Owyhee Challenge!
Supporting community, supporting health, and supporting responsible recreation! [Most of the] Friends of the Owyhee "team" for the Owyhee...
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Notes from the Field
Sammy Castonguay
- Oct 20, 2022
- 6 min
Partners Building Community: EUVALCREE and Friends of the Owyhee
“Can you put together some outdoor activities for us? Things that are fun but also educational about the outdoors, about nature? About...
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Katalin Plummer
- Jul 29, 2022
- 4 min
A Morning at Succor Creek
I’m not sure which month is the hottest here in eastern Oregon, July or August. In any case, the stifling heat of the summer months makes...
165 views1 comment
Steve Silva
- Jul 22, 2022
- 7 min
Trail Dust: A Desert of a Different Stripe: The Trans-Zion Trek
All photos below are by Steve Silva. All this year, I've enjoyed a great and regular routine of wandering around our local desert,...
79 views0 comments
Steve Silva
- Jun 20, 2022
- 6 min
Trail Dust: Trail Angels & Purposeful Kindness
Wow! What started out as a dry and nervous spring has turned into one wild and wooly early season to be remembered. I had given up on any...
79 views1 comment
Katalin Plummer
- Apr 8, 2022
- 7 min
Lucky #12: Group Size Limits in Wilderness Standards
Maybe it's just me, but when a colleague that has been working in the industry longer than I have tells me a piece of information, I...
283 views0 comments
Katalin Plummer
- Mar 11, 2022
- 6 min
Leave the Arrowhead: Respecting Public Lands & Their Resources
A couple of weeks ago, we had our donor recognition celebration at our favorite Ontario hangout, Berts Growler Garage. While we had some...
303 views0 comments
Steve Silva
- Feb 4, 2022
- 5 min
Trail Dust: Owyhee Hiking Club (Or Looking at Cool Rocks Club)
As another month rolls in, I couldn’t help but think that January just wasn't going to end. Between the cold temperatures, the sun...
91 views1 comment
Steve Silva
- Jan 7, 2022
- 5 min
Trail Dust: Oregon Desert Trail
The new year is upon us, and for me, that's an exciting mark on my calendar. While many think that winter is still in charge, I challenge...
174 views0 comments
Steve Silva
- Dec 17, 2021
- 6 min
Trail Dust: Use Your Winter Wisely
Winter. What does the word mean to you? Do you see mountains of white or feel the bone-numbing cold of the Arctic? We have four distinct...
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Sammy Castonguay
- Nov 8, 2021
- 6 min
Mission Fulfilling Day
We were on the road before sunrise. “Just left Ontario,” Tim texted. “Grabbing the coffee,” I replied. Sunrise cast pink-orange light on...
31 views0 comments
Sammy Castonguay
- Sep 28, 2021
- 8 min
In Search of Owyhee's Oldest Rocks
Jack Peak—standing at just over 10,000 feet and seen here at the head of a glacial valley—is made of approximately 400 million-year-old...
367 views0 comments
Chris Chalmers
- Aug 27, 2021
- 3 min
A Leslie Gulch Adventure
This guest post comes from Chris Chalmers, a web developer and proud dad. All photos are his. This April, I took my family to Leslie...
184 views0 comments
Tim Davis
- Jul 27, 2021
- 4 min
The US Air Force & the Owyhee
The United States Air Force (“Air Force”) has proposed to lower the flight ceiling as well as the subsonic and supersonic barriers over...
260 views2 comments
Katalin Plummer
- Jun 3, 2021
- 3 min
A Day in the Owyhee
I’m learning that, in this industry, sometimes the work is well-timed and easily planned out. Other times, it’s a mad rush to the...
121 views0 comments
Katalin Plummer
- May 14, 2021
- 4 min
How To Leave No Trace
Summer is just around the corner, and we’re all spending much more time outdoors, whether it’s with FOTO or not (although, you know, it...
71 views0 comments
Katalin Plummer
- Apr 30, 2021
- 3 min
Owyhee or Owyhees: Which One Is It?
