December 2016
Dear Friend of the North Umpqua River,
This summer I was given the “opportunity” to go through a four-drawer file cabinet full of papers from past North Umpqua Foundation meetings and activities to determine which should be saved and which could be recycled. Fortunately, there were a lot of duplicates which made the job a little less daunting and over time, the piles of papers got smaller and smaller.
I found items I was familiar with such as funding Terry Roelofs and his Fish Crew in 1984, supporting the Steamboaters in their effort to remove the turbines in Winchester Dam in 1985, providing a night-vision scope for use by law enforcement agencies in detecting illegal fishing in 1986. But Frogs? Yes, Foothill Yellow-legged frogs. In 2004, TNUF surveyed 5 properties for the Forest Service because the frog was disappearing from the Umpqua basin. The file even has pictures!
So, here we are in 2016 and the Foundation continues to fund those projects which were its mission when founded in 1983: FishWatch, Lee Spencer is now finishing his 18th year at the Big Bend pool and there is talk about adding another site where poaching has occurred. The first Scholarship was given in 1987 and this year’s recipient, Leslie Jensen is working on her Masters at Oregon State University. We have applied for a grant in collaboration with the USFS to improve Habitat and Access for wild fish hoping to remove the last old culvert in the South Fork of Steelhead Creek. Our Conservation and Outreach includes contributing to the purchase of a van for the Phoenix School whose students have helped with fish counts by snorkeling Canton Creek.
The one thing we are all hoping for and TNUF has helped fund is the proposed Frank Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary. Bills have been introduced to both the House and the Senate and hopefully they will pass it before they leave for Christmas Break.
We have sent out our first Newsletter. If you did not receive it and would like to, please send your email address to thenorthumpquafoundation@gmail.com to get on the list.
Your continued support is greatly appreciated. You may join or renew your membership ($100) or make any amount of contribution to our efforts either online by credit card via the “Donate Now’ feature on our website or by sending a check to: TNUF, 1224 NE Walnut St PMB 310, Roseburg, OR 97470-2026.
Thank you from the North Umpqua and me,
Becky McRae, President, TNUF
