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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022
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APPEAL TRIBUNE
Campsite
Continued from Page 1B
isting sites.
The shortfall — centered on hotspots
like the Oregon Coast, Central Oregon
and around the Willamette Valley — has
led to the growth of private camp-
grounds. The booking website Hipcamp
recruits farmers and ranchers to turn
their land into campsites near popular
areas. The number of Oregon bookings
on Hipcamp have grown 325% since
2019, the company said.
“There is just way more demand for
campsites than places for people to go,
especially in popular areas around Bend
or national or state parks,” said Alyssa
Ravasio, the founder and CEO of Hip-
camp.
Demand sky high on Oregon
Coast, near Bend and lakes
Oregon’s state park system set a rec-
ord for the number of camper nights in
2021, hosting 3.02 million people at 57
campgrounds.
The campgrounds were frequently
70 to 80 percent of capacity — meaning
almost every site was taken on week-
ends, said officials. And in the summer,
many coastal campsites were 90 to 95
percent of capacity, meaning only a
smattering of single-night campsites
could be grabbed.
The story was similar at the best-
known Forest Service campgrounds,
particularly on weekends, said Lisa
Machnik, recreation officer for Des-
chutes National Forest.
“We have seen a significant increase
to the point that a number of the pop-
ular campgrounds are essentially full on
peak weekends,” she said. Those typi-
cally included campgrounds near rivers,
creeks or lakes.
That trend rings true throughout
northwest and central Oregon. If it’s
near the ocean, lake or river, there’s a
good chance it’s going to be booked full
on summer weekends.
“We do have open campsites, but you
have to drive a little farther and maybe
go to a campsite without a lake view,”
Machnik said.
While state parks have mostly gone
to reservations-only systems, Forest
Service campgrounds do keep a number
of first-come, first-served sites avail-
able. But, Gilbert said, that’s a tough sell
when you’re traveling with kids.
“If you find yourself spending hours
going from campground to campground
with two little kids, that might not end
very well,” she said. “We try to go mid-
week when we can, but it’s pretty tough
with both of us working full-time.”
There’s also a problem with people
booking more campsites than they ac-
tually need and then not showing up.
The reality that less campsites are open
has fueled a mad dash to reserve as
many campsites as possible, as soon as
possible, which exacerbates the prob-
lem. And often, people don’t use every
night they booked, Outside Magazine
reported.
“Everyone’s looking at it from a scar-
city mindset,” Eric Karjaluoto, co-foun-
der of Campnab, a site that alerts users
about cancellations, told Outside
Magazine. “People freak out and grab
more than they need. It’s like toilet pa-
per at the beginning of the pandemic.
People feel stressed and panicked about
booking.”
Why haven’t more
campgrounds been built?
Given there is a growing problem
with the supply and demand for camp-
sites in Oregon — and that it’s only ex-
pected to grow — it begs the question of
why more haven’t been built.
The vast majority of campgrounds
were built during the World War II boom
up through the 1970s. The only state
park campgrounds built in the last two
decades include Cottonwood Canyon,
Stub Stewart and Bates State Park.
One issue is that campgrounds don’t
really make money — at least not much
Fishing
Continued from Page 1B
of cardboard in the back yard. Way out
in the back of the backyard.
Which is worse: drying smallish
shore crabs or starfish?
Don’t make me choose.
On a side note, Vance and I got into a
mini-debate about the past the sell-by
date critter that reeks the most.
I offered a forgotten tub of night
crawlers in a fishing vest. He responded
with another bait − leftover, long-ex-
pired sand shrimp.
You’ve got to concede on this one, be-
cause the only confirmation would be a
sniff-off.
I digress.
Item 2: Crab and crackers, anyone?
On the upside of opportunities oce-
anic, again from the commission meet-
ing, the limit on European green crab
has been raised to 35 a day, up from 10
under the “other marine invertebrates”
House Rock Campground is located east of Sweet Home.
ZACH URNESS/STATESMAN JOURNAL
— particularly since governments try to
keep prices affordable, rather than
maximizing profits.
Most tent sites range from $12 to $25,
depending on the site, while RV sites
usually go for $24 to $40.
