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Friday, December 13, 2019
The Observer & Baker City Herald
RECREATION
REPORT
ANGLERS
CAUGHT MORE
THAN 146,000
PIKEMINNOW
FROM COLUMBIA,
SNAKE RIVERS
PORTLAND — An-
glers earned nearly
$1,162,000 in 2019 in
the annual Northern
Pikeminnow Sport
Reward Program.
In all, they removed
more than 146,000
northern pikeminnow
from the Columbia
and Snake rivers,
which means fewer
big fi sh preying on
juvenile endangered
salmon, according to
the Bonneville Power
Administration.
Each year millions
of juvenile salmon
and steelhead in the
Columbia and Snake
rivers make their
way downstream
toward the Pacifi c
Ocean. These young
fi sh face numerous
predators along the
way, including the
northern pikemin-
now. The native fi sh
is responsible for
depleting the num-
bers of out-migrating
juveniles.
For nearly 30 years
the Bonneville Power
Administration has
funded the Northern
Pikeminnow Sport
Reward Program,
paying fi shing en-
thusiasts to remove
pikeminnow from the
river, reducing the
number of predators
that prey on juvenile
endangered salmon.
Registered anglers
who removed
pikeminnow more
than 9 inches long
earned $5 to $8 per
fi sh. Specially tagged
northern pikemin-
now were each worth
$500.
The 2019 season
ended Sept. 30. Num-
bers include:
• 146,225 pikemin-
now removed
• 2,700 registered
anglers
• 7.2 fi sh per day
average per angler
• Top angler
earned $53,107 and
removed 6,482 fi sh
The program’s
goal is not to elimi-
nate northern pike-
minnow, but rather
to reduce the average
size and number of
larger, predatory fi sh.
The Sport Re-
ward Program has
removed more than
5 million northern
pikeminnow from the
Columbia and Snake
rivers since 1990,
reducing predation
on young salmon
and steelhead by up
to 40%, according to
the BPA.
STATE PARK
PARKING PERMIT
DISCOUNTS
An annual day-use
parking permit for
Oregon State Parks
costs $25 during
December, a discount
of $5 from the regular
price. Passes are for
sale online at store.
oregonstateparks.
org, at some Oregon
Parks and Recreation
Department offi ces,
and at some busi-
nesses. Permits can
be moved among
vehicles.
HUNTING FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE
Pursuit of
perfection
A
Christmas tree is an enchanting sight both when it’s
standing in a snowy glen in the deep woods and later,
when its aromatic and ornament-laden branches
enrich your living room.
In between,
though, it’s a most
ON THE TRAIL
hateful object.
JAYSON JACOBY
One as obstinate
as an inanimate
thing can be.
A grand fi r that’s not much taller than I am — this in defer-
ence to the modest height of our ceiling — does not wish to be
dragged from its stump to the road.
In particular the tree does not wish to be tumbled down a
slope steep enough that it ought to have a black diamond sign,
wrestled across an ice-fringed stream and manhandled up the
bank on the other side.
My wife, Lisa, and I drove up above Sumpter on Sunday
on a quest for the fi r that will grace our home for the next few
weeks.
(I suppose it was not inevitable that we would return with
a fi r strapped to the top of the rig, as opposed to some other
species, but I was all but certain, based on more than two
decades of collecting Christmas trees, that fi r needles would be
the sort littering the fl oormats. Our other options include the
Engelmann spruce, which can be attractive but is betrayed by
its prickly needles, and lodgepole and ponderosa pines, neither
of which tends to be especially shapely. As for tamaracks, the
deciduous conifer, it’s ideal only if you’re trying to replicate the
forlorn tree Charlie Brown rescued from the lot.)
We strapped on snowshoes, scrambled up the berm lining the
Sumpter-Granite Highway, and headed toward Buck Gulch.
Over about 25 years of going after my own Christmas tree
in the Blue Mountains I’ve concluded that the most fruitful
sites are what you might call Goldilocks spots — where the tree
density is neither heavy nor sparse.
When trees grow in clumps, as grand fi r often do, especially
on cooler, damper north- or east-facing slopes, it’s rare to fi nd a
specimen that doesn’t have at least one side with puny branches
due to interference from its multiple neighbors.
South slopes, by contrast, often are dominated by mature
trees that wouldn’t fi t in my front yard, much less in my living
room.
Lisa Britton/For the EO Media Group
Crossing a mountain stream in snowshoes can be a
challenge even when you’re not dragging a 7-foot-tall
grand fi r.
Lisa Britton/For the EO Media Group
Almost there — hauling the tree up the fi nal slope to the road.
