Beaver State Podcast
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Luke Ovgard grew up fishing around Klamath Lake, but his fishing interests quickly outgrew even the legendary Klamath Lake redband trout that prowl the region. Luke's passion for fishing didn't necessarily mean catching bigger and bigger fish, in fact, it meant catching all kinds of fish, preferably anything that swims. Using techniques like micro fishing, Ovgard's passion for catching as many species as he can has taken him on road trips across America and now to places like the Canary Islands and Monaco. An author, a high-school teacher and now full-time, active-duty U.S. Military in Europe, Ovgard tells us about how he transformed fishing from a hobby to a lifestyle. SHOW NOTES: Luve Ovgard on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lukeovgard/ Book: Fishing Across America https://amzn.to/41VVjLD Blog: Caught Ovgard https://caughtovgard.com/
Hunting and fishing as a group activity might not be everyone's first thought as a place to start, but for many people, especially the growing numbers of women who are participating in hunting and fishing, Facebook groups, meetup apps and community education events have offered an opportunity to do something that can be challenging to learn on your own. For this podcast episode, we talked to Hailey Malone and Claire Grubb, two friends and outdoor enthusiasts from Roseburg, Oregon, who found each other through social media groups and who inspired others around them to get into hunting, fishing, hiking and conservation volunteer opportunities through group activities. Show Notes: While the Mardy Hunters group mentioned in this podcast episode isn't currently active, there are a number of ways to connect with other people to learn hunting and fishing skills. ODFW Workshops and Events https://myodfw.com/workshops-and-events Hunters of Color https://huntersofcolor-community.org/ LGBT+ Outdoors Hunting and Fishing Meetup.com
Oregon is not made up of just Douglas fir and Ponderosa pines, even though these are two of the most prevalent trees on their respective sides of the state. Portland-based arbocultural educator Casey Clapp talks to us about trees as habitat, their historical significance on the landscape before settlers showed up and what might happen as our changing climate continues. SHOW NOTES: Book recommendations from Casey Clapp - "Trees to know in Oregon and Washington" Podcasts - Completely Abortrary - https://arbortrarypod.com/ Ologies - Dendrology (Trees) with Casey Clapp - https://open.spotify.com/episode/06NcI40zFZbNW7aOVfncDp
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation Coordinator Antonio Salgado works with many different community groups teach hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation classes in Spanish. But often works most closely with Oregon-based Hunters of Color, a group whose goal is: Fostering a more equitable and inclusive community for hunters. This partnership has already produced several successful hunting workshops, and this National Hispanic Heritage Month, we sat down with Salgado and HOC co-founder Jimmy Flat to talk about their work reaching out to Hispanic and Latino communities to try and increase participation in hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation. Show Notes - Follow Hunters of Color online Instagram Twitter https://twitter.com/HuntersOfColor Facebook
Every year in late summer and early fall, ODFW receives hundreds of messages about miniature Great white sharks washing up on Oregon beaches. Turns out these are juvenile Salmon sharks, a relative of white sharks but not the same thing. To find out more about Salmon sharks and why they might be washing up on our shores, we talked to ODFW's Lynn Mattes and the Big Fish Lab's Dr. Alexandra McInturf about this issue for this episode of the Beaver State Podcast.
The needs of humans and the needs of the wildlife that surround us are intensifying. Habitat loss and fragmentation due to human development keep wildlife from finding food, water and shelter. These factors also make adhering to daily, seasonal and life history needs extra challenging and inhibit migratory movements, like moving to and from foraging areas and breeding sites. Dr. Rachel Wheat has been working on the Oregon Wildlife Connectivity Plan, an effort to better understand wildlife connectivity in Oregon. The goal of the plan is to evaluate and map out existing landscape-level connectivity for 54 species that represent a wide range of wildlife species, their habitats and life history strategies and movement capabilities. This information will better inform Oregonians about the needs of wildlife even as we go about fulfilling our own needs. Dr. Wheat talked to Tim Akimoff and Beth Quillian about the project for this week’s Beaver State Podcast.
