Finally! Salmon and Shane in the Age of Covid-19!

Needless to say, it has been a strange year for fishing fantasies – well over that actually, now that I think about it. Last year’s salmon fishing suffered from low-numbers-cancelled seasons and a fair number of fall Coho that refused to enter the Klickitat River...

Bison, Buffalo, Livestock

You no doubt noticed the Ellensburg (Washington) Daily Record’s front-page article last Saturday about the Swauk Prairie Bison ranch. The long-time family ranch is currently owned by Jim Hanson, who shares management of the ground and its bison with his daughter, Jody...

Bygone – and Long Gone – Days

The conversation was across a lively campfire in the Salmon la Sac Campground north of Lake Cle Elum. I was surrounded (as much as one can be in these social-distancing days) by three retired game wardens and managers from a state down south. The discussion was about...

Creating Outdoor Kids (in These Strange Times)

This probably should be about “nurturing” outdoor kids more than creating, but the work is the same, I think. Anyhow, given the slow start to our outdoor play these last months, and the festering need of several sets of homey parents to get kids properly involved,...

Bigfoot in Paradise??

Homey cornered me outside the Ellensburg Fred Meyer last week after trotting through a couple rows of parked cars. He was excited about wild places finally opening. And he had a very specific mission in mind. “Look,” he said breathlessly, “Bigfoot has been in the news...