I cover Oregon's outdoors for
@Salem_Statesman
and
@USATODAY
. Environment/recreation/public lands. Explore Oregon Podcast. Best Hikes w/kids Oregon. Girl dad.
Just sent out the latest Explore Oregon Newsletter, our mix of outdoors reporting, features and podcasts. Here's a bit of what's on it.
It's free. To be added, shoot me a DM or email zurness
@statesmanjournal
.com.
Trapped by downed trees and roaring flames of
#BeachieCreekFire
, Don Myron took three critical steps:
1: Find rock in middle of the river to stay overnight
2: Use plastic chair as shield from flames/embers
3: Drink
@Rolling_Rock
you found riverside
Oregon’s Central Cascade wilderness areas have reached peak glory. Few mosquitoes. No wildfire smoke. Lakes at wonderful swimming temps. And plenty of fish to be had. Take advantage, my friends, for this blessed season is short.
Sad but not surprising news. It has been confirmed that George Atiyeh, icon that saved Opal Creek and changed Oregon, died in Beachie Creek Fire.
This is a pretty long obit-feature about his fight. If you don't know the history, it remains remarkable.
Spent some time up the Santiam Canyon today. Talking to folks that lost everything. Hurts. We've had big fires: Biscuit and Whitewater, Chetco Bar and Silver King. The Canyon Creek Complex and the B&B Complex. Even the great Tillamook Burn. But nothing like this. What a year.
BREAKING: A jury has found
@PacifiCorp
liable for wildfires and damages in all four of the fires. In an almost clean sweep, the jury found
@PacifiCorp
at fault on every question and leveraged massive $$ for victims.
This sucks on the highest level. Quite possibly the coolest shop in Portland — and the only great place to buy quality rafting gear in the state. I don't have any details, this was just posted their FB page today without any other context or message.
The
#CedarCreekFire
grew to 51,814 acres as of the overnight flight. It's still a good 6-8 miles from Oakridge from what I can tell on maps, but more extreme burning today until winds ease in the evening/tomorrow. Latest update:
One of Oregon's most beautiful hikes — to a view of where the Columbia meets the ocean — has reopened. Saddle Mountain has reopened after almost three years of frequent closures. Story:
Oregon senators
@RonWyden
and
@SenJeffMerkley
have introduced a bill seeking to protect 4,700 miles of Oregon streams under the W&S Rivers Act.
It's called the "River Democracy Act."
Hoping to have a list of each river included, but can see a lot in bill & on this map.
The ancient forest and turquoise swimming holes of the Opal Creek area were beloved by generations of Oregonians.
In 2020, the Beachie Creek Fire torched the forest, killing 85-95% of its trees and destroying trails & bridges.
We returned to see how it looks and what's next.
.
@uoregon
students once again utterly fail to clean up after themselves after partying at Lake Shasta over Memorial Day Weekend, officials said, leaving a huge mess.
It was in contrast to students from
@OregonState
who did clean up earlier this year.
The
#BootlegFire
in southern Oregon has absolutely exploded. Klamath County Sheriff is taking rare step to arrest or cite people in evacuation zone firefighters fall back. Story:
Silver Falls State Park is taking its first steps into a new era. It's been overcrowded for years so is planning ...
-New 40 to 100 site campground
-Visitor's center
-Trailhead & waterfall trail to new viewpoint
-Newish restaurant/cabin rentals
Story:
Oh man. Don't like this at all. The Smith River corridor — right next to the Jed Smith Redwoods — is one of the most beautiful places on earth. But there's a lot of fuel out there. Ack.
Here’s a look at the
#SmithRiverComplex
that shut down Highway 199 in Del Norte County, CA. This was taken at about 2:30 pm just before the highway was closed.
📹: Kim Olin
Oregon's
@HighDesertMuse
just got this little guy — a male bobcat kitten, approximately 8 months old. What's your pick for a name? I'm going with sagebrush.
OK, so judging by attendance at my kids' school and comments from parent friends, I have to assume roughly 75% of school age children and their parents are sick with some awful plague right now? That sound right?
A level 3 evacuation — meaning GO NOW — has been issued for Oakridge, Westfir and the surrounding area. The
#CedarCreekFire
is absolutely blowing up. Hope it misses the town.
Yeah no complaining about Oregon’s cool weather. There’s extreme flooding in Montana, extreme wildfires in Arizona and deadly heat across the Midwest. We’ve won the weather lottery for now.
BREAKING: Eagle Creek Trail, closed for over three years by the Eagle Creek Fire, has reopened along with other popular waterfall hikes in the Gorge. Details:
Oregon is home to the world’s largest dark sky sanctuary in SE Oregon. What does dark sky mean and how is it measured? How should you visit? What are locals required to do? We got into all of that.
