Page 6C
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Blazing a new mountain bike trail
Magone Lake multi-use
system opens, grows
By RYLAN BOGGS
EO Media GRoup
Contributed photo by Marc Forsythe
Erika Forsythe with her 11-pound trophy trout taken
in Haystack Reservoir in April 2017.
Trophy trout
set for release
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish & Wildlife is
greatly expanding a popular
program to release extra
large rainbow trout in lakes,
ponds and reservoirs across
the state.
More
than
65,000
“trophy” trout will be
stocked for anglers to catch
this summer, which is
55,000 more than last year.
ODFW
has
been
releasing large trout into
lakes for years, but in 2015
state Rep. Greg Smith
(R-Heppner) worked with
the agency to launch an
official trophy trout pilot
program,
focused
on
promoting economic devel-
opment in communities that
rely on hunting and fishing
dollars.
Initially, the program
was limited to just five loca-
tions — Phillips Reservoir
in Baker County, Willow
Creek Reservoir in Morrow
County, Timothy Lake in
Clackamas County, Trojan
Pond in Columbia County
and Garrison Lake in Curry
County. This year, the list is
much larger due to positive
feedback.
“So far the angler
response has been excel-
lent,” said Bill Duke, district
fish biologist for ODFW in
Pendleton. “Anglers seem
to be putting in considerably
more angling effort than I
was expecting. They are
very positive about the
larger-sized trout.”
Trophy trout are defined
as 15 inches or larger. Jake
Rice, manager of ODFW’s
Roaring River trout hatchery
in Scio, said the fish are
generally 2 years old, and
the extra year of rearing
gives them time to pack on
the body weight.
However, that additional
time in the hatchery means
staff do need to be especially
watchful for diseases that
may develop. All the fish
are inspected monthly by a
pathologist, Rice said, and
feed programs are updated
daily to account for size,
density, water flow, water
temperature and release date.
“We really stress the
importance of healthy fish,
and this takes a little more
effort and time over the
additional year of rearing,”
Rice said.
It does cost more to
rear trophy trout, but these
fish do bring in the biggest
compliments from anglers,
Rice added.
Trophy trout make up
just a small amount of the 2
million catchable trout that
ODFW releases in more
than 300 locations statewide.
By emphasizing the
trophy trout program, the
agency hopes to increase
interest and participation in
trout fishing.
Across
northeast
Oregon, trophy trout will
be released in 35 different
locations, including:
• Willow Creek Reservoir
2,250 fish
• Phillips Reservoir
4,000 fish
• Wallowa Lake
1,600 fish
• Anthony Lake
3,450 fish
• Jubilee Lake
1,000 fish
For more information,
visit www.dfw.state.or.us.
BRIEFLY
Bend nature
center sets up
swan cam to
livestream nest
BEND (AP) — A nature
center in central Oregon
has set up its first wildlife
camera near a swan’s nest
with two eggs that may
hatch before Fourth of July.
The Bend Bulletin
reports the Sunriver
Nature Center will be
livestreaming the nest
on its Facebook page for
nature lovers interested
in watching the trumpeter
swan couple, Chuck and
Gracie, and their expected
chicks.
According the report,
trumpeter swans nearly
became extinct in the early
1900s. Last year, two out
of four of the swans’ eggs
hatched.
The nature center bought
its first wildlife camera for
$7,000 with donations and
funding from the Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife. Manager Jennifer
Curtis says the center
may also use the camera
to capture live shots of
beavers, birds of prey and
other projects.
Brown signs bill
protecting salmon
from river mining
Gov. Kate Brown signed
a bill Wednesday that
protects thousands of miles
of critical salmon habitat
across much of western
Oregon fromsuction dredge
mining.
The governor’s signature
is the final action in a
years-long push to ban or
place tougher restrictions
on suction dredge mining,
which environmental
groups have long argued
is damaging to habitat
for salmon and Pacific
lampreys.
About five years ago,
the number of miners
in primarily Southwest
Oregon ballooned to more
than 2,000, prompting
lawmakers to pass a
temporary moratorium in
2013.
