2B ❚ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2018 ❚ APPEAL TRIBUNE
Oregon still
looks for rec
agency leader
Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Oregon is still searching for a leader
of the newly created Office of Outdoor
Recreation.
Created by the state legislature in
2017, the office is designed to become a
central clearinghouse for outdoor rec-
reation projects and businesses across
Oregon.
But officials have struggled to find
the right person to lead the new unit.
After a months-long process of review-
ing more than 100 applications — and
interviewing a number of candidates —
state officials decided they hadn't
found the right person.
“Unfortunately, as qualified as they
were, their considerable talents and
skills do not exactly match the expect-
ed demands of the office as it ramps
up,” an update from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Parks and Recreation said. “We
will not be hiring from this pool.”
It’s unclear how the department will
fill a position that pays between
$70,000 and $97,000 per year at this
point.
Officials will focus on beginning
some of the work called for in the legis-
lation, according to the note.
“We knew at the outset finding a
person for this new office would be a
challenge, and while the hiring process
didn’t produce the ideal candidate in
our first attempt, we are thankful for
your continued patience and support,”
E.E. Wilson Pond
provides plenty
of history, fishing
the update said.
Here’s what the parks and recrea-
tion department will focus on in the
foreseeable future:
❚ Establish a high-level, policy-
driven advisory group to develop a pri-
oritized hotlist of top policy or statuto-
ry barriers to outdoor recreation suc-
cess, and use their expertise to guide
recruitment of the office’s executive.
This could take some months.
❚ Cooperate with the higher educa-
tion system to create a strong founda-
tion for degrees related to outdoor rec-
reation engagement, business devel-
opment, management and research.
❚ Begin work with Travel Oregon
and other partners on a detailed state-
wide outdoor recreation economic im-
pact study and communication plan.
❚ Contribute to signature trail and
transportation plan strategies.
❚ Lay the groundwork for a recrea-
tion participation and employment di-
versity audit.
❚ Integrate all this work in the con-
text of the Oregon Outdoor Recreation
Initiative convened by Travel Oregon
and supported by dozens of organiza-
tions.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors
writer, photographer and videographer
in Oregon for 10 years. He is the author
of the book “Hiking Southern Oregon”
and can be reached at zurness@States-
manJournal.com or (503) 399-6801.
Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORout-
doors.
Oregon still is searching for a leader of the newly created Office of Outdoor
Recreation. ZACH URNESS/STATESMAN JOURNAL
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Darin Hyde of Albany plays a trout that he caught on a chironomid artificial fly
at E.E. Wilson Pond north of Corvallis. HENRY MILLER/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Fishing
Henry Miller
Guest columnist
CORVALLIS – If you’re looking for a
pleasant walk with a productive fishing
hole at the end, along with a generous
smattering of history thrown in to the
mix, you ought to give E.E. Wilson Pond
a visit.
It’s just one of the attractions on the
1,700-plus-acre E.E. Wilson Wildlife
Area, a former World War II-era mili-
tary base that now is managed by the
Oregon Department of Fish and Wild-
life.
It’s a shade more than a half-mile
hike on a flat, graveled, family friendly
path from the fishing pond parking lot
to the berm that encloses the pond. The
stroll includes views of the fragments
of crumbling foundations and other
structures from the former base.
On a recent visit, the spectators
watching the dozens of anglers ringing
and floating on the pond included a
large bald eagle perched high up in a
tree on the west side of the water body.
E.E. Wilson was stocked with 1,225
rainbow trout - 800 keeper-size, 400
foot-long-plus and 25 larger fish – the
week of March 5, and is scheduled to
get another 1,075, including 50 “trophy”
rainbows and 25 “trophy-plus” trout
sometime during the week of March 19.
It first was stocked the week of Feb.
12 with 1,000 keeper-size rainbows and
again the week of Feb. 26 with 1,100, in-
cluding 400 “trophy” trout.
“We usually come three times a win-
ter,” said Darin Hyde of Albany, who
was joined by his fishing buddy Randy
Pepin of Jefferson.
Pepin and Hyde were getting steady
action fishing from their U-shaped float
tubes.
The hot tickets for the pair were
twig-looking chironomid artificial flies
meant to imitate the larvae of flying in-
sects.
Both were slow-twitching their of-
ferings with small brightly colored
floats called “indicators” several feet
above the sub-surface flies to show
when trout grabbed them.
One E.E. Wilson regular who was
spin-fishing on the opposite side of the
pond was Dillon Hammer of Mon-
mouth.
“I came here earlier this year, pretty
early this year, and this thing (the
pond) was empty,” Hammer said about
the smallish puddle that has re-filled
with winter rains. “I do come here pret-
ty often … I got a couple of bites on the
other side, but I’m trying the deeper
side right now.”
Non fly anglers have success with
night crawlers or, “like fake trout (pat-
terned) spinners,” he added.
As the morning fog burned off and
the bright sun chased the away the
chill, a steady stream of anglers, many
families with kids, walked over the lip
of the berm to the pond.
The pond parking area is on the
north side of Camp Adair Road. Take
Highway 99W south to the “wildlife
area” turn on the left about six miles
north of Corvallis.
A wildlife area parking permit - $10 a
day or $30 a year –is required to park at
Oregon Department of Fish and Wild-
life wildlife areas. Those are available
weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed
for lunch from noon until 1, at the Fish
and Wildlife office 2 miles south of
Camp Adair Road (left-hand turn off
Highway 99W). The wildlife area head-
quarters does not sell parking permits.
You also can purchase permits at
any fish and wildlife license agent as
well as online at https://myodfw.com/
articles/buying-odfw-wildlife-area-
parking-permit
While you’re at the wildlife area,
check out the Camp Adair Memorial
Garden honoring those who trained at
the base before shipping out to fight
during World War II.
Henry Miller is a retired Statesman
Journal outdoor columnist and writer.
You can contact him via email at Hen-
ryMillerSJ@gmail.com
Chia seeds with
rodent poop given
out in food boxes
50 states. 112 local news teams.
ONE NETWORK.
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P-PB
Marion-Polk Food Share received 134
cases of chia seeds contaminated with
rodent excrement and distributed about
77 cases to local food banks and meal
sites over the past three months, distri-
bution manager Tom Oblack said March
13.
Cases varied in weight but averaged
about 20 pounds each, he said, meaning
about 1,500 pounds of the contaminated
seeds ended up in Marion and Polk
county cupboards.
On Monday, the Oregon Food Bank of
Portland initiated a recall of 11 tons of
chia seeds donated last October by Live
Local Organics of Milwaukie.
Between Nov. 1 and March 9, Oregon
Food Bank sent the seeds to food banks
and pantries across Oregon and south-
west Washington, including Marion-
Polk Food Share.
The contamination was discovered
after a customer complained. Seeds still
in Oregon Food Bank’s inventory were
found to contain rodent droppings.
Further investigation indicated the
donor knew the seeds were contaminat-
ed, Oregon Food Bank said in a state-
ment.
Marion-Polk Food Share received 134
cases of chia seeds contaminated with
rodent excrement, and distributed 77
cases to local food banks and meal
sites. GETTY IMAGES
Oregon Food Bank is asking people
who received the chia seeds to immedi-
ately throw them away and to see a doc-
tor if they are experiencing any symp-
toms of foodborne illness.
“While no known illnesses have been
associated with this product, use or
consumption may present a health haz-
ard to consumers,” the Portland organi-
zation said.
See CHIA, Page 3B