Keith Hyde's Mission: Bring New Faces to Fishing

Cathryn Cox, Northwest Steelheaders Intern

Keith Hyde joined the Northwest Steelheaders 15 years ago and he is one of our most active and dedicated members to this day. He and his son Donny founded the Columbia River Chapter in 2011, which is the first and only Northwest Steelheaders chapter in Washington state. After stepping down as the Columbia River Chapter President, now chaired by Donny, Keith became the Government Affairs Director. A father of two and retired police sergeant of 35 years, he now works on local policy issues in an effort to provide ample fishing opportunities and protect salmon and steelhead habitat.

Currently, he is spearheading an initiative to raise WDFW’s daily kokanee catch limit in Yale Reservoir up to 16 from 10. Garnering 600 signatures from local anglers, this increased catch limit would not only encourage fishing in the area, but help to reduce overpopulation and create a healthier population of fish with larger individuals. He is also advocating for the protection of Washougal’s Three Mile Launch, a small but beloved boat launch that WDFW recently decided to close, and fighting against the recent Columbia River Reform rollbacks. “Myself, NSIA, Steelheaders, and CCA are going to drag WDFW kicking and screaming into our world. It's a long process but we're gonna drag them in. We're gonna drag them into the new world.”

Hyde has been passionate about fishing from a young age, taking after his late father who was an avid fisherman. “Camping and fishing was our family vacation, so that was instilled in me quite young." Learn more...

 

Spring has Sprung! It's Garden For Wildlife Month

  • May 19, 6:00 - 8:30pm  Garden for Wildlife Trivia Night: Northwest Steelheaders and National Wildlife Federation are hosting a free trivia night on Zoom to celebrate the coming of spring! Please plan to [virtually] join us with your family on May 19 for a night of fun and outdoor education. Details and information about how to sign up will come in a subsequent email.

  • Garden for Wildlife Month Certification & Sign Discount: Receive 20% off your total when you certify and purchase any Certified Wildlife Habitat sign. This is a limited time offer available online only May 1 through June 30, 2020. Certify at this link starting on May 1st and enter promo code GARDEN20 at check out.

  • Garden for Wildlife Newsletter & Giveaway: Interested in learning more about what you can do to help build and enhance wildlife habitats? Check out the Garden for Wildlife Monthly Newsletter. This month’s edition dives into helping both eastern and western monarch populations, transforming your yard into a wildlife haven, and de-stressing during these challenging times! From May 1 – May 31, when you sign up for the Garden for Wildlife e-Newsletter, you will receive a free downloadable Herbal Cocktail & Mocktail Guide. Herbs that bloom are great ingredients for making cocktails (or mocktails) and provide nectar for butterflies and bees. When you sign up you will also be entered to win a Garden Party Prize Pack.

  • Plant Seeds for a Wildlife-Friendly Garden: Attracting wildlife to your garden starts with seed. Botanical Interests provides organic, non-GMO and open-pollinated seed for sustainable food gardens and wildlife habitats. Visit NWF's website and purchase seed through the Botanical Interests link to support our Garden for Wildlife habitat efforts. Check out options for milkweed native to your region, and other native bird-friendly and pollinator-friendly plants.

COVID-19 Update: Events Canceled through June 1st

The Association of Northwest Steelheaders is taking steps to protect members, volunteers, staff and our communities against COVID-19. Following recommendations from public health officials, we have canceled all chapter meetings, fish-alongs, clinics, pint nights, and other events through June 1st. We may extend these cancellations as we monitor new developments, and will notify you if we decide to do so. Also through June 1st, Northwest Steelheaders headquarters in Milwaukie, OR will be closed to volunteers and the public. Our staff will continue to work on issues facing our fisheries and anglers from home. Please continue to call or email us with any questions during this time. We request that you practice social distancing to lessen the spread of infection as we continue to learn more about COVID-19.

Letz Creek Rearing Facility Announces Successful 

Spawning and Hatching

Out at the Letz Creek Rearing Facility, all of the eggs have hatched and are in various stages of development. A thousand or so are almost ready to be moved from the hatch house to the circulars, and several more thousand will be following soon. So far, it has been a very successful year for spawning and hatching the current brood, and it has been incredibly rewarding for our amazing volunteers in the Emerald Empire Chapter. 

