Today’s nugget of fun from An Entirely Synthetic Fish is about the Oregon territory in 1848. This comes from chapter 2, Essentially a National Matter.
The discovery of the rainbow trout came about, as most significant discoveries do, during a search for something else. The US government was looking for salmon to restock the decimated Atlantic Salmon of the eastern US. Oregon was mentioned as a source of salmon, but there was some doubt, as everyone knew that pacific salmon do not take a fly. In fact, according to the story, Britain ceded the Oregon territory to the US because the brother of Lord Aberdeen was skunked on a fly fishing trip to Oregon. Who needs fish if they won’t take a fly? Who needs Oregon if you can’t catch the fish with a fly?
Now, with all our modern technology and rich history, we know that getting skunked on a fly fishing trip to Oregon is not unheard of. The last time I was skunked, I thought of ceding my spey rod to the river, but not the whole territory…
Interesting. I’ve recently been reading this thing that a guy wrote. It has about 250 pages of paper, bound together between 2 hard covers. There is a picture on the cover. This thing is amazing; it is totally self contained and has no need to plug in to recharge. The pages are fully readable in direct sunlight, even though the font is a fixed size. I believe its called a book. It’s called An Entirely Synthetic Fish – How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World, by Anders Halverson.
This particular book was pretty cool to start reading. I opened it for the first time this weekend, on the banks of the Upper Sacramento river. The story opens with some guys from Washington DC traveling to Red Bluff by railroad, then to the McCloud river by stage coach. They went to find salmon; what they discovered was Rainbow Trout.
I’m a couple of chapters in, and have really enjoyed a few nuggets of prose. Instead of a a book review, I thought I’d share these nuggets as I come across them.
The first was not written by Anders Halverson, the author, but instead written by someone else, quoting someone else. The Foreword was written by Patricia Nelson Limerick, where she shares this quote from James Madison:
“As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed. As long as the connection subsists between his reason and his self-love, his opinions and his passions will have a reciprocal influence on each other”
Wow. We get all worked up and passionate about those things that are important to us: water management policies, vice-presidents, indigenous species populations, and the annual budget of the Department of Fish and Game. Who would have thought we could get all indigent over the budgeting process for land use agencies in Idaho? Well, Madison did. We know the best way to manage state parks because those decisions potentially impact our access to Millionaire’s Pool.
Yellowstone is experiencing an earthquake storm. Over 1200 small shakers have happened between Old Faithful and Strozzi’s in the past 8 days.
Will the Firehole drain into hell? Or as Jamie Farrell of the University of Utah says, just an interesting event to study earthquakes. (hey, didn’t he play Corp Klinger?)
Opening day is 4 months away. Check back then for an eye-witness report.
Jake, the German Shepherd pup has learned to open drawers. Specifically, that drawer which held a dozen chicken necks. No, not the chicken necks with a brand name like Perdue, and stuffed inside a $4 fryer chicken. These were necks with brands like Whiting and Metz.
The pup has expensive taste. (well, besides horse poo – but that is a different blog post)
The bright spot, the grizzly neck was about 80% used up already and just lost some spade feathers and some quills for mosquito bodies.
Well, at least I can use his tail for Clouser minnows:
I do my best thinking when on the river. Somewhat ironically, the best thoughts come while I’m not catching fish.
Nothing is better for thinking than Steelheading. The steady mantra of Cast, Mend, Step Downstream is almost never interrupted by a fish. The repetition clears your mind. The flowing water cleanses your soul.
Yes, I went steelheading over the weekend, and had plenty of time to think…
When you have a good thing, any event that changes the status quo makes us nervous. A change appears to be coming to the management of Idaho’s Harriman State Park. Of course, I don’t need to inform you kind readers that the Henry’s Fork flows through Harriman State Park, and this is the storied section of the river.
Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has proposed the elimination of general funding for the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR) as part of the 2010 state budget. The elimination of IDPR potentially means the loss of public access to state parks and facilities all over Idaho, including the world-famous Harriman State Park in Fremont County.
…According to State sources, the Governor has recommended that responsibility for park maintenance be transferred to the Idaho Department of Lands, with a goal of continuing to operate state parks.
This may be a rational reorganization of the management team that operates the Idaho state parks. These are tough times economically, which reduces state income, and rational organizations adapt to live in their means.
But then again, bureaucrats are making these decisions. Bureaucrats tend to base decisions to protect the bureaucracy, not little things like reason, wild trout, angler access, and preserving nature for future generations.
Damn straight that anyone who visits that slice of heaven known as “The Ranch” has the right to be concerned.
