Colorful Cowgirl
Known as the "Colorful Cowgirl", Gloria Michelle is putting her personal twist into a 4-generation family tradition of handmaking mecate reins out of horsehair.
Gorge Gliders
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.
Think Wild
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.
Apple Bots
Science fiction is fast becoming a reality on the apple orchards of Central Washington, where farmers facing labor shortages are testing out robots that could be the fruit pickers of the future.
Deschutes River Poo Patrol
Jerry Christensen has a job that truly stinks. But he loves it! Meet the man known as “Two-Ply” who cleans and maintains the river-access-only outhouses along the popular Deschutes River.
Horse Trainer
Horse trainer Clint Surplus carries on the centuries-old tradition of vaquero bridle horses.
Gemstone Faceting
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
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
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.
Space Balloons
An Oregon company is using Oregon’s vast high desert to test the parachute system of the European Space Agency’s EXOMars rover.
Bonsai Mirai
After a traditional apprenticeship in Japan, Oregon bonsai professional Ryan Neil is capturing the West's rugged landscape in bonsai form. We follow one tree over the course of a year, as well as venture into the wilderness with Ryan to see nature through his eyes.
Willamette Recreation
A growing number of people want to live and recreate on the Willamette River, and it's getting crowded. While the population in the Portland metro area has grown, the river is still the same size. To keep the peace among floating homeowners, swimmers, paddlers and motorized boaters, the state is adding new rules for who can do what where.
Wallowa Rain Photo Essay
A good cleansing rainstorm in the Wallowas turned out to be one photographer's delight.
Bison Ranching
On the prairies of Northeast Oregon, bison have made a comeback. Two sisters take over the family business at the Stangel Bison Ranch in Enterprise, Ore, bringing back bison that are good for both the land and the local economy.
BIPOC Ski
Open Slopes PDX is making skiing and snowboarding more accessible and welcoming to Black, Indigenous and other people of color. On Mount Hood, the joy is infectious as BIPOC people try snowboarding and skiing for the first time.
Oregon Olives
It took a small but intrepid group of farmers to show that Oregon could be a center for grape growing and wine production. Now another small group is trying to prove the case for olive oil production. Enter Javier Fernandez-Salvador. The OSU berry and tree fruit expert is spearheading the research to find the right olive tree cultivar and growing regime to make it viable in the Willamette Valley.
Cold Dipping
A lot of outdoorsy folks love to jump into a cold mountain lake on a hot summer day. And some are even brave enough to dash into cold water on a dare -- what some might call a “polar plunge.” But getting into painfully cold water has become a way of life for Ivana Maclay.
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