rivers

What’s So Great About Waterfalls?

February 17, 2013
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Who doesn’t like waterfalls? Water spilling over rocks from anything more than a few feet seems to enchant just about everyone. Artists, poets, and photographers through the ages have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to capture the romantic essence of waterfalls. People of all kinds gravitate toward waterfalls, so waterfalls tend to be very popular tourist attractions. With more than 20 million visitors a year…

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The Neglected Pacific Lamprey

November 12, 2012

You’ve probably heard that salmon populations are threatened by dams, river channelization, and poor water quality. But you might not realize that these human disturbances have also hurt the Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus). What the heck is a lamprey? Lamprey are not eels, despite the superficial…

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Salmon Migrating up the Klickitat River

October 25, 2012
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The Klickitat River flows for 75 dam-free miles (121 km) from the east side of the Washington Cascades near the Goat Rocks Wilderness, cutting south through deep layers of basalt, to its confluence with the Columbia River near the town of Lyle. The lower 10 miles of the Klickitat are officially designated as “Wild and Scenic.” This river provides…

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Black Cottonwood

August 4, 2012
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It’s summer in the Pacific Northwest. In June and July, in places where a river flows nearby, the afternoon breezes are often filled with drifting particles that look like cotton balls. These are the seeds of Black Cottonwood trees (Populus trichocarpa; or Populus balsamifera, subspecies trichocarpa), which grow along…

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Coho Salmon Spawning in Eagle Creek

December 9, 2011
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Salmon are without question one of the most iconic animals of the Pacific Northwest. I have managed to see spawning salmon only a few times, but I intend to make more of an effort to see and learn about these amazing fish. About a week ago, I set out to see salmon in the Columbia Gorge…

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Fall, Leaves, Fall

October 18, 2011
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Last Saturday, I went for a stroll along the Salmon River, which is a tributary of the Sandy River near Mount Hood. The Old Salmon River Trail parallels the river and makes for an easy walk through a lush old-growth forest, on the edge of the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness…

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The American Dipper

September 29, 2011
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One of my favorite birds is the American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus). I love to spend time near streams and so do Dippers. I’m always really happy to see one of these birds. An American Dipper looks like a small, dark gray robin or thrush. Dippers live their entire lives along the frothing, bouncing waters of

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