Tough year for wildfires … and more to come

NASA satellite image showing smoke over of the Northwest as of Sept. 5. By Jack Williams This past winter was a wet one where I live in southwest Oregon. “Atmospheric rivers” brought record rain and snow storms to the region. We were not alone. Rains and snows drenched California and built big snowpacks in the…

Short casts: All about salmon…

Photo by Kyle Green, Idaho Statesman Welcome to the weekend edition of Short Casts, where today, it’s all about salmon and the many challenges facing their recovery in the Pacific Northwest. If you haven’t been following Rocky Barker’s summer-long series on salmon in the Idaho Statesman, you can still catch up with it and learn…

Voices from the River: Spawn ’til you die

By Eric Booton Chrome. Silver. Red gold. All the worthy descriptions of fresh, wild Alaska salmon imply monetary value, and for good reason. Here in Alaska, wild salmon attract tourists from around the world. These trusted fish provide employment for guides, commercial fishermen, processors, chefs, pilots and many others. In the final frontier, salmon, fortunately,…

Native Odyssey: The Deschutes National Forest is a fishy wonderland

Editor’s note: The TU Costa Five Rivers Program sent a handful of young anglers on fishing and discovery journey all across America in search of native trout. This installment focuses on Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest. Location: Deschutes National Forest The Deschutes National Forest stretches out across 1.6 million acres of Central Oregon. It provides a…