Dr. Kaeli Swift is a researcher and renowned science communicator who loves to unwrap the fascinating world of Corvids for her followers on social media. We caught up with Dr. Swift in Seattle before she left for a new research project she's conducting on the island of Tinian. Dr. Swift talked to us about crows and ravens, their biology, behavior and intelligence in this episode of the Beaver State Podcast. SHOW NOTES: Follow Dr. Kaeli Swift on Social Media - Instagram TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@corvidresearch Twitter https://twitter.com/corvidresearch Catch Dr. Swift on the Oologies Podcast talking about crow funerals - Corvid Thanatology (CROW FUNERALS) with Dr. Kaeli Swift — alie ward Book Recommendations - "In the company of crows and ravens" by John Marzluff "Mind of the raven" Bernd Heinrich Check out the crows attacking the Barred owl at Seward Park when this podcast was recorded - https://youtube.com/shorts/_dMpJA84c8M?feature=share
We go bay clamming with Shellfish Program Leader Mitch Vance during a minus-2 tide at Yaquina Bay to illustrate how many different types of clams you can find as well as some of the barriers to entry and challenges to be prepared for. We also talk about how you don’t need a minus-2 tide to find bay clams, in fact, you can find them year-round during almost any low tide if you know where to go. This episode was not recorded in the studio and has mic noise from wind and moving around the bay. SHOW NOTES: Bay Clamming Resources – How to start clamming - https://myodfw.com/articles/start-clamming Bay clam identification - https://www.dfw.state.or.us/mrp/shellfish/bayclams/clamid.asp Clamming maps - https://www.dfw.state.or.us/mrp/shellfish/seacor/findings_yaquina_bay.asp Clamming with ODFW Video Series - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLleHsPDijGZIFx_HTQ4zh6f-7j4xL9tr Related episodes – https://myodfw.com/beaver-state-podcast/crabs-and-crabbing-mitch-vance https://myodfw.com/beaver-state-podcast/razor-clams
In this second installment of the Beaver State Podcast Book Club, we convened at the ODFW office in Clackamas to meet with Northwest District Watershed Manager Steve Niemela, District Biologist Dave Keiter and District Public Information Officer Beth Quillian too discuss author Mary Roach's book "Fuzz." This book takes an often humorous look at human/wildlife conflict around the world and compares those experiences with those many Americans experience. We looked at the shared experiences of biologists around the world and the ways in which technology is increasing our awareness of wildlife and the role of educating people about how to live with wildlife. Show Notes - Want to learn more about living with in Oregon? Check out these resources - https://www.dfw.state.or.us/wildlife/living_with/
You know when the salmon and steelhead runs just aren't living up to expectations and someone tells you it's because of ocean conditions? Pretty frustrating, right? The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's Dr. Laurie Weitkamp recently conducted a five-week study of the North Pacific to look at all kind of factors from food to water temperature and everything in between to try to get at why certain ocean conditions are so tough on salmon and steelhead. She talks about the findings of that study in this week's Beaver State Podcast. SHOW NOTES: OPB story about salmon study - https://www.opb.org/article/2022/01/31/oregon-scientist-research-vessel-international-expedition-study-salmon/ A salmon's time in the ocean is a black box - https://crosscut.com/environment/2023/04/can-united-nations-help-save-pacific-salmon Stoplight Table https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/science-data/ocean-conditions-indicators-trends
Children's author and illustrator Katherine Roy has tackled topics like sharks and elephants in books but more recently she has turned her brushes and words loose on the topic of reproduction in her latest book, "Making More - How Life Begins." We talked to Katherine for this episode about how a project like that comes together and what makes for effective science communication in elements like art and words for complex topics like the biology of reproduction. Show Notes: Illustrator and Author Katherine Roy Website: https://www.katherineroy.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katherineroystudio/
Oregon was one of the first places in the world to observe the direct impacts of ocean acidification when the oyster hatchery production collapsed in 2007. Dr. Caren Braby, former Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Resources Program Manager and Laura Anderson, former ODFW Commissioner and founder of Local Ocean Seafoods in Newport, talk us through the history, science and ongoing efforts to study and minimize impacts of ocean acidification and hypoxia. We look at current and potential future impacts on Oregon’s ocean fisheries and talk about what Oregonians can do now to help protect our natural resources in the future. Clockwise: Dr. Caren Braby, Laura Anderson and Tim Akimoff Show Notes - What is Ocean acidification Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Action Plan Changing Waters on the Oregon Coast Video
