10-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

Newport News-Times reports that several agencies are teaming up to improve coastal stream habitat for anadromous fish on the Central Oregon coast. The Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife are teaming up with private land owners and watershed councils to fly large logs into the coast range watersheds with a helicopter.

The 100-foot logs will provide habitat and help create deep pools to support salmon, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout. Wood will be flown into the Beaver Creek Basin on North Fork Beaver Creek, Petersen Creek and Elkhorn Creek. Trees will also be placed in the Alsea Basin along Horse/Meadow Creek, Lobster Creek, Little Lobster Creek and Preacher Creek.

Cape Perpetua Sitka Spruce designated Oregon Heritage Tree

2007-10-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Last month the Oregon Travel Information Council designated a giant Sitka Spruce on Cape Perpetua an "Oregon Heritage Tree".

The Salem Statesman Journal wrote up an article last week about the hike and the tree. "The two-mile round-trip hike from the Cape Perpetua visitor center to the Sitka spruce is a great winter walk, even if it's raining sideways, because it's in a protected canyon along a gurgling creek through a carpet of ferns and mosses."

It's not the biggest Sitka Spruce though. The biggest is in Klootchy Creek Park and was damaged in the 2006 storms. The heritage tree program is taking donations to help save the tree.

New Site + Archiving Oregon Outdoor Journal

2007-06-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm all jazzed up about the new version of this site. Against all better judgement from readers, I'm giving up the Oregon Outdoor Journal Google Juice and nice number of monthly visits to continue my Wordpress blog.

I'm not shutting the doors on this site, since there's a lot of work here. But give Upstream in Oregon a shot. You won't be disappointed if you liked this site.

-Matt

Blogger versus Wordpress

2007-06-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

My blogger account has been jammed up for a couple weeks. I could post content, but it wasn't moving on to the home page. I got pretty frustrated so I started an experiment on Wordpress. Now I'm considering switching over fulltime. I'd like to get some votes on moving readers over to the new site versus keeping this Blogger account running.

PROS of moving over to WordPress:

Some of my favorite blogs recently moved from Blogger to Wordpress and they look really good. I think the new "test" blog looks better than this one already, and I haven't done much to it yet.

I've been more happy with Flickr than Picassa as a photo site, and Flickr (owned by Yahoo) and Blogger (owned by Google)don't get along. The Flickr photos don't size right. Flickr photos fit correctly on Wordpress.

I'm familiar enough with the Wordpress dashboard and I can get moving pretty quickly on it. I'm also inspired to most more often in the new deal.

CONS of moving from Blogger to Wordpress:

I lose all of the search engine goodwill I've built up so far.

Everybody has to update their Oregon Outdoor Journal URLs to the new site.

I'd still have to keep my blogger account for a couple other blogs I maintain.

I might shift my focus on the new blog to more personal/navel gazing style, rather than trying to keep up with Oregon Outdoor news and controversies. I'd still talk about fishing, environmental news -- but I'd also post more about what I'm reading, what I'm doing at work, etc.

Looking for feedback. What do you think?

PS: Special thanks to Ron Southern for helping me kickstart this thing and get it displaying again.

Redwoods photo trip

2007-06-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

Lots of photos from our Redwoods National and State park trip.

Pressure DeFazio on Snake River Dam study

2007-06-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Last week, the Eugene Register Guard published a letter from my bud Karl Mueller. Karl is advocating for a study of the dams on the Snake River, which Representative Peter DeFazio has declined to endorse. From Karl's letter:

Snake River sockeye are already extinct, as are Snake River coho. Snake River chinook continue an inevitable slide toward extinction, yet there is still time to act. A bill in Congress would fund nothing more than an objective study of the costs and benefits associated with these dams. It seems prudent to examine the situation and act on the basis of the best available information.

This bill has broad support in the House including the support of Rep. Earl Blumenauer. Rep. Peter DeFazio, who in his last campaign received $27,000 (one of his largest supporters) from a political action committee titled Action Committee for Rural Electrification National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, does not support the act. His position reeks of Bush-like special interest pandering.

Do your part and contact DeFazio and let him know where you stand on this issue.

In other Oregon Outdoor news, I was mauled by rampaging ground squirrels on top of Spencer's Butte yesterday. For the first time in my experience, wildlife outnumbered smarmy undergrads on the summit. The sound of the zipper on my camera case brought them in -- must sound a lot like a backpack full of cheez doodles opening.

Also, Big Al took me out to a sweet spot on the Middle Fork, above Dexter and Lookout reservoirs. Easy access, but tricky to get to. I'm not blowing this spot on a blog post, but it rocked. You have to go with me if you want to check this one out -- drop me a line. We hooked about ten fish apiece, landed only a couple, but that's a different issue. Bad hands yesterday. They were taking my Madam X, green -- once again proving my saying -- OREGON TROUT LOVE LEGS. I can't say it enough. I'm getting it on a T-Shirt.

