Cold weather may be slowing down this year’s spring Chinook
The number of spring Chinook salmon passing Bonneville Dam so far this year is below the 10-year average, but officials say it’s too early to ring alarm bells. Runs vary from year to year and don’t hit a peak until late April or early May. Salmon could be slowed down this year from the cooler, sometimes frigid spring weather, said Ben Anderson, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson. As of April 13, 637 spring Chinook had passed the dam. The 10-year average for the same date is 2,210. Washington and Oregon fishery managers predict this year’s fishing season for the Columbia River will be comparable to 2022 with upriver spring Chinook expected to fall just short of 200,000. In 2022, spring Chinook returns were roughly 185,200. The 10-year average return is 150,485. (Lauren Ellenbecker/The Columbian)
Ryan Mejaski of Bend, Ore., holds a bull trout that he caught on April 8, 2023, in Lake Billy Chinook.
Courtesy of Joe Wilhite / Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Potential record bull trout caught in Lake Billy Chinook
Ryan Mejaski caught a whopper of a bull trout earlier this month that he and his fishing buddy Joe Wilhite think might have become a new state record. The two told state officials the trout was 33.5 inches in length with a 26-inch girth, and maxed out Wilhite’s fishing net scale. “The scale was maxed out and didn’t go any higher than 25 pounds but that’s what it said,” Mejaski said. The two decided to let the fish go and watched it swim away. Only then did it occur to them they could have brought the fish to shore and had it officially weighed to see if it was a new state record, breaking the one caught in 1989 from the same lake that weighed 23 pounds, 2 ounces. “I’m a little bummed out we didn’t keep it so we could get the official record, but it was the right thing to do at the time,” Mejaski said. “We really didn’t think about keeping it, we were so excited.” (OPB Staff)
Josephine County librarians no longer barred from bringing guns to work
The Josephine Community Library District has lifted a ban on employees bringing guns to work after a man tried to break into the isolated Wolf Creek branch on New Year’s Eve while a worker was trapped inside. It’s uncertain who the man was, but the library employee believes it was a man suspected of torturing and beating a Grants Pass woman unconscious on Jan. 24. That same man later bludgeoned two Sunny Valley men to death before shooting himself to death in a police standoff. While one of the library branches is near a sheriff’s office substation, others are more remote. “We want to make sure employees have the opportunity to defend themselves,” said Pat Fahey, a member of the library district board. He said employees could choose to bring guns, Tasers, bear spray or other weapons to work. (Vicki Aldous/The Daily Courier)
Commuters using MAX’s Red Line should expect some disruptions
Commuters riding the MAX should expect service disruptions in Northeast Portland through Saturday, May 6. TriMet suspended light rail service between the Gateway Transit Center and the Northeast 7th Avenue MAX station as part of its project to extend the agency’s Red Line further west, adding 10 more stations while improving reliability on the east side toward the airport. Construction on the project began in fall 2021 and is expected to be complete in fall 2024. The “A Better Red” project will cost about $215 million, with about $100 million of that coming from federal infrastructure funds. Shuttle buses will run every five minutes during peak hours to connect the stops, adding around 30 minutes to each trip. (Jim Redden/The Portland Tribune)
Oregon biologists confirm another wolverine sighting
A wolverine sighting near Sisters was confirmed Thursday by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, making it the fifth sighting in Western Oregon since they were believed to have been wiped out. A video taken April 6 showing an apparent wolverine crossing Highway 20 was confirmed by ODFW. Officials from ODFW’s Deschutes Office also confirmed wolverine tracks near the location of the sighting. The last documented wolverine in the central Cascades was trapped and killed in 1969 near Broken Top. The species has since been listed as threatened in the state, and no hunting or trapping of the animal is allowed. (Charles Gearing/Statesman Journal)