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Transcription

1 ;Aka& -4 k A \ ey, L3 - t 1 O -'t to - OREGON WILD o June 1974 _

2 OREGON WILDLIFE JUNE 1974 Volume 29, No 6 RON E SHAY, Edto HAROLD C SMITH, Staff Atst Oegon Wldlfe s publshed monthly by the Oegon Wldlfe Commsson Eale volumes of the publcaton wee enttled the Oegon State Game Commsson Bulletn OREGON WILDLIFE COMMISSION MEMBERS FRANK A MOORE, Chaman Idleyld Pak DAN CALLAGHAN, Vce Chaman Salem MRS ALLEN BATEMAN Klamath Falls ALLAN L KELLY Potland JAMES W WHITTAKER Plot Rock JOHN W McKEAN, Decto All coespondence should be sent to: OREGON WILDLIFE COMMISSION PO Box SW Alde Steet Potland, Oegon Pemsson to epnt s ganted; cedt would be appecated Oegon Wldlfe s cculated fee of chage Please epot change of addess pomptly gvng both new and old addesses and zp codes Second -class postage pad at Potland, Oegon The Cove Don Kkpatck, ou featue atcle autho, checkng ove a few of the many thousand eggs handled at the E E Nlson game fam Photo by Ken Dubn HUNTER EDUCATION PROGRAM Instuctos Appoved Month of Apl 20 Total to Date 3,380 Students Taned Month of Apl 844 Total to Date 208,061 Feams Huntng Casualtes Repoted n 1974 Fatal 0 Nonfatal 4 Guest Edtoal DOLLARS FOR WILDLIFE Hstocally, management of Oegon's wldlfe esouce has been fnanced pmaly by anglng and huntng lcense and tag fees A long- standng fedeal excse tax on anglng and huntng equpment has also been a dependable souce of evenue NO STATE GENERAL FUND MONEY HAS BEEN ALLOCATED FOR THIS PURPOSE Peodc changes n lcense o tag fees and n the lcensng stuctue have occued ove the yeas Many of these have had a postve mpact on evenue; othes have had the effect of educng evenue Plannng fo the futue of the esouce and fo publc oppotuntes to utlze the esouce must, of necessty, ncopoate a elable and adequate evenue base The Commsson has eluctantly concluded that t cannot meet ts oblgatons to the esouce and the publc wthout a substantal ncease n evenue Thee s no acceptable altenatve The damatc ncease n the cost of dong busness combned wth geate and moe dvese esponsbltes, many of whch ae of boad publc nteest, ae the two majo factos nfluencng the unfavoable fnancal stuaton, although thee ae othes that have contbuted to the poblem Thee ae seveal potental outes to follow n obtanng addtonal evenu, fo wldlfe puposes An ncease n lcense and tag fees, although lkely to cause a tempoay downtun n the numbe of lcenses and tags ssued, s the most dependable souce Othe possbltes such as a geneal fund appopaton, voluntee contbutons, eceaton bond ssues, o specal tax assessments ae faught wth uncetantes The most logcal appoach s one whch would combne a easonable ncease n lcense and tag fees wth a geneal fund appopaton, the latte to be used to fnance Commsson actvtes of boad publc concen such as envonmental potecton and management, nongame wldlfe developments and, to some degee, enfocement The Commsson wll also caefully evew ts cuent opeatons to detemne whee futhe effcences and savngs can be made Majo cutbacks, whch could only have the effect of educng eceatonal oppotuntes, appea unlkely In the next seveal months an effot wll be made to acquant the publc wth the poblems faced by the Commsson n tems of fnancng a vable wldlfe management pogam The Commsson s confdent that when the publc has the facts and ecognzes the mpotance of mantanng ths esouce n a healthy and poductve condton fo all Oegonans to enjoy, t wll enthusastcally suppot an ncease n evenue R C Holloway Chef, Infomaton & Educaton Dvson '=1 Page 2 JUNE 1974

3 41 UPLAND BIRD PROPAGATION By DON KIRKPATRICK Supentendent, Wlson Wldlfe Management Aea e, Whch came fst - the pheasant o the egg? In Oegon the answe s smple Chnese ngneck pheasants wee successfully ntoduced nto Oegon n 1882 as adult bds afte at least two pevous shpments wee lost n the pocess of tanspotng them fom manland Chna The Oegon Wldlfe Commsson (then the Oegon State Game Commsson) enteed the pheasant eang busness n 1911 when t leased a pvately owned game fam nea Covalls and etaned ts owne, M Gene Smpson, to ntate a pheasant eang pogam fo ths state It was ths wte's pvlege to have woked unde M Smpson fom 1936 untl hs death n 1940 The basc pncples of upland game