“State parks don’t run in the black
just on visitor revenue — and that’s not
really the goal,” said Chris Havel, asso-
ciate director and a spokesman for the
Oregon Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment. Campgrounds tend to need sup-
port from additional revenue. In 1980,
for example, Oregon eliminated the gas
tax to support state parks. The result
was that by 1996, Oregon was in danger
of closing 64 state parks due to a lack of
funds.
The parks were only saved — and are
still supported — by millions of dollars
annually from the Oregon Lottery fol-
lowing approval of a 1998 ballot mea-
sure.
The Forest Service has also looked for
ways to save money, including out-
sourcing the management of camp-
grounds to private vendors.
“I think you just have to say that it
comes down to money,” said Andy Stahl,
executive director of Forest Service Em-
ployees for Environmental Ethics. “The
Forest Service brings in most of their
money fighting fires and through log-
ging. They gave responsibility for camp-
grounds to private concessionaires long
ago. I’m just not sure the Forest Service
sees camping as a core part of their mis-
sion in the same way they did in the
1950s.”
Nobody wants campgrounds
in their backyard
While Oregon’s state park system has
only opened three campgrounds since
the 1970s, it’s not for a lack of trying.
In the last 20 years, Oregon was close
to building three large state park camp-
grounds when local pressure torpedoed
the plans.
h In 2008, plans for a campground at
Cougar Valley State Park, near Manza-
nita, was scuttled by opposition from lo-
cal residents.
h In 2014, OPRD put $100,000 into
plans to purchase and develop land in
Eastern Oregon that would become
Grouse Mountain State Park. The plan
was voted down after ranchers, farmers
and Grant County officials said it would
take too much land out of the property
tax base.
h In 2019, plans for a 154-site camp-
ground at Brian Booth State Park near
Newport were blocked when Lincoln
County refused to rezone the land so the
campground could be built. Neighbors
raised concerns about traffic, crowds,
flooding and even nutria populations,
listing under Marine Zone rules.
Huh?
An aggressive invasive non-native, a
“large” green crab checks in at 4 inches
across the back of the shell. So you’re
going to need 25 adults to make the fix-
in’s for a bowl of crab dip.
Despite the name, they come in a va-
riety of colors from green and brown to
yellow red and even blue.
There are useful illustrations for
identification and a ton of fascinating
facts about green crabs online at https:
//myodfw.com/crabbing-clamming
/species/european-green-crab
You don’t run across them very often,
because they’re higher up on coastal
bays in brackish rather than the saltier
water in the lower bays.
And they often are mistaken for un-
dersized desirable species such as Dun-
geness.
“I’ve eaten them, and they taste like
crab to me,” Vance said about the taste.
“Not that I’ve had green crab too much.”
The range of green crabs has expand-
ed with warmer ocean waters in Oregon
during the past decade or so. They’re
found in most bays including Coos, Al-
and said parks officials hadn’t ade-
quately addressed concerns.
“Even if we wanted to, we can’t bull-
doze campgrounds into existence,” Ha-
vel said. “Creating a new campground is
probably the hardest thing we do. You’re
essentially creating a brand-new com-
munity. You’re inviting lots of people
into an area where people might already
live nearby.
“It takes a lot of trust. If people don’t
feel ready, we have to stop.”
For now, Oregon’s state park system
is focusing on expanding current camp-
grounds, something they’ve done in the
past. A $50 million bond passed by the
state legislature should allow the cre-
ation of 235 new campsites and 37 new
cabins at Champoeg, Silver Falls, Milo
McIver, Fort Stevens and Nehalem Bay,
while moving another 75 sites to a safer
location at Cape Lookout State Park.
“We know that we need more capac-
ity, especially on the Oregon Coast, and
we’re committed to that. For now, ex-
pansion is the best path forward, but
that doesn’t mean we’ve given up on
new campgrounds,” Havel said.
The Forest Service also said that its
focus is maintaining the many camp-
sites it already has. Creating entirely
new campgrounds requires a lengthy
environmental impact study and “our
annual operating budget isn’t set up to
make or manage the investment an en-
tirely new campground would require,”
Machnik said.
“We do take advantage of opportuni-
ties like the Great American Outdoors
Act and other sources of infrastructure
investment to focus on refurbishing
roads, water systems and the camp-
grounds we already have — many of
which are pretty old and need attention
first,” she said.
The rise of private campgrounds
Alyssa Ravasio said she originally
founded the website Hipcamp with the
idea of putting every public camp-
ground on a map — a way of giving peo-
ple a one-stop shop for places to go.
