Oregon’s proposed wild steelhead sanctuary named for North Umpqua River angler-in-chief Frank Moore is set to receive a jolt of grassroots support after the bill engineered to give it life sits stalled-out in congress.

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA), a group advocating for wild public lands, has taken up the torch to protect more than 100,000 acres of National Forest and BLM land on the North Umpqua. Moore, 93, has been pushing to protect the watershed, including its Steamboat Creek tributary, for decades. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden’s May 2015 bill would cement the deal and BHA is spreading awareness in order to get it passed.

“It’s an amazing area that should be protected,” says Brian Jennings, BHA’s Oregon coordinator. “It’s a no-brainer for us.”

The North Umpqua and Steamboat Creek are two of the healthiest wild steelhead producers on the West Coast. The legislation seeks to create a cold-water refuge for the species by banning new road construction and mining activity, decommissioning old roads, and improving riparian habitat and water quality along 80 miles of river.

“It’ll remain out of the hands of the individuals who don’t think things need to be protected,” adds Moore, who lives on the river near Steamboat Creek.

Jennings is scheduled to tour Oregon this year, speaking on behalf of the sanctuary.

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Tom Bie
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Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.

Category: Daily Drake
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Author: Tom Bie

Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.

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