popagaton that wee developed by M Smpson though hs many yeas of expeence wee used by some Oegon game fams as late as 1956 These pncples wee based on the use of boody chcken hens to ncubate and hatch the pheasant eggs and ea the chcks to between 6 and 7 weeks of age when they would be on the own In the late 1940s, howeve, a maked decease n the avalablty of boody chcken hens necesstated expemental wok usng ncubatos and a boode system to eplace the hen as a foste mothe In 1951 an ncubato wth a 10,000 pheasant egg capacty was puchased and constucton was begun on a boode buldng whch was to be heated wth hot wate and smla n desgn to numeous tukey boode buldngs used n westen Oegon at that tme Bascally the same methods ae used today as n 1952 though thee have been changes n tempeatue contols, mno changes n boodng methods, and nceased effcency n the ncubatos Unde the pesent pogam, the Wlson Wldlfe Management Aea poduces appoxmately 21,000 ngneck pheasants and 1,900 chukas annually Thee ae thee dstnct lbeaton peods The spng lbeaton of about 3,000 adult bds conssts of culled suplus beedes and the emanng beedes afte all necessay eggs have been gatheed The summe lbeaton conssts of aound 8,800 eght to ten -week old cocks and the fall lbeaton, whch takes place just po to and actually dung the huntng season, s made up of appoxmately 9,200 adult cocks Bds ae classed as lbeated once they leave the Wlson Aea although some 2,900 of the 8,800 summe goup ae placed n holdng pens on othe management aeas and then eleased at matuty dung the huntng season The popagaton pogam opeates on a calenda yea bass so the seasonal cycle commences at the begnnng of the yea wth appoxmately 3,200 adult pheasants on hand; 500 cocks and 2,700 hens Aound the fst of Mach, 1,816 hens and 259 cocks ae selected as beedng stock and ae placed n fou felds vayng n sze fom one -half ace to ove two aces A cock -hen ato of 1 to 7 s mantaned Fo 20 yeas all the beedng stock was blood tested fo pulloum, a bacteal dsease wdespead thoughout the wold's (Contnued on Page 6)

4 , s te y, : 04 Ì - ` 1, 11 F` ; K I' { v2 A I Ma e ` J a -' - Al1 ov (y I A Y - - ` t-ó +'W,1Y11n:e : :,[ M 1 F- f,' F ^- } 1C s a _ 1, ' 'l ; ú +R_ w 1` ' é t N ' oft -'t: ' ' oó 1` 1 ' N I la,vnr (4 w pp ' ` gg: )1 = - ta1 ~ ; - -9 Y ^_! cs _, n The adult beedng pheasants ae held n open pens dung the layng season A leathe wng bal keeps them fom flyng out Though many eggs ae lad on the gound, the nest boxes make collectng somewhat ease The enty allows a hen to pass, but not the cock Page 4 JUNE 1974

5 us* - / 5, t S,} 1 à>n On the left, sotng peepng chcks fom the ecent eggshell homes The chcks ae sexed as soon as they ae out of the hatche The males have a small "eye feld o cheek patch" as shown on the left below The females have no such patch as the chck on the ght below \ e, Is ' N ó, -- Vep Q,,; `, w ' OREGON WILDLIFE Page 5

6 poulty populaton, whch s tansmssable though the egg, causng a vey hgh motalty ate n chcks unde thee weeks of age Pulloum has neve been found n any pheasant n Oegon, so the testng was dscontnued two yeas ago At the tme the beedes ae beng selected the bal stap, a small leathe haness whch had been placed on one wng to pevent the bd fom flyng out of the open topped felds, s checked to assue t wll eman secue dung the layng season Bals ae emoved fom all suplus bds whch ae than placed n we coveed pens untl the elease n late Mach In the felds whee the beedng stock has been placed, thee ae wate toughs and feed boxes and numeous coveed nest boxes These boxes ae about 24 nches squae wth an openng whch pemts the hen to ente but whch s too small to admt the cocks Nealy 70 pe cent of the eggs collected come fom the nest boxes wth the emande dopped at andom all ove the felds equng a egula Easte egg hunt each aftenoon The egg gatheng pocess has thee stages Each monng when the bds ae fed beede pellets, any eggs seen ae placed n the nest boxes In the ealy aftenoon all the eggs n the nest boxes ae collected as well as any that ae notced on the gound The last thng n the aftenoon, as the bds ae fed gan, a thoough walkng of the felds s done, checkng each squae foot n an attempt to gathe evey egg Fst eggs appea aound the 10th of Mach and peak