Beaver State Podcast

We spent some time with biologist Jamie Bowles talking about her research of Sierra Nevada Red Fox in Oregon's Cascade Mountains. Populations of Sierra Nevada Red Fox in California are declining, so the Oregon research may end up helping any recovery efforts as biologists look at the life history strategies of these unique, high-elevation foxes in different states. 

Jon Nelson and Alicia Wolfe use Instagram to communicate about Oregon's unique wildlife. As biologists and communicators, they translate the critters and the places they explore through the lenses of cameras and trail cameras to bring them to life while making sure they're protected and undisturbed. We talked to them about how to watch wildlife and explore Oregon's amazing places without leaving a...

Pauline Baker, director of rehab at Central Oregon's ThinkWild, spends a lot of time talking to people on the phone, because many animals that people think they should take to rehab don't actually need it. But when they do need it, there are a few pathways to success that professional rehabbers like Baker can use to help increase the chances of a successful recovery and release back into the wild....

Every two years, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff embark on a week-long process of hauling fingerling trout to ski resorts in the Cascade Mountains, where they have a date with a helicopter and a special Aerial Stocking Device and a sky dive into an alpine lake. Many of these fish spend the summer eating aquatic and terrestrial insects and growing larger, until they grow to legal size...

No, your hunting and fishing license fees do not go to the general fund. We're mythbusting the ODFW budget in this episode of the Beaver State Podcast with ODFW director Curt Melcher and Deputy Director Erica Kleiner. We tackle questions about ODFW's fancy, new-ish headquarters in Salem, which actually saves the agency money, the new Electronic Licensing System, which also saves money, where your...

When animal rights activist and practicing vegan Carla Brauer decided to look more deeply into animal agriculture to be more informed about it, it led down a rabbit hole and eventually to a chicken egg, which was the start of her journey towards hunting, taxidermy and small-scale farming. Brauer is now the Regional Director for Back Country Hunters and Anglers, a hunter education instructor for Or...

The job of wildlife veterinarian at state fish and wildlife agencies is only a couple of decades old, but it relies on skills picked up over  years of working with many types of animals. From monitoring a nasty pneumonia in bighorn sheep to tracking a hemorrhagic disease in rabbits, Dr. Julia Burco is part disease detective, part infectious disease expert and part field/lab veterinarian. In this e...

The moose that was the impetus behind the formation of Oregon's own Nosler Inc. still hangs on the wall overlooking the production floor some 73 years after its famously tough hide led to a renaissance in hunting ammunition and the formation of Nosler. We talk to Nosler's Zach Waterman about the company's history, ammunition jargon and what new hunters need to understand about ballistics in this e...

The Dungeness crab reigns supreme in Oregon, often the most desired fare for holiday meals. But there are many types of crabs in bays, estuaries and along Oregon's 300-mile coastline. We talk to ODFW shellfish project leader Mitch Vance about crab biology, habitat and just why they're so fun to go catch in this week's Beaver State Podcast. 

Sooty grouse are popular gamebirds in Oregon, but they're cryptic and tough to keep track of unless it's mating season and the male grouse are hooting. Starting in spring, biologists from all over western Oregon head up into the mountains driving forest service roads or logging roads to listen for hooting grouse. A recent partnership between Oregon State University and ODFW seeks to improve how we...

Klamath Lake redband trout are unlike any other trout. They are climate change masters that have survived glaciers and thrived in conditions that other trout could not survive in. They are unique in the world of trout and one of the most fascinating species in Oregon. We talked to ODFW Assistant District Fish Biologist Bill Tinniswood, PhD student Jordan Ortega and his adviser Jonny Armstrong abou...

