The Bounties of Fall, Fishing and Gala

Fall has arrived with cool nights and amber-lit days. This has always been my favorite time of the year, memories of rolling in piles of leaves, searching for chanterelles, carving pumpkins and fishing for steelhead. This year I have another fun activity to add to my Fall favorites, HCPC’s Gala! Now that Summer has faded, it’s time to get out and enjoy bountiful opportunities to enjoy this time of year.

October is the time to hunt for delicious edibles, including the elusive steelhead. As the rain returns to the NW the rivers begin to cool, raise, and the water levels invite the steelhead and salmon to return to their native waters. Not only does this time of year encourage the steelhead to migrate, but it also calls to my family who follows and heads to Troy on the Grande Ronde river for camping, fishing and story-time around the campfire. Troy sits at the confluence of the Wenaha and Grande Ronde rivers and offers great fishing drifts and opportunities to catch yourself a big ol’ steelhead. When I get tired of fishing and not catching, I take off on the Wenaha Trail that heads up the Wenaha River for some great scenery and wildlife spotting. Turkeys, elk, bear and now wolves can all be spotted in this area, along with numerous other species.

October also brings HCPC’s Fall Gala on Saturday, October 23, 2010, from 5:00PM-9:00PM at Lady of the Valley Catholic Church Parish Hall. As the new Development Outreach Coordinator, I am excited to throw a party that has been in the planning over the last 6 months. The Gala Committee, including Jen Schemm, Juanette Cremin and Katie Perez have outdone themselves in putting together a great event with local foods, Kupenga Marimba band, Terminal Gravity beer, wine and a silent auction filled with incredible items! This would be a great place to pick up some xmas gifts while supporting HCPC! Being new to HCPC I am looking forward to meeting more of our members, my favorite part of this job is getting to know all of you!

The guest speaker for this year’s Gala is Jim Martin a 30 year veteran of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and a Conservation Director for the Berkley Conservation Institute, a branch of Pure Fishing. During his career with ODFW, Jim spent six years as Chief of Fisheries and three years as Salmon Advisor to Governor John Kitzhaber. Jim led the team that developed the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds, a state conservation plan to address Endangered Species and Clean Water issues in Oregon. Now, Jim is Chairman of the Board of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. He is also a science advisor for the Doris Duke Foundation and the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Assn. In 2005, Jim was inducted into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin. Jim’s presentation is called “A Great Wave Rising: The Coming Crisis in Conservation in the Pacific Northwest.”

In November, I get to share the Grande Ronde river with Jim and Dave Perkins, Vice Chairman of The Orvis Company, as a thank you for speaking at our Fall Gala. It will be fun to introduce both of these river conservationists to one of the best fisheries in the Pacific NW and to the work HCPC does to preserve it. From mountaintops to river bottom, HCPC is there to guard over the Hells Canyon-Wallowa-Whitman and Blue Mountain ecosystems.

This Fall is sure to be a bounty of fun, fishing, spending time in a favorite wild place and celebrating HCPC and our members at Fall Gala!