Wolf News; Oxbow Reservoir Eagles & Bighorn Sheep

In This Issue:

- Wolf News
----- Who Killed The Wenaha Wolf? (Video)
----- State & Congressional Legislators Attempting to Remove Protections for Wolves
----- Wolves In Umatilla County

- Oxbow Reservoir Eagles & Bighorn Sheep (Scroll through wolf articles for eagle and bighorn ewe photos)
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Who Killed The Wenaha Wolf?



Watch on YouTube.
From WolfAdvocates:

The young male Wenaha Wolf lived in the Umatilla National Forest of the Blue Mountain Range, in the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness. He was fitted with a radio collar in early August, and shot dead by an unknown assailant in early October 2010. That person likely had a receiver tuned to his frequency who tracked him down and brutally shot him in his home territory.

The Wenaha wolf pack has never been associated with one single instance of depredation. The killing of this beautiful wolf was not only cruel and illegal, it was unjustified in every sense of the word. If you have any information that can lead to the arrest and conviction of the one who killed the Wenaha Wolf, we urge you to call the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service at 503-682-6131.

To learn more about Oregon wolves, please visit Bringing Wolves Back Home to Oregon

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State & Congressional Legislators Attempting to Remove Protections for Wolves




Fish & Wildlife Service Photo (above)

Oregon Wild Press Statement on Whitsett Wolf Kill Bill Introduction

PORTLAND, ORE Feb 03, 2011
On February 1, 2011, state Senator Ted Whitsett [District: 28, Klamath Falls, 541-883-4006, sen.dougwhitsett@state.or.us - Chris], introduced Senate Bill 583 which seeks to remove the gray wolf from protection under the state endangered species act. The bill is the first of many expected legislative efforts aimed at undermining the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, adopted in 2005 after months of stakeholder meetings and negotiations. The following is the reaction of Rob Klavins of the conservation group Oregon Wild, a leading voice for wolves in Oregon:

“This wolf kill bill is a dangerous distraction from sincere efforts to recover and manage gray wolves in Oregon. It is sad that 60 years after wolves were eradicated in our state through poisoning and trapping some feel we should turn back the clock to those dark days. Wolves are native to Oregon and have a place on the landscape of our state. Just days after confirming 3 new wolves in Oregon, the state’s known population stands at 24 wolves and 2 breeding pairs. Now is not the time to repeat the mistakes of the past and send them back down the path to extermination.

This extreme bill takes wildlife management decisions out of the hands of professional biologists, and plays politics with what should be a scientifically-based process. In addition, we are fearful that this proposed legislation represents the tip of the iceberg of anti-wolf bills to be proposed during this legislative session. Oregon Wild will work to ensure we don’t take a step back in our efforts to recover gray wolves to the state and continue our efforts to educate Oregonians about the benefits of this once maligned animal returning to Oregon.”

Text of bill:
Relating to wolves.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any provision of ORS 496.171 to 496.182, the State Fish and Wildlife Commission may not list the gray wolf on the list of wildlife species that are
threatened species or endangered species adopted by rule of the commission pursuant to ORS
496.172.

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Rehberg sets the stage for nationwide wolf eradication

New legislation would allow elimination of gray wolves, puts all America’s wildlife at risk
Washington, DC (January 27, 2011) - Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg introduced two bills yesterday that would strip federal protections for gray wolves across the country. Together, these bills would allow states to eliminate all wolves in the Northern Rockies, Great Lakes and Southwest, including the 42 Mexican wolves struggling for survival in New Mexico and Arizona. If passed, this legislation would be the first to exempt a single species from the Endangered Species Act, setting a dangerous precedent for removing protections for other imperiled wildlife.

The following is a statement from Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife:

“These bills are bad for wolves, bad for the Endangered Species Act, and bad for the future of all America’s wildlife. Some members of Congress are willing to sell out America’s wolves by looking for a quick legislative fix. In the process, they are undermining not only one of our greatest conservation successes, but also unraveling the Endangered Species Act, one of the world’s most far-sighted conservation laws.

