Season 20

The 20th-anniversary special re-visits Oregon Field Guide's most memorable adventures, locations and people. It goes behind-the-scenes to see the funny and sometimes frightening things the crew endured to get the story. From an angry peregrine falcon dive-bombing our videographer as he clings to a narrow beam hundreds of feet above the Willamette River, to a runaway horse nearly dragging a reporter over a steep mountain trail.

See what it took for the men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition just to put a little salt on the table. In the winter of 1806, Lewis and Clark needed salt to preserve meat for their return trip. Their men had to boil seawater over a campfire in order to obtain their salt. Scientists such as Dr. Steve Hammond and Dr. Bill Chadwick of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study the eruption of undersea volcanoes off the Oregon Coast. The scientists use robotic submarines to examine these massive underwater eruptions and gain a better understanding of the chemical processes at play. Through this research scientists hope to find solutions to the ocean's increasing acidification. A retired Oregon police officer, Mike Full traded his badge for scuba gear in order to search the South Yamhill riverbed for prehistoric fossils. An underwater detective, Mike has collected over 30 percent of the pieces to a giant mammoth skeleton, which other paleontologists call "exceptional". As Field Guide cameras accompany Mike under the water, watch as he makes the discovery of a lifetime right in front of our eyes.

We visit Bagby Hot Springs in the Mt. Hood National Forest and see all the work going on to clean it up and protect the visitors. In the 1990's Bagby had a reputation for alcohol, drugs, vandalism and other crimes. Thanks to improved law enforcement and the work of volunteers from the Northwest Forest Conservancy, families are returning to Bagby. Volunteers have removed trash, maintained trails, educated the public, and restored buildings. Pneumonia is killing off wild bighorn sheep in the Wallowas. Biologists believe that domestic sheep are carrying pathogens that infect the wild bighorns, but ranchers disagree. Watch the incredible lengths biologists go to in their attempt to save the wild sheep and why efforts have ignited a new battle between Oregon and Idaho over how to use public lands. We take you to a beautiful secret garden on Oregon's central coast near Reedsport. Spruce Reach Island is the former estate of O. H. Hinsdale, who planted azaleas, camellias, and rhododendrons on the five acre site, now owned by the BLM. After nearly half a century, there's a good chance the public may finally be able to go there. Come see a volcanic lake in the blast zone of Mount St. Helens in southwest Washington. Videographer Michael Bendixen takes you for an up-close visit to the waters of Spirit Lake, including underwater shots of trout swimming in the lake.

The fisher, a member of the weasel family, once thrived in the Pacific Northwest. But now it’s rare to see one. We take a look at what is happening to the population. There may be fewer than 50 fishers in the cascade range. Fishers are elusive, scientist have set up 16 monitoring stations to try to film the secretive mammal. They also try to capture fisher hair by using sticky tape. Hair samples are then sent to labs for DNA analysis. We follow 'reptile hunters' Chris Rombough and Sarah Petrakis into the wilds of the Willamette Valley and the Columbia Gorge to see just how many snakes and other reptiles we can find. Their finds include a garter snake, gopher snake, racer, ringneck snake, western rattlesnake, and an alligator lizard. You may be surprised to see what's hiding right along the trail. A grand experiment ten years ago attempted to save endangered salmon from feasting Caspian terns. We return to East Sand Island near the mouth of the Columbia River and find it seems to have worked. Except now there’s a new danger from an even larger group of double-crested cormorants who have moved in.

Worldwide, a fungal skin disease called chytridiomycosis is decimating frogs and salamanders. The disease may be responsible for declines in some frog and salamander populations in Oregon, but a biologist finds that an ancient species of frog called the tail frog, which lives only in the Pacific Northwest, remains healthy. We follow the camera crew that produces Google’s Street View feature. Immersive Media is on the cutting edge of video technology. Their camera uses eleven lens to capture 360 degree views. The separate angles are stitched together using powerful software, to give one of a kind views of the world around us. We explore the many different uses of this emerging technology in the virtul world. OFG update looking at what dreams did and didn't come true at the Oregon Garden since we last visited in 1999. After a surge in the vole population, farmers and scientist debate whether the underground critters are harmful or helpful. Voles create elaborate underground tunnel systems that can be destructive to fields and crops. However, using probe cameras, scientists are learning new information about voles and vole holes that suggests voles might play a vital role in nature after all.

