Odfw

There is much to look forward to at the Oregon coast with the onset of warmer and sunnier weather - but bears getting into your garbage is not one of them. With spring comes the emergence of black bears from their dens in search of food.
Now is the prime time to look around your property and make sure food sources attractive to bears are secure and inaccessible. If you live along the Oregon coast or own or manage coastal rental property, consider using bear-resistant trash cans.
A bear's strongest sense is smell and everything from trash cans to grill drippings can bring them to your property. Finding your trash spread out across the yard or driveway can certainly ruin your day, but the consequences could be much more severe. If bears become habituated to humans (too comfortable around people) they could pose a serious threat to human safety.
A bear that loses its wariness of people and becomes conditioned to human-provided sources of food may be humanely killed. This is often the only option to protect humans and ultimately to protect the larger bear population from learning the same behavior.
Bears, like all wildlife, have a specialized diet that coincides with seasonal changes. Access to human-provided food can negatively impact their health, lead to conflict with humans and in many cases have fatal consequences.
Bears have a great memory when it comes to food. Not only will they remember where they have found food before, including trash, but female bears will also pass this knowledge down to their young. Intentionally or unintentionally feeding bears can negatively affect multiple generations of bears.
The good news is that most conflict between humans and bears is preventable. Bears don't want to be around humans, but the prospect of an easy meal is often too good to resist. Removing things that attract them to the area is the most important thing you can do to protect people and ensure bears stay wild.
Follow these BearWise tips:

• Never feed or approach bears. Feeding bears, intentionally or unintentionally, will cause them to associate humans with food. It is also against the law in Oregon (ORS 496.730).
• Secure food, garbage and recycling. Please ensure that your trash and dumpsters are secure from bears by using commercially available garbage cans, metal bars over dumpsters, fully enclosed trash storage, or by storing garbage inside. Take trash out immediately before pick-up, not the night before. Wash garbage cans with bleach to reduce their smell. Food waste is one of the strongest attractants for black bears and allowing bears access could qualify as illegal feeding if appropriate steps are not taken to prevent the issue.
• Remove bird feeders when bears are active. Birds have plenty of naturally available food sources and bears will commonly feed from and destroy birdfeeders.
• Never leave pet food outdoors. It attracts bears and other wildlife, putting your pets and wildlife at risk.
• Clean and store grills after each use.
• Alert neighbors and ODFW to unusual bear activity (continued sightings during daylight hours, lack of wariness around humans or pets, etc.).

Share these tips with your neighbors, friends and family. A community effort is vital to preventing problems with bears. One person who feeds or attracts bears, intentionally or not, can pose a risk to everyone in the neighborhood.
Living responsibly with black bears is possible and it's up to everyone to do their part to keep humans safe and bears wild. Contact your local ODFW office to report unusual bear activity or for information and resources to help prevent conflict with black bears.

Finding a young wild animal alone does not mean that it's been abandoned or orphaned, so leave them where you find them. The advice you are likely to hear if you pick up or bring young wildlife home is "put it back," and you might get a warning or citation from Oregon State Police, too.
Removing an animal from the wild is illegal under Oregon wildlife laws. (ORS 497.308 – No person shall remove from its natural habitat or acquire and hold in captivity any live wildlife in violation of the wildlife laws.)
Many wildlife species will leave their young while they forage for food. When people remove them from the wild, young animals miss the chance to learn where to seek cover, what to eat and how to escape from predators and other dangers.
Unfortunately, every year around this time, ODFW offices, licensed wildlife rehabilitators, and even Oregon State Police are flooded with calls from well-intentioned people who picked up a deer fawn, elk calf, fledgling bird learning to fly, or other young animal they assumed was orphaned because it was alone.
Even if they receive care from a wildlife rehabilitator, successfully returning a young animal to the wild is not always possible. Options for long-term placement in wildlife sanctuaries or zoos are limited and animals often must be euthanized since they lack the survival skills to be released back into the wild. Some animals can also become dangerous as they grow into adults and pose a serious threat to human safety.
Here's how to help instead:

• Keep pets and other domestic animals away from wildlife. Pets will stress wildlife, especially if there are young wildlife or fledgling birds in your yard. Keep dogs on a leash when recreating outside. Keep cats indoors to protect them and our native wildlife.
• If you are certain an animal is orphaned because you observed the parent animal deceased, or you see an animal that is injured, please call ODFW, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or OSP for advice.
• Don't feed wildlife. All species of wildlife have a specialized diet that coincides with seasonal changes. Access to human-provided food can negatively impact their health, lead to conflict with humans and in many cases have fatal consequences.