poducton s eached shotly afte the fst of Apl when ove 1,600 eggs pe day ae gatheed Ths peak actvty s held fo about thee weeks and then the numbe and qualty of the eggs begn to dmnsh as a hghe numbe of culls ae lad Ths tendency s undestandable snce about 58 eggs ae taken dung a 70 day peod fom a bd that would nomally poduce between 10 and 16 eggs fo the season f layng natually n the wld By about the 20th of May appoxmately 105,000 eggs wll have been gatheed and the last ncubato settng has been made The pheasant beedng stock s then lbeated, completng the spng lbeaton A poton of the eleased hens wll nest n the wld and ea a bood of pheasants to fnally complete a job they stated aound the mddle of Mach when the fst eggs wee poduced Afte the eggs ae gatheed each day they ae taken to an egg stoage oom whee they ae cleaned and culled The eggs ae actually washed n wate f they ae extemely dty Ths washng appaently has no effect on hatchablty snce thee ae days when almost evey egg needs to be washed and othe days when vey few l '4 + -n:7 7F,C, axt 0' ' ztv'! t,, =, need t and hatches show no appecable dffeence Cullng conssts of sotng out ll- shaped eggs o those wth thn, metallc, poous, o ough shells The good eggs ae then placed n padded boxes, about 300 pe box, whch ae kept on shelves slanted at a 30 degee angle The boxes ae tlted end fo end thee tmes a day to execse the eggs to pevent the yolk fom settlng to one sde whch lowes the hatchng pecentage Nomally eggs ae not kept ove 10 days befoe puttng them n an ncubato Thee ae Afte sexng, the young bds ae placed n small pens coveed wth ceda shavngs Unde the walkway thee ae wam wate ppes povdng necessay heat fo the youngstes As they gow olde, they ae allowed to oam ove a wde aea wth less heat _l 1' ' +T 1 Page 6 JUNE 1974

7 ", a total of seven settngs made dung the couse of the ncubaton season,--at the peak of the ncubato opea - on we have appoxmately 27,000 pheasant eggs and 2,000 eggs fom chukas and othe exotc speces ethe ncubatng o n the pocess of hatchng Because of lmted boode house facltes, all the eggs gatheed cannot be set Thee s a 17 day peod between the second and thd settngs and a 13 day peod between the ffth and sxth settngs when all the eggs ae not utlzed It s dung these tmes that suplus eggs ae funshed to famles nteested n eang pheasants Thee ae some 35,000 suplus pheasant eggs avalable each yea Each pheasant egg settng conssts of 6,840 eggs fom whch an 80 to 85 pe cent hatch s expected As soon as these chcks ae emoved fom the hatche they ae sexed Ths s done by the "eye feld o cheek patch" method Wth expeenced wokes, accuacy wll aveage about 92 pe cent on those chcks classed as cocks and about 98 pe cent on those called et L 4111 It; hens The lowe pecentage fo cocks s due to the fact that any chck about whch thee s any doubt s placed wth the cocks In the ealy 1960s, afte a thoough study of lbeaton hstoes, t was detemned that evey place n the state capable of suppotng pheasant beedng stock had been stocked seveal tmes and that all the land sutable fo pheasants was mantanng establshed beedng populatons It was also detemned that when a populaton becomes establshed n a gven aea, the stockng of addtonal bds fo beedng puposes does not ncease the supply of bds n that patcula aea because they tend to seek the own level of satuaton The pmay advantage then, to usng a sexng pogam to ase cocks only, fo the majo pat of the lbeaton, s to povde moe of the game fam pheasants fo the hunte's bag Wth suffcent holdng pen facltes, t s possble to make smalle lbeatons dung the season and povde bette huntng fo a longe tme n some of those aeas whee thee s a concentaton of huntes One of the chuka patdge at the game fam Though the man poduct of the fam s pheasants, appoxmately 2,000 eggs fom othe speces ae hatched OREGON WILDLIFE 1:'- WV; t ö' + S *VC Oo ten, -- 7' tt e,,yr!