December 11, 2020

A Year in Review: Making Strides in 2020 with Your Dedicated Support

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that our community of recreational anglers is resilient. Your overwhelming support for our campaigns and programs proved that, as a community, we can adapt to change, support one another from a safe distance, and push for bold conservation goals. Through it all, you made fighting for the survival of salmon and steelhead a priority.
February 6, 2021

2021 Oregon Legislative Session: Northwest Steelheaders Priority Bills & How You Can Help

The Oregon state legislative session began last month, and it is already shaping up to be a busy year. Our Board of Directors has identified an ambitious list of bills to track during the 2021 legislative session, so we need your help!
March 17, 2021

Why Should We Remove the Lower Snake River Dams? Your Questions Answered

At one point, 50% of salmon returning to the Columbia River Basin spawned in the Snake River or its tributaries. Today, only 1% of these salmon return to their spawning grounds as adults to reproduce. Each interaction a juvenile salmon has with a dam reduces their chance of returning to the Columbia River as an adult by 10%. Snake River salmon have to pass eight dams during migration: four on the lower Snake River and four on the mainstem Columbia River, bringing their chance of returning as adults to just 20%. Removing the lower Snake River dams will remove half of the major obstacles blocking fish migration to and from their spawning grounds.
July 6, 2021

Steelheaders Secure Key Salmon Protections during Oregon’s 2021 Legislative Session

The 2021 Oregon legislative session has officially ended and overall, we were largely successful in securing the key bills and amendments we wanted. We negotiated an amendment legally tying the Columbia River Endorsement fee to a requirement that ODFW keep non-tribal commercial gill nets off the lower Columbia River and publish an annual accounting of what ODFW used the endorsement funding for. Also, after three long years, Board members Tim Lenihan and Bob Oleson got our bill to enhance fishing access for veteran’s angling programs signed into law. We also secured amendments to require weirs on private property are constructed from natural materials and ensured that material from ditch maintenance cannot be dumped into undisturbed wetlands, strengthen the Conservation and Recreation Fund, secure funding for stream restoration and fish screening, and expand the wildlife inspection station program.
February 1, 2022

2022 Oregon Short Legislative Session: Northwest Steelheaders Priority Bills & How You Can Help

The Oregon state legislative session begins this month. Our Board of Directors has identified an ambitious list of bills to track during the 2022 legislative session, so we need your help!