by Ann Vileisis
California Condors released into the wild!
In early May, the Yurok Tribe, released three captive-raised juvenile California Condors into the wild at Bald Hills, an ecosystem of high prairies in the eastern part of Redwood National Park. A fourth bird was released in mid-July as part of an inspiring recovery program spearheaded by the Yurok Tribe.
Condors once ranged throughout California and the Pacific Northwest, but through centuries of colonization, with new settlers often shooting and poisoning condors and reducing their food supply of large wild animal carcasses, it became increasingly difficult for these birds to survive except in a few enclaves. Condors very nearly went extinct in the 1980s, when the 27 remaining wild birds were brought into a captive breeding program. Over the past 50 years the condor recovery program has slowly boosted populations to nearly 500 birds that now soar free in the mountains of southern California and northern Arizona.
The Yurok Tribe has led condor restoration efforts in our bioregion in conjunction with other partnering organizations including Redwood National Park, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Oregon Zoo, where the released birds were hatched and raised.
In early May, I joined Oregon Wild’s Danielle Moser and the Oregon Zoo’s condor expert Kelli Walker in sponsoring a virtual program about condor restoration and what it will mean for Oregon. For now, condor experts hope the young birds will stay close to the release facility so they can acclimate. Condors are obligate soaring birds that rely on thermal uplifts to get around. Learning the lay of the landscape and wind-scape and gaining confidence in soaring are crucial skills that will enable the condors to travel in search of food. Mature and experienced adults routinely travel 40 miles in a single day from roosting to carrion foraging sites, but they have the capacity to travel more than 100 miles, and even up to 200 miles. In the coming years, we may well see these birds in Oregon!
Research indicates that condors spending more time in coastal habitats have higher survival rates because of lower exposure to lead—the top threat to these birds’ recovery, which comes from pervasive lead shot and shrapnel in the carrion they eat. Along the coast, we still have large marine mammals—sea lions, seals, and whales—that become important food for condors when they wash ashore as carcasses. Over the years, I have seen quite a number of these carcasses and marveled at how long they can take to decompose. After learning more about condors, I came to realize that these long-lingering remains point to the fact that these carrion-eating birds have been a missing link in our coastal ecosystems. Condors have powerful beaks that can tear into the tough hides of marine carcasses, opening them up, bringing them back into the food chain, and making them available to other wildlife. Restoring condors will be an opportunity to restore and repair this broken link. We applaud and appreciate the efforts of the Yurok Tribe to restore condors, and we join them in welcoming these magnificent birds back to our bioregion.
South Coast Floating Offshore Wind Energy Update
In late April, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) officially proposed two “Call Areas” off the South Coast for potential future floating offshore wind (FOSW) energy leasing and development. The Brookings Call Area (450 square miles) extends from the California border north to the Rogue River, and the Coos Bay Call Area (1,364 square miles) extends from Charleston north to Florence. Both are roughly 14 to 25 or 46 miles offshore. BOEM’s earlier “draft” proposal had included a third Call Area that was dropped in response to concerns raised by fishing and conservation groups, including KAS, about the highly productive Coquille Bank, located west of Bandon.
Identifying Call Areas is the first step in BOEM’s press to lease areas on Oregon’s Outer Continental Shelf for energy development—part of the Biden Administration’s push to address our planet’s climate crisis by transitioning quickly to renewable instead of polluting fossil-fuel energy sources. The waters off our South Coast show bright red on wind maps, indicating high wind intensity, which has attracted the attention of both government energy researchers and wind-prospectors.
However, unlike many other locations where FOSW projects are now being considered and proceeding, Oregon’s coast has limited transmission capacity and also a small population of energy consumers. Elsewhere, FOSW projects can plug right in to well-developed energy grids to directly and efficiently serve large, nearby cities (a big bang for the buck in terms of cost to decarbonize). Also, unlike many other places on the docket for FOSW development, Oregon’s marine ecosystems—part of the highly productive California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME)—have not yet been industrialized with oil and gas development nor massive ports and heavy shipping, and so we still have clean water and rich marine ecosystems that provide habitat for many species (several endangered), including seabirds that come from all over the Pacific, several types of whales, plus sea turtles, fishes, and unique corals. This rich ecosystem also provides for sustainable fisheries that are important for our coastal communities.