The Letz Creek Rearing Facility was built in 1992 by Emerald Empire volunteers and continues to be managed by the Emerald Empire Chapter. Volunteers spawn and rear steelhead returning to Letz Creek (a tributary of the Siuslaw River). These returning steelhead are hatched, reared, and released as smolts at our facility.

 
 

Expanding the Fish Eggs to Fry Program to More Portland Schools

The National Wildlife Federation will soon be awarded a grant from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde through the SpiritMountain Community Fund. This will be the second time the tribe has supported Eco-School Salmon Stewards as part of Fish Eggs to Fry, a program of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, of which the Steelheaders have been instrumental in providing assistance for over two decades. This fall, the project will engage five Title I schools in the Portland-Metro area in rearing Chinook salmon in classroom aquariums, guiding educators and students in hands-on multi-disciplinary watershed education and outdoor field experiences. Youth will participate in interactive salmon activities, water quality monitoring, stewardship actions, and fry release field trips through an integrated approach of NWF’s Eco-Schools USA and Fish Eggs to Fry programs utilizing the WOW (Watersheds, Oceans, and Wetlands) pathway of learning. Well-equipped with knowledge about salmon ecosystems, life cycle, anatomy, and cultural relevance, students will gain appreciation and be inspired to protect fish habitat. Thank you Spirit Mountain Community Fund for championing our future conservationists!

The Northwest Steelheaders Team is Growing!

Betsy Emery

Organizer and Outreach Coordinator

Betsy is joining us as our new Organizer and Outreach Coordinator. She is currently finishing her M.S. in the Forest Ecosystems and Society Program at Oregon State University. Her research investigates how people's environmental values, ethics, and beliefs influence their acceptance of different forest management strategies. Prior to graduate school, Betsy spent 5 years establishing the City of Flagstaff, Arizona’s Open Space Program, where her work focused extensively on coordinating with community groups and stakeholders to develop natural resource plans, projects, and policies that reflected community values and aligned with state, local, and federal regulations. When she isn't self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic, you can find her perusing psychology books at Powells or backpacking in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. 

Dominic Triolo

Communications Intern

Dominic is joining us as our new Communications Intern. He came to Portland to Pursue a degree in Organizational Communication from the University of Portland, but he grew up exploring the outdoors that surround San Francisco. He spent his summers on a working on a ranch and swimming in the Trinity river. After learning about the decline of salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest, Dominic decided he needed to be directly involved in conservation work. He is excited to make a difference in the city and state he now calls home. When he isn’t studying, he is rock climbing or embarrassing himself at the skate park.  

Make a Lasting Contribution to Protect Fisheries and Watersheds

Many of our members have chosen to name the Association of Northwest Steelheaders in their will or estate plan. No matter the size of the gift, a bequest ensures that you will have a positive, lasting impact on salmon and steelhead for generations to come. A gift to ANWS in your will or revocable trust proclaims your confidence that we will continue to serve our mission and make a difference for our fisheries, watersheds, wild places and future generations.

Four easy ways you can become a philanthropist for steelhead and salmon:

1.) Make a gift to ANWS in your will or trust. Find out how easy it is to put steelhead advocacy in your plans.
2.) Make ANWS a beneficiary of your retirement plan. You can consider full, partial or percentage options to benefit education or habitat conservation.
3.) Consider a gift of life insurance that your family has “outgrown” or make ANWS a partial or full beneficiary of your plan.
4.) Build your gift by using real estate and personal property.

Our staff can help you design a gift that will work for you, your loved ones, and fisheries and watershed conservation here in the Pacific Northwest. If you have questions about planned giving or would like to schedule an appointment, please contact Chris Hager, our Executive Director, at chager@anws.org or (603) 770-2175. Learn more...

Coming Up

  • May 19, 6 - 8:30pm Garden for Wildlife Trivia: Northwest Steelheaders and National Wildlife Federation are hosting a free zoom trivia night to celebrate the coming of spring! Please plan to [virtually] join us with your family on May 19 for a night of fun and outdoor education. Details and information about how to sign up will come in a following email.

All upcoming in-person events and chapter meetings have been cancelled or postponed in an effort to maintain public safety and follow government protocol during the COVID-19 pandemic. To help us offset the cost of these event cancellations, please consider donating to our cause. 

Get Involved

Become a Volunteer! As a volunteer-driven organization, we thrive when you take action on issues you care about. Learn more...

 

Follow us if you don't already!

Association of Northwest Steelheaders
6641 SE Lake Rd. Milwaukie, OR 97222
(503) 653-4176
office@anws.org

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