Deer and elk Oregon's deer and elk give birth from May through July. It's natural for mother animals to leave their young alone and hidden for extended periods of time while they go off to feed, so never assume a young animal is orphaned when you see it alone. The mother will return when it's safe to do so—when people, pets or predators aren't around. Deer and elk see dogs as a threat to their young and may act aggressively in response to disturbance from a dog.
Marine mammals Harbor seal pups are born in late March through April. Females often leave their pups at haul-outs or along sandy beaches while searching for food. Never pick up or handle a seal pup or any other marine mammal you find at the beach. Beachgoers should stay away from resting seals and sea lions and keep dogs away from these animals as well. Marine mammal strandings should be reported to OSP's hotline at 1-800-452-7888.
Birds Birds nest in the spring and young birds may be found from late February through early summer. Some baby birds, called fledglings, may become separated from their parents as they learn to fly. These are sometimes thought to be abandoned and brought to wildlife rehabilitators. Unless obviously injured, birds should be left where they are or lifted carefully back onto a branch to help them avoid predators (like outdoor cats), so they have the best chance at survival.
Ducklings and goslings frequently become separated from their mothers due to disturbance from humans or predators. If you spot young waterfowl without a mother, please leave them alone and leave the area so the mother can return.
Detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Oregon continue this year and it is important to avoid close contact with waterfowl (ducks and geese). Do not feed ducks and geese. Feeding congregates susceptible birds and enables the disease to spread between birds more easily. Also, note that Oregon's wildlife rehabilitators are not currently accepting sick ducks and geese to protect other avian patients and education birds in their care.
Removing an animal from the wild often does more harm than good. Please respect wildlife and if you care – leave them there.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife invites new anglers to take part in a family fishing event on Saturday, May 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hebo Lake.
ODFW will provide equipment including rods, reels and bait during the event if needed. Angling education instructors and volunteers will be available to answer questions and offer assistance to less experienced anglers. The event is free and registration is not required, although some people will need fishing licenses to participate.
Anglers ages 11 and under can fish for free, while those 12-17 will require a youth license, available for $10 at ODFW's website (myodfw.com) and license agents. Adult anglers will need a regular fishing license. Licenses will not be sold on-site the day of the event, so people planning to participate should get their licenses ahead of time.
The lake will be stocked with approximately 2,000 rainbow trout just prior to the event.
Hebo Lake is a 2-acre lake located 3 ½ miles east of the Hebo Ranger Station on Hebo Mountain Road. From Hebo, take Hwy 22 ¼ mile east, then turn left onto Forest Road 14. The U.S. Forest Service, which manages the lake and campground, will waive the $5 day use fee during this event. Overnight camping fees will continue to apply.

This seems to be a serious movement going on for eastern Oregon counties to be merged with Idaho and the state borders redrawn.
Not sure if or when this will occur, but I would imagine that will greatly affect ODFW among many things.
Inform me if I'm incorrect but that's what I understood so far about it. Any more info would be helpful. I've visited their website and briefly looked into it.
What is your opinion on this?

Diamond Lake is a natural body of water in the southern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies near the junction of Oregon Route 138 and Oregon Route 230 in the Umpqua National Forest in Douglas County. It is located between Mount Bailey to the west and Mount Thielsen to the east; it is just north of Crater Lake National Park.
Volunteer to survey anglers at Diamond Lake. Data from these surveys supports Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's ability to determine the angling effort and catch rates.
Click here to volunteer
https://odfwvolunteer.wufoo.com/forms/odfw-volunteer-registration-level-0-all-ages/
Once registered, ODFW staff will reach out to schedule specific dates and times.
2023 Dates include:
May 10, 11, 14, 21, 38 and 31
June 10 and 12
July 5, 8, 9, 14, 22
August 3, 5, 17, 19
September 3, 30
October 29
November 3

Sounds like we might have some furry friends heading into the south hills.
https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/2023/05/06/bears-in-eugene-oregon-and-lane-county-odfw-cottage-grove/70188748007/

Looking to drop my trap and get some dinner in this gorgeous weather, hopefully getting some of the invasive ones. I'm having a hard time finding where to go at Fern Ridge. Anyone have experience trapping there? Any specific places to go or avoid? I'll be hanging out with it, not planning on leaving the trap overnight or anything. I know it's a little early in the season but it's so nice out, maybe they'll come out.
Thanks for any help!
Edit: I just called the ODFW office and he told me they are ALL OVER fern ridge but unfortunately you can't set traps there. Oh well. I'll head out to Whitaker, thanks!

Yesterday and this morning, he was on the lawn near Lemhi Pass, at the pond. I called and left a message with ODFW (Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife). Three of us tried to "get him" with the intent to cut the hook and pull out the lure, but he flew into the water. Maybe someone with more bird skills, or better phone numbers can further assist this bird.

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Video of a wolverine crossing Hwy 20 east of Santiam Pass on April 6 was confirmed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. ODFW Deschutes District staff confirmed tracks near the video location on the day of the sighting. https://www.dfw.state.or.us/news/2023/04_Ap041323b.asp

Odfw cites that human growth is why mule deer populations are falling but that is bull. I live in eastern Oregon and when I was a kid mule deer were way more abundant. I guarantee the whitetail population is what’s causing it and odfw does nothing about it “a Deer is a deer” is what it feels like their mentality is. I can’t drive 5 miles without seeing at LEAST. 20 whitetail. They need to make a separate season and wipe these whitetail out. They shouldn’t even be west of the Mississippi.

Any oregon hunters out there got charged this 25$ fee for "not reporting" on deer or elk last year but swear you did report???

Are there any alpine lakes here in Oregon that are accessible & fishing by early May? I’ll by leaving the state for a bit after that but would love to go. I’ve been looking at ones listed on the ODFW website but most seem closed to access till June 15th. Thanks