C6
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, October 26, 2019
NEW TAKE ON OLD ROADS
By JAYSON JACOBY
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — The stump of the
juvenile ponderosa pine nearly sent me
sprawling, but I wasn’t particularly per-
turbed at barely avoiding what might
have been a painful tumble.
The pine wasn’t much of an obstacle,
for one thing.
Had I been paying even slightly closer
attention to where I was putting my feet
I could have easily bypassed the stump.
And I’m not what anyone would
describe as nimble.
(Anyone who’s ever watched me walk,
anyway, an experience that tends to
induce in spectators a kind of grudging
admiration that I can get around under
my own power.)
But the reason I appreciated rather
than resented my innocuous encounter
with the little bit that’s left of that pine
is that it reminded me I was fortunate to
have this place to hike.
Moreover, the episode clarified a
notion that’s been floating about, as it
were, on the shoals of my subconscious
for some time.
I was walking on a road. It’s a road that
so far as I could tell hasn’t been navigated
by a motor vehicle for at least a few years.
But it was quite clearly a road — some-
thing built to the dimensions required to
accommodate log trucks.
And it struck me, not long after the toe
of my right shoe struck the stump, that
this road is one of dozens that have been
built over the decades in the publicly
owned forests of Northeastern Oregon.
Many of these roads are open to, and
frequently traveled by, motor vehicles.
But a fair number are not. Some have
been blocked by gates, and others by
“tank traps” — series of ditches that span
the road bed. Of the latter group, some
are still accessible by ATVs, which, with
their tidy dimensions and supple sus-
pensions, can often get through the tank
traps that turn back pickup trucks and
other highway-legal rigs.
These roads constitute a network of
routes that in parts of the region boast
more mileage than the trails, where
motor vehicles can’t legally go.
This network of roads is a valuable
resource and, it seems to me, a relatively
untapped one.
I use the word “resource” with some
hesitation. It’s among the words favored
by federal land managers — the sort of
hedging, general word that started to
infest government publications decades
EO Media Group Photo/Jayson Jacoby
Old roads might not be well-suited to full-size rigs — and in many cases they’re blocked
by “tank traps” or other obstacles — but they often make for excellent hiking or moun-
tain biking paths.
ago when bureaucrats began to shun
more earthy, but precise nouns, such as
trees and grass and rocks.
We’re subjected now to curious sub-
stitutes that leave the reader floundering,
unsure exactly what sort of vegetation
is being managed in a “vegetation man-
agement project” and whether a “trans-
portation resource” is a wide gravel road
where you can haul a fifth-wheel trailer
without slashing pinstripes in its flanks,
or a narrow footpath through the pines.
But roads that aren’t accessible to or
often used by motor vehicles certainly
qualify as a resource for hikers, moun-
tain bikers and horseback riders. And I
hope these roads will remain a useful,
and used, resource for a long time.
The road where I was almost felled by
that stump is on the west side of the Elk-
horns, north of Phillips Reservoir. This
area has an extensive allotment of roads,
as even a cursory glance at a Forest Ser-
vice map shows.
The area seems to me a fair represen-
tation of the road situation in many other
parts of the Blue Mountains — the afore-
mentioned mixture of roads ranging from
ones suitable for a family sedan to those
that the pines have begun to reclaim since
they were blocked by a tank trap or other
impediment.
The future of many of these roads is
not clear.
The one I walked on recently, and sev-
eral others nearby, were among those
slated to be legally closed to motor vehi-
cles in the Travel Management Plan
the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
unveiled in March 2012.
That plan was withdrawn less than a
month later, after hundreds of local resi-
dents — and Congressman Greg Walden
— complained the plan would have
closed too many roads to motor vehicles.
Since then the issue of motor vehicle
access to roads has been superseded by
other projects — most notably the Blue
Mountain Forest Plan revision. But the
matter will return eventually, as Con-
gress mandated that every national for-
est go through the travel management
process.
Some people who advocate for clos-
ing roads to motor vehicles aren’t sat-
isfied with a legal ban on access. They
also want the Forest Service to “decom-
mission” roads. That entails bringing in
heavy equipment to erase, to the extent
possible, evidence that the road ever
existed by obliterating the roadbed itself
and restoring the land’s natural contours.
This strikes me as a waste — and an
expensive one at that, given the cost of
hiring heavy equipment.
It also would deprive the public —
which is to say all of us, the owners of
this land — of a way to enjoy the forests.
The vast majority of the hiking trails
on the Wallowa-Whitman are confined to
the Eagle Cap Wilderness, Hells Canyon
and the Elkhorns. In the Phillips Reser-
voir area the only designated trails are
the paths around the lake itself, and the
mile-long path to Indian Rock just north
of Highway 7.
But the network of roads serves essen-
tially the same purpose, roads being in
essence much wider versions of trails.
I’m not so naivé as to expect the For-
est Service, which struggles to maintain
trails, will be able to occasionally clear
fallen logs from roads.
But fortunately users often take on
that burden — especially on roads that
are still accessible to ATVs.
I’ve walked more miles this year on
roads than I have on trails, and even the
roads that seem to have been all but aban-
doned are still relatively easy to walk on
(notwithstanding the occasional pine
stump).
Besides which there’s this bonus —
the Forest Service already has detailed
maps showing these roads.
Fall is the time to harvest those planter trout
By LUKE OVGARD
For the East Oregonian
Late October might mean
Halloween to some, but to
much of the Pacific North-
west’s ag community, it
marks the final harvest.
Frost and winter are just
around the corner, and it’s
time to harvest what was
planted, including planted
trout.
