Field Reports
MOUNTAIN BIKING
Wilderness opposed
Many mountain bikers are opposing a plan that would nearly double the size of federal wilderness on Mount Hood because it would make it illegal for them to ride some popular trails.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden says his plan to add 160,000 acres of new wilderness in one of the nation’s most visited urban forests will meet a growing demand for backcountry recreation. But Paul Thomasberg, a 41-year-old bike racer from Bend, said mountain bikers “aren’t feeling that love.”
With commercial logging on federal forests diminishing, mountain bikers are becoming the most vocal critics of proposals that restrict access to public lands.
They claim the Mount Hood wilderness expansion would shut them out of at least 100 miles of trails. That would crowd riders onto other trails, they argue, and counter aspirations Oregon might have of becoming the next mecca for mountain biking.
Conservation groups have met privately with mountain biking representatives during the past several months to see whether they can agree on a wilderness plan.
Both sides say they have more in common than not. They love the outdoors, value the forests and agree that public lands need to be protected for future generations. But they differ on what kind of protection is appropriate.
Conservationists have tentatively agreed to redraw boundaries to exclude some popular mountain bike trails from wilderness, said Erik Fernandez of the Oregon Natural Resources Council.
“We’d remove 6,000 acres from the proposal, and there are a lot of people (conservationists) who aren’t comfortable with that,” he told The Oregonian newspaper.
Other mountain bikers say Congress should consider alternatives to wilderness that would protect the forest from logging but still allow mountain biking. Rather than wilderness, they’d prefer that the forest be designated a “national scenic area” or “national recreation area.”
“The bottom line is we’re not against protection,” said Douglas Van Zandt, 44, a student at Portland State University and member of the Columbia Area Mountain Biking Advocates.
Associated Press
FISHING
Record Lake trout taken
A Montana record 42-pound 11.8-ounce lake trout was caught in Flathead Lake June 30 by Ruth Barber, 76, of Somers, Mont.
The previous record was a 42 pounder caught in 1979.
Staff reports
PREDATORS
Coug study incomplete
Scientists need one more year of study to accurately estimate the number of mountain lions in north-central Washington.
Managers with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife think the cougar population is declining, while some north-central Washington residents insist otherwise. Residents blame a 1996 citizens initiative that bans hunting mountain lions with hounds.
Last winter, the state paid houndsmen to chase and tree cougars north of the Colville Indian Reservation to gather a skin sample for DNA analysis. The sample is collected by shooting the cougars with a dart gun.
Rich Beausoleil, Fish and Wildlife biologist, said the study will continue next winter.
Associated Press
WILDLIFE
Calling all moose
His face hidden behind dark sunglasses and a Panama hat, Paul Harrell stepped to the front of the stage at the Salcha Fair and cupped his hands around his mouth.
The Fort Wainwright, Alaska, man exhaled a strange, rhythmic sound into the microphone. At the end of a full breath, he paused suddenly before letting out a series of quick grunts.
“That’s the bulls,” he said during the first moose-calling contest the Salcha Fair has seen since the 1980s. “This is the cows.”
Harrell launched into his female moose call, humming more rapidly into the microphone in a slightly higher tone.
Spectators had little trouble telling experienced moose callers such as Harrell, the winner among nine contestants, from those who resorted to less sophisticated techniques such as calling a moose like a pet dog.
For his winning effort, Harrell collected a trophy made of a moose rack and ivory.
The vision for reviving a widely recognized event was solidified by watching a “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” episode in which an Ontario man claimed to be the world moose-calling champion. The man should come to Salcha next year and defend his crown, local organizers said.
Associated Press
STATE PARKS
Park work begins
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s initiative to develop a new state park every year for the next 10 years got a ground-level start last week when work begans on the first park with campsites the state will build since the 1970s.
When finished, Hares Canyon State Park will cover nearly 1,800 acres along Oregon state Highway 47 between U.S. Highway 26 and Vernonia.
It’s the first major state park in Washington County, home to Portland’s populous western suburbs. The park is due to open in 2007 and cost about $14 million, mostly from state lottery funds plus some federal grant money.
Associated Press
THREATENED SPECIES
Grouse thwart leases
Sage grouse habitat conservation is hampering natural gas production in South Dakota’sBowman County.
The federal Bureau of Land Management is restricting companies from drilling within two miles of grouse leks between mid-April and mid-June, said Lynn Helms, director of the state Industrial Commission’s oil and gas division.
A lek is an area where male grouse dance to attract mates.
The BLM is proposing to expand the restriction to three miles, between April 1 and June 30, Helms said.
Of even greater concern is an effort by environmental groups to have the sage grouse listed as an endangered species, Helms said.
“The (birds) are in just a very small part of the state, and I think we should do everything we can to protect whatever habitat there is left,” said Wayde Schafer, a spokesman for the Sierra Club.
The number of male sage grouse counted on strutting grounds in southwestern North Dakota this spring was down 17 percent from last year, according to the state Game and Fish Department. However, biologists said the population remained strong enough to hold a hunting season this fall.
Associated Press