Yurok and California condor paper.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the California condor: Bringing the Condor Home to Yurok Tribal Homelands

Teresa Wicks

SSPC 507

June 16, 2011

In the time since European contact, Indigenous peoples of North America have witnessed the decline or extinction of many species of plants and animals that they depend on for both physical and spiritual sustenance. In the early 1900s, as destruction of “untamed” nature continued to expand west, unregulated some Euro-Americans began advocating for the preservation, conservation or restoration of species, resources and ecosystems. Despite positive efforts on behalf of the ecosystem, these early naturalists continued the dehumanization of First Nations peoples by leaving them out of the conservation conversation and by perpetuating the idea that areas uninfluenced by Euro-Americans are uninfluenced by humans in general.

In an effort alleviate environmental problems, resource managers turned to western science, once again ignoring the very peoples that originated from this land. In “Indian Givers” Jack Weatherford makes the astute observation that First Nations peoples were scientists before there were scientists. They have an intricate understanding of the land around them and how all things are connected and through this connection affected each other. There have been many reintroduction and restoration projects that have used western science, excluding traditional ecological knowledge held by the people that lived here since time immemorial. The Ecological Society of America, in the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) section of their journal, defines TEK as “[a]daptive ecological knowledge developed through an intimate reciprocal relationship between a group of people and a particular place over time” (Ecological Society of America, 2010). The Alaska Native Science Commission lists these bullets in their definition of TEK:

• It is practical common sense based on teachings and experiences passed on from generation to generation.

• It is knowing the country. It covers knowledge of the environment - snow, ice, weather, resources - and the relationships between things.

• It is holistic. It cannot be compartmentalized and cannot be separated from the people who hold it. It is rooted in the spiritual health, culture and language of the people. It is a way of life.

• Traditional knowledge is an authority system. It sets out the rules governing the use of resources - respect, an obligation to share. It is dynamic, cumulative and stable. It is truth.

• Traditional knowledge is a way of life -wisdom is using traditional knowledge in good ways. It is using the heart and the head together. It comes from the spirit in order to survive.

• It gives credibility to the people.

There is a growing awareness of and interest in the value of TEK among western scientists. Unfortunately, this interest often only extends to cultural heritage, ignoring the inherent knowledge that TEK offers. Additionally, “the current regulations and practices in many regimes still do not provide effective formal mechanisms for the integration of TEK into active management” (Menzies and Butler, 2006). TEK is a highly detailed, specific set of knowledge about a specific place, meaning it is difficult to extrapolate the knowledge from on place to another. In the view of many western scientists this decreases the effectiveness or value of TEK. In reality, this specificity emphasizes the importance of gathering TEK from as many areas, about as many management practices and about as many species as possible.

In the case of the California condor TEK will play a vital role not only in understanding the traditional range of the condor but in creating a long lasting reintroduction plan that takes into account the condors historical range and habitat and the cultural importance of the condor.

California condors, Gymnogyps californianus, are the largest terrestrial birds in North America, with a wingspan of 9.5 feet, occasionally reaching 10-12 feet, and weigh between 18 and 23 pounds. Condors are scavengers using their keen eyesight to live off of carrion, which they will fly up to 140 miles to gorge themselves upon. Contrary to popular myth condors cannot pick up and carry off small children or livestock, in fact they “have never been known to kill a live animal” and are ill equipped to do so as they lack talons and the ripping/tearing predatorial beaks of other birds of prey (Foster, 2011).

California condors are found in open scrubland or wooded mountain ecosystems. They require cliff-side caves or crevices or hollow, broken top redwoods. Condors have low reproductive potential, laying only one egg every other year. Chicks generally remain with their parents into the second year after hatching. Similar to other large North American birds California condors do not reach sexual maturity until they reach six years of age, though they are often not successful until they reach eight years of age, and are monogamous, mating for life (Yurok Tribe 2010).