_ t w x?tj 1 b," 3 + ' ^' Z t I e 4 y 4 `': : "t:' : wu j t ; :! - ^' - Ths elmnates the one bg suge on openng weekend and then poo huntng fo the est of the season A full sexng pogam has been n opeaton on the Wlson Aea snce 1965 All of the female chcks, except those fom the fst hatch that ae kept as beedes fo the followng yea, ae avalable to famles nteested n eang pheasants All of the avalable 15,000 day -old female chcks have been dstbuted unde ths pogam annually All of the chcks fom the fst hatch and the cocks fom all the othe hatches ae placed n a boode buldng n small pens whee they have access to a hove aea whee a tempeatue of 95 degees s mantaned They ae confned to the buldng fo the fst sx days and then ae gven access to an outsde un Snce they stat flyng at about eght o nne days of age, all uns and holdng pens ae coveed wth poulty nettng At 18 days of age the chcks ae moved to anothe buldng whch does not have a hove aea and has a much lage outsde un As they ae beng handled each chck s debeaked by cuttng appoxmately 1/8 nch off the end of the uppe beak to dscouage cannbalsm The coole tempeatue and lage outsde aea of the second buldng has a tempeng effect so that at sx weeks of age the bds can be placed n lage holdng pens wth no buldng potecton As the bds ae tansfeed to the lage pens, the debeakng pocess s epeated The bds ae left n these holdng pens fo about two weeks f they ae scheduled fo summe lbeaton, fo 13 o 14 weeks f they ae to be held fo beedng stock, o up to 20 weeks f they ae fo fall lbeaton as adult cocks Ealy n Septembe a bal stap s placed on one wng of all those bds fom the fst hatch that ae to be kept as beedng stock fo the followng yea They ae then placed n an open top 12 -ace feld to be held thee untl the next Mach when anothe season s stated The fnal eleases dung the huntng season complete the cycle Wnte at the game fam s a tme fo cleanng and econdtonng facltes, cae of the bood stock of bds, and pepaaton fo spng when the cycle stats agan Page 7

8 Status Repot ROLE OF THE GAME FARM by Bob Mace Don Kkpatck's descpton of game fam opeatons n an accompanyng atcle sets the stage fo dscussng the changng ole of atfcal popagaton ove the yeas The game fam has long been ecognzed as an mpotant tool n upland bd management Opeatng one o moe game fams has been a contnung actvty of the Wldlfe Commsson snce 1911 At one tme, fou fams wee n opeaton poducng upwads of 75,000 pheasants yealy but poducton today has been cutaled wth 20,000 bds beng ased at one faclty Reasons fo the changed emphass ae pmaly economc The game fam's most useful ole has been n poducng bds fo ntal stockng Wthout the game fam, the pheasant and chuka would not have been establshed n Oegon Afte establshment, howeve, contnued stockng has poved both uneconomcal and neffectve The game fam poduct has poved unable to suvve n competton wth natually poduced bds and etuns to the hunte have been lmted Even dung peak yeas when 75,000 pheasants wee eleased, those suvvng to epoduce o be avalable to the hunte epesented but a small poton of the take dung the huntng season The mpotance of natual epoducton as elated to the game fam contbuton can best be appecated when we look at 1958, when the estmated pheasant havest totaled nealy 500,000 bds Obvously, game fam eleases had lttle mpact on ths etun Whle atfcally popagated bds cannot substtute fo natual popagaton, the game fam emans vtally mpotant fo thee easons Fst, thee s need to etan a souce fo stockng aeas depleted by wnte losses o othe natual catastophes Chef, Wldlfe Dvson Secondly, game fam bds eleased befoe o dung the huntng season can povde substantal eceaton nea populaton centes whee natual poducton s lmted Ths s the majo functon today and most pheasants ae eleased fo huntng puposes The thd mpotant contbuton s to seve as a base fo expemental poducton of exotc speces whch may have some potental fo tansplantng puposes Recognzng that the success of any wldlfe speces depends on ablty to suvve unde natual condtons, the Wldlfe Commsson has emphaszed habtat mpovement as a majo objectve Consdeable effot s expended n developng food and shelte fo upland game and encouagng landownes to consde wldlfe needs n management Savng the emanng habtat, patculaly fo upland game whch do best on moe poductve lands, s povng most dffcult as competng uses tensfy wth nceased populaton pessues Land use plannng s the most vtal actvty to emphasze, fo wthout such plannng, all wldlfe foms face a dscouagng futue Despte the poblems, the Wldlfe Commsson plans to execse leadeshp n assung a place fo upland game n the futue and ugently seeks