Over the past couple of months, we participated in “listening sessions” about FOSW hosted by local elected officials, including our State Representative David Brock Smith. At a session in Coos Bay attended by nearly 200 people, I spoke on behalf of KAS, emphasizing the values of our rich marine ecosystems to birds and wildlife. As always with wind energy, siting will be the single most important decision made. But because BOEM’s leasing process leaves the environmental analysis to the end—after areas are leased to private energy companies, I emphasized the need to consider cumulative impacts early in the siting process. At a session in Brookings, Sunny Capper spoke on behalf of KAS raising similar concerns. By far the largest group speaking out was the fishing community. Many fishers regard the rush to develop wind energy as a threat to their livelihoods and ability to provide sustainable seafood. They contend that the promised jobs in wind energy will displace their existing work and related jobs in coastal communities. They’ve also raised other important concerns about interference with navigation and long-term data collection that informs sustainable fisheries management. They’ve joined the conservation community in asking for a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) to help find areas of least conflict and to make sure that cumulative impacts to fishers and wildlife throughout the CCLME are carefully considered. They’ve also asked to slow the process and consider a small pilot project before proceeding with full-on leasing, which essentially privatizes areas of the ocean from here on out.
In response to the outpouring of concern, Rep. Smith and other lawmakers in the “Coastal Caucus,” a bipartisan group of state representatives and senators from all coastal districts, sent BOEM a strong letter in early June asking to slow the leasing process to better understand risks, to address issues raised by fishers, to fully review bird and wildlife impacts, to consider leasing areas in deeper waters to reduce conflicts, and to prioritize locations to achieve the highest gain with the smallest footprint (a recommendation initially made by Governor Brown). Cities and ports up-and-down the coast, including the Cities of Gold Beach and Brookings, and the ports of Brookings, Port Orford, and Bandon, passed resolutions raising similar concerns. The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siletz also weighed in, voicing additional concern about cultural values. Our Congressman Peter DeFazio and Senator Wyden also sent a letter to BOEM echoing many constituent concerns, asking for a more robust process to engage relevant stakeholders and not just the few local elected officials appointed to BOEM’s Oregon Task Force (eg. our sole “official” representative thus far has been Curry County Commissioner Court Boice). They also asked for a PEIS and for closer coordination with other agencies such as NOAA, the Pacific Marine Fisheries Council, and the Coast Guard to address fishery, navigation, and wildlife concerns.
KAS catalyzed and helped lead a coalition of Oregon conservation groups to develop substantial written comments to BOEM about the proposed Call Areas. Joe Liebezeit of Portland Audubon (whom some of you know through the Black Oystercatcher survey) analyzed seabird abundance in the Call Areas based on the limited but best-available data. Other groups, including Oceana, Surfrider, and Oregon Shores, contributed important expertise on whales and dolphins, coastal law and resources—while KAS contributed crucial knowledge about our local ecosystems and communities and time. Twenty organizations, including all coastal Audubon chapters from the redwoods north to Astoria, signed on to our letter.
We strongly urged BOEM to conduct a PEIS to ensure full consideration of cumulative impacts. At this point, there are six active proposals for wind energy development in the California Current ecosystem off California, Oregon, and Washington, with more slated for the future. Because the migratory paths of some birds and animals—gray whales, for example—span the entire length of the coast, they could encounter multiple FOSW projects in the future. Many seabirds are known to be either vulnerable to collisions or displacement by turbine arrays. Also, FOSW projects could displace both fishers and wildlife into areas in ways that could increase conflicts. These multiple impacts deserve analysis as part of the planning.
More specifically, based on GIS data analysis, we recommended that BOEM remove known productive habitats from the north and east sides of the proposed Call Areas from future consideration. In our letter, we also encouraged careful consideration of the onshoring aspects of wind energy development early on—emphasizing Oregon’s Territorial Sea Plan and land use planning laws, which have very specific requirements and considerations to protect estuaries, rocky shore habitat. state parks, viewsheds, and more. Since it is not yet known where energy will be brought to shore, we highlighted important values of the coast proximate to Call Areas and highlighted the need for careful planning to avoid proliferation of too many substations, as has apparently occurred with FOSW projects in northern Europe. I’ll share a link to our comments in the next HOOT OUT so you can read them for yourself if you are interested to learn more.
At the same time, wind-energy developers nominated their favored locations for development within the Call Areas. From what’s been posted so far, it looks like a half dozen companies have made nominations to BOEM. One company Deep Blue, the US-based affiliate of the European company Simply Blue (featured in a recent article in the Curry Pilot) nominated 3 locations, including one within the Brookings Call Area. RWE, a German energy company that has been accused of using wind power to greenwash its coal mining and energy production operations, also nominated several locations within both call areas.