We saw elk, a bald eagle and an otter. Check out the big image of the otter on Flickr.

We also caught some salmon -- little landlocked guys coming up from the reservoir -- really silver with a forked tail. They don't fight as hard as rainbows, but it's cool to see them. They're coming from the fish spawning up on the North Fork and higher on the Middle Fork.

Trailer-man is still holed up with his rottweiler at the confluence of Salt Creek and the Middle Fork. Forest Service still hasn't done anything about it.

Oregon outdoors weekend warriors

2007-06-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

I've been back from Alaska two weeks, but I'm having a hard time getting back into the writing swing of things (both here and at work unfortunately). I am making my rounds on the Oregon Outdoors though. Over Memorial Day weekend, I managed to get out on a drift boat with Karl from TU 678 and we covered Helfrich to Ikes and slammed the stocked rainbows. Karl runs a mean drift boat -- wish I'd have had a camera. Most of the fish were up at the beginning of the run and I caught almost all of them on the Mega-Prince (favorite fly of 2007). The next day, the bear climbed over the mountain and so did me and Al. We were on a mission to actually use the Spring Bear tags we bought and we ran up and down every backroad in the Smith River drainage. We got out and wandered a few old logging roads, I made a few squeals on the predator call, but it was a pretty half-hearted attempt. Good times, mostly an excuse to get out of the house. We came out of the mountains in Elkton and tried to hook into the Umpqua Shad run, but nothing happening. Lots of folks out on the banks, but not as many as Al expected. No shad. Then Monday, Sarah and Wild Bill pulled some strings to get KP and I out onto the North Umpqua for a whitewater trip with Destination Wilderness.

Then this last weekend, Wild Bill and I escaped Eugene to check out the scene on the McKenzie on Friday night. We tried to do the run again that Karl and I did, in my inflatable kayaks. I seem to have forgotten how hard it is to fish out of those things. We did pick up some feisty stockers in a hole at the beginning of the run. I also managed to "test" my new SOSpenders -- see pic below.

We camped out at McKenzie Bridge that night. Pretty sad -- we forgot the beer and I burned my leg. The next morning we checked out Horse Creek though and that was really amazing. I'm pretty sure it's breeding/rearing habitat for the wild fish on the McKenzie. Bill and I caught three juvenile fish -- biggest one about 9 inches or so. We tried back on the McKenzie after that, but the fish weren't biting high up and the crowds were too bad down low.

Finally, yesterday I fished the North Fork of the Middle Fork Willamette with KP. I really need help with that river. It's one of my favorite places to fish but I haven't had a bite there. After getting discouraged on the NFMF we headed out to the confluence of Salt Creek and the Middle Fork and someone had set up a camper blocking access to the river and had 3 big agressive dogs loose that ran us off. I reported it to the Oakridge Police, but they said it was a Forest Service or Lane County Sheriff issue. We'll see if that gets cleared up.

Alaskan Brown bear hunting and Robert Ruark

2007-05-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

You've seen the photos, now the tale of the tape on the recent Alaskan Brown Bear hunt: My dad shot a good representative male bear -- 8'6" (about 700lbs -- a total guess, based entirely on trying to drag the damn thing). He made a 500 yard stalk on a beach, steadied his rifle across a wobbly Swarvoski scope, and shot high at about 100 yards away. As the bear was turning to run, he refocused and dropped it cold with a shot that broke its neck and shoulder, and kicked it over backwards. Coming off of a double bypass just four months previous, the old man pulled it off without a hitch.

We stayed aboard The Bear, a fifty foot boat operated by Alaska Master Guide Brad Dennison of Alaska Coastal Outfitters. Brad ran the boat and guided my dad’s friend Nick most of the trip. Chet Benson of Bearfoot Adventures was our guide when my dad shot the bear. I've sworn not to tell where we hunted specifically, but I can say that we hunted the ABC Island area: Admiralty, Baranof and Chicagof.

I have day-to-day notes on the 10-day hunt that I plan to try to tie into a story I'm going to pitch to magazines at some point in the near future.

For most of the trip, I was reading Robert Ruark's Horn of the Hunter, a book about his safari in Africa. A lot of Ruark's observations seemed to apply to this trip as well. Selected excerpts below:

Every man has to brace a lion at least once in his life, and whether the lion is a woman or a boss or the prospect of death by disease makes no difference.

This one's for you Chester: According to what you may have seen or read, the basic idea of a professional hunter is roughly this: He stands about six foot five, sports a full beard, and is drunk (off his client's liquor) most of the time. He always makes a play for the client's beautiful wife or sister and always scores. He shoots lions with pistols and wrestles snakes and buffalo for fun. When he is not out on safari he hangs around bars in Nairobi, ogling the girls and thumbing the big cartridges he wears in the loops of his jacket. He does all the shooting for the client, while the client sits comfortably in the shooting car. He is always taciturn with a me-Tarzan-you-Jane manner. He has a secret sorrow which drove him to a life among the wild beasts. His business is regarded as butchery and it takes a superhuman man to be a competent butcher.

