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Seahawk players to join in derbies By MARK FREEMAN BROOKINGS -- Seattle Seahawks defensive linemen Sam Adams and Matt LaBounty are two of the celebrity anglers who will be stalking winter steelhead this weekend in an effort to help enhance fish habitat. The two football players will join other anglers in the 17th annual Cal-Ore Fish Enhancement Derbies. The derbies are conducted by California and Oregon Fish Enhancement Inc., a group of fish and fishing advocates based in Smith River, Calif. The annual derbies include anglers who fish one day each on Northern California's Smith River and Southern Oregon's Chetco River. Both historic winter steelhead streams are near the Oregon/California border. Along with the two guided trips, participants take part in a fund-raising dinner tonight. The weekend derby is the first of two such events planned for this year. A second, identical derby will take place March 11-13. Celebrity anglers during the March event will include Oakland Raiders hall-of-famer Jim "00" Otto. He will be joined by past and present Raiders. Last year's derbies generated enough money to donate $25,871 to the Rowdy Creek Fish Hatchery near Smith River, and $1,100 to the Chetco River Watershed Council. That pushed total donations over the past 17 years of Cal-Ore derbies to almost $300,00. For more information about donating to the derby fund-raising events or participating, telephone derby coordinator Val Early at 707-487-3516, extension 123, or 541-469-0525. A NEW JERSEY MAN'S $87,500 bid netted him Oregon's bighorn sheep auction tag for 1999 in the highest bid for an Oregon sheep tag in five years. The winning bid came during Saturday's auction at the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep conference in Reno, Nev. Proceeds from the auction tag are used to help restore bighorn sheep habitat and herds in Oregon. Last year's Oregon tag sold for $59,000, up from a $30,000 bid in 1997. The 1994 tag fetched $110,000. Oregon's tag placed eighth among the 18 bighorn sheep tags sold at the foundation auction in Reno. The Alberta, Canada, tag for a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep sold for $330,000, with Montana's tag coming in second at $130,000. In all, $1,627,500 was raised at the foundation conference for bighorn sheep improvements throughout North America. Oregon has both Rocky Mountain and California bighorn sheep, both of which were eliminated from the state in 1940 from over-hunting, habitat loss and diseases spread by livestock. Thanks to successful transplant projects, Oregon has about 700 Rocky Mountain sheep in the state's portion of Hell's Canyon as well as other areas of Northeast and Southeast Oregon. California bighorns were re-introduced to Oregon in the early 1990s, and herds have grown rapidly. About 2,500 are now in the state. THE OREGON STATE Marine Board will mail notices Friday reminding 41,000 Oregon boaters that they have yet to renew their expired boat registrations. Boaters ought to consider renewing those licenses now, even if they do not plan on using their boats until spring, agency officials say. The spring rush to renew registrations can cause state delays in mailing out the new decals, forcing boaters either to stay home or risk receiving a ticket for operating a boat with expired registration. Oregon has 197,000 boats whose registrations are valid for two calendar years, and half of those boats are up for renewal every year. All motorized boats, regardless of length or type, must be registered. That includes personal watercraft, inflatable rafts with motors and driftboats with motors. Sailboats 12 feet or longer must also be registered. Owners whose boat decals expired Dec. 31 should have already received notice from the Marine Board. But to register a new boat, re-register an old one, without notice, or for registration and fee information, call the Marine Board at 503-378-8587. Outdoor Journal main page Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA