This male wolf from Wenaha pack was fitted with a radio collar on Aug. 4, 2010. ODFW photo.

On Thursday, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission takes a look at a new Wolf Management Plan.

For those who care about the future of wolves in our state, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. The agenda includes time for comments from the public. Wolf supporters – and detractors – are hoping for a good turnout so the Commission can finally hear what Oregonians think about this very controversial issue.

For the most part, this new plan was put together behind the scenes. It’s true that ODFW staff talked with interest groups, such as environmentalists and ranchers. It’s also true that they asked for the public to send in comments. At last word, more than 22,000 Oregonians took the time to put their thoughts down on paper or email. But there were never any public hearings. And the release of the new plan was not well publicized or explained.

From what I know, there are no major changes in the new plan. As far as environmentalists are concerned, that’s mostly good news. They’re generally supportive of it, though they think ODFW makes it too easy to kill wolves that are suspected of attacking livestock.

Oregon Wild sent out this list of bullet points to supporters earlier this week.

• Most Oregonians value native wildlife and welcome wolves back. The wolf plan is already a major compromise and should be strengthened. We must not make it any easier to kill wolves.
• The wolf plan must be fully funded and prioritize non-lethal methods over killing wolves in all phases of the plan.
• Wolves on public land should not be killed.
• Wildlife Services has demonstrated their incompetence and uncomfortably close ties to those who wish to kill wolves. Their role in confirming depredations must be limited or eliminated.

-Oregon Wild email

Ranchers have never been happy with Oregon’s wolf plan and see it as something that’s been forced upon them. They want to make it easier to kill wolves that are caught attacking livestock, and to be able to hunt them in nearby areas. They also want to make it easier to delist wolves under state law. As they see it, wolves are “terrorizing” Eastern Oregon.

The updated wolf plan gives ranchers a little of what they want.

Details:

Fish and Wildlife Commission Meeting
Washington County Fair Complex
Cloverleaf Building
873 N.E. 34th Avenue
Hillsboro, Oregon 97124

The day long meeting starts at 8:00am, but the Commission isn’t expected to look at the Wolf Plan until after lunch.

Reading Material:

What Oregonians Really Think About Their Wolves

Oregon Wild: Bringing Wolves Back Home to Oregon

Oregon Cattlemen’s Association: Wolves In Oregon

(FYI: The Cattlemen’s page has a what appears to be a major factual error. It says nothing was done after wolves killed 25 head of livestock in Oregon. Those attacks took place last year in the Keating Valley near Baker City and the two wolves that were responsible were hunted down and killed. See Oregon Wolves Killed By Wildlife Officials. It also says that wolves in Wallowa County are killing livestock “every few days.” While that’s true for the month of May, the last reported attack was on June 4. Despite the factual errors, I respect the group’s point of view on the issue and included the link for that reason.)

A view of Mt. Hood from Timothy Lake. Photo by K. Carpenter/U.S.G.S.

Off roaders are going to start seeing a lot of “closed” signs in the Mt. Hood National Forest.

A new Forest Service plan dramatically cuts back where off road vehicles are allowed. Environmental groups couldn’t be much happier.

Just how much of a reduction are we talking about? Currently, off road vehicles are allowed on more 2,300 miles of roads and trails. Under the new rule, they’re allowed on 146 miles in four distinct areas around the forest.

Here’s another big change. The current rules allow off roaders into areas where they are no roads or trails. It’s officially called “cross country” travel. Right now 395,000 acres are open to cross country travel. Under the new plan, it’s zero.

Bark, the environmental watchdog group for the Mt. Hood National Forest calls the new travel plan, “A huge victory.” The group is especially pleased because the travel plan moves off roading away from Wilderness Areas.

From the environmental point of view, here’s the problem. Off roading is a lot more popular than it was 20 years ago. More users mean more stress on the system. Plus, the vehicles are bigger and more powerful. They can do a lot more damage to environmentally sensitive areas. In 2004, the U.S. Forest Service named unregulated off roading as one of the four top threats to National Forests and Grasslands.

They are also conflicts with other users of the forests. When hikers and off roaders share trails, it can be a safety problem. That’s a big reason why Mt. Hood officials say they’re closing off so much of the forest. Besides, if you’re going on a hike to get away from it all, who wants to hear a noisy OHV?

