Will you be one of those who take 30 seconds and submit a public comment helping protect the Deschutes River for 30 years? At this moment there 63 more voices needed to speak up. There are less than two weeks to submit your comments and help us all surpass the goal of 1500 commenters.
Worried you haven’t been to the Deschutes? Don’t worry. If you are concerned about any of the salmon, trout, steelhead and other important species who call this special place home you are the perfect person to speak out.
Not sure what to say? Again, don’t worry. Those behind the community stepping up asking for your help have put together some basic talking points in the form you can submit.
What are you waiting for? Head over to Deschutes3030.org and submit your comment. Below you will find the beginning of what I wrote for my comment:
I had the privilege to visit Oregon and it’s beauty a few years ago and it captured a part of me. I had never fished one of the great western rivers up to that point. I had the opportunity to not only fish the lower Deschutes, but camp along its banks for a night. My friend and guide shared with me stories of how he and his family had guided and even owned a shop supporting the fishing on this majestic river for many years. These stories touched me and wished I too had grown up on the banks of this river. Like many of the wild places this great country is graced with, it is these natural resources that not only refresh the man, but also directly provides a way of life for many. We need to protect these last vestiges of natural beauty and wonder before we lose them forever. Living in New England many of the streams and rivers in our backyards have struggled due to the industrialization of centuries gone, but lately have degraded due to changing climate and weather patterns. Spots I grew up fishing as a child and young adult no longer hold the wild and native fish we could catch so plentifully in the past. Most troubling is water levels and quality are dropping. This scares me greatly. If we do not speak up for our watersheds, we will not have much to pass on to future generations.
This is why I am so concerned about the Deschutes. As you may be aware it is a river of great diversity from the upper reaches where trout and other wildlife species abound down to the lower half where wild steelhead still return though in lower numbers due to our mismanagement of the Columbia River. This river and all it’s many miles are worth protecting and caring for properly. A complex system like a managing a river requires more than a hastily constructed plan. I do not pretend to be a scientist and aware of all the factors, but before proceeding this river deserves more consideration and proper planning. I was stunned to see the fish kills just a few weeks ago. So many fish were dead in the mud where the use of water for irrigation combined with weather conditions caused this detrimental impact on the future of this river. Whether the fish were native trout or juvenile steelhead constituting the future of this fishery and negatively impacting the entire ecosystem.
Please reconsider the proposed plan and look at ways we can improve and protect this mighty river going forward for many years.