We read Kirk Wallace Johnson's "The Feather Thief" for this inaugural episode of the Beaver State Podcast Book Club, and we really enjoyed it. It's a fantastic crime story, a first-rate science explainer about the Age of Exploitation and peek behind the curtains of a small group of fly tyers who collect exceedingly rare feathers. This first Book Club podcast episode features fly fishing author and historian John Shewey and biologist Emily Weidner, who recommended the book and inadvertently influenced us to start a book club. From top left - John Shewey, Emily Weidner and host Tim Akimoff Show Notes: Previous Episodes featuring John Shewey - https://myodfw.com/articles/beaver-state-podcast-episode-81-steelhead-fly-fishing-history-john-shewey Please feel free to contact us via email - Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov
Trumpeter swans may be recognizable by their loud, old-car-horn honking calls, but Oregon’s largest waterfowl species is still considered cryptic, because they tend to hang out around another large, white swan called Tundra swans. This makes counting Oregon’s Trumpeter swans challenging. To add to the challenges, you have Trumpeter swans that use the Pacific Flyway part of Western Oregon and a unique Rocky Mountain population of Trumpeter swans that sometimes use areas like Summer Lake and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as wintering areas and breeding areas. This week’s podcast takes you on an adventure to count swans at Summer Lake Wildlife Area, where managers have been working to establish a breeding population. We spend the day with ODFW’s Statewide Waterfowl Coordinator Brandon Reishus learning about efforts to count and preserve these amazing birds. Show Notes: Lear more about Oregon’s Trumpeter swans here - https://myodfw.com/wildlife-viewing/species/trumpeter-swan#:~:text=Historically%20hunted%20to%20the%20brink,wingspan%20define%20this%20magnificent%20bird. Questions or suggestions for topics, please email us at: Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov Subscribe to the Beaver State Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Music or Spotify.
Dishaun and Caleb Berry are your typical father and son anglers who love to spend a day fishing together. But they grew up in very different eras. Dishaun, who founded Get Hooked LLC, a project that teaches at-risk and inner city youth how to fish and enjoy the outdoors, started out fishing piers in Santa Monica as a kid before moving to Oregon at a time when he did not see many other Black men out fishing, especially fishing for salmon or steelhead. Caleb, who is 25, has grown up with a few more role models in his father and uncles, who have used YouTube and social media to showcase their fishing adventures as Black men, fathers and passionate advocates of getting People of Color outside. In this episode, we float the Wilson River with Dishaun and Caleb Berry, and you get to hear the adventure, including all the joy associated with hooking and landing a large, hatchery steelhead. Watch a video of the trip on Instagram or TikTok
Welcome to the 4th season of the Beaver State Podcast! In this episode, Tim and Nicole talk about Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow, a program that provides natural resource professionals training in the diverse values and important roles of hunting and its impact on conservation. Tim went through the program in 2015, and Nicole completed the training this year. In addition to completing a Hunter Education course, Nicole learned about trapping and shotgun shooting and safety skills. She wrapped up her CLFT course in Utah by participating in her first-ever pheasant hunt. Learn more about Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow What’s coming up on the Beaver State Podcast – Don’t forget about the Beaver State Podcast Book Club. We’re currently reading “The Feather Thief” by Kirk Wallace Johnson and will be discussing the book with USFWS biologist Emily Weidner and writer and fly-fishing historian John Shewey. - https://myodfw.com/articles/beaver-state-podcast-bonus-episode-beaver-state-podcast-book-club Questions or suggestions for topics, please email us at: Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov
SO, HOW DOES THIS BOOK CLUB WORK? We’ll be reading four books a year, or one book each quarter to be discussed in a podcast episode during that quarter. We’ll have guests that relate to the topics in the book as well as a special representative of the podcast audience to join us to discuss the book. The first book for the first quarter of 2023 will be “The Feather Thief,” by Kirk Wallace Johnson. I highly encourage folks to pick up a copy at your local library or your local bookstore. Or pick it up through an audiobook subscription and give it a read or listen while the podcast is on hiatus through January. In early February, we’ll return with the 4th season of the Beaver State Podcast and with a special Book Club Episode with special guests Emily Weidner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to talk about wildlife crimes and investigations and renowned fly fishing and fly-tying author John Shewey to cover the fascinating world of high-end fly tying. HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED? Send us an email at Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov, and let us know why you’d like to participate in the podcast. You’ll need to be able to travel to Bend, Oregon in late January to participate or be able to participate through a Zoom or other digital connection. But we’d love to have one representative of the podcast audience to be part of that book club conversation with us. We’ll announce the next book in the series shortly after we publish the first book club podcast to give everyone enough time to read the next book.
