I grew up fishing in Oregon. Too young to fish in the ocean, I was mesmerized by the salmon my dad and grandpa caught fishing out of Astoria. I knew salmon fishing was in my future, but at the time, didn’t know how far this passion would take me.
My early days of fishing set me on a course to provide this experience to others. I’ve been working as a professional fishing guide for 31 years.
I’ve seen good years and bad with the available catch of salmon and steelhead. These wild fish are the lifeblood of an $80 million a year sport fishery on the North Coast. Depressed wild populations of coho, Chinook, steelhead and chum salmon, as well as steelhead and cutthroat trout, have eroded away the incredible transfer of wealth from urban communities, for prospective anglers who come to fish on the coast and the rural communities who benefit from that economic activity. Degraded habitat is at the very center of less abundance in fish populations and economic opportunity.
I’ve learned, along with other guides and fishing industry members, the importance of protecting our forests to provide habitat for spawning and rearing salmon like coho, which spend 12 to 18 months rearing in the watershed before they enter the ocean. Cold, clean water is vital for salmon and steelhead to complete their life cycle, and forests serve to keep salmon waters cool. Protecting the salmon streams from landslides is also important. That’s why we need to have a proactive and balanced approach to managing our forests in Oregon.
Fish are forest products too!
Unfortunately, Oregon forests haven’t always been managed in a way that is beneficial for wildlife, water supply or recreation. These lands, at the heart of the Tillamook and Clatsop rainforest, host six salmon strongholds and stand as an oasis for fish, wildlife and recreation in Northwest Oregon.
That’s why I’ve become an advocate for habitat conservation plans to protect what’s left of our best salmon rivers in Oregon. The goal of the plans is to authorize legal activities, like logging, while mitigating or minimizing harm to endangered species like salmon.
Currently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is reviewing the Western Oregon Habitat Conservation Plan, advanced by the Oregon Board of Forestry. This plan would provide protections for 17 federally listed endangered species, including Oregon Coast coho. The plan would protect roughly half of state lands in the Tillamook and Clatsop rainforest, or 250,000 acres, for 70 years. This will help ensure a future f
I grew up fishing in Oregon. Too young to fish in the ocean, I was mesmerized by the salmon my dad and grandpa caught fishing out of Astoria. I knew salmon fishing was in my future, but at the time, didn’t know how far this passion would take me.
My early days of fishing set me on a course to provide this experience to others. I’ve been working as a professional fishing guide for 31 years.
I’ve seen good years and bad with the available catch of salmon and steelhead. These wild fish are the lifeblood of an $80 million a year sport fishery on the North Coast. Depressed wild populations of coho, Chinook, steelhead and chum salmon, as well as steelhead and cutthroat trout, have eroded away the incredible transfer of wealth from urban communities, for prospective anglers who come to fish on the coast and the rural communities who benefit from that economic activity. Degraded habitat is at the very center of less abundance in fish populations and economic opportunity.
I’ve learned, along with other guides and fishing industry members, the importance of protecting our forests to provide habitat for spawning and rearing salmon like coho, which spend 12 to 18 months rearing in the watershed before they enter the ocean. Cold, clean water is vital for salmon and steelhead to complete their life cycle, and forests serve to keep salmon waters cool. Protecting the salmon streams from landslides is also important. That’s why we need to have a proactive and balanced approach to managing our forests in Oregon.
Fish are forest products too!
Unfortunately, Oregon forests haven’t always been managed in a way that is beneficial for wildlife, water supply or recreation. These lands, at the heart of the Tillamook and Clatsop rainforest, host six salmon strongholds and stand as an oasis for fish, wildlife and recreation in Northwest Oregon.
That’s why I’ve become an advocate for habitat conservation plans to protect what’s left of our best salmon rivers in Oregon. The goal of the plans is to authorize legal activities, like logging, while mitigating or minimizing harm to endangered species like salmon.
Currently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is reviewing the Western Oregon Habitat Conservation Plan, advanced by the Oregon Board of Forestry. This plan would provide protections for 17 federally listed endangered species, including Oregon Coast coho. The plan would protect roughly half of state lands in the Tillamook and Clatsop rainforest, or 250,000 acres, for 70 years. This will help ensure a future founded on fish and wildlife conservation that sustains not just sportfishing but also timber communities, as well as the businesses, jobs, revenue and a tax base tied to both of these industries.https://c5ecdfd48318af7504cac6054b2f6a31.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
NOAA Fisheries is considering several alternatives in its draft environmental impact statement, and the soundest for salmon is Alternative 3 that strengthens conservation for the fish. This alternative would designate important aquatic and terrestrial habitats. It would also improve steep slope logging protections and consider the impacts from excessive road networks.
Unfortunately, some of the other proposed alternatives would reduce the proposed conservation areas in favor of increased logging and pesticide spraying. We can’t go backwards to the activities that have threatened the public, fish and wildlife in the past. Instead, we must go forward with a balanced approach that considers fish, wildlife, recreation and clean water as forest products, just like timber. As an Oregon industry ourselves, with members who have affinity for fish, wildlife and habitat as well as appreciation for timber, this is our view: each plays a vital role in the success of rural Oregon.
The public comment period for this habitat conservation plan opened on March 18 and runs for 60 days through May 17. I encourage everyone reading this to speak up for salmon strongholds in the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. Written comments can be submitted on the NOAA website.
ounded on fish and wildlife conservation that sustains not just sportfishing but also timber communities, as well as the businesses, jobs, revenue and a tax base tied to both of these industries.https://c5ecdfd48318af7504cac6054b2f6a31.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
NOAA Fisheries is considering several alternatives in its draft environmental impact statement, and the soundest for salmon is Alternative 3 that strengthens conservation for the fish. This alternative would designate important aquatic and terrestrial habitats. It would also improve steep slope logging protections and consider the impacts from excessive road networks.
Unfortunately, some of the other proposed alternatives would reduce the proposed conservation areas in favor of increased logging and pesticide spraying. We can’t go backwards to the activities that have threatened the public, fish and wildlife in the past. Instead, we must go forward with a balanced approach that considers fish, wildlife, recreation and clean water as forest products, just like timber. As an Oregon industry ourselves, with members who have affinity for fish, wildlife and habitat as well as appreciation for timber, this is our view: each plays a vital role in the success of rural Oregon.
The public comment period for this habitat conservation plan opened on March 18 and runs for 60 days through May 17. I encourage everyone reading this to speak up for salmon strongholds in the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. Written comments can be submitted on the NOAA website.
Bob Rees, Bay City
Source: The Astorian