Eric Crawford is the North Idaho Field Coordinator for Trout Unlimited and the Wild Steelhead Initiative. Before coming to TU, Eric worked a 25 year career as an enforcement officer with Idaho Fish and Game. He’s based in Moscow, Idaho. It was a fishing trip on a balmy November day, back trolling plugs with an old boss in an even …
Snake River Week: Why We Need a Free-Flowing Snake River
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
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 …
The Science Behind John Day Steelhead Migration
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 …
Support the John Day Steelhead Project
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.
Science Friday: The risks and rewards of barging steelhead smolts
Sea-run Snake River fish species must pass through eight dams, four in the Snake and four in the Columbia. Barging some of them past these dams helps them avoid most of the harmful impacts associated with the hydropower system.
Take Action: Restoring the Lower Snake
As a steelheader, you may already know the incredible story of Snake River salmon and steelhead, and the precarious position those populations are in now. Today, we have a chance to help Snake River steelhead and salmon. TAKE ACTION TODAY: TU has setup a website with all the information you need to get a handle on Snake River issues and …
Meetings on Lower Snake Dams available via teleconference
If you are interested in weighing in on the recently released draft environmental impact statement regarding the Lower Snake and Columbia River dams, you can do so via telephone: –Days: March 18, 19, 25, 26, 31–Times: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. PT–Toll-free: 844-721-7241–International: 409-207-6955–Access Code: 5998146# You may also provide comments online by April 13. Trout Unlimited will provide more information on …
Cold water refuges in the Columbia River- what are they and why are they important?
After months of winter steelheading, and with spring a few days away, wet-wading and sunshine are starting to sound pretty appealing. But warmer temperatures also bring some complications for summer steelhead in the Columbia basin. Tributaries like Herman Creek, Eagle Creek, Little White Salmon, and the Deschutes River deliver cold water to the Columbia even when air temps climb. Summer …
Science Friday- Just how much diversity can one creek support? Asotin Creek provides an example
If only it was as simple as an adipose fin. The presence of an adipose fin is universally recognized as the mark. An individual with an adipose fin is, with a few exceptions, considered a wild steelhead. On the other hand, those marked, clipped, or ad-intact fish, they are the hatchery ones. Although it is but a small mark, the …