Off roaders will be understandably upset by the new travel plan. They’re losing a huge chunk of the forest. But compared to what’s happening elsewhere in Oregon, Mt. Hood is the exception. All of the national forests have issued new travel plans, or are working on them. Most of them provide lots of miles for off roaders to roam.

Just across the river in Clark County, Washington DNR is planning a major expansion of the the off road trail system in the Yacolt Burn State Forest.

For more information:

Mt. Hood National Forest Travel Management Plan

Earlier Stories:

New Hiking, Off-Road Trails Coming To Clark County

Mt Hood: Putting The Brakes On OHVs In The Forest

Quiet Forests: It’s Decision Time On Mt. Hood

Northern Spotted Owl. Photo by Dennis Newman.

As if old growth logging, and competition from barred owls wasn’t enough.

There’s another threat to Oregon’s fragile population of northern spotted owls.

Research from Oregon State University says climate change may also hurt the spotted owl’s chances for survival.

The Impact of Climate Change

Climate change models predict Oregon and the Pacific Northwest will experience warmer and drier summers, as well as warmer and wetter winters, because of global warming. Lead researcher Betsy Glenn says both of those trends make it harder spotted owls to survive, but in different ways.

• Unusually dry summers reduce the food supply for spotted owls. That’s when you’re mostly likely to see big declines in the numbers of northern flying squirrels and other small mammals that spotted owls like to eat. Glenn says less food means lower survival rates for adults and owls won’t expand into areas when there’s not enough to eat.

• If the spring time nesting season is colder and wetter than normal, Glenn says it hurts the survival chances of owl fledglings.

“Adult spotted owls have fairly high annual survival rates, while reproduction is much more variable,” says Glenn. “We found that survival was more closely related to regional climate measures such as drought, while recruitment of new owls into the population was more often associated with local weather conditions.”

Other Factors Still Important

The researchers also found that the impact of climate and weather was very different at the six locations they studied in Oregon and Washington. They conclude that other factors, such as the quality of habitat, also play a major role in the future of the spotted owl. That includes the increasing number of barred owls, a larger and more aggressive species. Barred owls are driving spotted owls from their traditional territories.

A quote from the research, which appears in the journal Biological Conservation.

“Given that natural resource managers cannot control climate variation and barred owls are likely to persist and increase in the range of the northern spotted owl, maintaining sufficient high quality habitat on the landscape remains the most important management strategy for the conservation of this subspecies.”

Related Story:

VIDEO: Owl Vs Owl: The Feds May Be Ready To Take Sides

Can we allow some industrial development on West Hayden Island, while leaving enough of the area untouched so it can useful as wildlife habitat?

Thursday’s vote on the Portland City Council is a tentative,  ”yes”.

What the council decided was to begin planning for annexing the 800+ acres of undeveloped land on the west half of Hayden Island. Ultimately, about 300 acres could be developed by the Port of Portland as marine terminals – places to bring in imported automobiles. The other 500 or so acres would be restored as wildlife habitat.

Some commissioners stressed that the decision isn’t final, and that they might change their minds when the planning work is done in December. But when planning work gets underway, it becomes more difficult to undo.

The vote was unpopular with most of the people who attended the hearing. Environmentalists, like Willamette Riverkeeper and the Audubon Society of Portland, want all of West Hayden to remain wild. It’s the largest area of undeveloped, but unprotected, land in the metro area. They say the best thing to do is to preserve it as wildlife habitat.

The Port didn’t exactly get everything it wanted either. It said 300 acres is as small as they can go, and still have a viable operation on the island. Originally, the Port was hoping to develop another 100 acres. By expanding onto West Hayden Island, the Port projects creating more than 1,000 jobs and $20 million annually in tax revenues.

Here’s the issue. Should the area remain undeveloped and preserved for nature? Or should the Port of Portland be allowed to build a new marine terminal?

Despite being close to Portland, the 800+ acres on the west half of Hayden Island have somehow avoided the bulldozers and cement trucks. Only a small portion is developed.

The area has become, in the words of Willamette Riverkeeper, “critical wildlife habitat” for more than 100 species of birds and fish. That list includes the bald eagle, and endangered species such as four types of salmon and the western painted turtle.

A proposal by Mayor Sam Adams calls on the city to begin work on a plan to annex West Hayden Island and let the Port have about 300 acres to develop.

Riverkeeper and the Audubon Society of Portland are fighting the idea. They say it’s a mistake to allow any more development in one of the few large, intact wild areas remaining on the riverfront. Instead, they want to city to restore all of West Hayden Island as a permanent nature preserve and as a place for people to hike and paddle.

