By Gregg Bafundo and Crystal Elliot The bomb-like crater in the side of the creek was the give-away. Suction dredgers. A bucket was overturned on a log, “No dredging this hole,” indicating the pending return of a gold miner. Walking up Scotty Creek with Nils Cowan, a reporter looking into the world of suction dredging, we saw the change – …
An uprising and next steps on the Olympic Peninsula
An uprising and next steps on the OP An angler uprising. That is what we felt over the past few months as momentum began to build towards the Fish and Wildlife Commission (the Commission) meeting this past Friday. And the payoff was a step forward for wild steelhead and the famed Olympic Peninsula (OP) fishery. Several months have now passed …
The Steelhead of The Tongass National Forest
The Steelhead of the Tongass National Forest: A Brief Overview of Habitat, Life Histories, and Management By: Mark Hieronymus, Trout Unlimited Alaska At nearly 17 million acres, the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is the country’s largest national forest. This complex landscape of western hemlock, Sitka spruce, western red cedar and yellow cedar is part of the world’s largest …
Kitsap Sun letter Steve Burns OP Steelhead
LETTERS: State can help restore salmon stocks 3:22 PM, Dec 9, 2015 58 mins ago opinion | letters to the editor Steve Burns, Poulsbo State can help restore salmon stocks There are times as anglers where we must evaluate our lot — look at our rivers, their habitat and the health of their fish populations, contemplating the opportunity they provide while comparing …
Sean Gallagher on the OP: Remain vigilant. Continue Forward.
Déjà Vu? By Sean Gallagher The wipers strained as sheets of rainwater slammed the windshield. It sounded as if one thousand marbles were bouncing off the roof—we swerved and just missed another puddle. If Larry and I turn around now we have the perfect excuse, I thought. Our destination on this dark, blustery, Saturday morning in November was the …
Wild Steelhead License Plate
Have you ever thought, Oregon has a salmon plate, why not Washington? Well now is your chance to secure the opportunity as a Washingtonian to show your love of Washington’s state fish, the steelhead. WDFW has been working on a plate featuring a wild steelhead, but before this can become a reality they had to reach a minimum of 3500 …
Happy Birthday Wild Steelheaders United
By Shauna Sherard We made it. One year. 365 days passed. 365 steps toward a better future for steelhead. One year down. So many to go. There are those who thought we were crazy. Crazy in what we believed. Crazy in our attempt to unite anglers, to try to solve allegedly unsolvable problems that had plagued steelhead rivers for decades. …
Finishing the job
By Rob Masonis Darn lucky. That is what I consider myself for having been able to make a living for more than two decades protecting and restoring the great steelhead and salmon rivers of the Pacific Northwest. The muscular, jaw-droppingly beautiful rivers themselves have provided plenty of inspiration for my work. But the wild steelhead that swim in their waters …
WSU: Good excuse to go fishing
By Sam Davidson Among the better excuses for going fishing is to celebrate a birthday. One’s own, of course. But also your father-in-law’s, the 4th of July, Christmas, Rutherford B. Hayes’s, and your yet-to-be-born nephew’s. The point is that you can use “celebrating a birthday” as a legitimate excuse to go fishing for any day of the year. I …
Steelheaders amass for Olympic Peninsula
As a rule, public comment periods for proposed regulations are not sexy. They are not attention grabbers. They’re not headline makers. Sometimes, they’re not even interesting enough to garner the attention of a single citizen. For that you need protests. Public displays. But comment periods? While they exude patriotism, practically stinking of the fundamentals of democracy, let’s be honest. …