the suppot of all concened ctzens towad that end The game fam wll contnue to functon as a specalzed actvty although the esults may not be as spectacula as n the past when new speces wee beng establshed n the state Adjustments based on expeence and changng tmes have been necessay n the past and contnued flexblty wll be necessay n the futue Such flexblty wll assue that atfcal popagaton plays a vtal ole n Oegon's upland game management pogam Envonmental Events Suppot was gven to thee changes to the Foest Pactce Rules and Regulatons If adopted, these would potect bogs, seeps, wet meadows, and smla wate souces; povde the same defnton fo "wates of the state" as occus n the State Envonmental Code; and stengthen the ules govenng oad danage and wate polluton Study methods needed to detemne Columba Rve mnmum flow equements ae beng developed by a team of Wldlfe Commsson and othe agency techncans Vandalsm esulted n some 10,000 gallons of stove ol beng lost fom an ochad heatng system nea Medfod Although the ol dd each the Rogue Rve by way of Bea Ceek, the pelmnay nvestgaton dd not eveal fsh loss o seous habtat damage Staffs of the Wldlfe Commsson, Depatment of Envonmental Qualty, State Polce and Coast Guad ae coopeatng n futhe nvestgatons The Wldlfe Commsson wll do a poton of the Oegon Coastal Consevaton and Development Commsson's Coastal Zone Fsh and Wldlfe Study Othe segments ae to be done by the Fsh Commsson and SRG Assocates The Fsh and Wldlfe Commsson staffs pepaed a jont epot of potental mpacts fom geothemal enegy exploaton and development n Oegon A plan to offset Scoggns Resevo (Tualatn Rve danage) wldlfe mpacts was appoved by the Bueau of Reclamaton Seveal tacts of poject lands ae to be mpoved by plantng and fetlzaton to allow nceased wnte wldlfe use Afte modfcaton, appoval was gven to the poposed 700 boat mana on Yaquna Bay Addtonally, t was asked that angle access be pemtted on all mana beakwates Page 8 JUNE 1974

9 , fa% The Oegon Wldlfe Commsson ecently sgned a 20 -yea ageement wth Bake County fo the management of some 1,578 aces of county land n the Sumpte Valley fo wldlfe poducton Dck Scheznge, the Commsson's habtat manage fo the Notheast Regon, says the aea tuned ove by the county conssts of wastelands ceated by gold dedgng n the 1930s and agan n the 1950s Some 45 mles of naow, shallow ponds have flled n between the dedge talngs, and fou mles of the Powde Rve un though the cente of the poject Ove the yeas the aea has gadually begun ecoveng some of ts gound cove and has become a home fo many foms of wldlfe, especally watefowl and wate mammals Some 200 boods of ducks and 10 to 15 boods of Canada geese ae now poduced on the aea each yea The shoestng ponds ceate an estmated 90 mles of edge effect, so mpotant to many wldlfe speces Hee f"" abundant wllow and cattal gowth has povded food fo expandng populatons of beave and muskat Effectve management pactces wll make the aea moe attactve fo wldlfe and also expand ts eceatonal potental Scheznge says management plans nclude the development of a numbe of small fshng ponds whch wll be stocked wth anbow tout Food cops wll be planted to supply wldlfe foage n the aeas whee thee s suffcent topsol Tees and shubs wll be planted fo wldlfe cove and to povde steamsde shade fo the Powde Rve Scheznge says eathen dams wll be constucted to deepen some of the ponds and to povde othes whee none now exst By alteng the wate flow though the aea t should also be possble to mpove some of the stagnant wate aeas A natue tal wll be constucted though pat of the aea to povde bette oppotuntes fo publc vewng of wldlfe and fo educatonal use, Scheznge says Huntng and fshng wll also be majo attactons o ett" ' :, Wldlfe Management Aea Set Up In Bake County -- ': f _,, y _ : I, --",,As %Wk í 2q% s -- st:,,f- - 4: 3` _ t *s1 ;,+wst;p,mw-*d lt Y' -#S:,, -,511-"' 74,7' - - a,,; ;` - - ' -- :s`7` y,` ':' ' ", 7417 ^' s+-" - ~ - A:_-: _,:-,:``4''' 11w`, Photo above gves an aeal vew of the gold dedge talngs n the Sumpte Valley The dges of gavel wee left afte the dedges moved though takng out the gold Snce the wokng n the 30's and 50's, natue has softened the effect and the Commsson s usng the wate and edges to poduce wldlfe habtat The photo below shows a Canada goose nestng box eected amongst the ubble Photos by Dck Humpheys -,e^,-w -Zoe, :,: A -,n IS M S --"f 1:5, },,t ß4 Y` <4,171%1 x :} _ ; ' -, ' - OREGON WILDLIFE Page 9