Geographically California condors once ranged across most of the North American continent. About 11,000 years ago, when the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions occurred the condor lost major sources of food and their range dwindled to the west coast, from British Columbia to Baja, California. By the mid-1900’s condors were found only in southern California (Yurok Tribe, 2010; Foster, 2011). In terms of numbers by 1977 there were only 45 wild birds, slipping to only nine wild birds by 1985. On April 19, 1987 the last wild California condors were captured and placed in captivity. At that point there were 27 living California condors left in the world, all of them in captivity (Foster, 2011). With such an extensive history on the North American continent, and with plenty of ideal condor habitat remaining the precipitous drop in condor numbers was puzzling, that is until human interactions were taken into account.

California condors are highly revered by many First Nations tribes in the Pacific Northwest and California. Condors are often considered world purifiers because of their natural role cleaning up death and decomposition. “Traditional ecological knowledge expressed through original languages, stories, place-names, material artifacts and dance all highlight the significance of condors in the ancient indigenous cultural context of the Northwest” (Oregon Zoo, 2005). An archeological dig at Five Mile Rapids, near The Dalles, OR unearthed 10,000 year-old remains of at least 22 adult condors. There is evidence that the feathers from these birds had been intentionally stripped, likely for ceremonial purposes (Wilbur, 2010). Condor feathers played an important part in the Jump Dance and White Deer Skin Dance world renewal ceremonies held at the end of summer by the Yuroks in northern California. The Wiyot, also of northern California, considered condor feathers an important part of their doctoring regalia. Tribes throughout the San Francisco Bay area of California made whistles out of condor wing bones, wore condor capes and ritually buried condors (Foster, 2011; Walter, 2009; Wilbur, 2010). While there is a plethora of evidence that many tribes killed condors for their plumage or raised young condors for eventual sacrifice condor populations appear to have been stable until the arrival of European settlers in the mid-1800’s (Wilbur, 2010).

There is evidence that as early as the mid-1700’s Euro-Americans killed condors for “science” or museum collections but it wasn’t until western tribes were virtually eradicated or removed from their traditional lands that condor numbers began to decline. Private collectors and museums from around the world wanted both adult and young California condor skins and eggs for their displays, encouraging unregulated hunting of condors. Ranchers and farmers mistakenly believed that condors would kill their livestock or carry off their children, leading to the further shooting of condors. Ranchers also laced livestock carcasses with strychnine in order to kill coyotes, wolves and condors. Possibly even more damaging than the direct human effects were the indirect Euro-American effects (Wilbur, 2010).

These effects include the thinning of condor eggshells, causing them to break under the weight of incubating parents, from DDT and DDE (a pervasive chemical derived from the breakdown of DDT) used in pesticides after World War II. Another indirect effect is lead poisoning caused by the consumption of lead shot left in carcasses or gut piles by hunters in condor territory (Walter, 2009; Grube, 2009). Thus, much like the First Nation tribes that revere them, the California condor is a victim of both intentional destruction and thoughtless actions on the part of Euro-Americans.

In 1987, several agencies, including U.S. Forest Service, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, Oregon Zoo, California Department of Fish and Game, the Peregrine Fund, Ventana Wildlife Society, the Center for Scientific Investigation and Graduate Studies in Ensenada, La Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAP), National Park Service at Pinnacles National Monument, Santa Barbara Zoo, the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, gathered together to attempt to right the wrongs inflicted on the California condor, in the form of a condor recovery program. In 1992 the first 11 captive bred condors were released from their “training facility.” Since 1992, the number of captive and wild condors has increased to 322 birds, about 172 are living in the wild.

The interesting thing about the current condor recovery program is that it is only attempting to reintroduce California condors to Arizona, near the Grand Canyon, in a few locations in southern California and in Baja California, Mexico. None of these programs seem to include TEK or the interest of tribes that live in former condor habitat. This changed in 2008 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted the Yurok $200,000 to determine the feasibility of reintroducing California condors in northern California.