This has to be one of our most treacherous but beautiful climbs ever, as three climbers from OSU ascend Mount Washington in the central Oregon Cascades. Using harnessess and ropes, they take us along narrow ledges and up sheer cliffs while trying to avoid falling rocks -- it may be dangerous, but what a view from the top! Do you know how to get slug slime off your hands? What’s that weird hole in the right side of every slug? Learn from an Oregon woman who now loves slugs and welcomes them in her garden. Lee Spencer is a volunteer who spends his time watching over a unique pool, called the Dynamite Hole, on the Umpqua river that is a seasonal home to spawning Steelhead Salmon. He spends twelve hours a day at the river's edge to ensure poachers do not disturb this fragile environment. His work ensures the salmon can finish their treacherous journey up river to lay their eggs so that the cycle of life can continue into the future.

An archaeological team is investigating the wreck of a Spanish galleon -- a transport ship -- that went down with as many as 400 people aboard off the coast at Manzanita about 1690. The cargo from that vessel has been washing up on the Oregon coast for more than a century. Now the search is on for the remains of the ship itself. Watch as John Wayland's electric car, the White Zombie leaves high powered gas cars in the dust as Portland makes a home for the National Electric Drag Racing Association. John claims that his car is the world's fastest accelerating street legal electric car. See this 1972 Datsun time and time again take advantage of the electric motor's full torque in the first instant and continue to break world records. Oregon’s native bumblebees are disappearing. We’ll show you why and what one farmer is doing to help bring them back.

Celilo Falls has been the center of an emotional controversy for more than fifty years... we all know it disappeared when the Columbia River was dammed but some tribal members believe the government blew it up first. You'll see brand new history-making images which might finally settle the matter. There is growing concern over the safety of ancient native Columbia River rock art because of housing developments, vandalism and theft. In the past archaeologists tried to keep the locations secret-now there’s a new effort to actually expose the art to the public as part of an educational campaign that encourages ownership.

Oregon's first hut-to-hut biking route is a doozy of a ride through the backcountry around Mount Hood. We follow the Bright boys who enjoy the scenery even as they struggle to stay on course. A tiny beetle which has devastated entire forests in western North America has returned with a vengeance to Oregon. See how the mountain pine beetle is being dealt with. Colorado's mature lodge pole pine forests have been decimated, see how Oregon foresters hope to avoid the same fate. We’ll show you the latest technology to monitor the health of our streams.

An unusually dedicated group of students from Catlin Gabel school not only volunteer, they pay to spend a week in the woods doing forest restoration. The annual Elana Gold Project serves as a living legacy to a former student who died 15 years before. Follow a biologist down dangerous cliff faces and along 300 foot drops in a quest to identify condor nests along the Columbia. Some of the nests are over 100 years old. It's all part of a research project that may help bring the condors back to the Pacific Northwest. Fifteen years ago Oregon Field Guide reported from the crowded banks of the Deschutes river where litter and chaos ruled. Today, the scene is much quieter. But the management plan responsible for reigning in the chaos over the last decade has also had consequences for business and personal freedom.

