Outdoors & Recreation

Due warmer forecast weather, this weekend, April 21-22, 2018 will be the final weekend for skiing at Mt Ashland for the 2017-18 season.

tour of native plant gardens at the Klamath County Museum will be offered at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 22.

The free event is cosponsored by the museum and the Klamath Basin Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon in recognition of Native Plant Appreciation Week, which runs April 22-28.

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) [4/18/18] during a Senate Appropriations Committee Energy and Water Development Subcommittee hearing pressed Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman for a commitment to get appropriated financial aid to the Klamath Basin as quickly as possible.

The Oregon Recreational Trails Advisory Council (ORTAC) will meet 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on May 4 at Klamath Falls City Hall, 500 Klamath Ave., Klamath Falls. The meeting will be open to the public. 

Highlights from this week’s Recreation Report include: Get your gobble on, Best bets for fishing, Bear hunting season, Take the family fishing.

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Land Management is issuing a call for public nominations to fill three positions on its national Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board.  Nominations are for a term of three years and are needed to represent the following categories of interest: public interest, wild horse and burro advocacy, and veterinary medicine.
 

Boating season is starting and people hauling both motorized and non-motorized boats must stop at watercraft inspection stations opening around Oregon next week. Large orange “Boat Inspection Ahead” signs followed by “Inspection Required for All Watercraft” alert motorists.

SALEM, Ore.— ODFW wildlife biologists counted 124 wolves in Oregon this past winter, an 11 percent increase over the number counted last year.

Fees will increase across National Parks this season and the majestic Crater Lake National Park & mysterious Lava Beds National Monument will not be immune. Starting May 12, 2018 fees will increase to $25 per vehicle for both Crater Lake and the Lava Beds. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Ron Wyden today partnered to urge the director of the Air National Guard to rapidly begin wildfire training for National Guard members, after the senators secured both authorization in the 2018 defense bill and funding in the 2018 spending bill to provide states like Oregon the firefighting resources they need to respond to catastrophic wildfires.

SALEM, Ore.—Ocean salmon anglers can look forward to more opportunity this year based on recommendations made yesterday for federal waters (outside three miles) during a Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Portland.

Highlights from this week’s Recreation Report include: Best bets for fishing, Spring bear hunt, Family fishing, Watchable wildlife on the coast, Reporting of late season hunts.

As allowed by the Klamath County Air Quality Ordinance, the 2018 Spring Open Burn Window within the Klamath County Air Quality Zone will start on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at 8:00 a.m. and will end Sunday, April 29, 2018 at 5:00 pm.

Tulelake, CA – Lava Beds National Monument is pleased to announce that they will be hosting the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program again this year. YCC is a summer employment program for young men and women, ages 15 through 18, who work and learn together by participating in conservation work on public lands. The program is expected to begin on June 18th, and will run for 8 weeks, dependent upon available funding.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – A half-day workshop on naturescaping, or the use of native plants and other materials in landscaping – will be offered April 28 at the Klamath County Museum.

SALEM, Ore. — ODFW’s Access and Habitat Board will be in Klamath Falls April 9-10 to tour local projects and host a board meeting.

This afternoon [April 6, 2018], the Bureau of Reclamation will increase flows below Iron Gate Dam to reduce the risk of disease for coho salmon in the Klamath River. Beginning late this afternoon, flows below Iron Gate Dam will increase from approximately 1,800 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 6,030 cfs. Increased releases will continue for 72 hours through Monday, April 9. The public is urged to take all necessary precautions on or near the river while flows are high during this period.

Highlights from this week’s Recreation Report include: Spring fishing, Spring bear, Family Fishing, Coast wildlife, Report late season hunts.

Grasses are green, trees are budding, flowers are starting to bloom and the bees are even beginning to buzz. Spring is here and what better way to welcome it than to get outside and enjoy with a round of golf.   The Klamath Basin is home to some of Oregon's most spectacular and simplest golf courses around to challenge your skills. 

The National Park Service today announced the selection of Crater Lake Hospitality, LLC, a subsidiary of Aramark, to operate visitor services at Crater Lake National Park and Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve. The concessioner will operate lodging, a campground, boat tours, food service, and retail at Crater Lake and operate a lodge, food service, and retail at Oregon Caves.

ALTURAS, Calif.—The four obsidian collection areas on the Modoc National Forest in the Warner Mountains near Davis Creek, California will again be open and available to public recreational collection and limited commercial mining during the 2018 season.
 

Portland, Ore. – Pacific Northwest Regional Forester Jim Peña and Oregon/Washington Bureau of Land Management State Director Jamie Connell are pleased to announce the selection of John Giller as the Fire, Fuels and Aviation Director for the USDA Forest Service Regions 6/10 (including Oregon, Washington and Alaska), as well as the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon and Washington as part of the interagency “Service First” pilot program

Highlights from this week’s Recreation Report include: Spring bear hunting, Best bets for fishing, Fishing regulation changes and Reporting of late season hunts. 

The season is just a few weeks away! Many hunters consider spring bear to be the first hunt of the year. To see how things are shaping up in areas throughout the state, check out the 2018 Spring Bear Forecast.

ODFW is accepting applications for landowner and hunter representatives on one of Access & Habitat’s Regional Councils. Please apply by Monday, May 7, 2018 to be considered.

Highlights from this week’s Recreation Report include: Spring wildlife watching, Best bets for fishing, Fishing regulation changes, Hunt reporting, and 2018 Trout stocking schedule.

The Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) came to Oregon Tech to visit with stakeholders Tuesday night about the planned change in ownership and removal of the dams on the Klamath River (John C. Boyle, Copco 1, Copco 2, and Irongate).

Along the shore line of Upper Klamath Lake at the Eagle Ridge County Park a small number of reared Lost River and Shortnose Sucker fish have been released. These fish are the first of thousands to be raised in captivity and released into Upper Klamath Lake.

Alan Mikkelsen, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke was in attendance to help release the fish into the wild and answer questions about the program.

“This is the first cohort of what we expect to be many more releases in the coming years,” says Mikkelsen. “What is going on here is an attempt to stabilize and ultimately increase the population of suckers in the lake.”

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is planning on the initial release of a portion of 2,500 Lost River and Shortnose suckers for 2018 on March 20th in the Shoalwater Bay area.  Although, the Klamath Tribes appreciate this effort, we feel strongly that in order to be effective this needs to be accomplished on a much larger scale.  We also are saddened that we are at the point where artificial propagation is now a necessary step in attempt to save these species from extinction.

Highlights from this week’s Recreation Report include: Winter Steelhead, Spring Chinook, late season hunts, 2018 trout stocking schedule, and hunter education. 

Signs at the site of a new park on the north end of downtown Klamath Falls show the designer’s concept of its features and also mark another step in the park’s progress from vision to reality.