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

The report lists 24-trends that, according to the EPA, show Climate Change is a “real problem” that’s already impacting our country.

Some highlights:

Greenhouse Gases: Greenhouse gas pollution caused by people rose 14% in the United States from 1990 to 2008. Most of that appears to be due to population growth. The report says the amount of emissions, per person, have remained about the same. Globally, emissions rose 26% from 1990 – 2005.

Average Temperatures: Seven of the top ten warmest years in the U.S. have occurred since 1990. For the world, 2000-2009 was the warmest decade ever recorded.

Heat Waves: Since 1980, we’re seeing more heat waves in the lower 48-states and more parts of the country are experiencing them. Still, things aren’t as bad as they were during the 1930s dust bowl.

Hurricanes: Six of the 10 most active hurricane seasons have occurred since the mid-1990s.

Sea Levels: Global sea levels are rising about an inch per decade. Here in the U.S. we’re seeing the most problems in the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. In the Northwest, sea levels have actually gone down a little. The impact isn’t consistent because, the report says, because in some places the land is rising faster than the ocean.

Glaciers and Ice: Glaciers in the United States and around the world have generally shrunk since the 1960s, and the rate at which glaciers are melting appears to have accelerated over the last decade. Lakes in the Northern U.S. are freezing later and melting sooner than they were 100-years ago.

Oregon gets some special attention in the report. Western Oregon, Western Washington and Northern California are experiencing some of the biggest decreases in winter snowpack. This could cause serious problems for how we manage salmon and steelhead, while trying to set aside water for hydropower and irrigation.

For More Information:

EPA: Climate Change Indicators in the United States

Related Stories:

• They’re Not Forests, Think Of Them As Lungs For The Earth
• Oregon Shines In Greenhouse Gas Report
• Portland, Multnomah County Charge Ahead On Climate Change

New research has found that older Douglas-fir trees in Oregon are just as susceptible to Swiss needle cast as younger ones, suffering the same needle loss and in some cases almost stop growing. Photo from OSU.

Oregon’s state tree, the Douglas Fir, is under attack from a disease that’s spreading and intensifying through the Coast Range.

It’s called Swiss needle cast, a fungus that causes the tree to lose its needles and stunts its growth. Researchers with Oregon State University say the disease has gotten so bad, it’s damaging forests to the tune of $200 million per year.

They suspect global warming may be a cause.

Swiss needle cast is not new to Oregon’s forests and for a long time wasn’t considered much of a problem. But starting in the 1980s, researchers say the disease became much more widespread and got significantly worse in the late 1990s.

“It’s now clear that this epidemic is a new phenomenon, with far more severity and impact than anything we’ve observed from Swiss needle cast in the past,” says Dave Shaw, an assistant professor at OSU and director of Swiss Needle Cast Cooperative. “We’ve known of this disease for decades but it was considered a non-issue in terms of forest health. A perfect storm of conditions that favor this fungus has caused a major epidemic that is still growing.”

The “perfect storm” Shaw refers to includes how the forests are managed, plus a changing climate.

Oregon’s coastal forests used to be more diverse, with greater variety in the types of trees that grew there and greater variety in their ages. But as the forests were logged, the trees that came down were replaced mostly by Douglas Fir.

The disease also spreads more easily in warm temperatures and rainy spring seasons.

“We now know that weather is a driver in the epidemiology and spread of this disease,” says Bryan Black, an assistant professor of forestry based at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center. “We can’t say yet whether climate change is part of what’s causing these problems, but warmer conditions, milder winters and earlier springs would be consistent with that.”

Young trees drop their needles, turn yellow and grow much more slowly when infected by the fungus Swiss needle cast. Photo from OSU.

In 2008, an estimated 376,000 acres of coastal forests were infected. But the researchers say it could spread to two million acres.

Most of the time, Swiss needle cast doesn’t kill the tree, but does slow its growth. In severe cases, the tree stops growing. “Tree growth has been reduced so much at severely-impacted sites that we could not actually find a growth ring that went all the way around some trees,” Black says. “At these sites the overall growth rate over the past 25 years was reduced by more than 85 percent in comparison to non-diseased trees.”

The researchers used to believe that the disease primarily only affected younger trees, those less than 40-years old. The hope was that the disease was something the trees would simply outgrow. But the newest research shows that older trees are just as vulnerable as younger ones.

Forestry officials have limited options to stop the disease. Fungicides work well, but are expensive and can damage the environment. One possibility is planting less Douglas Fir and using more western hemlock, red alder or other species.

Despite its name, Swiss Needle Cast is native to the Pacific Northwest. But, it was discovered in Europe in trees that had been imported from this region.