The journey to bring the condor back to northern California began sometime around 2005 when the Yurok began discussing the creation of a wildlife preserve on tribal lands. In a 2009 interview, Tiana Williams, tribal member and staff member with the Yurok Tribe’s wildlife program, is quoted as saying “It’s written in the Yurok constitution, and it’s always been one of our goals, to have restoration of Yurok ancestral territory — the landscape, the animals — to what it was pre-contact with Europeans” (Walters, 2009). The California condor was chosen as one of the top three species tribal elders would like to see reintroduced, coming in third to salmon and sturgeon. Salmon and sturgeon already have programs in place, thus the California condor became the flagship species for the Yurok’s fledgling wildlife program. An interesting aspect of the condor being the first species reintroduce to Yurok homelands is that the Yurok view condors as purifiers, cleansing the world (Grube, 2009).

About 20 years before the tribe began this endeavor, as they began reviving traditional ceremonies, a Pecwan elder sang a condor song. This was the first time that tribal members had heard the song, leaving many members wondering what happened to the condor. Yurok tribal member Bob McConnell says “We as Yurok are looking to restore our culture, and to restore our culture we need to have a healthy ecosystem. And to have a healthy ecosystem you’ve got to have all the participants, and the condor certainly was one. He’s one of the big missing pieces” (Walters 2009).

Today, the Yurok use a combination of TEK and western science in planning for the return of the condor. TEK, and a deep cultural appreciation for condors, inspired the Yurok Tribe to dream of seeing condors flying over their homelands once more. Tribal wildlife managers use intimate, local knowledge of condor natural history to establish survey areas. In these areas they live trap turkey vultures, carrion eating cousins of the condor, using large mesh and PVC enclosures and carrion as bait. Once trapped the turkey vultures are given a thorough examination and their blood is drawn and tested for lead, DDE and DDT. Northern ravens are also being drawn into the research mix. They eat a diet more varied than the condors but similarly do not migrate, unlike turkey vultures, which winter south of the border (Grube, 2009).

As it stands today the Yurok have confirmed that DDT and DDE levels will not pose a barrier for California condors. Unfortunately lead, from lead shot, still poses a problem for condor reintroduction. Lead shot has been banned in many, if not all, areas where condors are found but hunters still use it and condors are still poisoned by it. Diligent condor recovery team members capture poisoned condors and take them into captivity for chelation (the removal of lead from their blood). The removal of lead shot from condor territory seems like a small hurdle but in reality it has been one of the greatest challenges for condor recovery (Peregrine Fund, 2008; Zoological Society of San Diego, 2011).

The ambitious efforts of the Yurok Tribe have inspired other tribes in California and the Pacific Northwest to dream of seeing California condors in their skies once again. The Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation have partnered with the Oregon Zoo to sponsor the zoo’s condor breeding program and The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians have spoken publicly about bringing condors back to Oregon (Oregon Zoo, 2005). The Yurok Tribe’s condor reintroduction program showcases the value of TEK to natural resources conservation, preservation, restoration and management. This condor program also pairs western science and TEK in a blend that could, and should, inspire leaders from tribes, non-profits, government agencies and other non-governmental organizations. In keeping with TEK, honoring their traditional connection to condors and maintaining and managing the place of humans in the natural world the Yurok Tribe are regaining some of the balance that the tribe and the natural world they live in lost with the coming of Euro-Americans. By combining western scientific methods and tools with TEK, the Yurok have created a complete reintroduction system for the California condor, giving hope to tribes throughout traditional condor range, that one day they will get to once again watch California condors drifting on thermals, searching for carrion and cleansing, purifying and restoring balance to the world.

References

Foster, John W. 2011. Wings of the Spirit: The Place of the California Condor Among Native Peoples of the Californias. California State Parks. Available at: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23527. Accessed June 19, 2011.

Grube, Nicholas. 2009. Bringing Back Condors. The Daily Triplicate. May 9, 2009. Pp B1-B2. Available at: http://www.yuroktribe.org/government/selfgovern/documents/triplicate_condor.pdf. Accessed June 21, 2011.

Oregon Zoo. 2005. History. Oregon Zoo’s California Condors. Available at: http://www.oregonzoo.org/Condors/historyOral.htm. Accessed June 21, 2011.