“Most Americans care very deeply about our nation’s wildlife and want to see all animals protected from needless persecution. However, these bills would sacrifice wildlife belonging to all Americans just because a small minority of people don’t like wolves. Obviously, some folks still think all predators are bad, even though those animals are an essential part of this country’s wildlife heritage.

“These bills set a terrible precedent that will open the flood gates to legislation to strip protections for any other species that a politician finds inconvenient to protect. Grizzly bears, salmon, whales, polar bears and Florida panthers are just a few that could be at serious risk. If enacted, this legislation would constitute one of the worst assaults on the ESA since it became law in 1973. If we allow Congress to overrule the courts and usurp the authority of professional wildlife managers and expert biologists, there’s no telling where it will stop.

“For decades there has been a worldwide scientific consensus that human society is causing a rapid and accelerating loss of species, species that hold together the web of life that supports all life on earth, including human life. During President George H. W. Bush’s administration, his science advisory council identified this phenomenon as representing one of the most serious long-term threats to human welfare, and it has only become worse since then. The ESA is the single strongest law we have for combating this enormous threat to future generations, and it would be enormous human folly to mindlessly begin unraveling it based upon political whim.
. . . .

Background:
On August 5, 2010, federal protections were restored for wolves in the Northern Rockies under the Endangered Species Act. A U.S. District Court in Montana determined that wolves had been illegally delisted along state lines by removing protections in Idaho and Montana but not Wyoming.

Under current delisting plans, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming would have been allowed to manage wolves down to 100 to 150 wolves per states. Wyoming’s plan would allow wolves to be shot on sight in 90 percent of the state. Idaho’s official position, as adopted by the Idaho state legislature in 2002, is to remove all wolves by any means necessary. The 2002 Idaho state wolf management plan calls for no more than 150 wolves. Montana has so far committed to maintaining a minimum of 15 breeding pairs, but there is nothing to prevent the state legislature or future administrations from using this number as the maximum as well. There are currently an estimated 1,700 wolves in the region. More than 1,000 wolves could needlessly die because of this legislation.

At the last count in January 2010, biologists could find just 42 Mexican gray wolves and only two breeding pairs in Arizona and New Mexico – a dangerously low number that scientists say contributes to ongoing genetic inbreeding that is causing low birth and pup survival rates, creating a downward demographic spiral. The population dropped by 19 percent between 2009 and 2010. A new count is being conducted this month.

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Links:
http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/imperiled_species/wolves/wolf_recovery_efforts/northern_rockies_wolves/index.php
Read a chronology of wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies

[See link above for entire article.]
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Wolves In Umatilla County

From ODFW: Michelle Dennehy
Feb 2, 2011

You may have already seen this in the news or heard it elsewhere…
Track evidence found by ODFW and U.S. Forest Service biologists on Jan. 20 confirms that three wolves have
been using the Walla Walla Unit and represent a potential new wolf pack. The wolves’ territory is not clear yet; they
could be primarily using territory in Washington State. There is currently no evidence that these wolves reproduced
in 2010.

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MILTON-FREEWATER
Wolf pack confirmed in Umatilla County

Posted: Monday, January 31, 2011 2:39 pm | Updated: 3:16 pm, Mon Jan 31, 2011.
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian

Wolves are now living in northern Umatilla County, a state wildlife official confirmed today.

Mark Kirsch is the Umatilla District wildlife biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. He said more than one Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf has settled in the Walla Walla River/Mill Creek system.

"When we say more than one wolf, I think we're pretty confident we have no less than three," Kirsch said.
But it's too early to say just what kind of "social formation" these wolves are in, he said.

"We know so little at this point," Kirsch said. "The source of our current efforts is to try and understand that."

Andrew Picken of Pendleton reported seeing a trio of wolves south of Milton-Freewater on Jan. 2. He even shot some video and took photos, but the animals were too far away to positively identify them as wolves.

