President’s Message – January 2020

jim w B run

Welcome to 2020!  I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is enjoying the first few days of the new year.

No fishing trips to report so far, although I purchased my new Oregon fishing license and the various endorsements and tags in hopes of putting them to use on a winter steelhead trip on the Wilson River this week..  Apparently, the weather had other plans, so my first trip of the year turned into a washout.

I’m mapping out the rest of my fishing calendar and looking forward to some recurring trips as well as trying some new waters in 2020.  I hope you all have some fun trips in your future too.

Our January dinner meeting is going to be a good one so don’t forget to register on the website by this Friday January 10.   Last spring, WaterWatch of Oregon received a substantial grant from the 2019 auction paddle raise to help fund their Crooked River Waterflow Protection and Streamflow Restoration project.  WaterWatch executive director John DeVoe and senior policy analyst Kimberley Priestley will update us on their work, including how the Crooked River fits into the proposed Deschutes Basin Habitat Conservation Plan, the status of flow restoration efforts for the reach between Bowman Dam and Lake Billy Chinook and the status of proposed new storage projects above Bowman Dam that could reduce the amount of water available for fish in the Crooked River.

Tight lines,

Jim Hillas