Trout Unlimited McKenzie River and Upper-Willamette Chapter 678 tackled barbed wire removal in the Steens Wilderness recently. Volunteers Karl Mueller and Matt Stansberry teamed up with Oregon-Washington TU Field Coordinator and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Chair Mike Beagle and BLM employee Laura Dowlan to pull over 1500 feet of barbed wire. The project will help open up large parcels of elk and pronghorn habitat, previously intersected by the fence. In fact, during the project, a herd of 50-60 elk moved through an area that had previously been fenced in.
During the off-hours, TU 678 volunteers fished the headwaters of the Blitzen River, easily catching 50 native redband rainbow trout, the biggest fish measuring around 14-inches. We plan to put together a TU 678 backpacking trip to the Steens next summer to fish from the headwaters to Blitzen Crossing. If you're interested in this trip or other upcoming events, please email
Matt.
For full details of the trip, check out the
Upstream in Oregon blog.