The ridge just south of
Buck Gulch is rather steeper
than I prefer, since trees that
get a roothold in precipitous
places tend to have trunks
that are out of plumb.
But we hadn’t climbed
more than a couple hundred
vertical feet when Lisa spot-
ted a likely candidate down in
a shallow defi le. It was a fi ne
grand fi r, with the rich green
needles typical of the species,
and it was approximately the
right height.
Although I’m prone to the
compulsion to keep looking,
under the dubious belief that
a much better tree is just over
the brow of the next ridge, we
decided this fi r was a keeper.
I pulled out my folding
saw and hunkered down —
which for me, when clad in
snowshoes, would better be
described as a barely con-
trolled fall.
The trunk was just a few
inches across but sawing
through it required much
more effort than it should
have owing to my failure to
ever sharpen the saw’s teeth.
Eventually, with Lisa push-
ing from the uphill side, we
toppled the fi r.
The slope below was
steep enough, and the snow
relatively fi rm after a week of
settling following the Thanks-
giving weekend storms, that I
fi gured the tree would pretty
much fi nd its own way, at
least until the grade eased.
Lisa Britton/For the EO Media Group
Tramping toward Buck Gulch.
It turned out that the
tree was no more inclined to
tumble along than is a freshly
butchered elk front quarter.
As I wrestled with the fi r,
trying to avoid smearing
pitch on my down jacket, I
was recalling an episode a
little more than a year ago
when I helped haul out the
bull elk that Lisa’s nephew,
Tyler, killed near the Snake
River.
There was a similarity to
the sense of drudgery in both
cases. The elk was heavier, of
course, but the fi r compensat-
ed for its modest mass with
sheer friction. Also I couldn’t
hoist it on my shoulder, as
with the chunk of elk.
But even as I felt the sweat
beading on my back and my
brow, I would get an occa-
sional whiff of the fi r. And I
would imagine how pleasant
it was going to be, in the days
leading to Christmas, to come
home in the cold dark, walk
past the window and see its
lights glittering against the
snow.
OREGON STATE PARKS
New Year’s Day guided hikes scheduled
By Katy Nesbitt
For the EO Media Group
PENDLETON — Four state parks
in Eastern Oregon are encouraging
people to spend their New Year’s
Day in the great outdoors by hosting
events in conjunction with Oregon
Parks and Recreation Department’s
First Day Hikes.
In its ninth year, park rangers will
lead 37 First Day Hikes at 31 parks
statewide.
The First Day Hike at Emigrant
Springs State Heritage Area in
Meacham will likely be over snow, so
Park Manager Mark Miller said to
bring snowshoes. He said he’ll have
about 20 pairs to loan hikers without
snowshoes.
“Last year, we had 30 people and 3
feet of snow,” Miller said.
The guided snowshoe hike is from
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day
and Miller said the route varies based
on conditions.
Emigrant Springs is an Oregon
Trail site nestled among public lands
managed by the Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
and the U.S. Forest Service.
Emigrant Springs is at 65068 Old
Oregon Trail in Meacham and is
accessible from Interstate 84 at Exit
284.
Wallowa Lake State Park is joining
in with a very different type of hike
— one that involves walking behind
fl ying plastic discs. A disc golf course
installed in the park last June is at-
tracting a lot of attention, according to
Park Manger Mac Freeborn.
“It’s wildly popular here at the
park,” he said. “It’s almost a daily
thing to see people playing — even in
the snow.”
Winter has landed in Wallowa
County, so disc golfers are encour-
aged to bring their own discs and
snowshoes, though the park will have
a few sets of snowshoes and discs to
lend.
The disc golf First Day Hike event
starts at 10 a.m. To get to Wallowa
Lake State Park take the Exit 261
from Interstate 84 and follow High-
way 82 70 miles to Joseph. Continue
south for 6 miles along Wallowa Lake
to get to the park.
America’s State Parks, a nonprofi t
based in Raleigh, North Carolina,
started the First Day Hikes program
to promote and advance America’s
state park systems. On New Year’s
Day state parks in each of the 50
states offers free, guided hikes. Last
year, nearly 55,000 people celebrated
the New Year with a First Day Hike,
covering 133,000 miles.
In Oregon, all hikes are free and
day-use parking fees will be waived
at all participating parks Jan. 1 only.
Hikers can register for specifi c hikes
online at the Oregon State Parks
store — bit.ly/ParkStoreEvents. While
online registration isn’t required for
participation, visitors are encouraged
to register to help park staff plan the
hike and provides them with partici-
pant contact information should hike
details change.