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Michael Dunne: I'm Michael Dunne. While it would be best if we humans could just leave nature alone, the fact is that because of our impact on the environment, we do need to step in from time to time and lend a hand. And it's not just the scientists and environmentalists that are needed to assist, everyone can play a role, whether it's getting one's hands dirty or simply using an app. Today on the show, you'll meet some folks that are part of organizations rallying volunteers to help out Mother Nature. One is rescuing stranded fish in Central Oregon. The other is mobilizing smartphone-wielding volunteers around the state to count animals near dangerous roadways. It's a show about people helping animals, and you can be part of the solution. Marisa Hossick, who is the communications director for the Deschutes River Conservancy. Marisa, thanks so much for coming on and talking with us.
Marisa Hossick: Yes, thanks for inviting me.
Dunne: Well, let's start with this. Tell our audience what is the Deschutes River Conservancy. What do you do?
Hossick: The Deschutes River Conservancy is a nonprofit in Bend that has been working to restore stream flow and improve water quality in the Deschutes Basin since 1996, and what that means is that about 86% of the water in the basin is diverted out of the system, so out of the rivers and streams of the basin used for irrigation. We live in a very volcanic area, and we have about 1,000 miles of canals that deliver this water to farms around the area. Those canals can leak up to 50% of the water. So, we're moving into a time period right now where there is less water falling from the sky. We're getting the lower snowpacks, and we really need to move forward and be careful with how we use water. And so, the greatest opportunity for us to be to conserve water is to work with the irrigation districts to make that whole process more efficient, so that we can keep more water in stream.
Dunne: Okay, and certainly dependent on those streams and rivers are fish. Let's talk about the Lava Island Fish Rescue. What is it? What's going to happen there?
Hossick: So yes, the Lava Island Fish Rescue has been going on for about 12 years now. What happened is when the irrigation districts, when water managers lower the flows in the Deschutes River in the fall, so that's going to actually be happening next week. They do this in order to store up water in Wickiup Reservoir for next year's irrigation needs, and so as they're doing, is flows in the Deschutes River drop over 90% and that is enough of a drop to disconnect a side channel that goes along the side of Lava Island that separates from the main stem of the Deschutes. And so, when that water falls below a certain level, that channel gets de-watered and fish become stranded.
Dunne: Okay, how do you do it? How do you rescue fish?
Hossick: Well, there's lots of ingredients for this. There are some professional technical folks from Mount Hood Environmental, and they lead the charge on. Well, actually, I kind of literally lead the charge. They have electroshock backpacks that will slightly stun the fish, so we can safely move them. We gather them in buckets that are aerated with bubblers in it, and we literally walk the buckets to the main part of the river and set them free.
Dunne: Wow, how long does this take?
Hossick: It takes about three days because the bottom part of the channel is where the water de-waters first, and then we have to start moving up the channel. At the top of the channel, right where lava falls is, there is a pretty deep pool in there where fish can really become stuck. They just can't get out as the water goes down, and then oxygen gets low, and they start to get into real big trouble.
Dunne: Wow, and you rely on volunteers to do this. Talk about that.
Hossick: Yeah. We don't love the fact that we have to do this, but it's actually a really great way for the community to come and just get a hands-on experience with the river and fish and conservation. And so we have about 80 volunteers every year that show up. We have a list of several 100 people, and just to show you how enthusiastic people are about this, they I put a call out last Friday for volunteers, and all the slots were filled up immediately. And now I have to tell you, this is an event that because of conditions, it's hard to really nail it down to a specific time. So, we could have volunteer needs pop up last minute, and so I'd love for people to stay tuned and see if they can come out and help if needed.
Dunne: Okay. Let's switch to kind of a macro view. Talk about the overall health of the Deschutes River and others that feed off the river right now in Central Oregon.
Hossick: Yeah. So, the health of the Deschutes River is one of our main focus areas, and it's the focus area of basin-wide and irrigation district-wide efforts to adhere to a habitat conservation plan, which is something that it's an it's a plan that they that the irrigation districts and partners are implementing to improve water reliability and river health, to and also to shore up the habitat for the Oregon spotted frog, which was listed in 2014. There's a lot of mechanics going on with river operation that make the river need this help. I mentioned storing up water in Wickiup Reservoir, and that lowers the flows. So, in the winter time, that part of the river from Wickiup Reservoir down to Bend suffers from low flows, and that obviously impacts fish and wildlife. And then in the flip in the summertime, all that water is released from Wickiup to meet all of the irrigation needs. And then all of that water comes out of the river. Not all of it, but in the Deschutes River, 94% of the water comes out of the river, right at Bend in irrigation canals, and then you can see the effect of that of low flows in right at right at Sawyer Park. You can see the difference between. So, it's kind of a seesaw effect. And so, what we're trying to do is work on making the lows not so low and the highs not so high.
