CORVALLIS - Frederick "Fritz" Cramer of The Dalles is one 28 men and women recently honored as 1998 Diamond Pioneers by the Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences.

Cramer and the others were honored for their contributions to agriculture and natural resources. The Diamond Pioneer Registry, honoring those 75 and older, began in 1983 when the college observed its 75th anniversary.

Cramer returned to his home town after retiring in 1976 following a career as a fisheries biologist and resource management administrator in Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa. He worked on salmon mitigation measures with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the Shasta Project in Northern California at various times from 1938 to 1953, when he became the first fisheries biologist at McNary Dam working on fish passage and mitigation. He later worked as a fisheries biologist with the federal Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, now the National Marine Fisheries Service.

He is the author of several publications, including "Fishwheels on the Columbia," which he co-authored with Ivan Donaldson. The book documents the history of early salmon fishing on the Columbia.

History has been a main focus of his activities in recent years. He is a past president of the Wasco County Historical Society, Wasco County Pioneer Association, Original Wasco County Courthouse Preservation, and is a board member of the Wasco County Historical Museum. He was named Wasco County Pioneer of the Year in 1996. The OSU graduate was honored for his fisheries work by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1976.

Source: 

Judy Modrell, 541-737-5822

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