July 2020 Newsletter

Salem Chapter Northwest Steelheaders Newsletter for July 2020                 13 July 2020

We hope you all are doing well; if you got the bug, hope you are getting better. If you are well enough, I hope you are getting some fishing and catching the big ones.

The chapter meetings and activities:   Are canceled due to the COVID-19 virus. The chapter Board of Directors met on 3 June 2020. After some lengthy discussion, the board decided it would be best to cancel our chapter activities until September. The Board of Directors will meet on 5 August, and on 2 September to plan activities for the fall and winter.  If you have any suggestions, please contact a board member. 

Chapter Presidents Corner:  Vice President Rod Ratzlaff has assumed the duties of the office of President. If any member would like to step up and become the president of the Salem Chapter, please let us know.  We also need someone to fill the office of secretary, please.

ODFW Announces: From the ODFW, F&W Commission meeting:
“The budget does not include any fee increases on sport or commercial licenses in this budget cycle. While 2021 would typically be a year to raise fees to take effect in 2022 (because the department adjusts fees every six years), ODFW is pleased to be in a position to delay this and not request any fee increase for hunters, anglers or commercial fishermen until 2024 at the earliest. The budget will now go to the Governor and then the 2021 Legislature for final approval.”

North Santiam Watershed Council and Marion SWCD: Invasive Water Primrose on the North Santiam River.  We want to bring your attention to an aggressive, invasive, aquatic plant called water primrose (Ludwigia hexapetala or peploides).  This plant was discovered in late 2018 in the North Santiam watershed. The North Santiam Watershed Council (NSWC) is working in partnership with the Marion Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) on the second year of a project focused on treating and surveying for new infestations of water primrose between Lyons and Stayton. Treatments are taking place in John Neal County Park and Lyons City Park in Lyons, and in Alder Creek near Stayton.  A grant from the Oregon State Weed Board and matching funds from Marion SWCD and the City of Salem are covering the cost of treatment work along with surveys in 2020. To help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, we encourage you to CLEAN, DRAIN and DRY your watercraft and gear before moving to new waterways. Please report any sightings of this plant along the North Santiam River to the Oregon Invasive Hotline at https://oregoninvasiveshotline.org For more information: [email protected] or  [email protected]

NWSH Association News Letter:  The publication is available at: https://nwsteelheaders.org/blog/newsletter/.   Note: At the association board meeting, I asked if the association newsletter, “hard copy,” was sent to the members without an e-mail address. I was told it was not due to monetary limitations. I cannot reproduce it for our non-email members, it is several pages. You can see it on facebook and that other place.  The association also has been working to support our local guides by raffling trips to battle economic stagnation. Some association newsletter articles you may find on line:  Renewable Energy and Barging Industries Have Changed the Lower Snake River dams no longer serve a clear purpose By Betsy Emery, Organizer and Outreach Coordinator and Alix Soliman, Operations Manager.  Note: I asked the Assn. President why the Assn. is spending so much money and resources on this project. His response:
Bob, I can understand that your members are wondering why we are spending so much effort on the Snake River.  A main reason is NWF has issued us a large grant of $78K which helps us financially and we have been working on this issue for many years.   If we could restore the lower Snake it would be great for all fisheries.
Migration Through the Eyes of a Salmon  By Dominic Triolo, Intern.
Mid-Valley Chapter Assists ODFW Project to Facilitate Visitor Engagement at Local Fishing Ponds, and much more.

NWSH Association Membership: The association has a problem getting the membership entries done in a timely manner, but is working on it. Unfortunately, the employees are not full time so it will take time. Your best method to contact the Operations Manager is by e-mail, and then phone. I am assured she will make every effort to get to everyone. Point of Contact: [email protected] , (630) 608-7117.

NWSH Association Membership drive:  The association has initiated a membership drive to bring in new members and also to try to reach out to members who let their memberships expire in hopes they will rejoin. The Assn. has asked the chapters to contact by phone all members and especially members who are listed as past due, i.e.: make contact, talk about fishing, ask what we can do to get them to renew, catch up, or reinstate their membership. They have provided suggested talking points and what we can do to make the chapter more appealing.

NWSH Association Lobbyist: Bob Olson: The state will be working on another special session in August. This one will be to address a budget for the next few years and how the state will cover shortfalls due to the C-19 Virus effecting income. There will be new members in the legislature and chapter members should contact them and address issues of interest, especially fishing. Chapters should identify members who are willing to do this, and if it is a person from that district, the legislator will be more interested in what his constituents have to say and give more time.  Funding for ODFW and fishing will be debated.

Fishing Line Recycle: Time to clean and reline the old and new reels for the new season. Keep the used line.  ODFW has a program that collects and recycles old used fishing line. If you find some fishing line at the boat ramp or on the river bank please put it in the ODFW tubes or bring it to the next general meeting and give it to Bob J.

Chapter web page Fish Pictures? If you have any recent pictures of fish you have caught or places you have fished, send the pictures to our website at: [email protected]  with a short description of who is in the picture and what you have caught. Our chapter also has a Facebook page with lots of pictures and current info. Just search for “Salem NW Steelheaders” on Facebook and “like” our page. You can also see current info and pictures at our website: https://salemnwsteelheaders.org/

Article for the Newsletter:  If you have something interesting you would like to share with the membership, please send it to Bob J. at [email protected].  No phone text please.

If you know someone who has joined this chapter and is not getting the newsletter, please have them contact Bob J. We’ve got a new listing so hopefully; we’ll be able to get in contact with all of our membership.

Sorry about the small print, but I saved ink and a several pages of paper by using it.

Submitted:                                                                                     Approved:
Bob Johnston                                                                                 Rod Ratzlaff
Sec. Ret.                                                                                         Vice President

Women’s Fishing Program

Greetings chapter leaders,

We’re in the planning stages for the Women’s Program, which as many of you know, is a long time coming! Northwest Steelheaders is working to increase female representation in the fishing community in an effort to create a more equitable, inclusive, and strong society of anglers.  

What I need from you: please share this survey with women at your chapters to help gauge interest. (I’ve attached a PDF of the survey below if you have trouble with the link). We have already secured some funding to begin the program, so now I need to know how our members would like us to proceed.

I will also be including this survey in an email to our membership and in the July newsletter, so our bases will be covered. 

Program Objectives:

  • Support novice female anglers by offering events that provide knowledge, hands-on training, gear, and time on the water.

  • Support financially disadvantaged female anglers by offering full and half scholarships for these events.

  • Create a more equitable, inclusive, and strong society of anglers through the empowerment of female anglers. 

  • Build a group of dedicated female anglers that can share their skills and knowledge with each other and the next generation of female anglers. 

NOTE: This program is by women, for women – meaning all volunteers/instructors at clinics, fish-alongs, etc. must be women. We use an inclusive definition of “woman” and “female” and we welcome trans women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people.

Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Thank you,

Alix Soliman

Operations Manager
Association of Northwest Steelheaders
(630) 608-7117

 

ODFW News July 2020

FYI, please pass on to your clubs.

From the ODFW news release on today’s F&W Commission meeting:

“The budget does not include any fee increases on sport or commercial licenses in this budget cycle. While 2021 would typically be a year to raise fees to take effect in 2022 (because the department adjusts fees every six years), ODFW is pleased to be in a position to delay this and not request any fee increase of hunters, anglers or commercial fishermen until 2024 at the earliest. The budget will now go to the Governor and then the 2021 Legislature for final approval.”

Karen M Hans

Salmon Trout Enhancement Biologist

Oregon Dept of Fish & Wildlife

7118 NE Vandenberg Ave

Corvallis OR 97330