When I first started at Friends of the Owyhee, one of the first conversations I had with Tim was about this very subject. He clarified...
314 views0 comments
Katalin Plummer
- Apr 16, 2021
- 5 min
International Dark Sky Week & Light Pollution
A couple of years ago, I got a smartwatch for Christmas from my dad. When I was looking at the display options, I had a fleeting thought...
68 views0 comments
Katalin Plummer
- Apr 1, 2021
- 5 min
Lower Owyhee Canyon: History, Recreation, & Conservation
Even if you haven’t been to the Owyhee yourself and have just heard about it, you’ve likely heard of the Lower Owyhee Canyon. Its name...
240 views0 comments
Katalin Plummer
- Mar 19, 2021
- 5 min
Sagebrush: the Ever-present Plant of the Owyhee
If you’ve been outdoors in eastern Oregon, western Idaho, or northern Nevada, you are guaranteed to have seen sagebrush. Sagebrush is the...
154 views0 comments
Sammy Castonguay
- Feb 16, 2021
- 2 min
Owyhee Land Acknowledgement: Bannock-Shoshone and Northern Paiute Ancestral Land
Patulaykaspa or "stands beside place" is the Sahaptin language word for Malheur Butte, which is just west of Ontario, Oregon (home base...
397 views1 comment
Sammy Castonguay
- Feb 9, 2021
- 3 min
Clean-Ups are Cool!
Does unsightly garbage along the road, in parking lots, or—the worst!—stuck in a sagebrush a hundred miles from town make you cringe? Us...
37 views0 comments
Sammy Castonguay
- Dec 16, 2020
- 3 min
"Plogging" Our Way Through the Community!
Friends of the Owyhee joined forces with the Kiwanis Club of Ontario to pick up litter around town. I have been a member of the Kiwanis...
33 views0 comments
Sammy Castonguay
- Oct 30, 2020
- 5 min
Owyhee Science Field Camp October 2020
"I've never seen a rainbow so clear!" exclaimed Aiden, Ontario 6th grader that took part in our recent Owyhee Science Field Camp. Quinn,...
53 views0 comments
Kelsea Jones
- Aug 28, 2020
- 2 min
Doing Owyhee Work
My first month of work with FOTO has been incredibly inspiring. Let me tell you why.
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Sammy Castonguay
- Aug 14, 2020
- 3 min
We Adopted Succor Creek State Natural Area!
...and just in time, too. As Tim discussed in this local news article, public lands in the Owyhee saw a great deal of use at the...
163 views0 comments
Sammy Castonguay
- Jul 25, 2020
- 3 min
Did the Beaver Give the Owyhee its Name?
Not exactly, but long story short: yes! Sounds a bit mythological, right? Beavers in the Owyhee? The Owyhee beaver is indeed present and...
212 views0 comments
Sammy Castonguay
- Jul 9, 2020
- 7 min
10 Naturalist Field Guides for the Owyhee
Plants! Trees! Birds! Rocks! Amphibians! Reptiles! Mammals! Stars! Clouds! Mushrooms! Insects! During our guided day hikes, we are often...
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Sammy Castonguay
- Jun 12, 2020
- 5 min
Owyhee Fungi
Puhpowee: Potawatomi word describing the phenomenon of a mushroom emerging from the ground overnight. (Source: Braiding Sweetgrass by...
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Sammy Castonguay
- May 22, 2020
- 4 min
Canyon Time: Timefulness Along Dry Creek
Canyon Time. That’s what I call it. That feeling that you get while camping, on a trail, or just chilling under the cliffs—the feeling...
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Sammy Castonguay
- May 13, 2020
- 3 min
Geologic Work at Jordan Craters
This content originates from the BLM Oregon and Washington Facebook site and has been reproduced with permission. As far as Oregon...
163 views0 comments
Sammy Castonguay
- Apr 7, 2020
- 7 min
Lost Time at Hole-in-the-Ground
After a long dirt road—as per usual in the Owyhee—we arrived at an impressive rim that overlooked a sight of such grandeur, my mind...
873 views1 comment
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