10 Ths and That Poachng n Russa can be hazadous to you health, accodng to a epot n Coloado Outdoos magazne The huntng season had ended on the watefowl mashes of the Oka Rve when thee unamed wadens aved to nvestgate epots of shotgun fe Two amed men fled The wadens pusued and n a confontaton wth the poaches two of the wadens wee shot, one fatally On beng appehended, the klle was ted and pomptly executed by a fng squad * Conell Unvesty eseaches have found a patal answe to a queston that has baffled scentsts fo yeas What subtle sensoy cues enable a bd to navgate ts way to an unseen ste and then home n wth spectacula accuacy? Reseaches at the New Yok State College of Agcultue and Lfe Scences, Conell, have found fo the fst tme that bds can sense small changes n a pessue, equvalent to a dop n alttude of less than 20 feet, and can "see" polazed lght (Polazed lght s chaactezed by havng all ts enegy waves vbatng n one decton) Although Kethen and Keeton have not yet detemned to what extent bds use these newly dscoveed sensoy powes, they speculate that the ablty to sense polazed lght and baometc pessue changes would be of majo value to bds, both when flyng and on the gound The ablty to sense a pessue changes, fo example, may help bds to select the best tme fo commttng themselves to maathon mgaton flghts when favoable wnds and weathe would speed the flght The ablty mght also help them locate themal updafts and a tubulence compled by Ken Dubn The Conell eseaches also sad that the ablty to sense polazed lght would be a pme navgaton ad to bds, snce the plane of polazed lght n blue sky s elated to the poston of the sun The detecton of sky polazaton could be used as a navgaton cue when the sun, whch povdes compass cues, s obscued by clouds These and othe fndngs have yelded only a udmentay explanaton of a bafflng mystey - why a bd's ablty to navgate excels that of any devce conceved by man Fom Consevaton News * In Pennsylvana, Game Commsson pesonnel emoved 25,634 whtetal dee klled by vehcles on oads n the state last yea Ths s about 800 fewe than the ecod 26,- 435 klled on Pennsylvana hghways n 1972 The fgue s consevatve and ncludes only those anmals emoved by Commsson pesonnel The numbe of dee klled by vehcles n Pennsylvana exceeds the numbe of whtetals havested by huntes n 35 othe states Fom Pennsylvana Game News * Last month we ndcated n ths column that Golden Eagle Passpots, whch povde admsson at natonal paks and eceaton aeas, could be obtaned at fst and second class post offces We have snce leaned that the post offces wll not cay them ths yea In Oegon they may be obtaned at the Potland offces of the Natonal Pak Sevce and the US Amy Cops of Engnees They ae also avalable at Cops of Engnees offces n The Dalles, Foste, and Lowell; US Foest Sevce offces at Eugene; and at Cate Lake Natonal Pak and Fot Clatsop Natonal Memoal The 3,492 gay whales counted off the Calfona coast fom Decembe 18, 1973 though Febuay 4, 1974 epesents the hghest total snce the count began seven yeas ago, accodng to the Wldlfe Management Insttute The annual census s taken by the Natonal Oceanc and Atmosphec Admnstaton nea Monteey, Calfona dung the anmals' southwad mgaton The annual census s the most elable ndcato of the populaton tend of gay whales The count, of couse, s not accuate but s a good ndex of elatve abundance The gay whale s on the U S endangeed speces lst along wth the fnback, se, spem, bowhead, blue, humpback, and ght whales It also s potected unde the Intenatonal Whalng Conventon Fom Consevaton News * Less than one -half of one pecent of you fedeal taxes go towad envonmental and natual esouce expendtues Accodng to economst - columnst Sylva Pote, a peson eanng $13,000 a yea pays out $3,623 n dect and ndect fedeal taxes Only $17 s used fo contollng a and wate polluton, managng natual esouces, fo paks, wldlfe, eceaton, and many othe pogams Agcultue and ual development get thee tmes as much, $57 The lagest shae s fo health and ncome secuty, $1,382 o 3815 pecent of the total, and natonal defense spendng consumes $1,058 o 2921 pecent Fom Texas Paks & Wldlfe * Skunks destoy moe nsects than all othe mammals combned A study on an 8 -ace tact n Canada estmated that skunks ate 115,000 whte gubs n a elatvely shot tme Dung an outbeak of the ange cateplla n New Mexco, skunks made ths pest 60 to 90 pe cent of the dets Skunks ae potected n New Yok because they effectvely contol the hop gub, a seous pest n hop felds So, next tme you dnk a bee, dnk one to a fend -the skunk Incdentally, they don't eat game bds' young o the eggs A study of 1,700 skunks evealed no tace of game bds o the eggs Fom Scoeboad West --$ Page 10 JUNE 1974

