Recent Posts from Nate
Mining projects threaten Big Creek and the Middle Fork of the Salmon
For many, the rugged swath of Idaho contained within the 2.37 million acre Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness is the embodiment of what the Wilderness Act of 1964 hoped to achieve. It is a place where in the space of seasons, free flowing rivers swell and dwindle, wildlife migrates across ranges of untrammeled peaks, and humanity’s trace is limited to a brief echo in a landscape left to exist as it always has. Yet even now as the Frank Church Wilderness stands as...
Help Protect Rough and Ready Creek
The red hills and roadless area that spill beyond the borders of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness and form the headwaters of Rough and Ready Creek, Baldface Creek, and Hunter Creek, are a part of one the most ecologically diverse landscapes on the West Coast. The area is host to many rare and endemic plant species that are found nowhere else, in addition to being an important source of clean water that supports salmon runs and communities downstream. In order to protect those outstanding values while longer lasting...
Most Endangered Rivers: The Rogue and Smith
Today, due to the threat of nickel strip mining in their respective tributaries, American Rivers has placed the Rogue and Smith Rivers on the 2015 Most Endangered Rivers List. The following is an account of our expedition to document the effect that strip mining would have on the waterways and communities downstream. Lost and surrounded by vegetation so thick that I could not even fall over, it was hard to imagine the ridge line we were walking is imminently threatened by anything human made. Yet, as...
The Lower Owyhee River
Sitting comfortably awash in Oregon’s sagebrush sea, Rome is the sort of place that takes some determination to get to. My own path to there started in Ashland, Oregon and lasted about eight hours. Arriving near sunset, there was just enough time to unload our boats and catch a glimpse of the Owyhee River as it meandered through the surrounding ranchlands. The rest of our crew arrived the following morning and we were all anxious for the opportunity to explore what is often referred to as...
Introducing Lori Turbes
We are a little spoiled in the Northwest, and sometimes it is easy to forget that whitewater and the paddling communities surrounding it exist outside of our corner of the country. For example, do you know very much about whitewater in the Midwest? Most people don’t, and maybe in an effort to change that, Minnesota has sent one of its friendliest ambassadors, Lori Turbes, into our midst to help spread news of the northern gnar. Lori’s own introduction to whitewater had her hooked faster than a...
Rogue Spring
As clouds roll across Southern Oregon, the moisture wrung out from Pacific storms can go on to become several things. Moving inland from the coast, a series of mountain ranges that culminate in the volcanic peaks of the Cascades funnel the runoff inexorably downward. Higher elevations accumulate a snowpack that can linger well into summer, while lowland rains nourish ephemeral streams that disappear as soon as the sky clears. Across the Rogue River’s 5,100 square mile watershed, most of what will become its water arrives in...