Free huckleberry permits now required
In an effort to promote conservation, permits will now be required for everyone who plans to harvest huckleberries on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, including those who harvest for personal consumption. Permits for personal use are free and are available online only.
“To maintain the crop of huckleberries for now and for generations to come, the forest needs to know how much huckleberry harvest is occurring,” said Forest Supervisor Gina Owens. “Filling out the new free use permit is quick and easy and will provide us this valuable information.”
Huckleberry free use permits are available online only at: https://apps.fs.usda.gov/gp. After completing an application visitors need to print their permit; take it with them while they harvest berries; and enter on the permit the quantity of berries harvested.
Free use is defined as harvesting huckleberries for personal consumption and collecting less than 1 gallon per day; up to a total of 3 gallons per year. A commercial permit is required for selling or bartering huckleberries, or for harvesting larger quantities huckleberries. Commercial permits can be purchased at Forest Service District offices.
Oregon offers online hunting classes
Each fall, thousands of Oregonians head to the woods to hunt deer and elk for the chance to spend time with family and friends, enjoy the outdoors and for the game meat.
If you’ve ever wanted to join them, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife can help. ODFW’s new free online course, How to Hunt for Deer and Elk in Oregon, makes it easy to learn some of the basics.
The course was developed by ODFW and Oregon State University’s Professional and Continuing Education Department. Topics include regulations, licenses and tags, choosing a rifle or bow, firearm safety, hunting techniques and field care/meat preparation.
Participants can go at their own pace, stop and start as needed, or skip ahead and just review the topics that interest them.
“This course is comprehensive, taking new hunters from what they need in terms of tags, gear, equipment all the way through to scouting, hunting techniques, taking a shot and butchering,” said Chris Willard, ODFW recruitment and retention coordinator. “Unlike much how-to-hunt material available for adults, it’s also written with the total beginner in mind, and doesn’t assume the learner has experience hunting.
Fishers reproducing in Gifford Pinchot
Grainy images of a young female fisher with her kit provide the first evidence that this rare forest carnivore is reproducing in the southern Washington Cascades, where state, federal and non-profit organizations are working to reintroduce them.
The pictures show a female fisher in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest coming down her den tree headfirst, carrying a large kit.
“She is hopefully the first of many female fishers we photograph attending a den site and caring for kits in the South Cascades,” said Jeff Lewis, a wildlife biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
The adult female fisher is only two years old, the youngest a fisher can be to give birth to kits, said Lewis.
“Reproductive success of a female this young and this new to the South Cascades is a positive sign that the reintroduction area can support a self-sustaining fisher population,” said Tara Chestnut, an ecologist with Mount Rainier National Park.
“This is an inspiring milestone that shows how public, private, tribal and non-profit partners can together make big conservation wins happen, restoring our natural heritage and building a wilder future in our state,” said Dave Werntz, science and conservation director for Conservation Northwest.
The female fisher was released in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in February 2016 as part of an effort to restore fishers to the state. Fishers, a housecat-sized member of the weasel family, were eliminated from Washington by the mid-1900s through over-trapping and habitat loss. They have been listed as a state-endangered species since 1998.