11 p Scentsts Call Fo Boad Consevaton Effot WASHINGTON - An ntensfed boad -based consevaton effot must be mounted f the dvesty of the wold's speces and habtats, and the eath's ablty to suppot man, ae to be peseved Ths was the concluson of twenty scentsts gatheed by the Wold Wldlfe Fund -Unted States Appeal and the Smthsonan Insttuton to a two -day symposum on the botc mpoveshment of the eath concluded Apl 6 at the Smthsonan's Belmont Confeence Cente The symposum was suppoted by the Fod Foundaton The scentsts, enown fo the wok n ecology and bology, stessed the ugency of counteng the most apd deteoaton of the eath's lfe suppot systems eve wtnessed n evolutonay hstoy Notng one estmate that the ate of extncton has sen alamngly fom 10,000 speces pe centuy to the pospect of at least one mllon n ths centuy, they uged Wold Wldlfe Fund and the consevaton communty at lage to launch a two -ponged campagn: escalatng cuent habtat pesevaton effots; and developng new stateges to addess the lage poblem of changng man's explotatve appoach to hs natual envonment The suggestons wll be analyzed by the Wold Wldlfe Fund -US to detemne how t can best seve these consevaton goals D Geoge M Woodwell, chaman of the pojects commttee of the Wold Wldlfe Fund -US and Seno Scentst, Depatment of Bology of the Bookhaven Natonal Laboatoy, appoved the poposed shft n emphass to habtat pesevaton "The speces by speces appoach of the past s nadequate," he sad Pofesso G Evelyn Hutchnson, ecpent of the Tyle Ecology awad, noted the loss of dvesty of habtats and speces n the wold not only closes man's optons fo pactcal use of these esouces n the futue, but emoves the tools a scentst needs to OREGON WILDLIFE seve humanty Wthout natual ecosystems the scentst wll be unable to unlock the natual laws that may be ctcal knowledge fo man's futue The cuent pospect of losng the ognal topcal an foests of Latn Ameca, wth pehaps one mllon of the eath's speces, was undescoed by D Pete Raven, Decto of the Mssou Botancal Gadens, who stessed the ugency of a compehensve habtat pesevaton pogam fo ths aea n whch so lttle s known D Roge Payne, dscovee of the long- dstance communcaton of the humpback whale, and D Danel Janzen, topcal ecologst and assocate pofesso of zoology at the Unvesty of Mchgan, poposed a Museum of Natual Habtats be establshed - a wold -wde collecton of wld places and natual spectacles They asseted ths mght captue the publc magnaton, justfyng t wth the same aesthetc pncples suppotng the pesevaton of at n museums - pesevaton fo man's cultual enchment But ultmately, the scentsts ealzed, solated slands of pstne wldeness wll not solve the lage poblem of consevaton - convncng man that hs actvtes ae esultng n evesble consequences to the eath's ablty to suppot hm "It's as smple as a colony of bactea n a test tube," obseved D Thomas E Lovejoy, pojects admnstato fo WWF -US "You can only gow so fa untl you begn to poson you envonment" Many scentsts emphaszed the effots of consevatonsts wll be lost f the govenments of the wold do not accept the message that consevaton s synonymous wth suvval Inceasng the consevaton movement's poltcal effectveness wll eque a majo and apd effot by scentsts They must document clams of the eventual evesble economc and ecologcal damage esultng fom the destucton of the eath's natual systems, stessed D Woodwell One means to accomplsh ths, suggested by D Raymond Fosbeg, Cuato of the Depatment of Botany at the Smthsonan's Museum of Natual Hstoy, s to confont decson makes wth pesuasve models -a sees of case hstoes of the botc mpoveshment of vaous slands and ts effects on the nhabtants D Hebet F