The bill signed into law
by Brown raises permitting
costs to $250 a year for the
river miners, capped the
total number of permits
statewide to 200, and
restricts the hours when
permitted miners can search
for metals.
Roughly a dozen volunteers broke
ground on a new section of trail in the
Magone Lake area in nearby Grant
County.
The few hundred feet of trail built in
late May is the beginning of a multi-use
trail system in the area and the culmina-
tion of years of collaboration between
the Eastern Oregon Trail Alliance and
the Forest Service.
“This is purpose built for mountain
biking, but we’re not precluding other
users such as hikers, runners and eques-
trian users,” EOTA board member Wade
Tait said.
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
Tait has over a decade of experience Mytchell Mead tests out a new trail near Magone Lake May 29.
building trails and began working with
the trail alliance and Forest Service on will be green circles, blue squares will
be intermediate and black diamonds
If you go:
this trail system in 2014.
“It’s hard to get excited about it when will be difficult. The more difficult trails
Head south on Highway 395
it’s just in theory and on paper,” Tait said. could have technical features like jumps,
to Long Creek, then head east
“But when people can come out and see rollers, wall rides and rock gardens
on Highway 18 to Forest Road
a new trail that looks like it’s going to where the area allows. The easiest trails
3620, turn west and drive ap-
be fun, people will take some ownership will be built on closed roads.
proximately one mile to Forest
The trail alliance is not involved in
over it, and that’s what we need.”
Road 3618. The route is well-
When choosing routes for trails, Tait closing roads and only utilizes roads
signed and easy to find.
said he and others from the trail alliance already closed by the Forest Service,
tried to incorporate what he calls posi- Tait said.
The trails will be largely funded by system and a bike park at the Seventh
tive control points, such as views and
trailheads for ease of access. They aim grants, which accept volunteer hours as Street Complex. The 11-acre park
to avoid negative control points like a match. Volunteers are covered under would include two pump tracks, several
sensitive species’ nesting areas, weed the Forest Service’s volunteer liability boardwalk-style features and two miles
of trails. Mead aims to have a portion
patches and some stream crossings. program.
Mytchell Mead, a trail alliance board of the park open before the eclipse in
They plot these on a topographical map
and then walk the area to pick the exact member, is optimistic about having as August.
“Mountain bikers are oftentimes
much as 15 miles of trail ridable by the
route of the trail, marking it with flags.
When choosing the exact line, end of summer, and a total of 26 miles called high-return, low-impact tourists,”
Tait said he looks for a slope grade of of trail eventually. Mead envisions Mead said, explaining they have a posi-
under 10 percent, natural rise and fall creating a trail system that will attract tive impact on the local economy and a
small impact on the environment.
in the landscape and interesting natural bikers from across the country.
Efforts to promote mountain biking
“Biking is the fastest growing recre-
features, such as views, water crossings
ational activity in America right now,” in the area have been met with resis-
or rock gardens.
tance, but Mead said he is beginning to
The trail system will be built to he said.
Mead has been working on making see a shift in attitudes toward it.
International Mountain Bicycling Asso-
“We’re embracing a broader range of
ciation standards and use the same trail the John Day area more appealing to
designations as skiing. Beginner runs cyclists with projects such as this trail forest activities,” he said.
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
This buttercup will build you up
By BRUCE BARNES
For The East Oregonian
Common Name: Moun-
tain Buttercup
Scientific Name: Ranun-
culus populago
This little buttercup
is known to grow from
Southeast Washington to
California, to Montana. It is
usually found on wet mud
or in very shallow water of
streams or ditches, and in
subalpine meadows. There
are 26 species of the genus
Ranunculus in northeast
Oregon, and about 300
worldwide, mostly in the
northern hemisphere in
temperate to arctic areas.
The name Ranunculus
comes from the Greek word
rana for frog, referring to the
aquatic habitat of many of
the species.
The ending of the name
may come from uncus,
which means hooked, refer-
ring perhaps to a persistent
point on each seed which is
sometimes hooked.