The truth: The heavy work for a hunter is not so much the location of game and the supervision of the final kill as the camp routine. He supervises a tiny portable city... He must be an expert mechanic -- he must be able to rebuild a motorcar from the spare parts he carries and improvise those parts he has not... The hunter finally combines the duties of sea captain, a bodyguard, a chauffer, a tracker, a skinner, a headwaiter, a tourist guide, a photographer, a mechanic, a stevedore, an interpreter, a game expert, a gin rummy partner, drinking companion, social equal, technical superior, boss, employee, and handyman.

Possibly the best argument for trophy hunting I've ever read: You are not shooting to kill. You are shooting to make immortal the thing you shoot. To kill just anything is a sin. To kill something that will be dead soon, but is so fine as to give you pleasure for years, is wonderful. Everything dies. You just hasten the process... I can understand killing something that you want so badly that you are willing to go to weeks of trouble and great expense to collect it, so that you will have it and enjoy it and remember it all your life.

This rings of Timothy Treadwell: I'll never make another one of these things where the first object is the camera, with nothing but dirty work to be done with the gun, mopping up after the humanitarians.

On coming home from a long trip: All the excitement and dangerous security were finished. Now it would be work and civilian frustration again. All the feeling of complete fatalism was gone. Now the future was in my hands again.

Old man and the bear -- Alaska homecoming

2007-05-28T21:44:00.001-07:00

Hunting from shore, originally uploaded by mattstansberry.

Back to the real world. Check out more photos from the Alaskan Brown Bear hunting adventure.

Greetings from Sitka

2007-05-10T22:33:00.000-07:00

On Alaskan safari for grizzly bear this week with my old man and his buddy Nick, so I will be incommunicado. We landed in Sitka yesterday and here are today's pics. See you all May 21st... I hope.

From MattStansberry

Oregon turkey hunt turns into wildflower safari

2007-05-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

I never got to detail last weekend's Oregon Outdoor Journal Fest. It started out with a trip down to see Mike Kaiser, a turkey hunting guide in the Medford area. Mike and I headed out at 4am to stalk Southern Oregon's booming turkey population. We hunted a private plot of oak savanna just east of town. As we were getting out of the truck, we could hear 10 turkeys, at least, gobbling up in the trees around us. We walked about a half mile, picked a good spot and sat there, listening. Mike started making some hen noises with a mouth call and a box call, and we were listening to the toms gobbling back at us. It seemed pretty much inevitable that I was going to shoot a bird that morning. Unfortunately, we misjudged how far away the turkey we were focusing on was. It was practically on the next ridge over, but its call was carrying pretty far. Once we realized that the bird wasn't getting any closer, we pulled up stakes and moved. We hiked back and forth across miles of rolling hills, stopping to call periodically. We had a lot of birds responding to us, but none coming in. The closest we came was a pair of jakes (juvenile male turkeys) that seemed to be shadowing us, but eventually they ran off over the next ridge, still calling at us the whole time. During the course of the morning we saw tons of wildflowers and had great views of Mt. McGloughlin. Pictures below:

From MattStansberry

April fly fishing around Eugene Oregon

2007-05-02T20:50:00.000-07:00

I never got back to explaining what was working on the Middle Fork of the Willamette a couple weeks back like I promised. Well, here it is. We spent most of the morning banging the bottom with a two-nymph rig -- couple leggy stoneflies and mega-princes. Our guide had a cool way of tying the indicator to the butt section of the leader and another knot directly to the indicator to make sure it drifted straight down. Picked up a lot of fish in deeper runs -- seams near the bank. Later in the day we were swinging soft hackles across the middle, brownish size 12s. Two flies per rig, and fish hit on both flies. The upper fly was attached way up, using stiff 2x to make it stick out and avoid tangling with the leader. Big day.

From MattStansberry

Then the next day we headed to the McKenzie River with Big Al and posse from Trout Unlimited Chapter TU 678. We saw a ton of bugs, some steelhead smolts and not much else. We caught about 6 cutthroat trout that collectively measured about 30 inches. Check out the full monty on the TU Chapter 678 blog.

Oregon fishery news

2007-04-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

A lot of recent Oregon Fishery news out there.

First, "fish friendly hydro" is all the rage out here in Cascadia. The latest news comes from RenewableEnergyAccess.com, with an article touting the benefits of Oregon's Pelton Round Butte Hydro Project on the Deschutes River, operated by Portland General Electric Company (PGE) and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (CTWS). The project was certified by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) for fish passage measures, including a claim of 96%survival rate for downstream migrating fish. It seems pretty interesting, but I haven't seen any independent info on these LIHI people. Are they just the marketing arm of the hydro industry? Something much more positive? Who knows? I checked out Trout Unlimited to see if they had any info about them, but the site is impossible to navigate.