That includes Governor Kulongoski, who says he’ll dim the lights at the Governor’s mansion during Earth Hour, which runs from 8:30pm to 9:30pm.

“I ask my fellow Oregonians to join me in recognition of Earth Hour,” says Kulongoski in a press release. “By turning off our lights for one hour, we will demonstrate our willingness to take action and our collective concerns about climate change and the impacts it will have on our state and our planet.”

If you’re looking for the epicenter of Earth Hour events in our state it’s probably Portland. Here’s a partial list of some of the city’s best known landmarks going dark on Saturday night.

• The Made In Oregon sign along the Burnside Bridge.
• The Go By Train sign at Union Station.
• The Hawthorne and Morrison Bridges.
• The lights outside the Rose Garden and the spires at the Oregon Convention Center.
• The Nines Hotel.

But beyond Portland the list includes the University of Oregon, Willamette University, Eugene International High School and the Suislaw School District.

The Portland Audubon Society is also using Earth Hour to raise awareness about light pollution. Audubon says light pollution disrupts the natural cycles of plants and animals. It also creates a phenomenon known as “sky glow” which lures birds into striking city windows and is a major cause of bird deaths.

Earth Hour started two years ago in Sydney, Australia.  It’s estimated that one billion people took part in last year’s Earth Hour. It’s the 8:30pm to 9:30pm hour in every time zone, so New York’s Earth Hour is three hours ahead of Oregon’s. (Except of course for that part of Eastern Oregon in the Mountain Time Zone.)

Here in the U.S., other landmarks going dark include the Las Vegas Strip, Seattle’s Space Needle and the Golden Gate Bridge.

For more information see:

MyEarthHour.org
Portland Audubon Society Earth Hour On Facebook
Earth Hour Social Media Tools (If you want to help spread the word)

Meanwhile enjoy this video produced by the Earth Hour 2010 Campaign.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5WYlqD8mR0

A view of the Calapooya Mountains in the Umpqua National Forest. Photo from U.S. Forest Service.

We all know there’s something special about Oregon’s forests.

A new study by the Wilderness Society says if you’re looking for a place to store carbon, Oregon forests are the best in the nation.

Using Forest Service data, the Society says the top ten best forests for storing carbon are all in the Pacific Northwest. Six of them in Oregon, three of them are in Washington and one is in Alaska.

What makes our forests so good?

Mike Anderson with the Wilderness Society’s office in Seattle says it’s a combination of factors. A moist climate, the kinds of trees we have here, a longer growing season, old growth trees and fewer fires allow our forests to build up massive amounts of carbon.

Map of the top ten carbon storing National Forests from the Wilderness Society. Click on image for larger version.

On average, these forests store about 135 metric tons of carbon per acre, which is equivalent to about 500 metric tons of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.

The top carbon storing powerhouse of all is the Willamette National Forest in the Central Oregon Cascades. It holds about 164 metric tons of carbon per acre, about the same as 600 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Here’s another way of looking at it. Compared to how much carbon we burn by using fossil fuels, there’s about a 20-month supply in these trees.

Anderson says this has implications for how we manage these forests.

“The best thing we can do,” he says, “is to leave them alone. These trees can retain the carbon for centuries. We know these westside moist forests are holding a lot of carbon and it’s best to let them do that.”

The study’s co-author, Ann Ingerson says, “Loss of a portion of this stored carbon can add to our greenhouse gas emissions burden just as we are struggling to achieve the drastic reductions needed.”

Getting the feds as well as state and local governments to think of these areas as “carbon banks” will take some effort.

The Bush Administration wanted to dramatically increase logging on Western Oregon forests under the control of the Bureau of Land Management. There’s a lot of carbon in those trees, too. The Wilderness Society says BLM’s forests in Western Oregon store nearly as much carbon, per acre, as do the National Forests. The Obama Administration has put those plans on hold.

But the real top dogs of carbon storage? They are the Pacific Northwest’s National Parks. Crater Lake, Mt. Rainier, Olympic and the North Cascades National Parks store an average 644 metric tons of carbon dioxide per acre.

Here’s irony for you. Anderson says the Forest Service collected the data not to evaluate carbon storage, but to see how much potential National Forests have for logging.

Thanks to the Public News Service for the tip!

Wilderness Society Video: A Visit To One Of America’s Top Ten Carbon Storing Forests

In the last days of the special session, one more victory notch in the belt of Oregon’s environmental community.

This afternoon, the House approved SB 1059, a bill that lowers greenhouse gas emissions from car and light trucks. The Oregon Environmental Council says the vote was 32-26. The Senate approved the bill yesterday, all that’s left is getting the Governor’s signature.