The Port and its allies in this debate have got some strong arguments, too. A new marine terminal, they say, could create 1,000 new jobs and pump millions of dollars into the local economy.

Adams is trying appeal to both sides. Turning over 300 acres to the Port still leaves 500 acres untouched for nature.

Getting agreement on this issue won’t be easy. For nearly two years, a citizens working group has been trying – without success – to find a compromise. In the report that will be presented to the council on Thursday, only a small majority of the working group supports a split between development and nature.

Riverkeeper and Audubon are trying to get their supporters to the council meeting and oppose Adams’ plan.

The hearing will begin at 6:00pm, Thursday, July 27, in council chambers at Portland City Hall.

The Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge in Oregon. From Wikimedia Commons. Photographer unidentified.

The company behind Oregon’s newest natural gas pipeline will donate at least $22 million for conservation projects in our state and across the West.

It’s the result of a three-way deal between the Oregon Natural Desert Association, Western Watersheds Project and El Paso Corp. The money will be used to undo some of the environmental damage that results from building the Ruby pipeline, and to preserve sagebrush habitat.

Brent Fenty, ONDA Executive Director, tells me his group is expecting somewhere between $7 and $12 million for conservation projects in the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in southeastern Oregon and the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Nevada.

The ultimate goal is to restore sagebrush areas and help the species that live there. Some of the projects include:

• Expand the refuges by buying up private land from willing sellers. Could be as much as 10,000 acres.
• Reduce grazing and stress on the land by paying ranchers to retire their grazing permits.
• Remove fences to make it easier for wildlife to migrate through the region.
• Restore habitat around springs.

The money doesn’t actually go to ONDA. The group and the Ruby pipeline company are forming a new non-profit to oversee the work. The donation will be paid out over 10-years.

Western Watersheds has a similar arrangement for about $15 million.

Fenty says between Oregon and Nevada, about 5 million acres of land will benefit. “I can’t think of another agreement in this region,” he says, “with the potential to do as much restoration work as this one.”

About The Pipeline

The Ruby Pipeline runs 675-miles from southwest Wyoming to Malin, Oregon. But only a small portion of the line runs through our state. The pipeline just received right-of-way permission from BLM and is awaiting the final green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Construction will probably start very soon. Most of the natural gas will be sold to utilities in California.

But here’s what else makes the pipeline really interesting, from an environmental point of view.

The pipeline competes for the same markets as the proposed Jordan Cove LNG project near Coos Bay. But instead of bringing in imported LNG, Ruby will supply cleaner and cheaper natural gas from domestic sources in the Rocky Mountains. The bankruptcy of Bradwood Landing is a sign that the LNG industry is on shaky ground. The Ruby pipeline just might kill off Jordan Cove.

Hands Across the Sand at Neptune State Park. Photo by Gus Gates, Oregon Surfrider.

If you missed the weekend protest against offshore oil and gas drilling, here’s a way to experience it on your computer.

We’re getting video and photos from some of the Hands Across the Sand events in Oregon. There were 17 of these gatherings in Oregon on Saturday, part of a national movement to draw attention to the dangers of offshore drilling, and to promote clean and renewable energy.

Oregon Surfrider says about 100 people took part in the Hands Across the Sand event at Neptune State Park near Yachats. Gus Gates says they saw whales spouting off the beach, a timely reminder of what’s at stake in this debate.

“The message of the event was clear, NO to offshore oil drilling, YES to clean energy renewables. Oregon’s ocean, waves and beaches are one of our greatest natural resources, one that contributes significantly to our coastal and state economy through recreation, tourism, fishing, and scenic enjoyment,” says Gates.

Meanwhile, we’re getting reports that about three dozen people showed up at the Corvallis event, and that several dozen lined up along the Columbia River in Vancouver.

Video: Hands Across the Sand at Neptune State Park near Yachats, from Kristi Gott.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYpvvkfphLU

Slideshow: Hands Across the Sand events in Oregon, from Flickr.

It’s called Hands Across The Sand. More than a dozen events are planned across the state.

What’s this all about?

The idea is pretty simple.

Starting about Noon on Saturday, people will hold hands, face the ocean and form long lines on the beach. It’s a symbolic “line in the sand” against offshore oil and gas drilling. The event will last about 15 minutes and if enough people show up, should be an amazing site.

Organizers will form lines at ten locations all along the Oregon coast. Another seven “solidarity events” will be held in the Willamette Valley, from Eugene to Portland.

