The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

From the desk of Tom Wolf, Oregon’s Trout Unlimited State Council Chair:

At the Board of Forestry meeting yesterday, the Board picked Doug Decker by a 4-2 vote to be the new State Forester to head the Oregon Department of Forestry. I was invited to a public evaluation of the three final candidates-Paul Bell, Doug Decker and Paul Little- and was asked to submit electronic comments evaluating all three candidates. I did a lengthy evaluation of all three candidates and picked who I thought would be the best choice for the agency.

My pick was also Doug Decker. He demonstrates key leadership abilities, good communication skills, the ability to work with all stakeholder groups and above all, vision for how he thinks ODF should meet the future with the responsibilities it has. I think he is the best possible choice to deal with ODF mission to harvest timber yet protect critical fish and wildlife habitat. I am excited to work with him and excited for the future of Oregon Department of Forestry.

Congratulations to BOF Chair John Blackwell and the rest of the board to pick someone who has the best skills to deal with the agency’s mission and balance harvest with fish and wildlife habitat needs.

The Long Tom Watershed Council is looking for 8-10 volunteers to help monitor the migration of coastal cutthroat trout in streams near Monroe. The goal of the project is to learn about the migration behavior of resident and fluvial-migrating cutthroat in the Long Tom Watershed. This information will help prioritize restoration projects benefiting these fish. Duties will include: Checking fish traps, assisting Council and/or ODFW staff with backpack electro-fishing, and installing PIT tags in collected fish.

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The legislators in Salem are putting together a bill to merge state fish and wildlife agencies with parks and land departments, creating an umbrella organization — the Oregon Department of Natural Resources, presumably in a move save the state some money.

Some of us have argued that ODFW can’t really operate in the interest of wild fish, when the agency literally survives on license sales revenues, so decoupling fisheries management decisions from how they might affect the agency’s budget could be a good thing for native salmonids. But it is too soon to tell if this proposal would be a step in the right direction or not. What do you think?

SB 521: Establishes Oregon Department of Natural Resources and Oregon Natural Resources Commission. Directs Governor to appoint Director of Oregon Department of Natural Resources and members of commission. Establishes Oregon Natural Resources Fund. Continuously appropriates moneys in fund to department for purpose of carrying out its duties, functions and powers. Abolishes State Department of Fish and Wildlife, State Fish and Wildlife Commission, State Parks and Recreation Department, State Parks and Recreation Commission, Department of State Lands, Department of Land Conservation and Development, Land Conservation and Development Commission, Land Use Board of Appeals, State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Water Resources Department, Water Resources Commission, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, State Forestry Department, State Board of Forestry and Oregon Forest Resources Institute. Transfers duties, functions and powers from abolished departments, commissions and boards to Oregon Department of Natural Resources. Declares emergency, effective on passage.

From Alan Moore, TU national staff in PDX: Check out this video at the link below. This year has seen an unbelievable, off-the-charts return of ESA-listed wet n’ wild Oregon Coast coho to Thompson Creek, a conservation property and small spawning tributary of the Necanicum River literally on the outskirts of Seaside, owned and managed by our wonderful partners at the North Coast Land Conservancy.

Coincidentally – OR IS IT? – these booming returns correspond directly with the first year the NCLC took control of the property and when TU first arrived, which is also when the habitat work we did allowed the beavers to return and begin improving rearing habitat for the coho fry that emerged that year. Can we thank good ocean conditions and other factors for that in part? Absolutely. Are we taking better advantage of those ocean conditions by providing better habitat for those large numbers of fish returning now to spawn and rear to weather the next downturn in the ocean and elsewhere? I’d sure say so.

The carcasses alone from this year’s run could feed an army, provided that army was very, very hungry and without a keen sense of smell. To the skeptics who say small habitat projects don’t make a difference, or those who say many watersheds impacted by human development are too far gone to do wild fish recovery any good – we give you Thompson Creek:

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