Oregon stocks five to six
million trout annually. This
is nothing compared to the
30 million stocked in Idaho.
Hatchery trout are so preva-
lent in the United States that
they are the most numerous
invasive species in North
America, surpassing the
common carp, largemouth
bass, bluegill and both east-
ern and western mosqui-
tofish simply by the sheer
volume churned out by
hatcheries every year.
According to the Invasive
Species Initiative, an organi-
zation dedicated to spreading
awareness about the world’s
“Top 100 Invasive Species,”
rainbow trout represent at
least as large a problem as
kudzu, cane toads and the
European red fox.
Hatchery trout outcom-
pete native species like
trout have done in New Zea-
land. Where native trout
exist, hatchery fish pol-
lute genetic stock and cre-
ate hybrids. These hybrid
and hatchery-infused prog-
eny can carry whirling dis-
ease, a parasite now found
in at least 25 states and still
spreading. Hatchery fish
also lack natural immunities
to native bacteria, viruses
and parasites.
Hatcheries serve an
important role, though. Not
only do they help preserve
and manage genetic stocks
or rare or diminishing spe-
cies, but they also help to
feed the screaming demand
for catch-and-keep fisheries
nationwide.
THAI PUMPKIN
TROUT
Trout is not my favorite
fish, and unlike many fish,
I think it needs some help
to taste truly good. This
recipe uses Thai pump-
kin, also called kabocha
squash, to create a
creamy and flavorful
sauce that makes eating
any trout or salmon a
worthwhile experience.
Photo contributed by Luke Ovgard
The first fish the author ever caught from his boat were not wild trout, they were hatchery
fish like this one caught in Diamond Lake during the late fall.
Without hatcheries, wild
fish stocks would suffer
untold abuse.
Trout fishing is insanely
popular, and for good rea-
son. Trout are beautiful,
fun to catch, and appeal to
bait, lure and fly fishermen
alike.
Wildlife managers didn’t
always understand the prob-
lems hatchery fish can cre-
ate, and these stocking
programs began in good
faith. Then again, stock-
ing programs in ideal cir-
cumstances wouldn’t cause
these problems now. In most
instances, hatchery rain-
bow trout are not planted
to establish a new species;
they’re planted to create
a put-and-take fishery for
sport anglers. The only time
fish establish is when they’re
not all harvested or eaten
prior to the spawn.
You can do your part to
help curb the spread of this
unlikely villain by getting
out and harvesting some
hatchery ’bows this fall —
before they begin spawning.
Harvest blessings
While others are out
hunting deer, watching foot-
ball or carving pumpkins,
I find myself on the water.
The fishing for large native
trout is phenomenal this
time of year, and responsible
anglers release all wild fish.
Hatchery trout, on the
other hand, also provide
excellent fishing this time
of year and are intended for
consumption. Planters reach
peak size in October, hav-
ing gorged all summer long
on wild foods that actu-
ally make their meat some-
what flavorful and poten-
tially even that deep pink
color seen in larger, wild
fish. Further, the water has
cooled enough to make the
texture of that meat firmer
and more palatable.
Now is the time to make
like Marshawn Lynch and
taste the rainbow.
When fishing for har-
vest, I typically use two
rods. Most places receiving
hatchery rainbows are lakes,
which means the Two-Rod
Angling License is a neces-
sity. Typically, I’ll soak half
of an inflated nightcrawler
or green, orange and yellow
PowerBait on one rod while
casting a one-quarter ounce
hammered silver Little Cleo
or similar slow-moving
spoon with the other. Lim-
its are all-but-guaranteed in
the popular hatchery lakes
— especially in low water
conditions.
Larger fish can be fil-
leted, but I typically gut
hatchery trout and cook
them whole. From there, it’s
off to the smoker (the most
work), the frying pan (some
work) or the barbecue (the
least work).
You can simply cook
them whole with a few slices
of your fruit, some salt, pep-
per, and olive oil, but hatch-
ery trout are not known
Ingredients:
Photo contributed by Luke Ovgard
2 pounds of trout or
Fat planters like this are the
salmon fillets
norm for the fall fishermen
Two cans unsweetened
willing to brave a little cold
coconut milk
weather and give up a Sun-
One-half cup water
day of football.
One kabocha squash
(Thai pumpkin)
One lime
Brown sugar
Cilantro
Garlic cloves to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
(Optional) Sriracha or horseradish
Cooking instructions:
1. Simply wash the squash, scoop out the seeds, and then
cube the flesh into roughly one-inch cubes. Mash about a
third of the squash into a paste.
2. Combine the mashed squash with the coconut milk in a
saucepan. Simmer, mixing until thick and creamy but still
liquid. If you want it fairly runny, use all of the water. If you’d
like to keep it thick, just add half.
3. Cut the lime and squeeze the juice into the sauce.
4. Add in cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper and brown sugar to
taste. I like mine both sweet and spicy, so I’ll add in some
sriracha or horseradish.
Be sure to leave the pumpkin chunks in the pan and pour
half of the liquid sauce (no chunks) over the trout and either
bake it in the oven or cook it on the barbecue in aluminum
foil.
You’ll serve the other half of the sauce with the pumpkin
chunks over top the finished fillets.
Serve with freshly steamed green beans or okra (it’s all
about the texture, and you can’t get that in canned ones)
and steamed wild rice.
for their excellent flavor or
texture. Consider spicing
things up with recipe below
and try out “Thai Pumpkin
Trout,” served with fresh
green beans or okra and a
side of wild rice.
Bon appétit.
  
Read more at caughtov-
gard.com; Follow on Ins-
tagram and Fishbrain @
lukeovgard; Contact luke.
ovgard@gmail.com.