Peregrine Fund. California Condor Restoration—Conservation Projects. Updated 2008 Available at: http://www.peregrinefund.org/conserve_category.asp?category=California%20Condor%20Restoration. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Walters, Heidi. 2009. Fixing the World. The North Coast Journal. July 16, 2009. Available at: http://www.northcoastjournal.com/news/2009/07/16/fixing-world/6/. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Weatherford, Jack. 1988. Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas transformed the World. New York: Crown Books. Paperback edition: New York: Ballantine, 1989.

Wilbur, Sanford R. “Sandy.” 2010. Chapter 1: Condors and Indians. Condor Tales: California condor Past, Present, Future. Available at: http://www.condortales.com/DCIndians.html. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Wilbur, Sanford R. “Sandy.” 2010. Chapter 2: Early Birds. Condor Tales: California condor Past, Present, Future. Available at: http://www.condortales.com/DCIndians.html. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Wilbur, Sanford R. “Sandy.” 2010. Introduction: Condor 101. Condor Tales: California condor Past, Present, Future. Available at: http://www.condortales.com/DCIndians.html. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Yurok Today. 2009. Flight of the Prey-go-Neesh. Yurok Today. Pp. 3-4. Available at: http://www.yuroktribe.org/news&issues/news/documents/march_newsletter_Yuroktribe.pdf. Accessed 20, 2011.

Yurok Tribe. 2010. The Yurok Tribe Condor Program. Updated 2010. Available at: http://www.yuroktribe.org/government/selfgovern/condorhistory.htm. Accessed June 21, 2011.

Zoological Society of San Diego. California Condor Recovery Program. Updated 2011. Available at: http://cacondorconservation.org/programs/. Accessed June 18, 2011.

Life has been busy!

So it has been quite some time since I last blogged. I have been birding, hiking, running the community garden, camping, trying to get my move to Ashland, OR organized and educating myself. In June I took a week long class about Native American Cultures taught by David West, of Potawatomi descent, and David West, a Wasco man from the Warm Springs Reservation. This class was extraordinarily insightful and I feel my perspectives and perceptions expanding. For this class I wrote a paper about California Condors and the Yurok efforts to restore the condor to their lands, with a history of the condor and their importance to tribes from the Columbia River to southern California. It is interesting to me that the condor and the tribes' fates have been fairly linked considering condors were so sacred to so many tribes. It is also interesting to me that despite my appetite for bird information I had no idea that California condors once flew over the majority of the continent. Or that even after white Euro-Americans arrived in the Americas that condors flew over the western edge of the continent from British Columbia to Baja California, Mexico. Amazing things we can learn when we allow the people the originated on this continent to speak their knowledge. Their truth. When we allow them to be part of the conversation, history, plan, etc., rather than treating them as outsiders or eliminating them by dehumanizing them. My mind reels as I write this. Blogging will possibly continue being sparse for a bit as I will be living in two places, attending graduate classes and driving across the country and back in a salute to the end of summer and the beginning of a new chapter of my life. Enjoy your summer!

Happy Mother's Day!

Sadly, this picture is not mine. Click here for more information about this picture.

Man, life has become quite busy these past few weeks! Today I took my mother and grandmother birdwatching on Bolt Mountain (home to Fish Hatchery Park only on the BLM portion of the mountain). It was an excellent day for birding! It started out great with an ash-throated flycatcher sighting almost immediately into the trip. Then the wind started picking up making birding-by-ear virtually impossible. Finally, it started raining. Then, as spring rains will do in Southern Oregon, as suddenly as the rain started it stopped. We hiked for about 1.5 miles before grandma needed to turn around (the trail is at about a 12% grade). Before she turned around we heard many orange-crowned, black-throated grey and yellow warblers, black-capped chickadees and American robins. Needless to say we talked a bit too much to hear (or see) much else.

