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Protecting Oregon sporting paradise from strip mining
Illinois RiverPhoto courtesy Ken Morrish Southwest Oregon is a place defined by steep country and untamed rivers where we can go to find solitude, dramatic landscapes, and some of the best habitat for big game and wild anadromous fish in the lower 48 states. Rivers like the Smith, Illinois, and Chetco are legendary amongst sportsmen and women for their…
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At home on the Tongass
My father once told me that “home is where you hang your hat.” I believed it, for a time, at least. I mean, as a young boy, who was I to argue with the wisdom of a grownup? I’ve come to realize, though, that “home” is where everything seems to fall into place just right.…
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Charlie Russell’s cutthroat
Water for Camp, watercolor, Charlie Russell. Source: Wikipedia By Tom Reed It is wide open terrain, a landscape that leaves no question as to where Montana got its nickname: Big Sky Country. This is the land of Charlie Russell. He was the quintessential artist of the Old West, a talent who told stories in watercolor…
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The Amazon forest isn’t the only one in peril
Editor's note: This first appeared in the Los Angeles Times. By Mike Dombeck and Chris Wood In the faraway Amazon, politics and commercial exploitation are fueling fires that threaten the world’s largest tropical rainforest. Closer to home, in Alaska, the Tongass National Forest, which represents the largest intact temperate rainforest, is facing a serious threat…
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Desert Dries
Steelhead are never easy to catch. If they were ... well, they wouldn't be steelhead. But they might be especially difficult to catch on a skated dry fly. One western river, the desert section of the lower Deschutes, is known for big, fresh-from-the-Columbia chromers that will, indeed, hit a dry fly on the skate. https://youtu.be/uht997Ccw_M…
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Coaching an elder to success
“One more cast,” I say to my brother from the bank above the Frying Pan River. A monster trout is rising with regularity and taunting my brother’s last nerve. I’ve been coaching him to place his fly in the exact spot from his perch on the opposite side of the run for what seems like forever. …
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5 Rivers Odyssey Reflection: Dan Eiden
The TU Costa 5 Rivers Odyssey was an experience like no other. This month-long journey across the Pacific Northwest challenged my perspectives and exposed me to issues that I could never have envisioned, let alone take on first-hand. Each day on the Odyssey was full of new experiences, whether it was conducting a fish salvage on a small mountain stream or chasing steelhead…
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