I cover Oregon's outdoors for @Salem_Statesman and @USATODAY. Environment/recreation/public lands. Explore Oregon Podcast. Best Hikes w/kids Oregon. Girl dad.
Scio, Oregon
Joined February 2011
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Longtime raft guide Will Volpert has been exploring every mile of the "New Klamath" after dam removal.
He describes salmon & wildlife, scenery & rapids hidden for a century now accessible on the border of OR and CA in the latest Explore Oregon Podcast: tinyurl.com/bpat4z9y
At the same time, @MyODFW is taking a swing at reintroducing kokanee to Green Peter, after millions of the fish were flushed out in the 2023 drawdown. It may be a doomed effort but we shall see: tinyurl.com/up99e4cu
It’s year three of the extreme drawdowns at Green Peter and Lookout Point reservoirs, one of the more consequential outdoor stories of the last few years. It’s either a plague on city drinking water systems or a last shot at saving endangered salmon: tinyurl.com/zy24auu4
Changes planned for year 3 of extreme drawdowns at Green Peter, Lookout Point statesmanjournal.com/story/n… via @salem_statesman
Atmospheric river to bring heavy rain, winds, chance for Oregon Coast flooding statesmanjournal.com/story/n… via @salem_statesman
The Oregon Kelp Alliance is taking the fight to sea urchin populations devastating kelp forests off the OR Coast, showing real progress. Other business are finding ways to eat them. Final story by our outdoors journalism intern Rose Shimberg: tinyurl.com/2f37226n
Podcast: A conversation about the illegal introduction of a delicious but notorious fish at Lookout Point Reservoir, and how it has spread into the Willamette River and could threaten salmon/steelhead: tinyurl.com/4w8uts2a
LOL, what?!
statesmanjournal.com/story/n… via @salem_statesman
Wild weather weekend in Oregon.
- 2-3 inches of rain the Valley and 4-6 in in the foothills/mountains
-Strong winds that’ll cause some power outages
-Legit mountain snow at Santiam and Willamette passes (to say nothing of the high country).
Full story: tinyurl.com/bdf99zzm
Walleye, a delicious but notorious fish that preys on juvenile salmon, have spread into the Upper Willamette. Illegally released in Lookout Point Reservoir in the 1990s, they were flushed out in 2023 by the extreme reservoir drawdowns. What happens next? tinyurl.com/5bnr9jts
PacifiCorp gives $125M to Oregon wineries, vineyards in settlement over Labor Day fires statesmanjournal.com/story/n… via @salem_statesman
Major snow coming pretty early in the season to Oregon's Cascade Mountain passes. Possibly up to a foot above 4,500 feet. Anybody driving, hunting or exploring pass level better be ready for coooold: tinyurl.com/5ddyj759
Salem mayor, business group join as petitioners to repeal Oregon homeless camping law statesmanjournal.com/story/n… via @salem_statesman
1 dead after being swept into Pacific Ocean by sneaker wave on Oregon Coast statesmanjournal.com/story/n… via @salem_statesman
Some of my favorite Oregon stories are on the latest Explore Oregon Podcast:
-A nuke at Cape Kiwanda
- A princess turned to stone
- Lincoln City’s infamous fight with a fifth grade class from Montana.
- How Oregon's last redwood grove was saved
tinyurl.com/4xz7879s
Search underway for 18-year-old missing in North Santiam River statesmanjournal.com/story/n… via @salem_statesman
Big changes coming to Oregon’s weather. Significant rain in the valleys and even some SNOW on mountain roadways. The cool and wet weather is poised to stick around, too: tinyurl.com/yc68b33p
In the latest podcast, we did a news roundup on
-How the government shutdown impacts access to Oregon’s public lands
-The 2025 Oregon wildfire season in review
-Great news for coastal coho salmon
-Terrible news for Douglas firs
Listen: tinyurl.com/39ksku9r
Drought and insects have killed an unprecedented number of Oregon’s Douglas fir trees during the last decade, costing billions in timber value, damaging infrastructure and ramping up wildfire danger.
What is Douglas fir dieback? What is being done? tinyurl.com/5n9amvx6
And speaking of salmon, our intern Rose Shimburg reports on the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde creating new salmon passage and habitat on a 462-acre conservation property they own along the North Santiam River: tinyurl.com/y5u2epcu
Here's some positive news for your Friday morning. Oregon's coastal coho salmon population has rebounded so well that they could soon be delisted from the federal Endangered Species Act: tinyurl.com/musejass
