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Outdoors

June 25, 2026
A helicopter flies along the South Fork Toutle River valley to carry a large log to the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group’s salmon habitat-restoration project. The group has placed hundreds of logs in and along the South Fork Toutle River in recent years. (Contributed by the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group)

Copters carry logs into river for salmon

TOUTLE — The whomp-whomp-whomp of helicopter blades carried for miles across the South Fork Toutle River valley last week as crews from Oregon-based Columbia Helicopters carried logs from a timber harvest upstream to a salmon habitat-restoration project.

June 4, 2026
This July 2019 photo provided by Peter Westley shows the carcass of a chum salmon along the shore of the Koyukuk River near Huslia, Alaska. Salmon carcasses can be deadly for canines. (Associated Press files)

Experts warn dead salmon can hurt dogs

If you’ve taken a walk along the Columbia, Lewis or Washougal rivers, or any of the many tributaries that bring salmon to Clark County, you may have noticed an increase in the number of anglers and discarded salmon carcasses along the riverbanks in recent months.

June 4, 2026
Environmental educator Jamie Austin, right, leads a group of Crestline Elementary first graders on a tour May 19 at the Columbia Springs Vancouver Trout Hatchery. (Taylor Balkom/The Columbian)

Trout hatchery ‘a place of community’

Vancouver Trout Hatchery visitors can wander freely among ponds and pathways, stop to chat with staff members tending fish or watch trout grow in the water below.