Via Oregon - May/June 2021 - 31

LEFT: BLM PHOTO / ALAMY; RIGHT: TIM NEVILLE

fruit, and 50 pounds of cold drinks. One box
holds a portable firepit (with firewood, of course),
while another holds a portable toilet system that
everyone must use by law. We even have a kitchen
sink-a fun contraption I fashioned out of fivegallon buckets, vinyl tubing, and a foot pump-that
gives us running water for better hand washing.
" Sure, it will all fit, " I say, with more confidence than rationality.
But it does, eventually, and by 10 a.m. we're
loaded up and casting off, the boats spinning
languidly in the currents.
Picking a float along the John Day River, of
all the rivers that run within a half-day's drive of

my home in Bend, was an easy selection, despite
stiff competition.
All tallied, Oregon has about 111,000 miles
of rivers that drain its borders, and more than
2,100 miles of them, including the John Day, are
so gorgeous and exceptional that federal law protects them under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
Astonishingly, 15 percent of all protected river
miles in the entire country are in Oregon, second
only to Alaska. The Rogue River, easily Oregon's
most popular white-water trip, was one of the
first eight rivers singled out for protection when
Congress first passed the act in 1968.
" The variety here is just exceptional, " says
Brian Sykes, owner of Bend-bas ed Ouzel
Outfitters, which runs commercial trips on the
John Day, the Rogue, and five other rivers. " We
have a bit of everything to offer. "
That offer is about to grow dramatically.
Oregon's two senators, Jeff Merkley and Ron
Wyden, recently introduced legislation to add a
whopping 4,700 more river miles to that registry,
all nominated by the state's citizenry. The boost
would include hundreds of miles of rivers around
Ashland as well as those that drain out of the
Wallowas near Joseph. Virtually every region in
the state would have more water protected.
" Our rivers and streams are some of the most
special natural treasures Oregon has to offer, "
Merkley said in a statement, calling the waterways " magic. "

ABOVE: Pulling up
to camp along the
river bank.
OPPOSITE PAGE:
The John Day River
ﬂows for more
than 280 miles in
northeastern Oregon.

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Via Oregon - May/June 2021

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