Dunne: Okay, we've had a historically poor winter this last winter in terms of snowpack, and there's a lot of forecasters that are very concerned that this potential super El Nino could make things worse. I mean, how concerned are you both, and how bad has it been from this this this last winter's low snowpack, and then heading into next year with a great deal of uncertainty about how much snow we're actually going to get?
Hossick: That's a good question, and I wish I had a crystal ball. It seems like the super El Nino could potentially bring a lot of snow, or it could be awful, and it doesn't seem that we really know what's going to happen. What where we started out this year was with a full reservoir, and that is crucial for junior irrigators. So, people who are last in line to get their water, in order for them to have the water they need to irrigate, because that's essentially like their savings account for the following year. So, we started this year with a full savings account. It just it was full. I don't know that the snowpack necessarily was the driver for that being full, but if we have a poor snowpack on top of, I think we're down at like 15% capacity in Wickiup, so that the you know their savings account is down from you know 95% or whatever down to 15% and we get another porous snowpack. That's going to be pretty rough next year for a lot of people who rely on that stored water.
Dunne: My last question for you is, and I hear it's a dynamic situation, and you may have all of your slots filled for volunteers. But are there other things that volunteers may want to do or can do with the Deschutes River Conservancy either this week if things change, or just going forward?
Hossick: Yeah, so we have we have outreach opportunities. We don't have a lot. This is our biggest hands-on opportunity for people to come and interact with the river, but we do have some volunteer opportunities to help with communicating at outreach events. So that's people can get in touch with us that way. We have a program called Raise the Deschutes, which they can find at our website at deschutesriver.org. We're about to move into our seminar part of that program, where we offer free seminars with water experts around the basin, where people can really just dive in and learn that they're at Worthy Brewing. You grab a beer. You learn about groundwater and walk away a better person. As a result of a lot of the efforts that are going on in the basin to conserve water, we are looking at eliminating the need for these rescues by 2029.
Dunne: That's very exciting. Very exciting. She is Marisa Hossick, the communications director for Deschutes River Conservancy. Marisa, thank you so much for spending some time with us. Now let's hear about how people are trying to lessen car versus animal impacts. Justin Boyles, conservation advocate for the Environment Oregon Research And Policy Center. Justin. It's great to talk to you. Thanks so much for coming on.
Justin Boyles: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Dunne: Tell us what is the 2026 roadside wildlife count?
Boyles: Yeah, so this project is part of our ongoing Reconnect Nature campaign, which is also building on the success of a similar project initiated by our affiliate in Minnesota, and also currently underway nationally with the participation of eight other state groups within our network, among many other partners. We are hosting a webinar for this project on Oc. 13 at 6 p.m. Pacific. We're featuring speakers from the Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon State Senate, Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition and Environment America Research and Policy Center to educate more Oregonians about wildlife vehicle collisions and existing and in-progress crossing projects, and to share the tools and training that folks will need to be part of this project to gather a snapshot of data that's focused on wildlife near Oregon's roads between Oct. 17 and 25. So a lot of those details will be of of how folks can participate between Oct. 17 and 25 will be explained in more detail during that webinar that we'll be presenting next Tuesday.
Dunne: Okay, so but it sounds like you need a whole bunch of eyes and ears to be able to sort of go out and look at roadways and or near roadways and just make counts of animals that they see. Is that the basic idea?
Boyles: 100% You know, fall is a particularly dangerous time for motorists and for wildlife, especially after the end of daylight savings time. Collisions can go up some 16% in the following week, so the idea is that while people are already out on their roads, whether they're you know heading out for a fall hike, going on a scenic drive to soak up the fall colors, or even on their way to see you know friends and family, they would keep their eye out for wildlife, and if they see it, they would be able to document it through an iNaturalist through the iNaturalist app using a project that is monitored and coordinated by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as part of this specific project, the 2026 Oregon roadside wildlife count.
