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The Conservation Column By Juliet Grable For this month’s column, I’m providing an update on the botulism outbreak at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge in northern California. The update draws from two stories I wrote for Jefferson Public Radio, though I’m sure the tally of birds that have died during the outbreak has increased since [...]
The Conservation Column Klamath River Dams Update By Juliet Grable As I’m sure most of you are aware, removal of the Klamath River dams is proceeding on schedule. Drawdown, or draining of the reservoirs, was initiated at Iron Gate Dam on January 9, and on February 15 Klamath River Renewal Corporation announced that ini-tial drawdown [...]
The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail Editor’s Note: Due to the particularly sensitive and complex issues raised by the USFWS Draft Barred Owl Manage-ment Strategy, the RVAS Board held a special meeting with Dr. Trail in January 2024 to discuss the public comment letter that follows. Although the Board was not in complete agreement about [...]
The Conservation Column by Pepper Trail Welcome back from summer! With unprecedented heat baking the globe and political divisions at an all-time high, it's easy to focus on the negative. So let's ease into fall by highlighting two positive developments on the local conservation front. Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Expansion Wins in Court -- Again In [...]
Conservation Column By Juliet Grable The 2023 Farm Bill: An Opportunity to Get It Right Last month, The Guardian ran a story about a new study that highlights how agriculture is devastating bird populations in Europe. For the study, a group of 50 researchers analyzed data gathered from 28 countries over nearly four decades: “The [...]
Conservation Column By Juliet Grable Avian Flu Update One year ago, Pepper Trail provided an excellent summary on the status of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, aka HPAI, aka avian flu. At the time, it was evident that the newest subtype of the virus, called H5N1, was infect-ing and killing wild birds on a scale not [...]
The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail This month’s column focuses on a long-neglected but hugely important bird habitat in Oregon and the Great Basin: saline lakes. Lacking outflows, and too salty for fish, these lakes are perfect incubators for brine shrimp and brine flies, which in turn provide essential food for great concentrations of migrating [...]
The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail By now, everyone should have received their ballots in the mail. Please, remember to VOTE! It’s one of the most important things you can do to make your voice heard for conservation – and for all the other issues you care about. This Conservation Column features a local conservation [...]
The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail Happy fall! This might be the last Chat that reaches you before Election Day (November 8, but most of us vote well before that). So, let me remind everyone that one of the most important conservation actions you can take is to VOTE. Rogue Valley Audubon of course does [...]
The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail This summer brought some long-overdue good news: finally, significant federal legislation to address climate change. The name doesn’t make it obvious, but the Inflation Reduction Act is the most significant climate legislation ever to become law. It also provides many other conservation benefits. National Audubon has summarized 12 ways [...]
