By Jan Peterson, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service From a young age, Jalene Littlejohn was clear about the fact she wanted to pursue a career in ecology. But how she would do that evolved throughout her studies at Portland State University, in Oregon. …

By Mesha Wood, Park Ranger, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and Washington State Jr. Duck Stamp Coordinator Growing up I always doodled. I scribbled on everything and everything I could get my hands on (even things I shouldn’t, like my bedroom…

By Megan Nagel, public affairs specialist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Region Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in southeast Oregon was established in 1939 to protect pronghorn antelope and other high desert dependent wildlife. Last fall at the refuge, 11 volunteers from the Wild Sheep Foundation repaired vital water…

By Juliette Fernandez, Project Leader, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Complex We started down our path to the tune of trumpets bugling and tundra swans whooping. It was wet but not rainy and cold but not snowy. The Christmas Bird Count is a holiday of a different family gathering. That of…

The Western Washington Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office and Rods and Reels in Need team up for multiple successful angling recruitment and opportunity programs. — By Daniel Spencer, information & education specialist for the Puget Sound-Olympic Peninsula Fisheries Complex

By Jan Peterson, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region Fish passage restoration projects have historically had a laser-like focus on restoring passage for endangered salmonids such as the threatened coho and sockeye salmon and steelhead. But a restoration project at Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Three…

By Joe Sands, wildlife biologist, Pacific Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The holidays are coming. I don’t want to hear about how you’re going to buy a pre-cooked ham, put some shrimp in a cup and call it a cocktail, or drink enough eggnog so you fall…

Quilcene National Fish Hatchery celebrates these smaller, and often-underappreciated male coho salmon. — By Daniel Spencer, information & education specialist for the Puget Sound-Olympic Peninsula Fisheries Complex It can sometimes be tough being the little guy. The younger and significantly smaller mature coho salmon males that return to our Pacific Northwest rivers, commonly known as jacks, often get a bad rap. I mean…