I can bash TU's Web site all I want, but they are doing something interesting with the new "Why Wild" campaign for getting people to eat wild salmon. Go on over and sign the Wild Salmon Bill of Rights. They can explain why eating wild salmon might be the best thing that could happen to this struggling fishery.

Lastly, Oregon State University scientists have produced a study that shows commercial trawling is destroying biodiversity off the Oregon Coast's Continental Shelf. But not enough to make anyone want to stop it. According to the AP story, areas showing roller tracks in the mud from bottom trawling nets had 20% fewer fish, 30% fewer species of fish and six times fewer invertebrates, such as crabs and seapens.

Mt. Pisgah comes alive: Oregon wildflower pics

2007-04-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks on Mt. Pisgah have been pretty sweet for hiking. Nice wild flowers, good weather. Here are some recent pics:

From MattStansberry

PS: Nikon was Waaaay too backed up for orders on the D-80 I wanted to buy. I ordered it almost two months ago and it didn't look like it was going to come in before I leave for Alaska May 9. My local camera shop, Dot Dotson, worked out a better deal on a Canon Digital Rebel XTi.

Fly fishing guide in Eugene Oregon

2007-04-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

Fly Fishing Guide in Eugene, Oregon: It doesn't get any better than this. Last weekend when my brother came in from NYC for a few days of fly fishing in Eugene, we decided to go with a guide rather than going it alone. I knew if we went by ourselves and wade fished the Middle Fork of the Willamette we'd catch a few fish, but I was hoping for more. I considered taking our inflatable kayaks, but at the last minute I stopped at The Caddis Fly and booked a trip with Chris Daughters. It was the best decision I've made so far this year.

From MattStansberry

1. If we'd have taken the kayaks, I probably wouldn't be writing this right now. I'd be dead. Two and three foot standing waves, pounding rain and cold water would have made it a long day.

2. Daughters put us on a fish bonanza. I have never in my life caught so many big wild trout. Ever. Just to give you a sense of scale: Nate hooked into fish he could barely move -- it was actually two fish on two flies on a single cast.

From MattStansberry

I wanted to post these photos so my brother can start bragging, but I plan to write more on what was working and why (and the other drift trip we took last weekend on the McKenzie).

From MattStansberry

Mudsnails in Oregon: Invasive Species Whack-a-mole

2007-04-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

New Zealand Mudsnails may be the most depressing invasive species issue facing trout fishermen in the West. According to a pamphlet from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service:

Mudsnails are 1/8 of an inch long (but could be as small as a grain of sand

Mudsnails have a wide tolerance in water quality and temperature -- in fact they can live for days out of water on your gear

Mudsnails reproduce by cloning, so you only need one

Mudsnail population densities can reach half a million in one square yard of river.

New Zealand Mudsnails eat algae, outcompeting native bottom dwelling insects, impacting fisheries.

So how do you stop the spread? Let me warn you, it's pretty depressing...

Scrub your wading gear with a brush, disinfectant

Freeze your waders overnight!

Boil your waders for five minutes above 130 F.

Montana State University has taken up the study of NZ Mudsnails. The map below shows the spread of the snails.

Oregon State Senate moves to ban canned hunts

2007-04-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

According to the Associated Press, the Oregon State Senate voted 22-5 to ban "canned hunting" in Oregon. It would outlaw the hunting of such animals as Ibex goats and Russian boars on closed game reserves.

I'm not opposed to "canned" huting from an animal rights perspective. And I'm not really bent out of shape about it for the "sporting" reason either. I am opposed to canned hunts and exotic ranching in general on the grounds that the animals can escape and impact wild animals -- spreading disease, out-competing native species.

Quote from ODFW: If you have species that are classified as livestock that can escape and manage to establish themselves in the wild, yes, it can pose a definite threat to native wildlife and habitats.

Ron Anglin, head of the Fish and Wildlife Department's Wildlife Division.

McKenzie River Fly Fishing Report: 4/15/07

2007-04-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

Last night I headed down to Armitage to try my luck wading the lower McKenzie River for some late afternoon trout. The day had warmed up nice, especially compared to the day before, so I expected the trout to have the feedbag on. No dice. We got there around 5-ish, walked downstream to the little gravel island and a tail out. It looked PERFECT, but nothing was happening. Not much in the way of bugs either. Sporadic little caddis coming off, some really weird thin mayflies too, but nothing major. Fish were rising though, maybe to some sort of trico spinner? I didn't get a bite. T-O-Double-D caught a couple fish before Wild Bill and I got there, but we never saw one on the line. The evening temperature drop might have put them off a little. Good news all in all: You can wade Armitage and there are fish there.

