Yesterday ODFW announced angling closures on the lowermost sections of the Deschutes and John Day rivers and Eagle Creek in response to low summer steelhead projections. As a friend emailed to me, “a feeble attempt to give the fish a thermal refuge. ODFW should just close the Columbia system for 4 years instead of trying to rehab stocks with band aids and duct tape”. That’s a rational thought. After last year’s good returns I certainly was looking forward to steelheading this season but knew that the good ocean conditions that lead to those returns were most likely an aberration on a generally worsening trend. Global warming marches on and our government is contributing to its acceleration.