Jim Cox

OREGON SMALLMOUTH TELL A CONSERVATION SUCCESS STORY

  February, 2019

In February we welcome Jim Cox of Western Rivers Conservancy whose famous slogan “Sometimes to save a river you have to buy it” sums up their success in protecting tens of thousands of acres on western streams. Their current conservation priorities include land acquisitions on California's lower Klamath River, the Salmon River in Idaho, the John Day River in Oregon, the Gunnison River in Colorado and the Hood River in Oregon. For lovers of smallmouth bass trout and steelhead, the program is living proof that diligent conservation leads to spectacular fishing. Said to be the strongest fighters in their weight class, smallmouth bass make the John Day a perfect destination.

Jim Cox, Director of Angling and Donor Relations for Western Rivers Conservancy, will make a presentation entitled “Fly Fishing Oregon’s Wild and Scenic John Day River.” Since 1988 Western Rivers Conservancy has protected lands on more than 60 rivers in eight western states.  The program will provide a few short updates WRC’s current conservation projects, with a major focus on fly fishing Oregon’s Wild and Scenic John Day River, the second longest free-flowing river in the West, for its world-class smallmouth bass fishery and its excellent run of wild summer steelhead.  WRC was instrumental in helping create Cottonwood Canyon State Park on the John Day, the second largest state park in Oregon, and has purchased another major ranch on the John Day in an effort to protect Thirty Mile Creek, a major cold-water sanctuary for wild steelhead and new public access point.

Jim joined Western Rivers Conservancy as Director of Angling and Donor Relations in 2011. He has spent more than 30 working professionally in the nonprofit sector. Jim is a past steering committee co-chair of the Nonprofit Association of Oregon and is an active member of the Northwest Planned Giving Roundtable. He is a member of numerous conservation organizations including Trout Unlimited, Flyfishers Club of Oregon, FFI, the Native Fish Society, and The Freshwater Trust among others.  Jim holds a Bachelor of Theatre Degree from Willamette University. Jim lives in Portland, Oregon. In his free time, you can find him fly fishing for trout and steelhead on the wild rivers of the West.

In every corner of the American West a stream cries out for protection, because it is habitat for endangered fish and wildlife, because it is the scenic centerpiece of a community, or because it is a favorite haunt of boaters, anglers and hikers. Western Rivers Conservancy answers those calls for help with one of the strongest tools for river protection:  land acquisition.

For more info go to: www.westernrivers.org