B
Saturday, November 21, 2020
The Observer & Baker City Herald
S TEELHEAD
S HORTAGE
■ The number of steelhead returning to the
Grande Ronde River and its tributaries is the
lowest recorded in the past 10 to 15 years
By Kaleb Lay
The Observer
ENTERPRISE — Following a
trend set in recent years, anglers
fi shing the Grande Ronde and its
tributaries for steelhead can expect
a season of sparse returns and a
disproportionate number of uncut
fi ns this season.
“It’s been pretty tough,” said Jeff
Yanke, district fi sh biologist with
the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife in Enterprise. “Steelhead
returns are still at the lowest levels
we’ve seen in the last 10 to 15 years,
slightly better returns than last year
but not by much. Catch rates have
been pretty low.”
Steelhead entered the Grande
Ronde river system during Sep-
“It’s been pretty tough. Catch
rates have been pretty low.”
— Jeff Yanke, fi sh biologist,
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, talking about the
steelhead run on the Grande
Ronde River and its tributaries
Jeff Yanke/Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
tember and October and have been
awaiting a rise in water levels before
making their journey upriver. The
winter storm last weekend may well
provide that boost.
But even if higher water levels
do lure fi sh upstream, Yanke said
steelhead returns are expected to be
disappointing this season.
“We’re expecting about 1,500 to
1,600 hatchery steelhead returning to
Brandon Yanke poses with a wild Grande Ronde River steelhead before releasing it back into the river.
the Grande Ronde and Wallowa fi sh-
eries this year,” Yanke said. “It’s one of
the lowest we’ve observed. And as far
as the Imnaha goes, we’re expecting
about 1,200 to 1,300 hatchery return-
ing to the Imnaha system this year.”
Hatchery-raised steelhead, easily
identifi ed by the smooth nub along
the spine where their adipose fi n
was removed, have been returning
in even more dismal numbers this
season than their wild-born brethren,
Yanke said.
“For about every four fi sh caught
down there, only one has been a
hatchery fi sh, and three have been
wild,” Yanke estimated. “For those
anglers that want to be keeping steel-
head, it hasn’t been a great year. But
if you like catching and releasing just
wild steelhead, your catch rates are a
little bit better.”
See Steelhead/Page 2B
Pursuit and conservation of a
western icon: the sage grouse
A
n icon of the western
U.S., the wary, spike-
tailed adult males of
the greater sage grouse boast
the endearing nickname
“bombers” due to their large
size and lumbering liftoff.
An obligate inhabitant of the
high sagebrush, greater sage
grouse are as quintessential
to the range as pronghorn
and mule deer.
A spectacle to behold, my
fi rst encounter was in south-
ern Idaho on a late Septem-
ber elk hunt.
Riding an abysmally rough
BLM road back to camp, I
spotted “geese” in the sage-
brush off to my right.
“Why are geese out here
in the sagebrush?” I asked
myself. It seemed plausible
to fi nd geese along
the Pahsimeroi River,
but not in the shrub-
steppe.
“Those aren’t geese,
genius. They’re sage
grouse!” I blurted out
in elation. A half-
dozen robust, feather-legged
fowl eyeballed me warily
as I bounced past, ensuring
they need not unnecessarily
expend the energy of liftoff.
Sage grouse once num-
bered around 16 million
across western North
America, pre-settlement.
Currently, estimates of
approximately 200,000 birds
remain range-wide, their
signifi cant decline attrib-
uted largely to habitat loss.
Following their decline, the
species was proposed for
listing as “threatened” under
the Endangered Species Act
until a 2015 status review
identifi ed that listing was not
warranted.
The decision was made
partially due to the efforts
of the Sage Grouse Initia-
tive (SGI), which began in
2010, pushing to conserve
precious sagebrush habitat
across the sage grouse range.
Sage grouse and the SGI are
both captivating in their own
right; the birds for their size
Tom Claycomb/Contributed Photo
A wild turkey is traditional Thanksgiving fare.
Turkey is on the
menu ... of course
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
A male sage grouse displays for the ladies on the lek.
UPLAND
PURSUITS
BRAD TRUMBO
and behaviors, and the SGI
for its incredible cooperative
nature among landowners,
nonprofi ts and government
agencies.
