What Future for the Owyhee? Conference to Focus on Oregon¹s "Worst-Kept Secret"

The Owyhee was recently featured in Northwest Flyfishing, as well as on the cover of another national flyfishing magazine. Yep, the secret is out and as most of you know, the place can get kind of crowded at times.

Water and land use issues are also affecting the River. First, the bad news. Several parcels of land along the river are for sale right now, and there are rumors of an RV park. There¹s no way to know what new owners might do regarding access and use. Oregon does NOT have a generous stream access law like Idaho¹s, and access could get harder.

Fortunately, there is plenty of good news from the Owyhee. A recent proposal by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to lift the strict catch and release regulation for brown trout was defeated, for now. The Bureau of Reclamation and local irrigation districts are poised to reach agreement on minimum winter flows. The Bureau of Land Management and the Land Trust of the Treasure Valley are both working on managing and conserving the land resources around and along the Owyhee River.

That¹s a lot of good news and bad news for one river. So the time is ripe for the Trueblood Chapter to finally take a closer look at what is going on with the Owyhee.

On November 13, 2004, the Trueblood Chapter along with Indianhead Flyfishers are co-sponsoring a one-day conference that brings together federal and state resource managers, water and land users such as the irrigation district, anglers, conservationists, and the commercial interests with a stake in the river¹s future. The conference will focus on where the river is headed. BLM wants input from anglers and TU about a new land management plan. A biologist will report on her studies of aquatic macroinvertebrates (bugs, or trout food, to you and I) in the river, and folks who have known and fished the river for decades will report on the changes they have seen. The conference will end with a chance for everyone to help plan conservation efforts and projects and to let the agencies, land managers, and TU know what they would like to see happen.

I hope we will see you on November 13, 2004, at the Four Rivers Cultural Center on the campus of Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Oregon. As always, you¹ll find more information on our website at TedTruebloodTU.org

Currently, only 7 percent of Idaho¹s 52.6 million acres is protected in congressionally mandated wilderness. However, TU¹s report reveals that vast proportions of salmon, trout, elk, deer and bighorn sheep habitat, as well as the state¹s best quality hunting and longest hunting seasons lie in Idaho¹s roughly 17 million acres of roadless areas. The report uses color maps detailing quality fish habitat and hunting experience overlaid with the state¹s roadless lands to demonstrate the close correlation between the two. For example:

74 percent of current chinook and steelhead habitat is roadless.

88 percent of the land in units yielding more than 90 percent branch bull elk hunting success is roadless.

72 percent of the land in units yielding more than 40 percent four-plus-point mule deer hunting success is roadless.

Scott Stouder, the report¹s author, is TU¹s Western Field Coordinator for protection of roadless lands. He lives near Riggins, Idaho and hunts and fishes almost exclusively in roadless areas. He says the current handoff of Forest Service roadless management from the Feds to the states could leave anglers and hunters out of the equation.

"In a debate like roadless lands protection that has traditionally been dominated by environmental and industry voices pitted against each other we¹d like to see equal time for the hunters and anglers who know these lands best."

The deadline for input to the new roadless rule in November 15. Go to www.tu.org for input or to download a copy of TU¹s Roadless Report. Scott Stouder can be reached at: sstouder@tu.org

The Board of Directors of the Trueblood Chapter recently donated $1,000 to an innovative effort to restore streams affected, and nearly eliminated by 100 years of irrigation. The project is part of National TU¹s Cooperative Native Trout Program, which seeks to work with irrigators and land users to find solutions to challenges facing native trout populations throughout the Rocky Mountains.

The Falls Creek Project, a large-scale effort to reconnect an isolated population of bull trout with the main stem Pahsimeroi, is on the cutting-edge of watershed restoration because it couples habitat restoration activities with revised land management practices at a scale that is ecologically relevant to migratory salmonids. In addition, the project promotes a diverse partnership among federal, state, and private groups and provides a unique testing ground for State instream flow protection. This project is likely to be a model for future large-scale restoration efforts, so its success is necessary to encourage additional channel reconnection projects and other multi-partner endeavors.

The Falls Creek Project on the Pahsimeroi is headed up by Amy Harig of TU¹s National Office. Amy recently relocated to Eagle in order to be closer to the many native fish projects she is working on. Amy¹s work, along with the work of Scott Yates in TU¹s Idaho Water Office, are representative of TU¹s and the Trueblood Chapter¹s continuing efforts to find coldwater conservation solutions that involve and win support from other traditional land and water users.

Spring Event to Feature Big Wood River and South Fork Snake River

November 3, 2004 ­ Board of Director¹s Meeting, everyone is welcome. Chicago Connection, 4th and Bannock Street, Boise. Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m.

November 10, 2004 ­ Membership Meeting. Flytying at 6:30, program begins 7:30. Mike Kellett the Boise National Forest Fish Biologist will tell us about fishing the high mountain lakes in Boise¹s "back yard" National Forest. With a little prompting he¹ll tell us where to find the big fish, where to find cutthroats, rainbows, and maybe even where to find the elusive grayling.

November 13, 2004 ­ What Future for the Owyhee? A Conference on Oregon¹s Owyhee Tailwater Fishery. Starting at 9:30 a wide variety of federal and state agencies, anglers, water users and conservationists will plan the future of this unique desert tailwater and the large brown and rainbow trout that call it home. Four Rivers Cultural Center at the Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Oregon.

December 1, 2004 - Board of Director¹s Meeting, everyone is welcome. Chicago Connection, 4th and Bannock Street, Boise. Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m.