In our last Science Friday post we took a look, in part, at the feeding behavior of bass. This week we are moving down in the feeding column to focus on catfish. Just kidding. It’s all steelhead all the time here. Today we review a paper by David Hines and several colleagues. The study focuses on the behavior …
Bill that protects Methow River from mining moves forward
A bill that would protect lands in Okanagan County from mining is moving forward after a markup in today’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. The Methow Headwater Protections Act of 2017, S. 566, comes on the heels of a 20 year mineral withdrawal, cementing protections for an area known for it’s agriculture and recreational importance in …
Rivers of Resilience – Asotin Creek
Asotin Creek is a tributary that drains into the Snake River near the town of Asotin in eastern Washington. With a drainage area of 250 square miles, Asotin Creek is slightly larger than the Wind River, but also much smaller than the Yakima River watershed. Like the Yakima, the basin is located in a semi-arid environment. Most of the watershed …
Rivers of Resilience – Yakima
It can be hard to maintain faith in the steelhead world. As noted in the recent article by Bill Herzog, it seems like we are losing wild summer runs faster than we can recover them. I would hedge that many, if not most, anglers feel the same. Steelhead are not disappearing for lack of effort though. Frankly, it’s amazing …
Proposed Mine Threatens Methow Headwaters
The Methow River is one of Washington’s most iconic rivers for steelhead fishing and other outdoor pursuits, and it continues to be a Pacific Northwest mecca for anglers, hunters, recreationists, and conservationists alike. But proposed large-scale copper mining on Flagg Mountain, within the headwaters of the Methow River, directly threatens this investment and poses a serious threat to these fish …
California water supply takes hit from marijuana
Photo: California Department of Fish and Wildlife By Brian Johnson, Curtis Knight and Mike Sweeney Originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle California, the nation’s top agricultural producer, also is the source of up to 70 percent of the marijuana consumed in the United States. The marijuana industry is largely unregulated and there are few protections to ensure illegal water …