Bomann, pofesso of foest ecology at Yale Unvesty, called fo tanng a "new beed" of consevaton leades and scentsts who ae able to communcate n the same language as the decson makes He uged a new nsttuton be establshed to tan bologsts wth a tuly multdscplnay appoach - acquantng them wth the socal, cultual, economc and poltcal factos affectng govenmental esponse - so that scentsts "can answe the queston of how to ntegate natue nto a socal system that wll meet the needs of the people" Futhe he suggested the scentfc establshment mbue ts students wth the consevaton ethc Whle D Janzen advsed that knowledge of a county's cultue and poltcs could be moe cucal to consevaton effots than the bologcal study, D Bomann cautoned consevatonsts not to abandon suppot of ongong scentfc eseach n the concen wth the mmedate theats to the envonment Notng the ugency of applyng avalable knowledge to consevaton acton, D Raven ecommended an nfomaton eteval system be establshed to avod duplcaton of effots by scentsts and consevaton goups D Bomann emphaszed the need fo a massve educatonal pogam to combat the ethc of "gowth as pogess," whch he labelled the cux of the envonmental dlemma D Lovejoy suggested educatonal semnas fo ndustalsts and poltcal leades could pove futful The challenge to consevatonsts, obseved D Fank W Peston, theoetcal ecologst, "s to fnd a way to nvolve the shot ange nteest of poltcs wth the long ange nteest of scence and consevaton" D Payne and D Lee Talbot, seno ecologst on the Pesdent's Councl on Envonmental Qualty, emphaszed that ths wll only be possble f consevaton shfts fom ts pesent css oentaton to one of peventon Govenments must be appoached to employ consevaton measues befoe one -tenth of the wold's plant and anmal speces become endangeed O Page 11

12 ' Spng Chnook Rogue Rve Study By Jm Lchatowch, Reseach Poject Leade The Oegon Wldlfe Commsson has ntated a study of the Rogue spng chnook The study wll be centeed n Gold Beach and s expected to contnue fo seveal yeas The man objectve of the study s to evaluate the effects of Lost Ceek, Elk Ceek and Applegate dams on the Rogue fshey esouce These thee dams ae pat of a compehensve poject pesently unde constucton by the US Amy Cops of Engnees Included n the cops' poject ae povsons fo enhancement of the fshey The dams ae beng constucted so that summe wate tempeatues may be educed and summe flows nceased The Wldlfe Commsson study wll detemne f the pojected fshey enhancement goals ae eached and f the opeaton of the dams has any advese effect on the Rogue salmon and steelhead uns Anothe aspect of the study wll be the development of a successful hatchey pogam fo spng chnook at Cole Rves Hatchey You may have aleady notced the Wldlfe Commsson cews at wok n the lowe Rogue nea Elephant Rock These bologsts ae tyng to develop an effectve means of captung spng chnook wthout causng unnecessay stess to these bg fsh So fa two methods have been used An electo- shockng equpped boat has been opeatng between Lobste Ceek and the pot of Gold Beach Ths technque employs a gas poweed geneato mounted n a dft boat Electodes emt pulsatng DC cuent whch mmoblzes the fsh The othe cew s usng a conventonal beach sene and has concentated the effot n the Elephant Rock aea o ' 0<S tt ' t9 ' :4150ftY7` A beach sene s one method used to captue adult salmon The boat pulls the net acoss an eddy and back aound to shoe Bologsts pull the net n by hand It's tcky busness to keep the fsh n the net once they sght the captos Afte the fsh ae tagged, weghed, measued, and scale samples ae emoved, the fsh ae held gently n the wate untl they ecove the equlbum Then they ae eleased to contnue the jouney upsteam Once a fsh s captued, t wll be maked wth a colo -coded ancho tag These tags wll not ham the fsh Fshemen ae uged to etun the tags found n any fsh they catch, - L ` 7:v h ' -!!! :" - :, % ' z, =, y1-t,-'1-11 "_sue -- - ', - J^'- - ; =7S"-_ + `z 7,_---,, t ÿ # : -- t Y, k Vy { `- - -~'' `,l R,A _"%t _'4%,,ftt IC 1 -, ;, N; ' K along wth the date and locaton of the catch Pompt etuns wll ad n ou undestandng of the spng chnook and the effects of the new Rogue Rve dams - s` î YV 1 á4-k:a IOON WILD/ jf COMMISSION 1634 S W ALDER STREET P 0 BOX 3503 PORTLAND, OREGON 97208