Currently, there are
four protected, fragmented
populations in Washing-
ton. A much larger area of
southern Idaho, Wyoming,
Montana, Nevada, and
southeast Oregon through-
out the Steens, Malheur
and Owyhee public lands
support these curious prairie
grouse, permitting regulated
hunting seasons.
Sage grouse are known
for their dramatic “lekking”
behavior. A lek is a common
area where males gather in
spring to perform courtship
displays for females and
fi ercely defend their terri-
tory on the lek, which may
only be a few yards in size.
The sage grouse court-
ship dance is something to
behold. Males have spiked
tail fans and snow-white
breast feathers with two
“The sage grouse courtship is something to beyond.
Males have spiked tail fans and snow-white breast
feathers with two yellow air sacs that they infl ate
during the ritual.”
yellow air sacs that they
infl ate during the ritual. The
Cornell University bird labo-
ratory explains the courtship
behavior as follows.
“Standing tall, with infl at-
ed chest held high, the male
sweeps his wings across
his white breast, creating a
swishing noise. He tilts his
head back, rapidly infl ating,
bouncing, and defl ating the
yellow, balloon-like pouches
on his chest. The outward
popping of these bare
pouches creates a series of
echoing pops. These displays
are performed almost con-
tinuously, and up to 10 times
per minute, for several hours
in the early morning.”
Ensuring the persistence
of this iconic species of the
western sagebrush habi-
tats, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s Natural
Resource Conservation Ser-
vice (NRCS) helped found
the SGI, leveraging Farm
Bill funds and volunteer
landowner cooperation to
conserve the largest intact
tracts of sagebrush with the
largest sage grouse popula-
tions. To date, the SGI has
cooperated with 1,856 ranch-
ers to conserve more than
7 million acres across 11
Western states (California,
Colorado, Idaho, Montana,
Nevada, North Dakota, Or-
egon, South Dakota, Utah,
Washington and Wyoming).
The SGI includes NRCS
partnerships with myriad
local, state and federal
governments and nongov-
ernmental organizations
like the Rocky Mountain
Elk Foundation, Oregon
Hunters Association, Pheas-
ants Forever and the Ruffed
Grouse Society. While the
NRCS channels funding
through the Farm Bill, suc-
cess is only possible through
partners that leverage
funds, shoulder work, and
tackle policies beyond the
authority of the NRCS.
See Grouse/Page 2B
Four centuries ago, America was a fl edgling country.
Her life was in the balance. The pilgrims were on the
verge of starving and things didn’t look good. Luckily
some friendly Indians came out of the woodwork (OK,
the woods) and provided a feast for the pilgrims. That
shifted the pendulum and gave the starving pilgrims
hope.
Tradition has it
that the Indians
BASE CAMP
brought in some
wild turkeys
TOM CLAYCOMB
among an assort-
ment of other
foods. The pilgrims were overwhelmed by their kind-
ness and gave thanks for the meal, their new friends
and all of their many blessings in general.
Since that time nearly 400 years ago, Americans
nationwide have declared Thanksgiving as a national
holiday and stopped for a day to acknowledge their
many blessings and give thanks for them and our
country. Four hundred years later, we still have the best
country in the world as evidenced by the thousands of
people trying to enter America. Who can blame them?
So, with that said what should your main course be
this Thanksgiving? Anything less than a turkey along
with maybe a smoked ham and for sure pumpkin pie
is obviously a Communist plot designed to end all true
American traditions.
One year I thought I’d do something different. I
grilled some ribeyes for a change of pace. They were
nice, well-marbled ribeyes. They were probably as good
as any ribeyes you’ve ever had. But it went against
all tradition. It put a big kink in the Claycomb family
traditions. The Wampanoag Indians would have turned
over in their graves. Never again has my family devi-
ated from having a smoked turkey as the main dish.
Since then things have settled down and all is well
again in the Claycomb household. Katy and Kolby have
not left me.
The last decade or so mom has sent us a smoked
turkey from Greenburg’s in East Texas but a few weeks
ago their plant burned down.
See Turkey/Page 2B