Podcast:
Story:
My goodness. I just published a story about a giant fire in SW Oregon and not 5 minutes later I had to yell at some kids about setting off fireworks (!!!) down at the swimming hole out here at the edge of the Cascade Foothills. I swear this summer is sitting on the edge
Shout out to the fire crews clearly working their asses off to suppress around a bizillion lighting-ignited fires across Oregon before the big ugly gross angry 100s return next week. We appreciate you.
Today longtime Statesman Journal editor and good pal
@DonCurrieSJ
was laid off in the Gannett cuts. He worked here for 27 years. He’s been a steady hand, voice of wisdom and mentor to countless reporters, including me, for decades. It’s a MASSIVE loss.
NEW: Super fun story about the guy who just set the speed records for climbing Mount Hood and coming down: 1 hour and 31 minutes! And he did so half-naked in naught but a pair of tight-fitting shorts. Story:
I returned to write about the Oregon Outback, where the mountains are steeper, history deeper, night skies darker and cuts of steak thicker than anyone has a right to expect in remote southcentral Oregon. Story:
It's the most beautiful range of mountains the vast majority of Oregonians have never visited — the mighty Elkhorns.
It's also a great family-friendly or backpacking destination. I broke it all down in latest Explore Oregon Podcast:
Here's video from Mike Ferris, my fishing buddy, who escaped from Mill City, Oregon, around 2 a.m.
As soon as he left town, he saw flames on both sides of Highway 22, including houses and trees burning.
SJ story:
We started this day out with semi-good news - some positive signs in Opal Creek.
We end it less happy. Shellburg Falls was hit hard by
#BeachieCreekFire
. When it reopens is anyone's guess. The trails are in awful shape.
#OregonFires2020
Story:
I never get tired of watching kayakers run what’s arguably Oregon’s most beautiful waterfall -Toketee. Check out James Shimizuon IG. First decent of it was by Grants Pass’ Chris Korbulic.
I know a lot of gloomy news about Oregon’s outdoors right now, but the W&S Rogue River is absolutely perfect right now. Was 90% smoke free and basically empty by July standards.
On Jan. 25, 12-year-old Haley Pollman of Salem died of Batten disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder.
Two weeks later, Haley’s family was shocked to read that, according to
@OHAOregon
, a 12-year-old Marion County girl died Jan. 25 of COVID.
We've lost another gem. The historic Bull of the Woods Fire Lookout burned down in the Bull Complex on Sunday. The Sand Mountain Society worked tirelessly to keep it standing. Story:
Well I just got off a depressing interview. Short version: we've got an incoming lightning storm, then record heat, then another lighting storm (maybe), then the Fourth of July. "This year is going to be pretty active, and we do thing it's about to start in earnest."
The Forest Service is planning to reopen some iconic places burned in the Labor Day Fires this spring and summer. They're "cautiously optimistic" about opening Opal Creek Wilderness, Jefferson Park, the Pacific Crest Trail and places to gather glorious "fire morel" mushrooms.
Great start to Cascade backpacking season. The Pamelia-Hunts-Shale-PCT loop in the Jeff Wilderness was stunning. Alpine lakes. So many wildflowers. Huckleberries. Very small fish. A few misadventures but my giant dog carried my beer so that made up for it.
Giovanni Mountain Pizza in Mill City! It lives! Best pizza in Oregon. That’s right I said it come at me haters! I get pizza there once a week. Great crust. Amazing Breadsticks. Does take a while. I place order in Detroit so it’s ready when I get there. Can’t wait to go back!
How about some good news? Threatened western snowy plovers have made major gains in Oregon, from near extinction to 483 birds in the most recent count. They've been aided by beach closures that allow them to nest in peace. Story:
The legendary chair - and its two brothers - have been found! Friend of a woman with a cabin up Little North Fork sent me this. Don said he came across three chairs and grabbed one. They look happy. Didn't know what was coming.
Valley of the Giants, home to some of Oregon's oldest and largest trees, has been closed by a massive debris flow. It'll likely to take years to reopen its access road.
I reported what comes next, what happened and the fascinating backstory of the VOG.
Fourth annual John Day River multi day raft trip in the books. Daughters are now rapid running kayakers and anglers and campers. My favorite trip of every year and this one was no exception.
Brett Favre: Will the media find out that we're using welfare funds intended to help the poorest residents of America's poorest state to build a volleyball center?
Nancy New: Nah. Oh yeah, the governor is fully on board!
@ayewolfe
five years later:
I've long thought this wilderness proposal by
@SenJeffMerkley
was among the most interesting in Oregon.
Why? Because it includes a little give-and-take. Create a new wilderness area while freeing up land for economic development in the closest town.
“The fire behavior we are seeing on the Bootleg Fire is among the most extreme you can find and firefighters are seeing conditions they have never seen before," fire incident commander Al Lawson said.
