By Frank Hanson

When: Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m.

Where: at the Olympic Natural Resources Center in the Hemlock Forest Room. ONRC is located at 1455 S. Forks Ave.

Join us for the opening presentation in the 2019 Wild Steelhead Review series on the Olympic Peninsula. Noted author and steelhead fly fisherman, Trey Combs will speak about the “Origins of Wild Steelhead” and their destiny.

Sharing the table with Trey will be John Aho, now retired, a park ranger, research program leader, educator and mediator. John will present his views on ecosystem management and the Elwha Restoration project at its beginning, pointing to factors that will undoubtedly influence the survival of wild steelhead on the Olympic Peninsula.

We start our 2019 Wild Steelhead Review this year with two area gentlemen who will share their thoughts and perceptions where personal experience, research, monitoring start to bring us to future possible next steps and relevant thoughts about what ecosystem management might mean to us in relationship to Wild Olympic Steelhead and our future.

Trey Combs, is the author of several books, among them the “steelhead classics”, Steelhead Fly Fishing and Flies (1976), and Steelhead Fly Fishing: Tackle and Techniques, The Great Rivers, The Anglers and Their Fly Patterns (1991). A longtime Olympic Peninsula resident, Trey will share his experiences studying discrete races of steelhead with their distinct DNA, a fact that has legal standing in the U.S. ESA and in Canada under SARA, (Species at Risk Act).

John Aho will share his Olympic Peninsula experiences as well. John had a career with the NPS spanning more than 30 years in five National Parks. He served under four Olympic National Park Superintendents from 1979-1988. His education began with a BS Wildlife Management, earned an MS Environmental Education Administration along the way and certification as a mediator.

This evening will feature the stories and wisdom of two men well experienced in study and research about Wild Steelhead and many years of fishing for them. Come prepared to listen to the experiences of well-studied men who will share their personal thoughts on the origins of Steelhead represented by their writing and experience.

Evening Talks at ONRC is funded through the Rosmond Forestry Education Fund, an endowment that honors the contributions of Fred Rosmond and his family to forestry and the Forks community. Refreshments will be served and a potluck of your favorite dessert is encouraged. For more information contact Frank Hanson at 374-4556 or fsh2@uw.edu.