There is word on the street of crazy-early summer steelhead below Dexter. I can't believe it, but will if I start hooking them in the town run.

Wild Bill is out this week, chasing roosterfish in Baja.

The Kid (pictured below) is coming in from NYC to decompress. We'll probably drift from Salt Creek to Black Canyon in our inflatable kayaks, unless somebody thinks that would be suicidal. Seriously. I've run them all summer, but never in high water. I'm asking for advice. Meantime, I'll check out my Soggy Sneakers guide.

Stop credit card offers from wasting paper

2007-04-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

As I was cleaning my office today, I emptied my shredder and started thinking about all the literally TONS of paper I throw away thanks to credit card companies sending me pre-approved offers every day. Think of the paper, ink, gas used to deliver this garbage... let alone the annoyance of having to deal with it. So I just googled my way out of the problem and came up with OptOutPreScreen.com, a site that got the thumbs up from both Lifehacker and the NY Times. OptOutPreScreen is a service provided by the consumer credit reporting companies to allow you to get off the mailing lists of hundreds of banks sending offers in the mail. It takes 2 minutes to avoid this flood of crap for five years. I can't believe more people don't do this.

Funny sidenote: I looked at Lifehacker first -- before the NY Times article. Says something about the power/influence of blogs.

Sort of related: Thanks for the comment! The Green-e program director commented on my post about EWEB going green. I've seen this kind of interaction on the bigger, techie blogs but not in the "fish scales and snails" corner of the Web that OOJ calls home.

William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge photos

2007-04-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

We checked out the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge today. Nice wildflowers, cool birds -- but I'm out of steam. Here are the photos:

From MattStansberry

Western Pond Turtle sighting, fly fishing on the Willamette River

2007-04-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last two days fly fishing on the Middle Fork of the Willamette River. Friday night we checked out the area near Oakridge, fishing a park on the south side of the river that produced a couple weeks ago. No luck here, we headed back to the bridge and crossed the other side. A couple goons were throwing rocks into a pool we wanted to fish. They didn't like the look of us and moved on. Still nothing though, and we went back to our original plan where we'd caught some fish before. Lots of different caddis coming off, not a bite.

From MattStansberry

Today, Todd and Ben (AKA B-real the Norwegian) headed out to the nearby confluence of the North Fork and Middle Fork of the Willamette, near Westfir. The rain was rolling in cold and the water was high, but we managed to fish most of the day. I caught the nicest looking wild redband I've ever seen (no photos -- out of battery today) and got a few more bites. In fact, we left quite a few feeding fish in the pool, but the guys were getting wet and cold and were ready to go.

From MattStansberry

While I was on the river yesterday I stumbled onto a Western Pond Turtle, a species listed as endangered in Washington and threatened in Oregon. According to the Oregon Zoo, the biggest threat to the species is the non-native bullfrog and largemouth bass. Both prey on juvenile turtles.

The Oregon Zoo, ODFW and the Lower Willamette Turtle Project are hosting a Western Pond Turtle workshop on April 20th at the Oregon Zoo.

Oregon outdoor links

2007-04-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

I got a new laptop today (Thanks TT!) so I'll be sending my old cranky lappy to the big refurbisher in the sky. I had a bunch of links in my Favorites list that I wasn't really doing anything with, so I'm going to post them here before I lose them.

First, Al Campbell's Advanced Fly Tying online fly tying lessons have helped me waste several hours whipping up Bitch Creek-style weaved chenille stonefly patterns that look really cool. I've been using neon colors to cook up something I'm calling the "Crazy Bitch". My guess is that it'll never see a day on the river.

Also, a couple local Oregon photographers have caught my eye: M.G. Halle and Chuck Griffin. Halle has a blog about the photos he shoots. Griffin's site is more gallery and storefront. He has a bunch of photos up at the Wild Goat cafe in Eugene.

EWEB Green Power -- Green-e certified

2007-04-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

I just got my bill from EWEB this week and saw a brochure for its green power intitiative. I've signed up to pay one extra cent per kilowatt hour (which translates to about $7 per month in my case) to have "100% green power". Does this mean my energy is coming directly from photovoltaics and wind? Probably not. The idea is to directly finance sustainable, non-fossil fuel based energy. I asked the customer service folks if I was paying extra to support hydro (which I don't want to do) and they said that they weren't sure if energy was coming from "Fish-friendly" hydro or not, but it looked like it was mostly solar and wind. EWEB certifies that it's energy is green through a program called renewable energy certificates by a third party, Green-e.

How much of the cash is actually going toward green energy development? What kind of authority does Green-e have? I have no idea. It might be something to investigate further, but I'm willing to bet $7 a month that they're doing the right thing in the mean time.

Check out the EPA's glossary of green power terms.

