Over the last few days I have been driving south from Prince George to attend a conference in Portland Oregon — .

Last night I camped on the coast at Grayland, Washington. The night before that I camped at Lac la Hache in BC — in the snow.

Today I drove south along the coast to Cannon Beach, Oregon and then east inland to Portland. It’s quite remarkable how many “salmon hatcheries” I’ve driven by. Yet… looking up to the hillsides it’s not that difficult to see one of the big reasons why so many hatcheries may be required.

I drove by several signs beside forests saying “third growth forest planted…” As I turned east and drove Hwy 26 in to Portland, it was not suprising to look at the hillsides and then look into streams running the color of silt.

The number of clearcuts was truly remarkable. Clearcut on top of clearcut on top of clearcut. I have my own pictures that I will post later.

I also hope to complete some posts from within the conference over the next few days.