Tuesday, May 22, 2018 6 - 8 p.m. Location TouVelle State Park Picnic Shelter A All members and guests are welcome This annual picnic replaces our May chapter meeting. Come celebrate our valley birds. Bird Walk 6 p.m. (sharp!) A guided bird walk will wind through the park and along the Rogue River. Potluck dinner [...]
Presented by RON LARSON, PhD Salty-alkaline lakes are not the kind of place you would want to call home. After all, salt is used to preserve food, and with a pH of 10, the water is like diluted bleach. Yet, Lake Abert, located in arid south-central Oregon, is a waterbird Mecca, with over 80 species [...]
The Conservation Column by Pepper Trail This month the Conservation Column will leave the Rogue Valley to focus on an issue of great importance for bird conservation in eastern Oregon. This concerns the future of Lake Abert, a saline lake in the remote high desert northeast of Lakeview. The lake is a fall migratory stopover [...]
By Nate Trimble On February 3, no less than 17 hardy birders met at 7:00 am in the chilly early morning light at North Mountain Park to begin a big morning in Ashland. The goal was to see as many species as possible before noon. In total we identified 52 species between North Mountain Park, [...]
The Conservation Column By Juliet Grable Conservation Victory: Oregon Commission Uplists Marbled Murrelet to Endangered On February 9, 2018, I attended a public hearing in Portland, during which the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (OFWC) voted to approve a petition to uplist the Marbled Murrelet from Threat-ened to Endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act [...]
Public lands are often said to be one of America's greatest ideas. But lately, the very concept of "public lands" has been made controversial by malevolent influences like the Bundy family and Koch brothers. To better understand our local public forests, come hear from historian Greg Walter about the history of our public lands, aka [...]
The state's Fish and Wildlife Commission voted Friday (2/9) to reclassify the seabird as endangered after a marathon daylong meeting in Portland at which our own Juliet Grable testified. More details on the meeting and actions taken therein can be found in this Oregon Live article.
(Note - The Medford paper has listed the WRONG LOCATION for this event. Please note that it continues to be Denman Wildlife Area. See you there Feb. 7). On Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, the First Wednesday Bird Walk will move to the Denman Wildlife Area, and all future walks will take place there. Walks begin [...]
RVAS Conservation Chair Pepper Trail is featured in the January issue of National Geographic. The article details his job at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Forensic Lab in Ashland, Oregon. This issue kicks off the magazine's "National Year of the Bird." Way to go Pepper!
As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) this year, our core bird protection law is facing its most serious threat in a century of existence. Last month, the Trump administration released a legal opinion that it now interprets MBTA to only cover hunting and will no longer enforce incidental [...]