[See link above for article.]
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Oxbow Reservoir Eagles & Bighorn Sheep

Bald Eagle Near Brownlee Dam, February 2, 2011
[Some sort of incompatibility between Google and Photoshop puts too much blue in this photo. I've tried to correct it to no avail!]

I took Joanne Britton's (our local bird historian and count organizer) advice and went out to enjoy the sunshine on Tuesday & Wednesday of last week. Saw 14 Bald Eagles on the Powder River arm of Brownlee Reservoir on Tuesday (Don't have a scope so there may have been more.) There were also 5 on a cow carcass in the lower Keating/Powder River Valley near Middle Bridge, and 4 golden eagles enroute to Brownlee. Couldn't find the Hooded Mergansers that Jim Lawrence had seen on an open pond near there a week or so earlier.

Quite a few Common Goldeneye have returned to the Powder, which is flowing with ice-melt.
Common Goldeneye, Powder River, March, 2010

On Wednesday, February 2 (Groundhog Day), I went down to Oxbow on the Snake River and counted 52 BAEA between Oxbow dam and Brownlee dam, including 20 juveniles. Most were perched in the larger trees (with a few on the shoreline) on the Idaho side, but several were on the Oregon side. Both adults and juveniles were in flight around Brownlee Dam. Posted some of the eagles on Flickr.

Juvenile Bald Eagle, Brownlee Dam, February 2, 2011

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Ewe near Brownlee Dam, 2/2/11

Four Bighorn ewes were grazing on grasses just off the road on the Oregon side. One had a collar and a number 99 tag. Wish I knew more about her. The fur had been considerably shortened on her neck around the collar.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Ewe with collar near Brownlee Dam, 2/2/11

Some Baker County Wildlife

While I was out and about in the last few weeks, I was able to photograph a very few animals, or signs of them at least, in areas south of Baker City, here in Baker County, Oregon. They included a beaver dam, Pronghorn Antelope, Bald and Golden Eagles, and the often overlooked Townsend's Solitaire, all of which I feature in this blog.

American Beaver (Castor canadensis)

The beaver had been trapped to extirpation over large areas in the 1800's, and has also been, like many rodents, much persecuted in the American west. I first ran across them while on vacations from California when I was just a child, and was fascinated by their activities in the riparian areas, as I glanced out the car window in travels through Wyoming, Montana, and Canada.

Recently, I have noticed their expansion in the irrigation ditch running along the west side of Highway 7, as it flows through Bowen Valley, and at a new beaver dam up at the Powder River Recreation Area not far below Mason Dam and Phillips Reservoir. During my time in Utah, I remember that they were shot because of their propensity to dam irrigation ditches or burrow into earthen dams that were unprotected by chain link wire fabric.

They do however serve many valuable functions:

"Besides being a keystone species, beavers reliably and economically maintain wetlands that can sponge up floodwaters (the several dams built by each colony also slows the flow of floodwaters), prevent erosion, raise the water table and act as the "earth's kidneys" to purify water. The latter occurs because several feet of silt collect upstream of older beaver dams, and toxics, such as pesticides, are broken down in the wetlands that beavers create. Thus, water downstream of dams is cleaner and requires less treatment." http://www.beaversww.org/beaver.html

They also provide habitat useful to fish:
"American Beaver

Oregon’s early economy was built on beaver pelts. During the 1800s, by feeding European and eastern American demand for beaver hats and coats, fur trappers virtually eliminated the species from many landscapes through unregulated trapping. With proper management, however, beaver have become re-established and are now common throughout their range. In 1969, the Legislature recognized the American Beaver by naming it Oregon’s state animal. Beavers enhance habitat for many other fish and wildlife species through their dam-building activities. Beaver ponds provide areas for people to fish, hunt and view wildlife. Beavers have reddish brown to black fur, webbing on their hind feet and a tail that is broad, flat, hairless and scaled." (http://www.dfw.state.or.us/conservationstrategy/oregon_state_species.asp#beaver)

Just google it!

Anyway, here are a few photos of the new beaver dam below Phillips Res., where they appear to be feeding on alder and river birch. I've also included a short clip from a film of beaver I took in Utah in 1994.

