Boat Show set for Jan. 11-15
PORTLAND — Hundreds of boats will be on display Jan. 11 through 15 at the 52nd annual Portland Boat Show at the Expo Center, 2060 N. Marine Drive.
Among the vessels will be fishing boats, houseboats, sailboats, pleasure craft and more. Boating accessory suppliers and retails will be in attendance.
General admission is $10. Discount coupons are available online at www.otshows.com. Parking costs $8 at the Expo Center or $7 for carpools of three or more.
Show hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 11-14 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Jan. 15.
Comments sought on refuge road
RIDGEFIELD — Comments may be submitted online to the Federal Highway Administration regarding location of a new access point to the River S unit of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
Two years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a new plan for the refuge calling for a change in the access point, but not selecting a specific location.
The highway agency will produce a transportation analysis and identify alternate access locations to River S unit.
A public meeting is planned in April.
To learn more, and to comment, go online to www.wfl.fhwa.dot.gov/projects/wa/ridgefield-wildlife-refuge.
Officials want war vs. northern pike
State wildlife officials will ask fishermen to help control the advance of northern pike toward the Columbia River.
Fishery managers in the next few months plan to enlist anglers to remove as many northern pike as possible from the Pend Oreille River, which is the route the voracious species is following from Idaho and Montana. Studies conducted with the Kalispel Tribe and Eastern Washington University show a dramatic decline in native minnows, largemouth bass, yellow perch and other fish species that inhabit the 55-mile Box Canyon Reservoir.
Fish managers have traced the movement of northern pike into the Pend Oreille River from rivers in Montana, where they were stocked illegally. Last spring, Canadian anglers reported catching them in the Columbia River near its confluence with the Pend Oreille, just north of the border between Washington state and British Columbia.
“Non-native northern pike are high-impact predators of many other fish,” said John Whalen of The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We’re increasingly concerned about future impacts to native trout and other species, including salmon and steelhead.”
“That’s a big concern,” Whalen said. “If northern pike start spreading down the Columbia River, they could create significant ecological and economic damage.”