Dunne: Okay, what do you hope the count is going to tell you, and how important are such counts for conservation efforts?
Boyles: Let's see. So, we hope to engage. A lot of people. So I guess the first part of that question would be that we want to see a lot of people out in Oregon taking ownership over their ability to gather this type of data that can inform projects that will help that will help advance wildlife connectivity projects moving forward across the state, and to also highlight the fact that this ongoing project within the iNaturalist app is an opportunity for Oregonians to start here with this project for this small snapshot of data, and realize that that is something that they can continue with moving forward into the future.
Dunne: Okay, how in any way that you can quantify it, or even just contextualize it. How much do our roads contribute to species loss in our environment?
Boyles: Well, estimates show, or you know, data has shown in previous years that more than 6,000 deer and elk, and so that's just large animals are killed just on Oregon's roadways each year.
Dunne: Wow!
Boyles: When we expand that out nationally, there is quite a big jump in the numbers of species. There are actually 11 vertebrate animals killed in the U.S. on U.S. roadways every single second. And there again, nationally, you know, 1.2 million collisions with large animals. Like I said, you know, at least 6,000 deer and elk here in Oregon in a year's time. But 1.1 to 2 million collisions with large animals every year across the country.
Dunne: Okay, talk a little bit about that if you can. You know, there's been over the last few decades this advent of these specialized crossings to allow animals to cross roads safely. You know, again, in any way you can quantify or contextualize, are they helping?
Boyles: They definitely are 100% There are there are multiple types of projects we're talking about here. So whether it's the overpasses, like the one being planned down in Southern Oregon, the Mariposa Crossing, which are you know huge projects and huge investments in infrastructure, or underpasses that allow animals to move underneath roadways, like the ones on U.S. Highway 97 in Central Oregon, which have been shown to be nearly 90 percent, you know, reduce collisions with large animals like deer and elk, nearly 90% in the time since it was completed through when they started doing monitoring, and then this also includes a lot of projects like exclusionary fencing or escape ramps that allow animals to escape, you know, the dangerous side of the fence when that happens. But these are also opportunities for a lot of smaller creatures, or opportunities to expand the size of existing culverts that could allow for small mammals or amphibians, you know, to be moving safely across our roadways, similar to the Palensky crossing just north of Portland, which you know was built at least for one species, that red-legged frog, which mates on one side of Highway 30 there, and spends the rest of its year on the other side in Forest Park.
Dunne: What are you know obviously part of this equation is the motoring public, and I'm wondering you know are there messages that we as drivers need to do a better job heating, just driving in general, and being sort of cognizant of wildlife.
Boyles: Yeah, I think that is it is a really good point, and obviously the first step is just obeying traffic laws. You know, speed a you know speed limits that are. Out there, using your high beams at night when there's not another car in front of you. One tip that I feel like I always try to follow is also if you see a deer or an elk crossing the road, well, usually you will see their eyes before anything else, but if you see them, instead of looking at where they've gone, look at where they came from, because often there might be another one that's about to follow them. So those are some of probably the biggest tips for avoiding wildlife vehicle collisions. The other thing I would highlight there is just, you know, there are also particular times of day. So, you know, earlier in the morning or as the sun is starting to set, those are also times when more wildlife is on the move. So, when you are driving at those times of day, it is critical to to make sure that you're, you know, hyper vigilant about the possibility of a wildlife vehicle collision.
Dunne: Okay, and Justin, my last question for you is: people listening right now, and maybe they want to volunteer, they want to be part of this. What do they do?
Boyles: Yeah, so they can go to environmentoregon.org/center, and they can find the link to learn more about this project in detail. They can register there to participate in the program, which will trigger a link being sent to them to attend the webinar. It's also worth noting that the webinar that's happening next Tuesday will be recorded and shared with folks that register by watching that watching that webinar later, as long as they register beforehand.
Dunne: He is Justin Boyles, the conservation advocate for the Environment Oregon Research and Policy Center. Justin, thanks so much for coming on and talking with us.
Boyles: Thanks again for having me. This was great.
Dunne: That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon On The Record are available as a podcast at klcc.org. Tomorrow on the show, we wade into the controversy over shooting barred owls in Oregon in order to help out a very similar species. I'm Michael Dunne, host of Oregon On The Record. Thanks for listening.