After she and my mother turned around I headed off trail toward a long abandoned osprey nest. Well, not so much abandoned as partially destroyed by a wind storm and finally so broken down the osprey moved on. To the north of the phenomenal snag that this nest sits in, directly uphill, is an old "fort" that my grandfather built to sit in while deer hunting. My senior year in high school I climbed up to the fort almost everyday to watch the osprey courting, nesting and then raising their young. I recorded my observations as part of a senior project. Alas, I digress...as I neared the nest I heard a bird to the northeast that I was not familiar with. I have been casually birding in Fish Hatchery Park for almost half my life now and so hearing a bird that I was unfamiliar with up there was rather shocking. After a good fifteen minutes of "stalking" the bird, following its call through the brush trying to pinpoint the source, I caught a flash of white in a Ceanothus cuneatus, or buckbrush. I quickly brought my binoculars to my eyes but was too late, the bird had disappeared to another bush. At least I knew I was in the right area! Then the bird darted out of its hiding place and was joined by a second of the same bird. When I got my binoculars on them I knew instantly that I was seeing a pair of blue-grey gnatcatchers! The last time I saw blue-grey gnatcatchers was in early summer of 2000, in Orange County, CA where I was working on a bird banding internship for the Institute for Bird Populations. I know that they are uncommonly seen on the Table Rocks in Jackson County but I've never heard of them being in Josephine County. After watching the birds for a good fifteen minutes I headed up to the fort where I sat, enjoying the sun and looking out over the Applegate River. Finally, realizing that I still needed to get some things for making Mother's Day dinner I headed home. On the way down I spotted two male western tanagers, one immature and one quite a bit older; two male lazuli buntings and ended the hike with the first male Wilson's warbler of the year!

When I got back to the house I tried convincing my birding compatriot from Eugene to enter the blue-grey gnatcatchers into eBird for me but she, wisely, refused as she had not been the one to ID them. I have been reluctant to create an account on eBird because, well I'm not sure why. I suppose because I am often so busy as it is that I worry I will some how create skewed data by only recording birding adventures when I return excited and motivated. In the end I was motivated to do my part as a citizen scientist (and hopefully one day I will be a paid scientist) by a bar chart for Josephine County showing a very thin line for blue-grey gnatcatchers and only in May. My compatriot was able to dig up some more specific information (I'm not familiar with eBird yet) and informed me that the last recorded sighting was in 2004 in Merlin, OR! This makes two rare birds in two weeks!

All of this has me thinking about citizen science (which will certainly lead to an ethno-ornithology blog) and really how important it is. Citizen scientists have been assisting with tracking bird populations via the Christmas Bird Count and Project Feederwatch for years and eBird is another, more consistent, way for those of us that are regularly in an area to help create a better picture of what birds are where and when they are there. So, if you are reading this blog, you birdwatching regularly and have not yet signed up for eBird, please do so today. Your observations are important!

And, thanks to all you mothers out there for the life you help create!

Meadowlark Prairie Take Two

I went to Eugene again on April 29th. On May 1st I had a most amazing bird adv

enture! It has been a while since I've had a new bird sighting to add to my list, almost a year exactly. I also had a sighting of a bird that I surveyed in Boardman, that I have never seen anywhere other than Boardman and didn't think I'd ever see again outside of Boardman! Even better, just the other day I was thinking about this bird, sad that I couldn't just go see/hear them. What were these birds? Well, I'll start with the new sighting...

Sadly, not my picture my digital camera has been dead and gone for six plus months. Click here to find out more.

The new sighting was a flock of about 14 dunlins! They are superbly cute little sandpipers. I had no idea what they were at first, besides being a species of sandpiper, and had left my bird book in the car (overconfidence). Thankfully, their black bellies makes their markings pretty easy to remember! Other distinctive features of the dunlin include moderately long legs, a longish bill that curves down a bit (describe by All About Birds as being droopy), a rather short neck and a reddish back. According to All About Birds Life History page about dunlins, dunlins that nest along northern Alaska migrate west along Siberia and Asia to Japan and China. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) lists them as a species of Least Concern with their populations abundant but possibly declining. It occurs to me that maybe I have seen them before but because I only sta

rted watching for and identifying shorebirds within the last few years I didn't realize it. Their black bellies are pretty distinct though.

