''Oregon Field Guide'' is a weekly

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

program produced by

Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF tra ...

focusing on recreation, the outdoors, and environmental issues in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

. The show has become part of the Oregon

zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. F. ...

. Steve Amen is the show's creator and original Executive Producer. Ed Jahn, producer with Oregon Field Guide since 2000, became host and Executive Producer in 2016/2017 upon Steve Amen's retirement. Named for the

field guide A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the " field" or local area where such objects e ...

s used to identify plants, animals, and natural phenomenon, the wide-ranging series covers Oregon natural history,

outdoor recreation Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activitie ...

, conservation,

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

, rural life, and other local subjects. Produced with deep narratives rather than short segments, roughly 13 half-hour episodes and specials are shown per year.

History

''Oregon Field Guide'' started as a partnership between Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The pilot first aired in 1989. The program became the sole production of OPB with the series premier in 1990, which began with the impact of

drift netting Drift netting is a fishing technique where nets, called drift nets, hang vertically in the water column without being anchored to the bottom. The nets are kept vertical in the water by floats attached to a rope along the top of the net and we ...

for tuna on dolphins. Using the information from this story, Amen also produced an award-winning ''Frontline'' episode, titled "To The Last Fish", which aired in 1991. ''Oregon Field Guide'' was kept during major state budget cuts in 2003 that affected OPB. In that year, the show budget was $300,000, with the majority of funding coming from the viewers. Most stories are narrated by the lead producer/reporter, though Executive Producers Ed Jahn and Steve Amen have also narrated reports produced by others. Jim Newman produced over 250 ''Oregon Field Guide'' segments, and was brought on when Amen got the

greenlight To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

on the series. From the series premier in 1990, ''Oregon Field Guide'' remains one of the highest rated of any locally produced PBS show in the nation, and ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'' called it "the crown jewel in OPB's otherwise lackluster record of locally produced programming." In 1998, the show was the most-watched local TV series in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

system. Past producers/reporters include Jim Newman, Steve Lobel, Eric Cain, Jessica Martin, Vince Patton and Jeff Douglas.

Awards

''Oregon Field Guide'' and its crew have won more than 25 regional Emmys in its first 26 seasons. The awards are for everything from best Environmental Program, Topical Documentary, Audio, Informational Special to Community Service. The programs have also won two Edward R. Murrow awards, several Telly awards, numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists as well as the very prestigious silver batonAlfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. The show's producers Vince Patton and Ed Jahn have received awards from the Society of Environmental Journalists

Society of Environmental Journalists The Society of Environmental Journalists is a non-profit national journalism organization created by and for journalists who report environmental topics in the news media. On its website, the organization says that "SEJ’s mission is to strength ...

for "Outstanding Beat/In-Depth Reporting, Television". Patton received an award for his reporting in the episode "Marmot Dam," and Jahn for his reporting in "Biscuit Fire Recovery" and "The Silent Invasion." When presenting the award for reporting on the Marmot Dam removal, the society recognized Oregon Field Guide, stating: The show has won eight Regional Emmys. One was in 1995 for the "outstanding informational series/magazine short format division", and another in the "best public affairs special" in 1998 for their one-hour special titled " Willamette Water Quality". It also received two Golden Eagle awards from the Council on International Nontheatrical Events in 1994: one for an hourlong report on "Cleaning Up Hanford", and the other for "Abuses of the 1872 Mining Law". The latter report also received an honorable mention in the Public Affairs category of the Pacific Mountain Network's "Best of the West" awards in that year.

Notable segments

''Oregon Field Guide'' has filmed while diving in Spirit Lake, titled "Ecological Mysteries of Spirit Lake". It showed the rebirth of the lake after the

1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens On March 27, 1980, a series of volcanic explosions and pyroclastic flows began at Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, United States. A series of phreatic blasts occurred from the summit and escalated until a major explosive eru ...

. The unfiltered and pure water of the Bull Run watershed, has been featured in two seasons. It has also covered near-extinct

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspe ...

and

mountain unicycling Mountain unicycling is an adventure sport that consists of traversing rough terrain on a unicycle. Mountain unicycling (muni) is undertaken on similar terrain to mountain biking. However, muni requires much more attention to the microfeature ...

, and how

Estacada High School Estacada High School is a public high school in Estacada, Oregon, United States. Academics In 2008, 69% of the school's seniors received a high school diploma A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school le ...

students used Cycle Oregon's visit to raise funds for their school.

''The Silent Invasion''

''The Silent Invasion'' was an OPB documentary production studying the threats posed by

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

in the state. It was produced and written by Ed Jahn. The documentary focused on the influence of yellow-star thistle, quagga mussels, spartina and English ivy, among other invasive species. The production involved a campaign and outreach component that included the Oregon Invasive Species Council (OISC) and SOLV Oregon. The ultimate goal of the special was to serve as a wake-up call about invasive species and to inspire citizens to take action. Species documented included

Yellow star thistle ''Centaurea solstitialis'', the yellow star-thistle, is a species of thorny plant in the genus '' Centaurea'', which is part of the family Asteraceae. A winter annual, it is native to the Mediterranean Basin region and invasive in many other p ...

Spartina ''Spartina'' is a taxon of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. Its species are commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, and are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Europe, north ...

, and

Quagga mussel The quagga mussel (''Dreissena rostriformis'', also known as ''Dreissena bugensis'' or ''Dreissena rostriformis bugensis'') is a species (or subspecies) of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Dreissenidae. It has an avera ...

s. The special won a silver baton level Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award in 2009. The award jury was "struck by the boldness and courage of OPB to attack such issues and then to put resources against it." It also received three Regional Emmys.

References

{{Reflist

External links

“Oregon Field Guide Education Program; Focus on Organisms; Part 1,”
1994-03, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting
“Oregon Field Guide Education Program; Focus on Organisms; Part 2,”
1994-03, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting Mass media in Oregon 1990 American television series debuts 2000s American television series 2010s American television series Geography of Oregon Oregon culture 1990 establishments in Oregon