Here’s a brief rundown of what’s in the bill:

State agencies develop a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation in Oregon.

Working with metro area governments, the agencies develop guidelines on how to reduce emissions. This includes looking at land use policy to and mass transit options. Supporters hope this will lead to less sprawl and make it easier to people to get around without driving.

The next step is creating a “toolkit” for local governments to use. This may include information about the options local governments have to reduce emissions, which methods are most effective, and the costs and benefits.

The five metro areas of Salem-Keizer, Eugene-Springfield, Medford, Bend and Corvallis will get specific targets to hit for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. A separate law covers the Portland metro area.

Finally, the agencies report back to the legislature on how much all of this is going to cost.

1000 Friends of Oregon and the Oregon Environmental Council released a joint statement praising the bill.

Mary Kyle McCurdy, 1000 Friends of Oregon Policy Director says, “This victory will help create healthier, sustainable communities across Oregon. And it’s a major step for giving Oregonians better transportation choices.”

“SB 1059 is a win-win for cities and towns across Oregon,” says Chris Hagerbaumer, Deputy Director of the Oregon Environmental Council. “The bill will help create the tools and resources local governments need to make cost effective decisions on planning future growth while also improving air quality and reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Cities and towns of all sizes will be able to use the tools that the agencies develop.”

The bill doesn’t just set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in metro areas, but according to the statement also…

• Directs state agencies to develop a statewide transportation strategy on greenhouse gases.
• To craft a toolkit to assist local governments and metro areas in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.
• To develop guidelines for scenario planning – used by communities across the country to consider alternative choices of land use patterns and transportation options to reduce emissions.
• To work with the Oregon University System to educate the public about the costs and benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Report back to the 2011 Legislature with an estimate of how much it will cost local governments to prepare and select a land use and transportation scenario that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and potential sources of funding.
• And then report back to the 2013 Legislative Assembly with an assessment of how the agencies are doing on these tasks.

SB 1059 is based on recommendations from 2009 Metropolitan Planning Organization Greenhouse Gas Emissions Task Force.

Earlier:

Within the past half hour, the Oregon Senate approved a bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.

The vote was 17 to 13. It now goes to the House for a vote, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

SB 1059 calls for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in five of the state’s metro areas including; Eugene-Springfield, Salem-Keizer, Medford, Corvallis and Bend. Supporters hope it will lead to these area’s expanding their mass transit systems and finding ways to control sprawl. The Portland metro area is covered by another law regulating greenhouse gases.

This is the second big win of the session for Oregon’s environmental community and my Twitter and Facebook accounts are going a little crazy with messages. That’s not a complaint, by the way.

The other important victory of the session is a ten-year ban on offshore oil and gas drilling along Oregon’s coastline. That bill has passed both houses and will likely be signed by Governor Kulongoski, if he hasn’t signed it already.

Another priority bill for the session, a ban on bisphenol A, lost momentum when it hit the Senate floor. A 15-15 tie vote killed the legislation and attempts to revive it through the House Rules Committee failed.

The Oregon Environmental Council has a webpage explaining more about how SB 1059 works.

See: SB 1059: Creating Climate-Friendly Communities

Under the bill, state agencies will set greenhouse gas reduction targets for five metro areas in the state, Salem-Keizer, Eugene-Springfield, Bend, Medford and Corvallis. The Portland metro area is already covered by a similar law.

The bill also calls for the state to help the metro areas by giving them help with planning and ideas on the best ways to reach the goals.

Supporters are hoping this will encourage more metro areas in the state to expand their mass transit options, and look for ways to control sprawl.

The Senate convenes this afternoon starting at 1pm. Brock Howell of Environment Oregon says if the bill passes, the House could vote on as soon as tomorrow.

This is what the bill does.

• Requires ODOT and the Department of Land Conservation to set overall state strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.
• Sets emissions targets that the state’s largest metro areas have to reach by 2035. This includes Salem-Keizer, Eugene-Springfield, Bend, Medford and Corvallis. It doesn’t include Portland because that metro area is covered by separate legislation.
• Provides the metro areas with ideas, strategies and plans to help them achieve the new goals.

Supporters hope this will lead to more mass transit in the regions covered by the bill, and help prevent sprawl.

Thanks to 1000 Friends of Oregon for the tip!

The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee heard from witnesses on SB 1059, the bill that requires urban areas to reduce greenhouse gases from cars and trucks, but it did not take vote. And because of time constraints, it put off taking another look at SB 1032, the bisphenol A ban.

Both bills come up again Thursday afternoon.