What all those numbers really add up to in the outdoors.

Byline: Mike Stahlberg / The Register-Guard

ONCE AROUND the outdoors beat, by the numbers:

SIX - The number of bull elk unlawfully killed and left to waste back in August off Seven Devils Road south of Charleston. Two carcasses were found on a ranch and four others were found several hundred yards away, in private timberland on a hill overlooking the ranch.

The heads and antlers had been removed from all six bulls. Of the meat, however, only two back straps and portions of a couple of hindquarters were taken; the rest was left to rot. It was the worst case of elk poaching since the night several years ago that a pair of beer-bloated bozos shot seven elk at the wildlife viewing area alongside Highway 38 east of Reedsport.

Troopers from the Coos Bay office of the Oregon State Police game law enforcement division investigated the Seven Devils Road case. They wound up citing Dennis Robertson, 41, of Coos Bay, who allegedly had the six elk heads in his basement. Robertson was charged with waste of game mammals and unlawful possession of elk. He is scheduled to enter a plea in Coos County District Court on Jan. 8.

1,000 - The number of fall wild turkey tags issued in Oregon this year and, thus, the maximum number of families that can legally have fresh Oregon wild turkey on their Thanksgiving tables.

ONE - The number of women who have won a national pro bass fishing championship. Renee Flesh of Edwardsburg, Mich., made history Nov. 9 when she won the Co-Angler Division of the $325,000 EverStart Series national championship, held on Pickwick Lake in Alabama. Her final-day catch of two bass weighed just 4 pounds, but it landed her $40,000 in cash and prizes as well as a place in the record books.

Flesh out-fished 161 other co-anglers (those without their own bass boat) to take the title. Only the top 10 anglers were allowed to fish the final day. She was the No. 1 seed following the first two days of competition. However, since tournament rules specified that anglers started the final round from zero, Flesh and her nine male counterparts were once again on even footing as the final day began. Her two bass weighing a total of 4 pounds were enough for victory.

710 MILLION - The number of hikers, sight-seers and other forest visitors who suddenly disappeared when Forest Service released its latest figures on recreational usage of our national forests.

The new survey shows about 210 million national forest visits each year. That figure contrasts rather embarrassingly with previous Forest Service claims - including a report to Congress that said 920 million people visited national forests during 2000. Agency officials now say the old system of tracking visitors was so loose that the same visitors were counted four or five times.

321-54-9876 ETC., ETC. - It must have seemed like a good idea at the time, the using of Social Security Numbers on Oregon hunting and fishing licenses. After all, the nine-digit SSNs would provide every hunter and angler with a unique number for identification purposes, and for keeping track of controlled hunt preference points.

But some license-buyers squawked. They didn't like seeing their SSN flashed on computer screens that could easily be read by anyone standing in line behind them at G.I. Joes. Then the federal Privacy Act made it illegal for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to continue using SSNs for ID purposes.

So the ODFW came up with its own system for assigning unique numbers to the more than 800,000 people who purchase hunting and/or fishing license each year. It spent the past year reprogramming its licensing computers to track each license-holder by a Hunter/Angler Identification Number.

Next week, the last vestiges of the old Social Security-based system will be purged from the ODFW's licensing computers. After Dec. 2, license agents will no longer be able to use Social Security numbers to look up people who purchased licensing documents in previous years.

As a result, state officials are urging that hunters and anglers bring their 2001 license or unused tag along with them when they purchase their 2002 documents. Not only will having the old license or tag speed service, they say, it will ensure accuracy during the transition between systems.

Hunters or anglers who cannot be uniquely identified in the licensing system will be treated as first-year hunters or anglers, meaning they run the risk of losing their accumulated "preference points."

The new ODFW-assigned Hunter/Angler Identification Number for each license-holder will be printed on all 2002 licenses and tags. Once you're assigned a number, it won't change.

Oh, one last thing. Don't forget to bring along your Social Security number. All hunters and anglers are still required to provide their SSN to licensing officials. It's needed to comply with federal and state child support enforcement laws.

However, the Social Security number will be stored in a database separate from licensing and preference point information. Only child support enforcement officials will have access to the SSN information.

$52 MILLION - Reported cost of the American National Fish and Wildlife Museum, which recently opened in Springfield, Mo., next door to Bass Pro Shops' Outdoor World.

Mike Stahlberg is the Register-Guard's outdoor writer. He can be reached at [e-mail].

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