Evidence Of Monitoring
As I was taking a walk down by the river, I came across a few rocks that looked odd compared to the other rocks in the area.
Rocks smaller than golf balls looked like they had been painted red with most of it worn off. Red painted rocks are used by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife where they are monitoring native fish runs.
Our property has been monitored for years by the ODFW. A couple times a year, workers donned in waders, boots and waterproof coats trek in past fences and fields to the four established crossings on the river to check the rocks that help locate the monitoring spots in the water. 8 x 11 plastic signs with bold black lettering are tacked up on trees along the water route signaling the observation area to those who are around or near the river.
The rocks that I happened across today were no where near any of our crossings and must have tumbled in during high water. Hopefully there are some that did not get washed away during the winter storms and are still helpful with the monitoring.