New Mexico photos: Bandelier and Tent Rocks

2007-04-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

I spent the last week in New Mexico, so here are some of the photos from that trip. Check out the whole series on Picassa or Flickr, whichever you prefer. Highlights include trips to Bandelier National Monument and Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.

From MattStansberry

Indian Mary Peak hike on the Rogue River

2007-04-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend KP and I did the Indian Mary Peak hike above the Rogue River, just west of the town of Merlin. We paid the $2 day use fee at the Indian Mary park and crossed the street to the trailhead. The sign at the trailhead said it was supposed to only be a mile one way to the summit (1200 feet climb) and I just can’t believe that. It might have been the two winery tours and two nights of limited sleep beforehand, but that hike up seemed really long.

From MattStansberry

Luckily it was one of the most primordial, awe inspiring hikes I’ve ever taken. The mandrone trees were thicker and more numerous than I’d ever seen before. I replaced my trusty hiking stick (broken trying to scare imaginary bears) with a nice straight mandrone stick and used it to hoist myself up the hill. The sparser, deciduous dominated forest looked different from anything I’d ever seen on the Coast Range so far.

From MattStansberry

I took pictures of amazing flowers I haven’t been able to identify. I think this one is a glacier lilly. No idea what the other was.

From MattStansberry

A large group of owls was making noise, like a thrumming, near the top of the peak. It was really cool. Sadly, that was the coolest thing about the top of Indian Mary Peak. There is no view. I repeat. No view. What you see below is at the halfway point in the trail.

From MattStansberry

Oregon Caves National Monument photos

2007-04-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Oregon Caves National Monument has lots of rules, but it was a really cool 90 minute tour. The best part was when our guide turned off all the lights and we experienced REAL dark. KP and I went there a couple weekends ago and it was great. Bring your National Parks Pass to get in free, otherwise you're stuck paying $8.50 each.

From MattStansberry

Channeling Edward Abbey

2007-04-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the Eugene Airport right now, getting ready to head down to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a week. I've got meetings most days, but they're half days so I'm hoping to get some good hiking and fly fishing in.

Hopefully I'll have my Edward Abbey experience while I'm there.

I recently read Desert Solitaire, and it left me a little depressed. Abbey is the voice of the zealot, a doomsday preacher. Ed Abbey rattles me. 40 years ago it was already ruined. What now? Do I spend the rest of my life railing against a cancer of "progress" or do I opt out, live in some far flung corner of the pacific Northwest, the last limb to succumb.

But I'm reading Cradle to Cradle now, and that is the most optimistic book I've ever read. Buy this book.

Mega Prince Nymph proves Oregon trout love rubber legs

2007-03-31T22:11:00.000-07:00

Oregon trout love rubber legs. Bottom line.

Today Wild Bill and I headed up to the Middle Fork of the Willamette River, below Hills Creek Reservoir. It was a little rainy, some size 12 BWOs coming off, nothing rising.

I'd stopped by the Caddis Fly yesterday to blow a gift certificate (Thanks Mom!)and got some good advice on fly selection. I picked up a bunch of crap that didn't work, but one thing that did. The mega prince nymph.

From MattStansberry

Wild Bill happened to have one -- he hooked up on it. Then I finally put one on and started hooking up too. No other fly worked all day long. For those of you who don't know about the prince nymph, it's basically peacock and rubber legs on a hook with a bead.

This was my first trout on the Willamette this year. I've had a couple good days on the Lower McKenzie, but this is the first score on the Big W. We hooked into 5 fish today -- not bad for basically winter fishing.

Legs man. Fish love legs.

Oregon environmental activism events

2007-03-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

I've been on the road a lot -- and it's going to keep going at least through May. It's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm headed to Santa Fe next week for meetings and I will be doing some hiking and fishing near Valles Caldera. A few weeks later I leave for Sitka Alaska to join my dad on a grizzly bear hunt -- I'm going to document the trip, try to fly fish, and avoid getting eaten.

That said, I'm going to be missing out on some important stuff in Oregon over the next few months. Sadly, I'll list them here and hope some of you would make it out in my stead:

April 3rd, 2007 -- Environmental Lobby Day in Salem, Oregon. It would be great to go up to Salem and help reel in e-Waste, toxic materials in Oregon’s water supply and other issues.

April 7th and 8th @ Noon at the Bijou Art Cinemas 492 East 13th Eugene, OR Save Our Wild Salmon will be hosting a viewing of the documentary film, Source to Sea: The Columbia River Swim.

From the event planners: In 2003 Christopher Swain became the first person to swim the entire 1,243 mile length of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. His swim brought stories about the river's disrupted ecosystems and dislocated peoples to over twenty-thousand North American schoolchildren, and to a worldwide media audience of over one billion people. A group of thirty-plus Northwest filmmakers, led by Andy Norris, followed Swain's swim, and created a modern history of the Great River of the West. The result was a ninety minute film that one viewer called, "a heart-wrenching tale of a man and a river."

