The Outdoorbloggers.org site picked the Trout Underground as one of his “10 Seasoned Outdoor Bloggers Who Have Been Blogging Since The Beginning,” the kind of headline that makes me wonder if I shouldn’t be writing this from a desktop cluttered with empty Ensure cartoons while wearing highly absorptive adult undergarments.

Fortunately, the Underground was founded in November of 2005, which means several fly fishing bloggers have done this longer than I have, foremost among them Alistair at the Urban Fly Fisher blog.

I suggest we make Alistair or Moldy (circa March 2005) wear the adult diapers.

Still, before I grow too old to blog, here are a few stories to consider — the kind of stories us seasoned bloggers write.

Winnemem Tribe Declares War on US Forest Service?

A couple weeks ago the Winnemem Wintu tribe asked the US Forest Service for a mandatory closure of 300 yards of the McCloud River (at Shasta Lake) for a coming of age ceremony for their daughters.

In 2006 and 2010, drunken boaters (who’d have guessed that boaters drink) motored right through the “Voluntary Closure” signs and — we might be editorializing just a wee bit — acted like complete assholes to the ceremony participants.

The Forest Service hasn’t responded, so the Winnemem decided to hold a War Dance, which feels a little bit like they’re declaring war on the Forest Service.

We’ll let you know if hostilities break out.

Elwha Dam Removal Blog

Because dam removal is something to be savored, I’ve tapped into the Elwha River Dam Removal Blog, which offers regular updates and other goodness, including photographs of the process.

Elwha Dam removal

The dam's almost gone, making this my new happy place.

 

Biologists planted coho salmon above the dams prior to removal (there’d be a brood ready to head downstream when the dams were gone), and they found this:

Fish biologists were excited earlier this month to find offspring of the adult coho salmon released above the Elwha dam site. Biologists observed coho fry in Little River (via screw trap) and 600 fry in Indian Creek via snorkeling in 0.4 miles. These young fish will have direct access to the Strait of Juan de Fuca in spring 2013.

In a year sure to be dominated by election “news” (and won’t that be pleasant), you might consider it one of your online Happy Places.

It’s National Wetlands Month!

How is it possible we didn’t know this was National Wetlands Month?

You can’t help but get a little moist when you hear news like that (did you see what I did there? High five!), and because National Geographic is all about the online experience, they’ve produced a little pop-up, interactive learning slideshow thingee that’s actually pretty cool.

Well, OK. The pictures are cool (the text is actually kinda boring), but I like the format. I may steal that for some upcoming project.

Until then, see you in diapers, Tom Chandler.

Posted in Underground Entertainment.