Beaver Dam Below Phillips Reseroir

Dam with limbs and bark of food sources chewed clean

Short Video of beaver giving alarm call in the Uinta Mountains of northern Utah in 1994:

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Pronghorn Antelope (Antilocapra americana)

On December 3, 2009, I came across two bands of a Pronghorn Antelope herd on the Foster Ranch in Bowen Valley. They totaled around 74 individuals. Usually I see about 20 or at most 30 in that area, so I called ODFW and they confirmed that it was an unusually large group. Back in 1948, they were quite scarce in Baker County, according to the account set forth in "The Pronghorn Antelope and its management" by Arthur S. Einarsen. They gained the attention of State wildlife agencies in 1935 because of an interest in preserving the species.

Two Photos:

Pronghorn in Bowen Valley

Pronghorn Negotiating Barbed Wire Fence

Pronghorn can get under fences intended to contain cattle, but traditional sheep fence is a different story. The heavy mesh wire sheep fences in use, at least in the past, in the Great Basin, not only restricted the movement of sheep, but they also restricted the free movement of pronghorn. The mesh wire in the lower 3-4 feet of fence below the barbed wire in sheep fences are a barrier because pronghorn try to go under a fence rather than jump over it. In severe winters, thousands of pronghorn have died in Wyoming after being trapped on the wrong side of sheep fence. One can imagine that such fences come in handy for predators of Pronghorn as well. The once wide open landscapes and ecosystems of the west are now criss crossed and fragmented by hundreds of thousands of miles of fence because of livestock use. For a 1990's photo of sheep fence in the Great Basin, see: http://rangenet.org/projects/wplgalbum/page3/page3b.html
Also note the effects of severe grazing pressure on the private land on the left side of the fence in the photo above.
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Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

I took the following photos just recently above Bowen Valley and by the Burnt River at Bridgeport.

Along Elk Creek Road, someone had dumped two elk carcasses after they had been processed for meat. The attraction for wildlife was great as the temps had been and continued to be in the sub-zero range at night. The carcasses have been attracting eagles all week. Thank god for the carcass dumpers! He fed probably over 8-10 eagles, many ravens and a mob of magpies during a very difficult period temperature wise. They also feed on fish, such as can be secured from Phillips and Unity reservoirs, waterfowl, and mammals. Perhaps as importantly here in Baker County, now that cattle ranching and farming has displaced the pre-settler environment, they congregate around calving operations to feed on the leftovers from birthing.

Bald Eagle on Juniper near Elk Carcass on Elk Creek Road

Another almost adult Bald Eagle was soaring above after having gorged itself on the donated carcass:
Nearly adult Bald Eagle [Classified Sub-adult IV or "Transition"]

On a raptor count the next day, I was able to take the following photo of an adult Bald Eagle next to the Burnt River at Bridgeport:

Bald Eagle at Bridgeport
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Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysatos)

Due to the presence of the elk carcasses, I was able to photograph a Golden Eagle sub-adult (IV) in flight on Elk Creek Road. When they can, Goldens feed on jack rabbits, ground squirrels, waterfowl, and the like, but they, like the Bald Eagle, also feed on carrion.

Golden Eagle, sub-adult

The previous day I had been able to photograph another Golden Eagle just east of Hereford near the Burnt River. Here are two photos:

Golden Eagle on Western Juniper

Golden Eagle in Flight
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Townsend's Solitaire (Myadestes townsendii)

When visiting the juniper woodlands of Eastern Oregon in winter, the attentive one is likely to hear the plaintive call of the mousy gray-brown Townsend's Solitaire up on the top of a nearby tall juniper. In spring, you may also hear their beautiful song. Charles Bendire, a renowned early American ornithologist, thought, as expressed in a letter from 1874, that it was superior to the song of the mockingbird, although I'm not sure I would agree.

The Solitaire is a Thrush, and thus related to the robin and bluebird.

