Oregon Field Guide

Series / 35 Seasons

Oregon Field Guide is your destination for outdoor recreation, ecology, natural resource and travel stories from across Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.

29m 29s

Sunflower Sea Stars

10m 47s

The Sunflower Sea Star once flourished along the west coast of the US. However this beautiful echinoderm has been dying out in large numbers due to a mysterious syndrome known as wasting. Jason Hodin is part of a team of University of Washington scientists that are attempting to preserve this sea star by spawning multiple generations that are more resilient to wasting.

SpiderHarp

8m 43s

Spiders have bad eyesight, so how do they "see" what's happening on their webs? Oregon State University scientists create models to understand the way web vibrations serve this function... and can even create music.

Klamath Dam

11m 16s

The world's largest dam removal project is underway on the Klamath River in Southern Oregon and Northern California. The project will dramatically change summertime whitewater rafting and remove the lakes some people have built their lives around while reopening more than 400 miles of potential habitat for salmon that have been blocked from swimming upstream for a century.

Chukar Hunters

8m 54s

Eric Thompson was born and raised in Oregon and comes from a long line of hunters. He travels with a German Wirehaired Pointer named “Sky” among the rugged desert grasslands of the Columbia Plateau in search of the elusive Chukar.

Think Wild

11m 16s

With an emphasis on responding to and preventing conflicts with humans, Bend-based Think Wild is a non-profit hospital and rehabilitation center for wild animals. The facility’s handful of staff and rotating group of volunteers respond to everything from animal “pest” control to rescuing, treating, rehabilitating and releasing recovered animals back into the wild.

Gorge Gliders

9m 36s

For a lot of folks, getting your driver's license for the first time is a major life milestone. For the teenagers of the Hood River Soaring Club, their first license won't be to drive a car but to fly a glider plane.

Gemstone Faceting

4m 47s

Ever wonder what makes gemstone sparkle? It starts with the way a crystal reflects and refracts light. Gemstone cutters must choose a design with the right angles for that stone, so that light passes through, bounces back to the top and catches the eye of the beholder. Karl Ziltener of the Columbia Willamette Faceters Guild shows us how he turns a raw Oregon sunstone into a glittering jewel.

Siletz Surf

8m 48s

There is little Indigenous representation in the surfing communities situated in and around Oregon's Indigenous ancestral lands. The Siletz Warrior surf camp is a chance to learn surfing and build power and positionality to become influential stewards of the land.

Community Skis

11m 31s

In the remote sagebrush rangelands of Lake County, Oregon, a couple offers a unique workshop where folks can make their own custom skis. Micheal and Kristin have built a business and a lifestyle. They live in a mobile tiny house they built themselves, make skis in a second tiny trailer, and run a one-table restaurant in another.

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