Wildlife Wall Decor

Here is good news for Salmon fishing in the Seattle Area streams.  When NASA Engineer, Andy Batcho, retired, he saw the need to build a Salmon fish hatchery to help bring back the almost extinct supply of Salmon in the rivers near Seattle.  Congratulations are in order to Andy for his 25-year conservation efforts.  The count of Salmon is growing and has leveled off at 400.  An estimated count in 1920 was 1000 fish.  Thanks to Andy’s team and his dedication for the restoration of wild fish. 

This article is in the Field and Stream magazine, May, 2008, page 41.

Should your heart yearn for beauty, adventure, and the cunning of a rainbow trout swimming in the cool waters of a freestone river, then take a vacation fishing trip to the streams in Northern Idaho.  Chad Mason’s article in the September issue of the Outdoor Life Magazine, pages 48 & 49, took my thoughts back to the many enjoyable camping trips spent in this area.

I lived near the St Joe, Coeur d’Alene, and St Maries Rivers for thirty years.  Hiking, camping, hunting and fishing in the National Forests of North Idaho provide not only food for the family, but also a dwelling sanctuary where the stranger finds peace, solitude, fulfillment, and food for his soul.

With constantly rising fuel prices, here’s GOOD NEWS for consumers of gas and diesel off-road vehicles.

In the June 2008, Texas Fish and Game magazine, the author mentions that a tax relief is available for sportsmen operating equipment off the road.  The GOOD NEWS is Texas offers a fuel tax refund of 20 cents per gallon for use not on public roads!  The State tax form 06-106 of the Texas Claim for Refund of Gas and Diesel Fuel Taxes is available online.  For details and information, go to the Texas State Comptroller website: www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxforms/98-661.pdf, or contact the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, PO Box 13528, Capitol Station, Austin, Texas, 78711-3528, phone 1-800-252-5555.

You must document all purchases of fuel and list all land vehicles, motorboats, aircraft, and both moving and stationary equipment in use for hunting, fishing and mowing . . . That’s GOOD NEWS!

The fires in California (2008) remind me of a poem called, Dressed in Black. The destruction, though devastating to our wildlife images, landscape, and wildlife, is all part of nature’s restoration. Here is the poem: . . .

DRESSED IN BLACK

He claims no respect for human life or feathered creatures in the tree.

No building stands . . . constructed by man, before this raging contender.

Within moments, what took a lifetime, man-made dwellings simply surrender.

Who can stand before such painful days when he destroys and shatters dreams,

Leaving despair and filling the air with frustration and helpless screams?

What once blossomed in tranquility, clothed in splendor, nothing would lack . . .

All brilliant colors of the rainbow now lay totally Dressed in Black.

Devastation of God’s creation, who could possibly be so cruel?

Is this like the place we all call hell and . . . is this the one that will rule?

How can so much power in less than an hour consume everything that lives and breathes?

He takes! . . . to fulfill his selfish, fierce, desire! Yet, is never satisfied . . . for his name is Fire!

Ed Provancha . . . October 5, 1996

Published in: The Heart of My Poetry. Available on Amazon.com

I’m a huge fan of fishing and camping.  I love the going outdoors and feeling the serenity of being surrounded by nature.  It’s the kind of feeling that I wish I could take with me when I go back into the suburbs.

Thanks to some great online resources, I found some charming fishing decor.  I’m able to splash my walls and my home with some great pieces and I feel some natural tranquility coming over me.