Appeal Tribune
| WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022 | 1B
OUTDOORS
‘Campsite Jeopardy’
Bonnie and Robert O’Daniel relax at their campsite at Detroit Lake State Park campground in Detroit.
STATESMAN JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
Oregonians see demand for outdoor spots skyrocket
Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK
I
n the morning darkness of winter and early spring, Carol
Gilbert wakes up with her two young children, makes tea
and prepares for battle. h While getting her 7-year-old
ready for school and feeding her 2-year-old, Gilbert
makes sure her computer is on, her profile logged in and her
screen on the right page so the instant the clock strikes 7 a.m.
she can click faster than everyone else attempting to score a
precious Oregon campsite on a weekend six months in the fu-
ture. h “I actually set three alarms on my phone so that I don’t
forget,” said Gilbert, who lives in Bend. “It’s all about who has
the fastest fingers. If you’re even a minute late, you won’t get it.
“It’s crazy, frustrating and it
sucks when you don’t get anything,
but we love camping. It’s such a
great family vacation that’s still a
lot cheaper than getting a hotel or
something.”
Her story is far from unique.
Each morning, numerous Ore-
gonians play “campground Jeopar-
dy” in hopes of scoring reserva-
tions on websites Recreation.gov
and ReserveAmerica.com.
As Oregon’s population grows
and the pandemic-fueled rush to
the outdoors continues, demand
for campsites has skyrocketed at
the same the time supply has been
flat or declined.
Oregon’s state parks have
opened just three new camp-
grounds since 1972, while many
campgrounds on federal land have
been closed by wildfires.
And opening new campgrounds
isn’t easy. Oregon had plans for
three large campgrounds shot
down since 2008 by local opposi-
tion. The U.S. Forest Service has
mostly focused on maintaining ex-
Lucy and Rollie Urness roast hot dogs at House Rock Campground east
of Sweet Home. ZACH URNESS / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Some sites at
Sherwood
Campground
are right
along the
East Fork of
the Hood
River.
See CAMPSITE, Page 2B
Stories of starfish, crabs and giant sturgeon
Fishing
Henry Miller
Guest columnist
A mishmash of outdoor-themed
items is at hand, the first two with a
nautical theme.
Item I: Star gazing is in; star
hazing is out.
At its March 18 virtual meeting, the
Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission
approved a rule that prohibits the taking
of starfish.
It’s an effort to help recovery efforts
after a massive and extensive 2013 die-
off of the colorful critters caused by a
condition known as Sea Star Wasting.
Prior to the ban, the daily limit had
been 10 sea stars.
“It’s not real popular, but some peo-
ple want to take some home as a souve-
nir.” said Mitch Vance, the Shellfish Pro-
ject leader for the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
And the result is frequently a waste,
he added, because coastal tourists often
ended up dumping their bucket of sea
stars after they had been, ahem, fer-
menting in the trunk of the car for a cou-
ple of hours on a hot summer day.
Paging Jimmy Hoffa.
In the interests of full disclosure,
while growing up in Southern Califor-
nia, I used to take home a few starfish.
They were a bi-catch from prying mus-
sels off of pier pilings and rocks to use as
bait for perch.
I can attest to the attraction.
Virtually every tract house in SoCal
during the mid-to-late-‘60s had a deco-
rative fish net on a living room or den
wall with assorted dried starfish and
smallish shore crabs, along with hunks
of driftwood and abalone and sea shells.
And I also can vouch for the nose-
searing stench as they dried on a sheet
See FISHING, Page 2B
Go for the mussels, but leave the sea stars. These photos were taken at
Lincoln City before the widespread surge of Sea Star Wasting. HENRY MILLER /
SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL