Back in 1951, I rolled into Bend on my grand old 1947 Harley, and within a year I was into the eagle conservation business. It was then I discovered what was previously unknown to me: the U.S. Government’s role in killing wildlife. Government trappers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Division of Predator and Rodent […]
ODFW
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Southbound: Century Drive Gravel Pond
A low-key spot to teach a kid to fish
Sometimes teaching kids to fish takes much more patience than the actual fishing part. You’ve got to tie all the tackle, bait the hook—and if you were duped, you got an old-school push button reel that will fail the second time your child casts it. After reading the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife‘s sport […]
Posted inOpinion
Letters to the Editor
GUEST OPINION Public Health or Pharma Profits? Oregon House Bill 3063 would remove religious and philosophical exemptions for vaccines in children and force families who do not comply with the Oregon Health Authority’s schedule to remove children from childcare and school (public or private). This includes children whose parents choose a delayed vaccine schedule or […]
Posted inOutside
A Fisheries Pioneer
Amy Stewart was ODFW’s first district-wide female fish biologist
“I was told women belong in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant,” recalls former state Fish Biologist Amy Stuart of Prineville. In 1983, she was hired by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as its first district-wide female fish biologist, based in Prineville. With natural resources degrees from Cornell and Colorado State Universitiy, she interviewed for […]
Posted inOutside
Crowds in the Backcountry
As national forest leaders consider quotas for local wilderness areas, some local wilderness advocates weigh in
Sarah Cuddy coordinates conservation efforts in the Ochoco National Forest for Oregon Wild. She’s worried about increased foot traffic in the woods. “With our population increase we’re seeing an increase in recreation. The sheer volume of people on the trails now is way more than we’ve experienced in the past.” Central Oregon’s population growth bears […]
Posted inOutside
Fish On!
South Twin Lake, glamping in style
There are two types of campers: First, the ones who enjoy pitching a tent, unrolling the musty-smelling Coleman sleeping bag, zipping themselves into their nylon shelter and sleeping in the elements. The others, well, they like a bed, modern appliances—and in my wife’s case, a shower. Find both at South Twin Lake, located just northwest […]
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No Fish
Federal legislation combined with a drought year results in trouble for trout on the Crooked River
The Crooked River below Bowman Dam and the Prineville Reservoir is regarded as a blue ribbon fishery for Oregon’s native Redband trout. It may be highly regarded by anglers—but at the moment, that image has been dealt a serious blow. At the heart of the issue is federal legislation passed in December 2014, which allocated […]
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Fish Rescue
Every October, a group dons their waders to rescue fish around Lava Island. Thousands live. Thousands also die.
It was 2013 when Kim Brannock of Bend first witnessed thousands of dying fish in a side channel of the upper Deschutes River near Lava Island. As co-founder of the Coalition for the Deschutes, she was sickened by the sight, only to find out it had been occurring for decades with seasonal irrigation water flows […]
Posted inOutside
Mercury in Our Air, Water, Soil and Fish
In April of this year the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) issued a warning about consuming too many bass found to be contaminated with excessive amounts of mercury in fish tissue sampled from a number of water bodies across the state. Dave Farrer, Ph.D., toxicologist in the Environmental Public Health Section at the OHA Public Health […]
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Precautions Urged to Help Save Bats
Deschutes National Forest Highlights Precautions at Lava River Cave
Portland, Ore. – Visitors using public lands are encouraged to help fight the spread of white-nose syndrome and save bats in the Pacific Northwest. White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fungal disease that has devastated bat populations in eastern North America, killing an estimated six million bats since 2006. In March 2016, Washington’s first case of […]