The idea kicked off earlier this year in Florida when thousands of people came together to make a statement against offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf.  This was long before the BP fiasco near Louisiana.

Tomorrow, the event goes national. Here along the West Coast, something like two dozen events are planned in Washington. And I can’t even count how many there will be along the California coast.

What’s The Status of Offshore Drilling In Oregon?

There’s not much of a threat here in Oregon.

Several months ago, the legislature passed a law banning offshore drilling in Oregon’s territorial waters for ten years. It was one of the few environmental victories of the special session. The law only protects the first three miles of ocean off our coast. Beyond that, the federal government is in charge.

Even before the spill in the Gulf, the feds were not planning on issuing offshore drilling leases in Oregon and Washington. The last auction was in 1964. There’s so little gas and oil off our coasts that the feds say they’re not going to bother to try again, at least not for the “foreseeable future.”

Environment Oregon has told me that having a state ban in place sends a message to the federal government that offshore drilling isn’t welcome here, and that the are paying attention. Getting thousands of Oregonians to line up on the beach will put some power behind that message.

For More Information:

Hands Across The Sand, Oregon webpage

Hands Across The Sand, Oregon Facebook page

Video: Hands Across The Sand In Destin, Florida from February, 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r54kRnZ1b2k

A scene along Wassen Creek in the Devil's Staircase area. Photo by Kristian Skybak. For more see http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristiansven

Update: Adding Press Release by Cascadia Wildlands

A bill to protect the Devil’s Staircase, and another that expands the Oregon Caves National Monument, have been approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The vote is a “milestone” according to Senators Wyden and Merkley. The bills now go before the full Senate for consideration.

What The Bills Do

One creates a 30,000 acre Wilderness Area to protect the Devil’s Staircase near Reedsport. This contains one of the largest concentrations of virgin rainforest left standing along the Oregon Coast. It’s also one of our state wildest places. There are no trails leading to the Staircase, a series of small waterfalls along Wassen Creek. GPS devices don’t work in this area either. First time visitors are strongly urged to have an experienced guide leading them.

Cascadia Wildlands describes Devil’s Staircase as, “An historic gem and one of the last and best remnant reminders of how the Coast Range used to be.”

Congressman Peter DeFazio has similar legislation before the House.

The Grand Column inside the Oregon Caves National Monument. Photograph by Shawn Thomas.

The other bill adds another 4,000 acres to the Oregon Caves National Monument. It transfers the property from the Forest Service to the National Park Service. Wyden and Merkley hope this will encourage more tourists to visit the caves, and help restore surrounding forests. The bill also adds a scenic designation to the caves’ River Styx, the first for an underground river in the U.S.

For More Information:

Cascadia Wildlands Press Release: Devil’s Staircase Wilderness Passes Out of Senate Committee

Cascadia Wildlands: Devil’s Staircase Web Page

Oregon Wild: Devil’s Staircase

I’ve written before about attempts by environmental groups to protect Steens Mountain from energy development.

Environmental groups wanted the state to add Steens Mountain to a list of places in Oregon where energy development is prohibited. But the Energy Facility Siting Council – which decides where large wind farms are located – recently rejected the idea.

The decision is a blow to the Oregon Natural Desert Association, Portland Audubon and other groups trying to keep wind turbines and other types of energy development away from the slopes of this Southeast Oregon icon.

The most immediate threat – in their view – are plans by Columbia Energy Partners of Vancouver to build three wind farms near Steens in Harney County. The three projects are located next to each other, totaling more than 300 megawatts of power and 120-180 turbines. Environmental groups say they should be treated as one single large project, instead of three smaller ones.

Oregon has a list of official State Protected Areas where energy development is off limits. It includes the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area. ONDA and Audubon argued that Steens Mountain deserves to be on the list, too. They say large scale wind development threatens the wildlife and scenic values of Steens.

ONDA Executive Director Brent Fenty says, “There are appropriate places for energy development in Oregon’s high desert but Steens Mountain is not the right place. Steens is an area that the public has made clear should not be developed, but instead should be permanently protected for its iconic vistas and incredible wildlife habitat.”

It probably didn’t help matters that the EFSC meeting where the issue was decided was held in Harney County. Local officials are big supporters of the proposed wind farms because of the jobs they’d create during construction and operation of the facilities.

Related Story:

Wind Farms, Sage Grouse, And Loopholes