But by 2015 and 2016, she realized
there was more demand than supply
and the best way to get more people out-
doors was to work with private land-
owners to add more campsites. They
started actively recruiting ranchers and
farmers, especially in areas near nation-
al parks or recreation hotspots, to see if
they’d be interested in setting up small
campsites to make a little extra money.
She said Oregon has become a big
market for private campsites, mainly on
the Oregon Coast, near Bend and within
a few hours of Portland.
A look at their website shows an
eclectic mix of sites, including every-
sea to Yaquina
If you catch one and confirm it’s a
green crab, dispose of it, it’s illegal to re-
lease them alive.
Decorative wall-hanging anyone?
Item III: Triumph, and trauma.
Sturgeon guide Yves Bisson was fish-
ing March 6 with client Dan Lallier of Al-
berta on the Fraser River in British Co-
lumbia when they caught, landed,
tagged and released a 10-foot, 6-inch
sturgeon weighing an estimated 600
pounds.
In case you aren’t one of the 39 mil-
lion (not a typo) viewers as of mid-
month who have looked at the video
Bisson posted on TikTok, check it out
online at Video: 11-Foot White Sturgeon
Released on Fraser River | Outdoor Life
Impressive, no?
Less impressive is my near stroke
and continuing anger about the head-
line that ran with the online posting
from USA Today.
“Sturgeon fishing guide snags rare
600-pound fish” (italics emphasis
mine).
thing from a “River Oasis Tipi Retreat”
($150 per night) to a “May Contain Duck
Farms” ($50 per night), both near Sis-
ters. Many prices range from $45 to $60
per night, though Hipcamp said the av-
erage overnight price overall is $35.
Hipcamp wouldn’t share the total
number of private campsites it has in
Oregon, but said the number of new
campsites has increased 119% since 2019
and the number of bookings are up
326%. It said the number of RV-friendly
bookings were way up, accounting for
28% of all bookings, especially on the
Coast where RV sites at state parks have
become increasingly difficult to get.
“One big advantage of private camp-
grounds is privacy, since the majority of
our sites are single spots and often sur-
rounded by a lot of land,” Ravasio said.
“There’s also a lot of diversity. One site
might be on ranch land and another
could be an orchard. We also have a lot
‘glamping’ experiences, so one place
might offer a bathtub filled with herbs
just outside the tent.”
She said it’s simple for landowners to
get started, especially if they’re just
hosting an RV site. But they can also get
fancy.
“It’s a great way to create value on
land you already own,” Ravasio said.
“And our mindset is that by supporting
local landowners, who are taking care of
the land, it helps conserve it long-term
from development, which is good for
biodiversity and good for the environ-
ment.”
Path forward
That more people are getting out-
doors is a good thing, said Havel, it just
happened so rapidly that it has come as
a shock to the camping system. They’re
adding new sites. They planning future
campgrounds. It just takes time.
At federal campgrounds, there are
open sites, even on weekends, but you
might have to drive a little longer or stay
at that campsite without that idyllic
swimming spot.
That means Carol Gilbert is likely to
keep waking up early, months before the
sunny days of summer and playing
campground Jeopardy for just one of
those perfect Oregon campsites.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors re-
porter in Oregon for 15 years and is host
of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To sup-
port his work, subscribe to the States-
man Journal. Urness is the author of
“Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and
“Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be
reached
at
zurness@StatesmanJournal.com
or
(503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at
@ZachsORoutdoors.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The cringe-worthy misuse of that
vile word endures.
Snagging is illegal for sturgeon,
salmon, steelhead, trout and almost ev-
ery other game fish.
The applicable words are “hooked” or
better yet “caught”!
The proper term is “foul-hooked” for
someone fishing legally who uninten-
tionally hooks a fish anywhere but the
mouth.
The only thing that gives me the fan-
tods more than misuse of the word snag
is the use of the word hunter in head-
lines or stories to describe a person
who’s killed an animal illegally.
That would be a poacher every time.
I’m going to lie down now.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: A long-
time fishing buddy recently asked if I
got the irony of an unmasked anti-vaxx-
er calling him a sheep, when he’s the one
taking livestock meds.
Contact Henry via email at Henry-
MillerSJ@gmail.com