The Forgotten Fish: Portland, OR - Vancouver, WA Metro Area Pacific Lamprey Travel Bug

I’m a Pacific Lamprey travel bug. Help me migrate! My mission is to swim around the Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, Metropolitan area visiting your favorite places to enjoy water. I would like to have my photo taken at at least 25 favorite watering holes in the metro area such as Tryon Creek, Willamette Falls, and Vancouver Lake Park. We all know favorite watering holes include places to drink "water" as well, such as coffee shops, soda shops, and brew pubs. Let's see how quickly I can visit 25 places! After you have posted your photo here, please leave me in a nearby cache.

By toting me along from geocache to geocache or waypoint, you're helping spread the word about one of the world's oldest and most interesting fish. While the Pacific Lamprey is culturally important to Native American peoples, we also help keep water clean and provide rich food sources for native species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, tribes and tribal organizations, and others are working to restore my species. They also want to share their passion for trust species and habitats--they belong to all of us! So help me along on my mission. Happy geocaching!  

Learn More About Pacific Lamprey: 

• WEBSITE: USFWS Pacific Lamprey website
• VIDEO: Taking the Initative to Conserve Pacific Lamprey 
• VIDEO: Why Pacific Lamprey Matter to Columbia Basin Tribes:  
• VIDEO: The Lost Fish 

Why This Bug Was Made: 

This travel bug is truly unique; there are 12 others located in caches across the range of Pacific Lamprey, but each one is hand-carved by Service Visitor Information Specialist Matt How. The inspiration for this travel bug and the 'Forgotten Fish' geocaching project is a desire by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees to not only educate and inspire you and other members of the public to help conserve Pacific Lamprey, but to connect with nature, too. By toting along a species from geocache to geocache or waypoint that doesn't have the charisma star power of say, a Bald eagle or a Pacific salmon, you're helping spread the word about one of the world's oldest and (we think) most interesting fish. We also want to share our passion for our trust species and habitats--they belong to all of us! So take this travel bug, help it along its mission, help us keep tabs on it, and most of all, be safe and have fun. Happy geocaching!