The wild pigs invading parts of Oregon not only look dangerous-they are. They are vicious predators that are also doing a lot of damage to the land. We’ll show you what’s being done to try and control them. The Oregon Field Guide team profiles how State and private property owners are trying to control this invasive species. Dr. Jason Dunham a USGS Aquatic Ecologist shows you a side of fresh water ecosystems rarely seen. His secret a stationary underwater camera. Scientist can study specimens in the lab, but could not see how they survive in the wild. The underwater camera helps researchers turn entire fresh water streams into laboratories. See up close shots of Rainbow Trout as well as spawning Steelhead Salmon. Standing water and thousands of hungry birds usually mean death to a farmer’s crops. See why a few people in Oregon are intentionally turning to a new form of farming. They’re growing wetlands. Willamette Valley farmer Mark Knaupp's Mud Slough wetland is such an example. Also called a wetland mitigation bank Mark has partnered with the The Wetlands Conservancy to help restore vital habitat.

Hummingbirds aren’t just fun to watch, they're also on the cutting edge of science. The Oregon Field Guide team heads to the University Portland campus to see how scientists are studying hummingbird flight. Their research is being used in both sports medicine, and robotics. In the future tiny robotic vehicles using characteristics from hummingbird flight could be used for surveillance or in search and rescue operations. As the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge turns 100 years old it faces a serious crisis. An invasion by hundreds of thousands of carp threatens this linchpin in the Pacific Flyway. Trumpeter Swan, Whitefaced Ibis and Egret's are just a few of the many birds you can see at the Malheur refuge. Sadly you will not see many birds at Malheur lake as it has been overrun by introduced carp, but efforts are underway to help prevent further habitat loss. After three years of continuous eruption, Mount St. Helens has gone quiet but has not stopped changing. A new glacier has formed in the mouth of the crater and continues to expand. Scientists from the US Geological Survey have deployed a variety of equipment, allowing them to constantly monitor this dynamic environment. Take a rare trip into the crater to see what scientists continue to learn from the Northwest’s most active volcano.

Find out the truth about cats and birds in the Portland metro area. The Oregon Field guide crew introduces you to Bob Sallinger (Conservation Director for the Audubon Society of Portland), and the Audubon's rescue efforts to save wild song birds from cat predation. To help prevent the thousands of song bird attacks per year. Audubon and the Oregon Feral Cat Coalition have teamed up to promote a Spay/Neuter program. Most people can't put the concept of kayaking and fishing together. But for one Oregon couple, it's the only way to fish. Field Guide journeys to the waters off the beautiful Beverly Beach to see how these two kayak fishermen can get into areas that big boats can't and catch prized lingcod. We head into the ocean for a look at new technology designed to keep our coastline safe for seagoing vessels. See how NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is mapping the coastline off Oregon's coast using multibeam sonar. Join the crew of the research vessel Rainer as they plot the depths of the Columbia River Bar and Grays Harbor in Washington state. As well as the historic wreck of the Admiral Benson passenger ship. The spotted owl may have retreated from the headlines, but it's still in deep trouble. In addition to logging and habitat loss, one of the biggest threat is an invasion of east coast barred owls. A new plan proposes to kill barred owls in certain areas to help give the spotted owls a competitive edge. But will Oregon tolerate shooting one owl to save another?

Learn more about the Eagle Cap Extreme, Oregon's only Iditarod qualifier. Mushers lead their teams through the Wallowa Whitman National Forest in one of two races either the 100 mile or the 200 mile. The Oregon Field Guide crew accompanies the teams and along the way they become part of the story. In addition this episode of Field Guide has some incredibly beautiful shots of the Wallowa's at dawn and dusk. Portland boasts more bicycle riders than most U.S. cities so it's no wonder city planners are doing all they can to make the area as bike friendly as possible. Portland traffic and safety engineers are coming up with innovative ways to prevent accidents. Solutions modeled in bike friendly Holland are migrating to Portland. Bike boxes and designated bike routes are just a couple of the ways Portland leads the nation in bike safety. We check back in with a team of archaeologists searching caves near central Oregon's Summer Lake.

Jim Newman, veteran producer, reporter and "The Voice" of Oregon Field Guide, is hanging up his hiking boots after more than 20 years of covering virtually every corner of the state. This week Field Guide pays special tribute to Jim.