BEND, Ore. (AP) - Jim Witty, the outdoor reporter for The Bulletin newspaper in Bend, died Monday of causes yet to be determined. He was 50.

Witty had worked for The Bulletin for nearly 10 years after jobs at The Daily News in Longview, Wash., and the Honolulu Star Bulletin, in Hawaii.

After several years reporting about the environment, he moved to writing exclusively about the Oregon outdoors.

Witty took readers along on outings to little-known scenic areas and thoroughly researched trips to more popular outdoor destinations.

"Jim's death is an immeasurable loss to The Bulletin," said the paper's Editor-in-Chief John Costa. "He personified all that was best in a journalist a wonderful and engaging mind, a spirited quality of literature and a love of community. He will be missed greatly but never forgotten."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.