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Snow overwhelms Bear Camp Road By MARK FREEMAN GALICE -- River guides and others who rely on the Bear Camp Road for access between ends of the Wild and Scenic Rogue River are looking for help solving a snow problem. Near-record snowpack in the Siskiyou Mountains has left portions of Bear Camp Road under 12 feet of snow, forcing river-goers to travel through Northern California and Gold Beach to reach Agness. When Bear Camp Road is open, the trip from Galice to Agness is less than two hours. On typical years, thawing snow allows the road to open by late spring. "It's a mess. Basically, it's 20 miles of snow," says Bob Rafalovich, a Merlin-based river guide and outfitter. "The old-timers are saying that if we don't get it shoveled out, it won't be open until August," Rafalovich says. The road is used heavily by rafters and anglers floating the Wild Rogue, with heavy traffic beginning Memorial Day. Rafalovich and others will hold a public meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Galice Resort in which local, state and federal representatives will meet with concerned road users. Rafalovich is pushing a plan to use the Oregon Department of Transportation snow-blower that works on the Mount Ashland Access Road to open Bear Camp Road. The snow is too high for a plow, he says, so the blower is needed. Hiring the blower would cost $10,000 to $12,000, Rafalovich says, and the money must be raised or allocated by government agencies before the work could occur. Rafalovich is looking for more than a short-term fix for the snow woes of Bear Camp Road. "We need to find a permanent solution for this snow issue," he says. "The road is too important for the economic viability here." Boats are filling up fast for this summer's Rogue Fishery Enhancement Derby, which could be the largest and most successful derby ever held by the Rogue River Guides Association. Organizers are close to filling their limit of boats for the June 5 derby, which is the 17th annual fund-raising derby held by the Medford-based organization. Entrants will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis until the derby is full. The cost is $225 per contestant, which includes lunch, fishing and a barbecue salmon dinner. A raffle and auction will follow the dinner. For more information and reservations, telephone Todd Puett at 772-3502 or Gene Gros at 826-3551. The salmon derby is the association's main fund-raiser to pay for fish- and fishing-improvement projects in the Rogue River Basin. Two-person teams will fish that day with an association guide. Awards will be given for the heaviest single salmon, as well as first-, second- and third-place team awards for most total fish caught (also measured by weight). Recent derby proceeds have funded an experimental net-pen project aimed at getting more hatchery spring chinook caught by anglers. Last year's derby netted almost $8,000 for such projects. More than half of Oregon's hunters are setting themselves for long lines and unneeded frustrations again this year as they wait until the last minute to apply for this fall's controlled-hunt tags. Saturday evening marks the deadline to apply for controlled hunts offered this year for deer, elk, bighorn sheep, antelope and mountain goat. As has become the custom for decades more than half of Oregon's hunters who are applying for tags have not yet done so. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife expects to log about 390,000 tag applications through its statewide point-of-sale computer-licensing system. But as of last week, just 160,000 hunters have applied for the tags, the agency reports. Heavy use can cause the computer-licensing system to work slowly, and 11th hour hunters can experience long lines. GRANTS PASS -- A special course on bowhunting safety, techniques and other aspects of archery hunting will be held Friday and Saturday at the Josephine County Sportsman's Park range near Grants Pass. The two-day, 12-hour course costs $10 and is the local offering of the International Bowhunter Education Program course. Participants must attend both the Saturday and Sunday courses to become certified. The classes are from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days, and participants are urged to bring their own gear and lunch. Topics will include ethics and responsibilities, sportsmanship, techniques and gear, game management, tracking, first aid and survival. Students will do classroom and field exercises, with field work focusing on shooting and judging distances. Instructors are certified by the state's Hunter Education Program. The classes are voluntary in Oregon and Washington, but completion of the class meets bowhunter education requirements in most other states. To register, telephone 479-7488, 476-8141 or 474-1933. Outdoor Journal main page Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA