Allen Thomas, outdoor writer for The Columbian for four decades, died Thursday of leukemia. He was 73.

A 1975 graduate of the University of Washington, Thomas began at The Columbian as an intern in 1974, then left to do a joint internship for The Columbian and Longview Daily News covering the 1975 session of the Washington State Legislature.

Thomas returned to The Columbian in the spring of 1975 as a general assignment reporter. He then covered education and Vancouver city government until becoming the outdoor writer in June 1978.

Known to friends and collegues by the nickname “Woodsy,” Thomas covered all manner of Northwest natural resource agencies including the Washington and Oregon departments of Fish and Wildlife; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Gifford Pinchot National Forest; Col

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