The common name
Photo by Bruce Barnes
Mountain Buttercup, Ranunculus populago
buttercup may be assumed
to refer to the bright yellow
petals, which are often
slightly cupped with the edges
curving upward. However,
there is an earlier source for
that name. Buttercup plants
were considered good to
have in pastures, as they
were believed to provide
the golden yellow color of
rich butter. Farmers would
rub the flowers on the cow’s
Wallowa rancher shoots
wolf as it attacks cattle
By STEVE TOOL
EO Media Group
Oregon’s state
bird likely to stay
the meadowlark
The Western
meadowlark’s status
as Oregon’s state bird
appears secure, as House
lawmakers are not expected
to vote on a bill that would
supplant the robin-sized
songbirdfrom its perch in
favor of the osprey.
State senators voted
April 6 to designate the
osprey as the state bird, but
it has yet to come up before
the House Committee on
Rules.
With two weeks left in
the legislative session and
high-stakes issues like a
statewide transportation bill
still uncertain, less critical
issues like the bird bill are
unlikely to move forward.
“I don’t think it’s at
the top of the priority list
for the committee, which
is tackling many really
important bills,” Scott
Moore, communications
director for the House
Democrats, said in an email
this month.
udder, and hang the plants
over the barn door. In spite
of that myth, the plants
are somewhat acrid and
are fortunately avoided by
grazing animals, as the plants
can poison them and cause
milk to taste bad.
Mountain Buttercup is
usually a few inches high
and tends to sprawl along
the ground. The five-petaled
flowers are about a half inch
across, and the leaves about
one to two inches long. The
shape of the leaves varies
widely, from circular to
oval or narrowly oblong,
with smooth edges, smooth
surfaces, and rounded to
pointed tips. The fruit is a
small tight ball of green,
tiny, pointed seeds with tiny
points.
In England and in North
America, buttercup plants
have been used widely
for medicinal purposes,
by Indian tribes as well as
immigrants. The English
used them mainly for skin
ailments, and Indian tribes
developed numerous medic-
inal uses, though no uses are
identified for the Mountain
Buttercup.
Where to find: The only
place I’ve seen this buttercup
is in the nearby vicinity of the
intersection of Highway 204,
the Weston-Elgin highway,
and USFS Road 31, Ruckel
Road, east of Tollgate. It may
still be blooming in the ditch
on the south side of Road 31
about 100 feet from Highway
204.
Submitted photo
Beaut from the Deschutes
Patrick Bailey of Pendleton landed nice large steel-
head on the Deschutes River last September. He said
he didn’t measure or weigh it, unfortunately. Have a
photo you’d be willing to share? Contact outdoors
page editor Tim Trainor at 541-966-0835 or email him
at ttrainor@eastoregonian.com.
A Wallowa County cattle
rancher shot and presum-
ably seriously wounded or
killed a wolf June 25 in the
act of chasing livestock. It is
the first incident of its kind
in Wallowa County and the
second in Oregon.
The rancher and his
wife, who chose to remain
anonymous, said they had
suffered numerous instances
of wolves harassing their
cattle. The couple saw a
wolf chasing a herd of cows
on June 25 on a public land
allotment in the Wallowa
Mountains.
The
rancher
called
county commissioner Todd
Nash, who is chairman
of the Oregon Cattle-
men’s Association Wolf
Committee, for advice.
Nash told the rancher he
could legally shoot the wolf.
The man did and the animal
limped away.
Nash and Wallow County
Sheriff’s
Office
chief
deputy Fred Steen, who
later contacted Oregon State
Police, responded to the
scene. The team did not find
the wolf and further investi-
gation indicated the rancher
acted within his legal rights.
The rancher’s identity
was not released.
“This is just to show
you can do this and have
anonymity,” Steen said.
“It’s absolutely legal to
do such and we’ve always
believed it’s the rancher’s
right to protect his livestock
as private property. People
need to know this is an
option.”
In a separate incident
the ODFW investigated a
June 21 reported suspected
wolf
depredation
in
the Chesnimnus Creek
Drainage. A citizen found
a dead bull on an active
U.S. Forest Service grazing
allotment and notified
authorities. The department
contacted the rancher who
leased the allotment and
investigated. The ODFW
found the bull died of causes
other than wolf depredation,
noting the lack of wolves
in the area and no evidence
of premortem injuries,
although some postmortem
scavenging had occurred.