April 12: Lastly, if you have any interest in learning mountaineering skills, plan on checking out the Eugene Obsidians' climb school. The dates don't work for me, but I might just make my schedule fit if I can still get in! $75 is a steal for mountaineering know-how.

Takelma Gorge: Hiking the Upper Rogue River

2007-03-26T20:25:00.000-07:00

After breaking camp Friday morning, KP and I drove east up highway 62 toward the Upper Rogue to hike River Bridge Campground to Takelma Gorge. At the higher elevation there wasn't much to see in the way of spring plants -- not like the Coast Range, which is exploding with flowers and bugs. Instead, the southern Cascades are full of elk and deer -- presumably bear and cougar as well.

From MattStansberry

At the beginning of the trail I donned my Osprey Atmos 65 pack and new Montrail Torre boots in order to keep the gear test going. I can say that the boots felt a lot better on this trip and I really appreciated the support around the ankles. I felt more in control of my feet too -- getting used to the extra weight. The pack felt about the same -- like it wasn't even there. I did feel a shift in the pack weight when I put myself into some weird positions and that worried me a little.

From MattStansberry

There was a lot of snow on the trail, but no other human footprints. It seemed like no one had been there in weeks. We did find some otter tracks along the riverbank. Elk and deer scat were everywhere, I mean you couldn't even avoid stepping in it. We also jumped a grouse and I instinctively pulled my walking stick up like a shotgun.

From MattStansberry

I was thinking a lot about bears coming out of hibernation on this trip -- lumbering hungry boars coming out of hibernation and willing to fight for red meat, or worse a mama with cubs. We were walking through these marshy patches of whippy shrubs that seemed like the perfect bear maze. I thought of Timothy Treadwell. Some big mammals were milling around in the shadows outside of our range of vision, but they could have been anything. There was enough elk shit to build a house out of the stuff -- so it almost had to be an elk. But we never heard or felt the tell-tale elk stomp.

From MattStansberry

We stopped at Takelma Gorge for lunch and worried a little more about bears and the smell of our trail mix. We busted ass back to the car, and I actually broke my trusty walking stick whacking on trees on the way back to make noise through the bear maze. Funny, they say you're supposed to talk loudly so you don't startle a big predator. But we just clammed up, so I started hitting stuff. All we managed to spook, as far as I could tell, was a group of four wood ducks which I would have liked to have had a better look at.

Valley of the Rogue State Park camping

2007-03-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, KP and I broke out the tent for the first time in 2007 at Valley of the Rogue State Park, 15 minutes south of Grants Pass. We decided to head down south for a weekend of wineries and winter steelhead. We've been working on our tent skills, trying to get better at staying warm (KP's main concern) and staying dry (my main problem). I don't get cold. Not one bit. But I hate waking up inside of a wet tent, covered in drops of my nasty condensed breath. Friday night the temp got down into the 40s but we were pretty well off. Didn't sleep a lot, but that's par for the course. Two people stuffed in a tent trying not to knock into each other.

From MattStansberry

I've always had a soft spot for Valley of the Rogue campground after I caught my massive wild steelhead there last October. It's right on the river, right off the highway, easy to set up and use as a base camp. It's pretty much a grassy RV parking lot, so you wouldn't spend a lot of time there if you were looking for a wilderness experience. But this time it was a lot less crowded and the camp seemed a little more charming.

I've entitled the photo below, "RVs in the mist":

From MattStansberry

Both times I've been there the staff has been really nice and the old folks who make up most of the crowd are really low key. Not much more you could ask for: Decent fishing within walking distance, inoffensive retirees, good basecamp for other stuff.

If you're looking for good food nearby, PLEASE check out the Circle J in Grants Pass. Awesome.

Montrail Torre GTX hiking boots review

2007-03-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

Montrail Torre GTX hiking boots: This week I bought a pair of full on hiking boots at REI to replace my Garmonts that are worn out. I was going to try to resole my old hiking boots, but I couldn't because they use plastics and foam in the soles to lighten them up. It makes them impossible to replace the Vibram.

I wasn't totally sure I wanted a new hiking boot. I'd read Lightweight Backpacking and Camping a while back and I liked the premise that a full Gore-Tex, leather upper hiking boot wasn't the way to go. According to the book, a short, lighter trail shoe with SuperFeet is a whole lot easier on your legs -- you lose a little support, but you don't put your feet in all the goofy positions that get ankles twisted anyway. And I've got a pair of Merrell trail shoes to prove it.

But I thought I'd give the big boys another shot and I had a dividend and 20% coupon to blow. I got a dual reccomendation from each of the shops I went to -- shoe guys like the Montrails. I had to get wide shoes, size 10.