After a devastating 2020 fire season that saw the destruction of more than one million acres of land in Western Oregon alone, We explore the impacts of wildfire on fish and streams with Jason Dunham, an aquatic ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in this episode of the Beaver State Podcast. Rated Slightly Nerdy

Antlers tell stories. They tell us about the animal whose heads they adorn. They tell us about the habitat the animal lives in. They tell stories about genetics. And of course, they are also the base of legend and myth. In this episode of the Beaver State Podcast, it's all antler talk with ODFW Wildlife Chief Doug Cottom and acting Game Program Manager Brian Wolfer.  Rated Slightly Nerdy

Laura Green's path to assistant district fish biologist for Oregon's South Coast doesn't look the same as that of other fish biologists, but she likes it that way. There are many types of jobs out there for fish biologists. Laura's just happens to involve all the fish in a particular area, and that area is Oregon's Wild Rivers Coast. It's an amazing place with some of the most picturesque rivers i...

Thomas Tyner is one of the few to play elite football at Oregon's two most high-profile college programs, spending three years with the Oregon Ducks before medically retiring and then coming back for a final season with the Oregon State Beavers. A powerful running back, he was highly recruited out of Aloha high school but found college football to be a busy, noisy world, so he would often retreat...

Antonio Salgado was born in Texas but grew up in a landlocked state in Mexico. So how did he become a fish biologist working with kids and adults to increase the understanding of salmon and steelhead life cycles in Oregon? We sat down with Antonio to learn more about the life of a Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program biologist, or STEP bio for short. Rated slightly nerdy

Attempts to introduce these Central Asian partridges to Oregon began more than 100 years ago. But they finally took in the 1950s and 60s. Now chukar are one of the more popular gamebirds in the state as hunters chase these them over some of the roughest, most spectacular terrain the state has to offer. We talk chukar biology with ODFW upland gamebird biologist Mikal Cline and hunting them with avi...

Ron Wold has been putting in for controlled hunt tags since the beginning. And when he didn't draw, he started exploring the process in-depth looking for a better way to apply each year. He learned that he could make math-based predictions (not guarantees) with the information ODFW puts out each year after hunting seasons end and started a website to help other hunters better understand the proces...

There are four species of seals and sea lions found in Oregon waters. By far the most common encounter most people have is with California sea lions, which can be found hauled out in places like Newport and the Sea Lion Caves near Florence. But harbor seals are also commonly spotted along jetties and basking on sand rocks or along sandy spits. But Oregon also has Steller sea lions and even some No...

Amanda Hubler often hunts Oregon's south coast for big elk. In 2020, she won an ODFW Premium Hunt tag and ended up with her largest bull elk yet. Premium Hunts were established during the 2016 big game hunting seasons to provide an alternative to typical highest-bid auction tags. Anyone can buy one application per tag series, and everyone has an equal chance of winning the tag. We walk through Ama...

Sometimes natural disasters can block fish like salmon, steelhead and lamprey and keep them from getting upstream to spawn. But human development has lopped off thousands of miles of good spawning and rearing habitat over time. In this episode, we talk to ODFW biologists Greg Apke and Kenny Loffink, both of whom have worked in ODFW's Fish Passage and Fish Screening programs, about those programs a...

Pamela Slaughter was born and raised in Oregon. But her access to all of Oregon's beautiful natural resources has been limited by the color of her skin, the lack of representation of people of color in the outdoors and fear. As a result of this, she founded People of Color Outdoors, an organization geared towards empowering communities of color to redefine their relationship with the outdoors thro...

Sharon Ross started Afrovivalist to provide communities of color in Oregon with vital outdoor survival skills based on what she learned from a childhood spent hunting and fishing in rural Southwest Oregon, lessons from her military father and a lifetime of watching people suffer during natural disasters due to lack of preparedness. Today she takes people through specially designed experiences to p...

Salmon forecasts are notoriously tricky both for the folks who make them and for the folks who depend on them. Forecasting salmon is all data, math and models, a dance of ever-changing variables and changing technology. ODFW Fish Division Deputy Administrator Chris Kern explains the who, when, where, what and why of salmon forecasting.

Poaching isn't limited to game animals, the illegal taking of wildlife and other natural resources impacts all Oregonians. Oregon State Police Sergeant Erich Timko of John Day and Senior Trooper Marshall Maher of Oakridge, along with ODFW's Stop Poaching Campaign Coordinator Yvonne Shaw, join us for a wide-ranging conversation about poaching, enforcement efforts, new technology to combat poaching...