Keith Hyde’s Mission: Bring New Faces to Fishing

April 23, 2020

Keith Hyde’s Mission: Bring New Faces to Fishing

Hyde’s perspective on life and his passion for fishing changed after a long fight with stage four squamous cell cancer, which is a form of throat cancer. As a survivor, he began to more deeply consider his role in the world and the legacy he wants to leave behind. “I started thinking to myself, like, Why me? With this low survivability rate? I'm no one. I'm no one special. I'm no different than any other person. So why did God choose me to survive? I have no idea. But I felt like there has to be some reason.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “I truly believe now that the reason is to promote the outdoors, to take people fishing, to enhance fisheries to provide opportunities for people to fish down the road. So now that's what I tried to do. That's kind of my deal. And I try to drag as many people along with me as I can.”

June 30, 2020

Migration Through the Eyes of a Salmon

When I turned one year old, my parr marks began to disappear, alerting me to the fact that my first great journey would soon begin. I knew it was time to go to the ocean. Under natural conditions, it would be an arduous journey: over 450 miles of river fraught with predators, rapids, strong currents, and changing salinity that culminates in a rapid biological adaptation to the ocean. Unfortunately, man-made obstacles such as agricultural runoff, heat pollution, stagnant water and dams further complicated my voyage.

July 17, 2020

Kids Art Contest Winners Announced

Northwest Steelheaders hosted a kids art contest to engage students in thinking about salmon conservation while they're stuck at home this summer. The theme of the contest was "Crossing Boundaries into New Waters," which is our organization's theme for 2020. We sought artwork portraying our mission to dive headlong into new waters for salmon and steelhead conservation, and the pieces were judged based on their concept, composition, color, and expression. The competition was open to students in Oregon and Washington. "True Determination" by Audrey F. won the grand prize and first place in the grades 4-5 group, which includes a $100 check and a fishing trip for her and a parent/guardian with a Steelheaders volunteer.

September 24, 2020

How Stevie Parsons Became a Fisherwoman and How You Can Too

Stevie Parsons, like many women, did not grow up fishing. “In my family, the boys did the fishing and the hunting,” she said. Now, Stevie is an avid angler and conservation advocate. She has been volunteering with Northwest Steelheaders for seven years and is a past member of our Board of Directors. It was well into adulthood that she developed an interest in the sport.

December 9, 2020

Fish Eggs to Fry Goes Virtual

Our program has received overwhelming support from educators, ODFW staff, and volunteers from Northwest Steelheaders, the Oregon affiliate partner of NWF. Together, we delivered 11,400 Chinook salmon eggs to 29 schools and partners for a total of 38 aquariums across the Portland-Metro region. However, with the transition to online learning this year, our new virtual resources have expanded the Fish Eggs to Fry program’s reach far beyond the state of Oregon. Now, students don’t even have to leave the house to experience the magic of the salmon life cycle!

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.

January 27, 2021

How to Fish Responsibly: 22 Tips for Minimizing Harm to Fish and their Habitats

Oregon’s North Coast steelhead returns were below “critical abundance” thresholds in 2018 and 2019, and though 2020 returns increased some, the long-term decline is concerning. The threshold is defined by ODFW as the point at which “the conservation of the population could be in jeopardy if the downward trend continues.” We must each do our part to ensure the protection of North Coast steelhead. Read our tips for responsible angling!

February 1, 2021

Fall 2020 Communications Intern Ben Kayser Reflects on his Experience with Northwest Steelheaders

My experience as the Digital Content and Communications Intern at Northwest Steelheaders was nothing short of transformative. This opportunity helped me translate in-class knowledge to real-world working experience. I developed critical skills that I’ll carry forward into my future work in marketing and organizational communications, including social media management and engagement, content creation, and more.