As he digs up another shovelful of rock from an illegal dam on Indian Ford Creek, 17-year-old Jason McCabe says, “Im glad to be out here, this is my favorite part of the program, a chance to give back to the community.” The Damascus resident is a cadet in the Oregon National Guard Youth ChallenNGe […]
Jim Anderson
Posted inOutside
Don’t Forget the Water!
All summer long the farmers, gardeners, anglers, water skiers, swimmers and just about every insect and other animal on this beautiful Earth are using water to stay alive and enjoy life. In winter, the robins who pig out on juniper berries and other fruit must have water to go with their veggies or they will […]
Posted inOutside
A Story of Hope
Shooters target one beautiful bird—but a Sisters rehab facility is nursing it back to health
In late October, the staff of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Summer Lake Wildlife Management Area found a severely wounded adult Trumpeter swan and transported it to Broken Top Veterinarian Clinic between Bend and Sisters. The staff of Broken Top contacted Elise Wolf of Native Bird Care, a Sisters wildlife rehab center. From […]
Posted inOutside
Going Underground
Physicist shares six years of caving
She’s gone underground in exotic locales such as Slovenia and West Virginia. She’s slogged through caverns with water up to her chin. And this week, she’s ready to tell you all about it. On Saturday, Nov. 12, Gilly Elor, a woman who’s done more in her mere six years of caving then anyone can imagine, […]
Posted inOutside
Moulton Alexander Rockefeller
Somewhere along life’s trail one of my ancestors told me that my wonderful old great uncle, Moulton Alexander Rockefeller, my grandfather’s brother, was a graduate of Columbia University with a degree in journalism. Be that as it may, I knew him as a quiet, peaceable alcoholic who leaned on a shovel for the city of […]
Posted inOutside
Killing Wildlife for Fun
A case against sport killing
When I was a kid growin’ up on the farm in Connecticut during the Great Depression, my grandfather and uncles had a Thanksgiving tradition of going waterfowl hunting early that morning. I usually went along. When we had our limit of black ducks—the East Coast equivalent of the mallard—we’d come home, clean our ducks and […]
Posted inOutside
Bigfoot and the Late Great Chief Lelooska
The mystery of the Big Men of the Mountains
My old pal and fellow eagle researcher, Frank Isaacs, recently sent me a Bigfoot news release that reminded me of that fabled beast of mountains and forest, and an experience worth sharing. Back in the '60s my young family and I often were a presence in the life and home of Chief Lelooska, a man […]
Posted inOutside
Eagle, Eagles, Everywhere
There is nothing to relieve the boredom of the straight paved freeway coming at you like an eagle, or better yet, many, many eagles. I went on a family and business journey to Minneapolis, Minn., recently, and the return trip home was eagle after eagle. Eagles have been a love of my life from the […]
Posted inOutside
Rare Sighting
The Sierra Nevada Red Fox
In all the 65 years I’ve had the pleasure of living in Oregon (except for a short stint with The Nature Conservancy in Arizona running Ramsey Canyon Preserve) I somehow missed bumping into a most remarkable animal, the Sierra Nevada red fox. The first I ever heard of this beautiful resident of the Oregon High […]
Posted inOutside
Evolution of the Sunriver Nature Center and Observatory
If there’s one constant in nature, it’s change. Some people call it evolution and scoff at the idea, but as you look around there’s no denying that, given a certain set of circumstances, you adapt and change, or die. This is also true with facilities that serve the public. Right here in Deschutes County we […]