As with the dunlin this photo is not mine. Find it here if you are interested in seeing more.

Anyway, the second fantastic find of the day was a sage sparrow! Yes, you heard correctly, a sage sparrow. This is very exciting for a number of reasons. First, I was just lamenting the fact that I may never see another sage sparrow again, unless I visit Boardman, about a week before this trip. The sage sparrow was basically the last bird of the day and when I first heard it I had a sense of familiarity but couldn't remember where I knew the song from. Then I realized it was one I had listened to frequently in Boardman. From there I made the connection and excitedly followed the song until I was able to spot him (the sage sparrow). After my birding compatriot recorded the sighting on eBird we received correspondence seeking a specific location at Meadowlark Prairie and confirmation that we did indeed see a sage sparrow. Once affirmation was given I was informed that this was only the sixth sage sparrow recorded in Lane County! The last one being a few years ago and in a different location. Needless to say this made the sighting even more exciting!

Warblers!

Black-throated gray warbler borrowed from this website.

I woke up early last Thursday (April 21, 2011) and went bird watching in Fish Hatchery Park before work. I have been anxiously awaiting the return of the black-throated gray warbler for most of the winter. These little black and white birds are stunning and they have a pretty fun song. All told I saw four species of warbler; black-throated grey, yellow, orange-crowned and yellow-rumped. I also saw a Hutton's vireo. These little guys resemble ruby-crowned kinglets both in behavior and appearance and they can be found here year-round. Birds that can't be found here year-round that I am hoping will return soon are western wood pewees and Pacific-slope flycatchers (various other flycatchers too). Finally, I haven't encountered any yellow-breasted chat yet this year. I think they returned in May last year so I am hoping they will be gracing my life soon.

Ethno-ornithology: Double-crested cormorants

Adult double-crested cormorant in non-breeding plumage. Photo information available here.

My good friend Flicker Boi has written several blogs about using lethal measures to reduce or remove populations of non-native birds from areas where they are in direct breeding, foraging or nesting competition with closely related species of threatened or endangered birds. Lethal methods of population control seems to be the most common form of control, likely because we are more familiar with this form of control. Eminant Domain says we should conquer, control and subdue nature (and the people that live close to it). Hunters relish the chance to kill coyotes, cougars, wolves and other "pests." This leads me to my current train of thought. Double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) are the most common species of North American cormorant (and darn cute). Their numbers are on the incline and thus they are the focus of blame for declines in sports fishing and for "devastating fish farms" (All About Birds, 2011). In 2003, true to our "lethal control" nature, a management plan was proposed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to use depredation to decrease the North American population of double-crested cormorants by <160,000 birds (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2003). Before I go any further let me just say that I'm not sure why managers are not allowed to use lethal measure to control populations of FERAL horses, cats, etc (not that I am advocating for the slaughter of these animals...though I do advocate RESPONSIBLE management) but it is encouraged in regards to NATIVE species (cougars, coyotes, cormorants, wolves, etc). My assumption is that horses and cats are charismatic/domestic species so we feel a stronger connection to them. Or maybe it's just Eminant Domain in another form.

The reasons listed in the approximately 140 page Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the creation of the management plan are: negative impacts on other bird species, declines in native fish populations (including threatened and endangered species of fish), destruction of vegetation at nesting sites, increasing economic losses to aquaculture producers and commercial fishers and fish-related businesses, a loss of private resources and loss of water quality. As internationally migrating, birds double-crested cormorants are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The MBTA does allow for migratory bird "take" permits so long as they follow regulations set forth by the MBTA. In fact, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "permits to take DCCOs have been issued by the Service since 1986 and may allow the take of eggs, adults and young, or active nests.". Though apparently commercial interests don't always have to have a permit for depredation, if so deemed by the United States Government. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

"In 1998, the Service issued a depredation order (USFWS 1998b; 50 CFR 21.47 ) authorizing commercial freshwater aquaculture producers in 13 States (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) to take DCCOs, without a Federal permit, when found committing or about to commit depredations to aquaculture stocks. The depredation order states that DCCOs may be taken by shooting only during daylight hours, and only when necessary to protect freshwater commercial aquaculture and State-operated hatchery stocks and that such actions must be carried out in conjunction with a non-lethal harassment program certified by APHIS/WS officials."