Been feeling the loss of Opal Creek hard this hot snap. One boiling day a few years back I "creekwhacked" from Opal Lake down to Jawbone. No trails. No people. Real wilderness among titanic trees & emerald pools. So rare in Oregon, or anywhere. Sigh. RIP.
Made it out to Old Salmon River Trail. Came across this absolute unit of a western red cedar. Think the top was blown off but dang, was almost redwoodian at the base.
Willamette Valley grass pollen counts have reached their seasonal high period. It's not last year's historically rough counts that went over 1,000, but it's still about as bad as you can find worldwide.
OMG I just worked on a totally normal, non end-of-the-world story about a landfill being turned into a park and MY GOD it felt so wholesome and filled with rainbows and puppy dogs, even with some angry neighbors sprinkled in.
Man, I've talked to a lot of people with crazy stories about escaping from the flames. Not everyone is OK with their story being printed or posted online. And that's OK - important to respect privacy. But the stories are just beyond anything right now.
Just some peaceful pictures of Oregon for no particular reason. Five points to anyone who can name all four places.
Two of these aren't too hard, a third might be tough to pinpoint, but if anyone gets all four I'll be impressed.
🚨New podcast🚨
Momentum is growing for the reintroduction of sea otters on the Oregon Coast. I talked to the
@ElakhaA
about:
1: How otters could help the marine environment
2: Why they were wiped out
3: How returning them might work
Listen:
My house! It lives! At least I’m pretty sure. It was originally built in 1900 as a general store. No lie. I took this today while we were evacuating on a level 2. And yes, when it’s level 2 you get time to hook up your raft, which many didn’t get the chance to do.
Ok I’m taking the day off, maybe even part of weekend. Peace and many thanks for all the kind words about the
@Salem_Statesman
reporting during a historic time for our community.
Oregon got a whopping 5,473 lightning strikes from Tuesday evening into Wednesday. That ignited 124 fires accounting for 123 acres, via
@NWCCInfo
.
Most got rain and stayed small. Largest is 57 acre Dog House Gulch Fire in C. Oregon. Holdovers will be a big thing in coming days.
Lot of memories about the Labor Day Fires today. A surreal, confusing, tragic time.
On a lighter note, and not sure why, one thing I remember really well was evacuating and not being sure what to do with my pet ducks. So I just tossed them in a tote and put them in front seat.
If you’ve ever traveled south of Cannon Beach, chances are good you’ve wondered about the hulking range of mountains that rise above the beach. It's a place of unique geology, ecology and scenery. Now, 3,500 acres of it is known as the Rainforest Reserve:
Poppa Al’s! It lives! They do indeed have a very tasty burger. Only ate there once cause I tend to need pizza from next door but the homemade bun is legit. I will eat there more!
Oregon has released a new map showing that 57% of the state's landmass is at high or extreme wildfire danger (not 57% of population). Around 80,000 tax lots are likely to have new fire-resistant construction and defensible space codes/rules. Story coming.
This morning my wife got level 3 evacuated from her small school near Sweet Home.
This afternoon I talked to people in Mill City who lost their homes
Then my house was out on level 2.
Now I’m driving with my raft hooked up and ducks in the back.
This one I’ll remember.
NEW: The Pacific Crest Trail has reopened in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness, finally providing access to return to beloved Jefferson Park! You'll need a Central Cascades permit from one of the trailheads to get there, but it's finally official after an almost 2 year closure.
Weather news: Oregon's extreme fire danger should start to moderate by this afternoon as east winds die down and Pacific air (slowly) returns.
Air quality will stay pretty rough through the weekend, with improvements Sunday night and big improvements Monday.
#CedarCreekFire
I wrote about three ways to hike the Salmon River's titanic old-growth forests — and get an underwater view of a creek. It's some of Oregon's best temperate rainforest trails. Story:
It was just a side thing when we started the Explore Oregon Podcast. An extra place to put our stories on traveling and reporting on Oregon's outdoors.
Now, we've now finished 121 episodes and, though sponsors, have paid the salary of 7 reporting interns.
Word is that rumors are spreading about how
#OregonFires
started. For the biggest and most deadly,
#BeachieCreekFire
, we actually have a pretty good idea of what happened. Because we were expecting it.
How about about some (mostly) GOOD NEWS on Oregon's salmon runs?
Upper Willamette coho smashed records this year, as 40k fish returned. Once known as the "ghost fish" of the UW, coho are a legit target for anglers.
But it's complicated.
Story & 🧵:
What’s the point of being a journalist if you can’t occasionally write about an ancient ghost wagon that rises from the mud to remind us of the broken dreams of a flooded timber town?
Just got back from a 24 hour wilderness escape in the Jeff. This new permit system really pushes you to go midweek. Nobody else camped at this gem. Caught a few fish. Felt a few raindrops. Much good, say I.