In this last episode of Season 3 of the Beaver State Podcast, we delve into the stories of Oregon’s native minnows, especially the Oregon chub, arguably one of the most famous fish in the world as the first fish ever delisted from the federal Endangered Species List. We also touch on the more-recently delisted Borax Lake chub and some of the joys and challenges of working with these super-important fish that often go unnoticed by the general public and anglers alike. Our guest this week is USFWS Aquatic Ecologist Brian Bangs, who has a bend in the Willamette River named after him for the role he played in the recovery of the Oregon chub. Questions/Ideas, email us - Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov
The Salmon Trout Enhancement Program, or S.T.E.P, has been around since the early 1980s, an effort by the Oregon State Legislature to put Oregonians more closely in touch with the management of natural resources, chiefly by way of allowing volunteers to help raise more fish. Like many programs, S.T.E.P has evolved over the years and now includes a strong educational component that brings salmon and trout eggs into classrooms, allowing students to see the salmon/trout lifecycle up close. Volunteering and education remain the two biggest aspects of the program as chat with program coordinator Marty Olson, former S.T.E.P biologist Karen Hans and current S.T.E.P biologist Gary Vonderohe.
Sauvie Island may be the undisputed heavyweight of Oregon waterfowl hunting locations, but it isn't the only sweet spot in the state. Summer Lake, Klamath, the high desert, the Columbia and Willamette rivers and coastal estuaries all offer excellent waterfowl hunting opportunities if you're up for an adventure. ODFW's migratory gamebird coordinator Brandon Reishus takes us on a tour of Oregon's best waterfowl destinations in this week's episode. Want to leave us a note? email us at: Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov
Jaklyn Larsen doesn’t like the term “social media influencer,” but when a crow decided to befriend her, she documented it on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, making Clumsy famous and giving us a peek inside that strange and fantastic two-way relationship that some corvids have with humans. In this episode, we talked to Jaklyn about her creative endeavors, many of which involve plant and wildlife photography as well as her ongoing friendship with Clumsy the crow and his partner Jumpy. We also reached out to corvid expert Dr. Kaeli Swift for some more information on why some crows befriend humans. Want to leave us a note? email us at: Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov You can follow Jakz on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok @iamjakz You can follow Dr. Kaeli Swift on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok @corvidresearch
Brandon Harper and Justin Stubbs are U.S. Marines. They're veterans who've decided to work in the world of hunting and fishing education at ODFW, which has put them in a unique position to help other Oregon veterans who don't have a lot of resources available to them due to the lack of military installations in Oregon. By working with groups like Project Healing Waters, Wounded Warrior Project, Warfighter Outfitters and The Fallen Outdoors, Harper and Stubbs have provided many opportunities for veterans to connect with other veterans while picking up new skills related to hunting and fishing. Email us at: Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov Benefits for uniformed service members | Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (myodfw.com) Contacts: Brandon Harper - brandon.d.harper@odfw.oregon.gov Justin Stubbs - Justin.B.STUBBS@odfw.oregon.gov
Mike Harrington is the newest Fish Chief, or Fish Division Administrator. He's the person who heads up ODFW's Fish side of the house, as opposed to the wildlife side of the house. His path to becoming Fish Chief has taken him all over the country and the state of Oregon, giving him a diverse background, but always keeping him grounded in his love of fish, fishing and passing that on to his kids. We talk to Harrington about how he ended up in a place he never imagined himself and what he'd like to accomplish for Oregon's many fish species. Email us at: Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov
