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Meet the team: Dean Finnerty

In Meet the team, Oregon by Kyle Smith

Home town:  Cottage Grove, Oregon.  It’s a perfect location to launch steelhead trips from.  The upper Willamette and its tribs are minutes away as is the McKenzie.  The Umpqua and tons of coastal rivers are 45 minutes to an hour away.  The N.U. is about an hour away as well.  Home waters: The North Umpqua and mainstem Umpqua are my …

ODFW Approves Thermal Angling Sanctuaries on the Columbia

In Oregon by Kyle Smith

Earlier today, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted temporary rules for the 2020 fishing season that limit angling for steelhead in thermal sanctuaries at the mouths of Herman Creek, Eagle Creek, and the Deschutes River. This rule change is a win for endangered Columbia basin steelhead stocks, including the legendary B-Run steelhead that return to the Clearwater each year. …

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We Must Do Better.

In Oregon by Kyle Smith

Wild Steelheaders United was established to educate and mobilize wild steelhead advocates to help restore and protect wild steelhead populations across their native range in North America. Our formula for success is based on bringing people, businesses and communities together to advocate for improved science, habitat, policy and fishery management so that future generations will have healthy, fishable, harvestable wild …

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Snake River Week: Why We Need a Free-Flowing Snake River

In Columbia River, Idaho, Oregon, Snake River, Washington by Kyle Smith

Science shows the four lower Snake River dams have negative impacts on salmon and steelhead. If we want to recover those fish, the dams must come down. This morning, Wild Steelheaders United and Trout Unlimited launched Snake River Week. We’ll take a look at TU’s new report- “Why We Need a Free Flowing Snake River.” Throughout the week, we’ll bring …

Science Friday: McMillan’s Barbless Podcast with ODFW biologist Ian Tattam

In Columbia River, Oregon, Snake River by Kyle Smith

Science Friday this week comes from our own John McMillan’s Barbless Co. Olympic Peninsula Podcast, with guest Ian Tattam, Supervisory Fish and Wildlife Biologist and one of the researchers being funded by our John Day Steelhead Project. Click on over to John’s podcast and give those quarantine-wary eyes a relief from screen time. John and Ian cover a lot of …

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Last Chance to Support the John Day Steelhead Project

In Columbia River, Oregon by Kyle Smith

We’ve seen unbelievable support from the Wild Steelheaders United community for our John Day Steelhead Project fundraiser over the past three weeks. We blew past our $10,000 goal in the first two weeks of the campaign and we’re well on our way to $15,000. All funds raised above our $10,000 goal will help our research partners purchase more acoustic tags, …

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The Science Behind John Day Steelhead Migration

In Columbia River, Oregon, Snake River, Steelhead Files by Kyle Smith

On Monday, we launched the John Day Steelhead Project raising funds for a study being conducted by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and a number of other partners. We’ve been impressed with the response to the crowdfunding campaign, with friends of Wild Steelheaders United coming together to fund $3400 towards our $10,000 …

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Support the John Day Steelhead Project

In Columbia River, Oregon, Snake River by Kyle Smith

The John Day Steelhead Project is raising funds for a collaborative research project between the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, graduate students at Oregon State University, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and other partners seeking to better understand John Day steelhead migration patterns and how Columbia River dams may be impacting the health and abundance of these fish.