This seems odd to me as permits keep track of the number of individuals being killed and would thus allow international governments to understand what we are doing here in the United States (and would help to ensure that there is international cooperation and agreement on managing population levels). As I read this EIS I am struck at how certain the individuals writing the EIS are that "taking" <160,000 cormorants won't hurt regional or continental populations. How do they know that wiping out entire winter roosts (as is permitted under this management plan) won't create genetic bottleneck? How can they be certain that the birds that are left won't be subjected to some disease that the birds that were killed wouldn't have been susceptible to? With what certainty can they say that Mexico, who according to the EIS has no management plan on record, and Canada, who has a status of no protection for the double-crested cormorant, aren't killing >160,000 and that at some point we will have to create a restoration plan (like they did in 1972 when DDT and lethal control lead to federal protection of double-crested cormorants)?

One of the more interesting parts of this EIS comes about in Chapter 3. Throughout the EIS Federally-recognized Tribes and Tribal hatcheries are listed as individuals that can practice lethal measure with double-crested cormorants (at hatcheries or aquaculture facilities). In chapter three tribes also fall under a section about Environmental Justice. That is all well and good but here we find a bit of a contradiction. Earlier in Chapter 3 the EIS mentions that in Oregon populations of double-creseted cormorants are on the decline (about 2.6% annually), other than at the Columbia River Estuary. Under the Environmental Justice section the writers mention the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Responsibility to tribes to provide them with fish stock. In the next paragraph they mention "in Oregon, approximately 80 percent of all trout harvested come from Oregon fish hatcheries," implying that by not increasing the numbers of double-crested cormorants killed would create a system of environmental injustice to Oregon tribes (though I feel certain most tribes raise salmon here). This is despite the fact that double-crested cormorant populations are declining in Oregon. In yet another ironic, and contradictory, twist in the "Issues Raised, but Eliminated from Detailed Study" section the writers mention the fact that double-crested cormorants are considered sacred by some tribes and therefore this plan could directly conflict with their spiritual beliefs. The mention of their sacredness follows a mention of yet another issue rejected for study, "Affected Human Communities." In this section the writers mention the three letters they received from tribes or members of tribes. These letters were:

"(1) a member of the Kiowa Tribe of the State of Oklahoma felt that since waterbirds are sacred, they should be given to Tribal people for use in their native ceremonies; (2) the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona recommended that we use a hunting season to manage DCCOs; and (3) a Conservation Officer from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (of southeastern Massachusetts) said that they have experienced some trouble with DCCOs roosting on the Tribal Shellfish Aquaculture Program’s spawning/rearing cages and recommended limited hunting."

There is also mention several times to double-crested cormorants adding to the "Spirit of Place" but this too falls under the issues not studies. If you'd like to read the quite lengthy EIS click here. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a double-crested cormorant faq sheet you can peruse and an informational page too. I found this USGS map from the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and this USGS map from the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) to be quite interesting. The entire USGS double-crested cormorant information page is accessible from either of those links, but just in case you can click here for the double-crested cormorant ID page.

While researching double-crested cormorant management plans I came across a blog written on March 29, 2011 about Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's (ODFW) application for a depredation permit. According to Jim Yuskavitch, ODFW intends to identify the areas where double-crested cormorants will be killed, likely areas where they are considered to be most likely to harm wild juvenile steelhead and salmon populations. Yuskavitch mentions the debate over lethal control of sea lions at Bonneville Dam and whether or not allowing the "take" of native predators of salmonids makes more sense than cultural controls that improve habitat quality and abundance and decreasing commercial fishing, among other things. I find it interesting that cormorants are protected by the MBTA and sea lions are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the wild (not hatchery) salmon (some of them) are listed as threatened or endangered by the Endangered Species Act. The common thread between all of these species? At some point in time we decimated, or nearly decimated, their populations, for one reason or another, and now they are all federally protected species. While reading the ODFW publication "Avian Predation Management on the Oregon Coast, " published March 25, 2010 I learned that Caspian tern's are also considered a threat to juvenile salmonids on out-migration (their journey to the sea). It is interesting to note that they don't seem to be considering lethal control at this time. Additionally both Caspian terns and double-crested cormorants seem to be considered a problem (with increasing population sizes) in one major area, the East Sand Island on the Lower Columbia River, an island created by the deposition of dredge spoils. So...WE are the cause of these population inclines of these species, just as we are the reason that sea lions find such fishing success at the Bonneville Dam fish ladder.