I wore them today for the first time and found them heavy, clunky and stiff. New boots basically. The main complaint is that the super-stiff soles are like wearing a pair of roller skates. I fell down about three times. We were at Alsea Falls and I just about went down them headfirst. Stay away from streambeds with these things.

Ask me again in a couple weeks. I'm going to keep wearing them and let you know if they get any better. On the other hand, this review is pretty good. And these Montrail Torre GTX reviews are really good too. I found this last review to be the most thorough from BackpackGearTest.org. This reviewer liked the boots a lot but found the same problem with grip.

Making fun of the Steamboat Inn, North Umpqua River Oregon

2007-03-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

I recently stumbled onto the Web site for the Steamboat Inn on the North Umqua River and I couldn't resist making fun of its tagline "...you're a stranger here but once."

It's factually correct. You'll only go there once.

Wild Bill and I stopped at the Steamboat Inn last year during the summer steelhead run. It was mid-morning and we were on our way to the fly fishing only section, more pilgrimage than fishing trip. I wanted to stop in and get some coffee, buy some flies, and listen to fish stories. But they didn't want our money.

Now mind you, Wild Bill and I were not decked out in our best old timey tweed. I left my pipe and chapeau in the car. But we didn't look like a couple of hungover bums either. Ok, maybe we did, but we looked like bums with money to spend on a fishing addiction.

We walked into the restaurant section where the "fly shop" was located. The oxygen tank and walker set were breakfasting and didn't pay us much mind. The waitresses were nice and attentive and filled our travel coffee mugs. I asked who was running the fly shop and they pointed us to the proprietor who was sitting in a corner. And this is how the conversation went:

US: Hey, hows it going? Great place here. Do you have any recommendations on what kind of flies are working now?

Steamboat Dude: I could sell you some flies, but it really doesn't matter.

US: Really? I'm interested learning more about the fly fishing for steelhead and don't know much about it.

Steamboat Dude: You could fish any of them but you won't catch anything.

US: Ummm... ok. Well what about trout? I've heard there is some great trout fishing around here.

Steamboat Dude: I know a guy who catches trout on this river, but he's not going to tell you anything.

US: Umm... ok, thanks?

Steamboat: Eat shit and never come back (unspoken).

Oregon cougar hunting under fire

2007-03-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

Conservationists and hunters are clashing over Oregon's cougar hunting regulations. ODFW wants to ease a law passed in 1994, Measure 18, which banned hunting cougars with dogs. According to Portland Independent Media Center, ODFW wants to get more leverage to deputize hunters to chase problem cougars with hounds.

Not that a lack of hounds is slowing hunters down. According to an article in the Mail Tribune, hunters killed a record 284 cougars in Oregon last year, the highest total mortality of cougars ever logged in the state.

But at the same time, cougar numbers are up. ODFW said cougars were nearly eliminated in Oregon by the mid-1960s, but today the cougar population in Oregon is estimated to be 5,100. The minimum desirable number of cougar in the state is 3,000.

Obviously some bloggers are taking an anti-hunting stance, but there are just as many voices on the other side, like the Oregon Hunters Association which is offering prizes for hunters that bag cougars.

I don't have a clear stance on this -- I have a cougar tag, but I'm not sure I could use it. I think hunters should be able to hunt cougar; but it should cost more than $10 to do it. Killing less than 6% of the cougar population per year seems sustainable, but that number seems arbitrary.

I'd like to see a better argument for killing cougars than avoiding "problem animal" situations. The conservationists are tearing that one apart, as they should. It's pretty flimsy. If they charged more for tags, opened it up to trophy-chasing non-residents and delivered the money to habitat conservation, that would be better.

Trout Unlimited News: Land use and local events

2007-03-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

This from Fishing Jones: Trout Unlimited is bowing out of the river rights, streamside access debate, according to a recent article in NewWest magazine. I was pissed when I first read this, because the privatization of our country's wilderness and river resources is one of the scariest issues facing hunters and anglers today. As more people become remote workers and/or retire out West on East Coast salaries, this is only going to get worse -- the McMansion crowd will soon be carving up your favorite rivers and moutain ranges. For something really scary, read about how fast the population is exploding in Oregon and what's happening with land use on the LandCrazed Blog.

I'm not upset about Trout Unlimited backing away from this debate because it's not a conservation issue. TU needs to support fisheries science and conservation. TU is not a fishing club. Also, I'd rather the organization spend its resources convincing idiot landowners to leave the riparian habitat on the stream banks than get into a pissing match over whether or not a bubba can stand on a riverbank and scratch his ass on some New Jersey retiree's McRanch.

If you're interested in Oregon river rights, check out Common Waters of Oregon. Sign up, donate, volunteer.

McKenzie River Trout Unlimited fly fishing trip

On a lighter note, TU Chapter 678 had a fly fishing outing on the McKenzie River last weekend. You can check out the photos and details on the TU 678 Blog.