In winter it feeds on the juniper berry, in competition with the wandering bands of Robins, with whom he is usually found, although in far fewer numbers. They are still fairly common up on Elk Creek Road, despite the fact that many of his favored tree, the Western juniper, have been cutdown recently.

Here is a photo from last week:

Townsend's Solitaire
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Quotes for Your Soul & Merry Christmas!

In this edition:

Information Clearing House Freedom Quotes

Merry Christmas From John Lennon & Yoko Ono


Struggling National Symbol Wonders What We Have Become
(© Christopher Christie)

When one is overcome with “outrage fatigue,” it is sometimes helpful, or at least validating, to embrace the thoughts of those who came before. A good source of those thoughts is a news service such as Information Clearing House, which provides worthy quotes with every issue.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

Please read the most recent offering:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Information Clearing House Newsletter
News You Won't Find On CNN
12/22/07
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty. Usurpation is then an easy attainment, and an usurper soon found. The people themselves become the willing instruments of their own debasement and ruin." -- James Monroe (1758-1831), 5th US President Source: First Inaugural Address, 1817

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"Under every government the dernier [Fr. last, or final] resort of the people, is an appeal to the sword; whether to defend themselves against the open attacks of a foreign enemy, or to check the insidious encroachments of domestic foes. Whenever a people... entrust the defence of their country to a regular, standing army, composed of mercenaries, the power of that country will remain under the direction of the most wealthy citizens." -- A Framer - Anonymous 'framer' of the US Constitution Source: Independent Gazetteer, January 29, 1791

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"He is free who lives as he wishes to live; who is neither subject to compulsion nor to hindrance, nor to force; whose movements to action are not impeded, whose desires attain their purpose, and who does not fall into that which he would avoid." -- Epictetus (ca 55-135 A.D.) Greek philospher Source: Discourses, ca 100 A.D.

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"The only freedom deserving the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental and spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest." -- John Stuart Mill - (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist Source: On Liberty, 1859

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"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone." -John Maynard Keynes, British economist

And from yesterday's edition:

"It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured." Tacitus

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
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The Eagle Cap Wilderness and Baker County In Winter
(© Christopher Christie)

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BAvAA53sLo

Some Steve Earle Lyrics:

Ashes to Ashes (dust to dust)

There was blood on their hands and a plague on the land
They drew a line in the sand and made their last stand
They said "God made us in his image
And it's in God that we trust"
When asked about the men that had died by their hands
They said "ashes to ashes and dust to dust"

Now, nobody lives forever
Nothin' stands the test of time
Oh, you heard 'em say "never say never"
But it's always best to keep it in mind
That every tower ever built tumbles
No matter how strong, no matter how tall
Someday even great walls will crumble
And every idol ever raised falls
And someday even man's best laid plans
Will lie twisted and covered in rust
When we've done all that we can but it slipped through our hands
And it's ashes to ashes and dust to dust


Amerika V. 6.0 (The Best We Can Do)

Look at ya
Yeah, take a look in the mirror now tell me what you see
Another satisfied customer in the front of the line for the American dream
I remember when we was both out on the boulevard
Talkin' revolution and singin' the blues
Nowadays it's letters to the editor and cheatin' on our taxes
Is the best that we can do
Come on

Look around
There's doctors down on Wall Street
Sharpenin' their scalpels and tryin' to cut a deal
Meanwhile, back at the hospital
We got accountants playin' God and countin' out the pills
Yeah, I know, that sucks that your HMO
Ain't doin' what you thought it would do
But everybody's gotta die sometime and we can't save everybody
It's the best that we can do

Four score and a hundred and fifty years ago
Our forefathers made us equal as long as we can pay
Yeah, well maybe that wasn't exactly what they was thinkin'
Version six-point-oh of the American way
. . . .
Yeah, I realize that ain't exactly democratic, but it's either them or us and
And it's the best we can do

Yeah, passionately conservative
It's the best we can do

Conservatively passionate
It's the best we can do

Meanwhile they’re still thinkin’ Hey--
Lets go blow up Iraq—I mean North Korea
I mean Syria, I mean Texas. . . .