Our decisions or proposals or plans to kill native wildlife for taking advantage of the habitat that we have created and for acting as they should in the situation they are in is preposterous. Everything I have read tonight has pointed to humans as the main culprit (which I already knew/thought) and has me thinking (as many things do) about the fact that we live in a highly managed world. No matter where we are, no matter what we are doing we are in a managed area. What we see and what we experience, these things are all allowed to be, or altered, or removed from existence based upon their economic value, on our perception of aesthetic, or on our concept of worth. Tonight, for me, the battle that we face ahead as stewards of the land and of nature looms not in the distance, not on the horizon, but in my backyard. At my favorite birding places. At the places where I find the most solace. The fate of every species of this place (Earth) balances on the ability of someone, somewhere to give it value. We are seriously disrupting the balance of the systems that we live in, with. That we are part of. The continual separation of humans from nature. Intrinsic value versus extrinsic value. Economic value from natural/ecosystem value. These separations destroy the very things we claim to be trying to protect.

More Eugene birdwatching

This picture of a ruby-crowned kinglet with his crown showing is available at: http://buildyourownbirdhouseplans.com/images/rubycrownedkinglet1.jpg

I have been searching for inspiration for my next "big" blog post but I seem to be out of ideas...or something. What I do have is a plethora of random thoughts about subjects varying from how to make jean potholders for my niece's play kitchen to salmon. Birds are always in there too and work has started in the garden at work so my brain is pretty full of garden "stuff." My garden, despite all of my efforts, is mostly in my head. I write down the lists of things to do and places to ask for donations from and still they float around in my head. Well, some version of them does.

So, I sit at my computer and think about what I want to write about. I went birdwatching in Eugene, Oregon again last weekend. The adventure leading up to the birdwatching "event" was almost as great as actually getting to birdwatch. While trying to find the first stop on our list my companion and I were quite lost in conversation and ended up passing the turn by several miles, at which point we were enticed forward by state park and Fall Creek Dam (reservoirs can be great birding sites) signs. Alas, the Fall Creek Reservoir is nothing like the reservoirs from Southern Oregon and anything other than boat-type recreation would have been futile. Thus, we turned around and eventually found the site that we had planned on visiting first. This site is part of the Willamette Valley Birding Trail Guide but I am not sure why. Jasper Meadow is, for all intents and purposes, a playground with a small wetlands (which I do appreciate them preserving), surrounded by a new cookie cutter subdivision and a lovely carved sign of a chickadee that says something to the effect of "birding spot." There were many children there and not many birds. The best thing about this location was the playground (I am a sucker for a good playground). It was the most bizarre and wonderful playground I've been to in quite some time. I played for a bit and then we moved on to the next location on our list, the Walterville Pond. This 70-acre pond is a reservoir maintained by Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB). The number of ruby-crowned kinglets making their territories and breeding intention known was phenomenal. I literally don't think I've ever seen so many ruby-crowns being territorial in one place! There were also many, many violet-green swallows and my first barn swallows of the season (hurray!). Probably the birds that I enjoyed the most on this day were the double-crested cormorants. The majority of the double-crested cormorants at this site were first-year juveniles and they were being incredibly amusing. Jostling for space on a stump, swimming around and "yelling" at each other.

And so...by way of randomly typing about whatever thread of thought I was able to capture I have an idea for my next "big" blog. Stay tuned.