Conservation is our overarching goal at ODFW, but getting folks out to interact with the state's fish and wildlife is also an important part of what we do. That might be through hunting, fishing or wildlife viewing. Underlying all of those things is the notion that being out in nature is just really good for our brains and bodies. We wanted to know the backstory about the great outdoors and why our brains like being out in it so much. Dr. Rob Munjal, a psychiatrist from Montana, was good enough to travel to Oregon to talk to us about our brains, our brains on nature and why that connection is so strong. Email us at: Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov
Tim Akimoff and Beth Quillian teamed up with Ashley Sanchez and Aaron Keller, hosts of The Nevada Wild Podcast at the 6th Annual Human-Bear Conflict Workshop in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. We take you on a journey around North America to look at solutions to human-caused problems for bears in places like Arviat in Nunavut where the mayor, Joe Savikataaq Jr., talks about efforts to reduce polar bear conflicts by redirecting bears away from town as they wait for sea ice to form each year. We also talked to Chris Servheen, retired USFW national grizzly bear recovery coordinator, about how work to reduce conflicts between humans and bears is going and finally to Mexico with Dr. Diana Doan-Crider, Executive Director at Animo Partnership in Natural Resources, who talked about incorporating indigenous knowledge into black bear management in northern Mexico. Email us at: Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov
Perhaps a "Game of Thrones" and a "Where the Crawdads Sing" mashup was overreaching for this episode of the Beaver State Podcast, but we're going to run with it, because Oregon's native Signal crawdad is losing its battle against more aggressive non-native crawdads brought into the state, some as long ago as the early 1900s, while in Europe and other parts of the world where Signal crawdads have been introduced, they're a plague-carrying weapon of destruction against native crawdads there. So, stick with us as ODFW Invasive Species Coordinator Rick Boatner tells us the story of crawdads in Oregon. Although he says crayfish, because he's originally from the South. Questions, comments? Contact us at Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov
The Oregon Wildlife Foundation has been raising money for fish and wildlife conservation projects in Oregon for a long time. An integral partner of ODFW, the foundation has put money into land purchases like the Lower Deschutes River Wildlife Area, an important habitat for mule deer and bighorn sheep, as well as the Herman the Sturgeon habitat at Bonneville hatchery and many other projects over the years. OWF executive director Tim Greseth met us out at one of the foundations first major purchases, Heritage Landing, at the mouth of the Deschutes River, to give us some more background on this important partnership.
Chronic Wasting Disease affects members of the Cervid family such as deer, elk and moose. It is an always fatal, infectious disease caused by a protein called a prion. It is spread by nose-to-nose contact between animals and through urine, feces, blood and saliva. CWD has never been detected in Oregon even through ODFW has tested more than 24,000 deer and elk for the disease over the last 20 years. But CWD has now been detected in Idaho near the Oregon border, and that's a game changer. ODFW's Chief Veterinarian, Colin Gillin walks us through the history of the disease and where stand in the fight against CWD.
This is a slightly different episode from our usual format. We take you on a Do It Yourself sage grouse hunt on Steens Mountain after stopping in Hines to talk to District Wildlife Biologist Lee Foster about hunting the legendary mountain landscape and about sage grouse behavior. If you've ever wondered what it's like to hunt Steens Mountain or about hunting sage grouse, this episode might be for you.
Dave Banks is the ODFW district fish biologist for the SE District, which covers like 21 percent of the state. It's mind-bogglingly large and can take hours and hours to drive across. But that's the way Dave likes it. He's a Great Basin kind of guy, so managing fisheries in the driest part of the state is kind of a natural fit for him. We talked about his district, the waterbodies that divide it and the challenges that come with working with fish in a fairly waterless region. Dave Banks email - David.T.BANKS@odfw.oregon.gov Beaver State Podcast email - Beaver_State_Podcast@odfw.oregon.gov