At this point, it’s important to underscore that there is very limited data about how seabirds and wildlife use Oregon’s rich offshore areas. Moreover, there is little understanding about how the new technology of floating offshore wind turbines—likely more than 800 feet tall and anchored with thousand-foot-plus long cables to the seafloor –will affect birds, marine mammals, and even fishes that depend on electromagnetic signals for navigation. Although there are many well-established fixed-bottom offshore wind farms, FOSW projects have only been implemented on a very small scale (eg. 5 turbines installed off Scotland) and only in shallower water. With the goal of transitioning to renewable energy as quickly as possible, BOEM is racing ahead with leasing off the Oregon Coast, in spite of the fact that wind energy development will likely be cheaper, easier, faster, less damaging to ecosystems, and closer to electric power demand in virtually every other part of the country where wind energy is now being considered.
There is much yet to research, learn, and consider about FOSW projects, and so a precautionary approach will be needed to ensure both the conservation of Oregon’s rich marine resources and also the most economic transition from fossil fuels.
BOEM’s next step will be to review all the input and devise smaller Wind Energy Areas to lease via auction to companies for future development. Meanwhile, in September, the Oregon Department of Energy will release the results of its study about the feasibility of integrating wind generated electricity into our existing grid. While preliminary studies indicated that the current infrastructure could accommodate 2 to 3 GW of power, energy companies have suggested that they’d want to develop at least five times that amount.
Of course, climate change is already impacting our marine ecosystems and wildlife –with devastating marine heat waves and ocean acidification. And yet, we must ensure that the actions we’re taking will efficiently and effectively reduce carbon while not adding more stressors to our birds and wildlife. What will happen off Oregon’s Coast demands careful, informed, and nuanced consideration.
[Penny, I envisioned this next part as a special section, perhaps a boxed section with images/ photos]
Who lives on Oregon’s Outer Continental Shelf?
Dozens of birds and animals inhabit or come to forage in rich offshore waters of Oregon’s Outer Continental Shelf. They all have fascinating stories that that most of us don’t even know. Here are just a few:
Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle: These critically-endangered, massive and long-lived sea turtles are the largest in the world reaching up to 2,000 pounds. They hatch on tropical beaches in Indonesia, but when full-grown, adult leatherbacks travel nearly 7,000 miles to forage for sea jellies in spots on our West Coast, including Oregon north of Cape Blanco. This is one of the longest migrations of any air-breathing marine animal, and it takes ten to twelve months to complete. Once incredibly abundant, Leatherback populations have collapsed over the past 40 years for multitude of reasons—development and disruption of nesting beaches, entanglement in fishing gear, illegal collection of eggs or killing of adults, plastic in the ocean, pollution, and climate change impacts.
Albatross: The Short-tailed Albatross and Black-footed Albatross routinely forage in Oregon’s rich offshore waters. These dynamic soaring seabirds are known for their massive wing spans and rely on air currents to migrate long distances to forage. In general, albatross are very long-lived birds that mate for life. The strong pair bond between mates is maintained through elaborate displays, including bowing, mutual preening, and head-bobbing. However, the birds breed infrequently and produce few chicks annually, which means their populations depend on adult survival over the long term. This makes their populations especially vulnerable to the risks of collision, which could kill adults.
The Short-tailed Albatross is the largest, rarest, and most endangered of the northern hemisphere albatrosses. Distinguished by its golden head and showy pink bill, this bird alights on land only to nest –and, at this point, only on small islands off Japan, vulnerable to volcanic eruptions. Adolescents come to Oregon’s outer continental shelf to forage. Nearly annihilated by plume hunters a century ago, these birds have made a slow but strong recovery over the past 50 years. From a low of just ten pairs, the population has increased to the current estimate of more than 7,000 individuals. The smaller and more common Black footed Albatross—with its still impressive six-foot wingspan—nests on the Hawaiian Islands and glides two thousand miles to Oregon’s offshore waters to forage. Shearwaters, fulmars, and petrels are some of the other species of seabirds that forage in Oregon’s offshore waters.
Bamboo Coral: Did you know we have a “Bamboo Coral Forest” in deep waters off our coast? It’s made up of pink, tree-shaped, filter-feeding animals in a genus Cnidaria. Bamboo corals have been called the “old growth forests” of the ocean because they grow very slowly (only millimeters per year) but can live hundreds of years if they are not disrupted by bottom trawling. In the deep sea, corals and sponges provide biogenic structures in areas that generally have few features and provide important shelter that supports a surprising diversity of marine fishes, including rockfish.
Drones in Oregon State Parks, update
In the last Storm Petrel, I reported on the highly permissive drone policy proposed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD). After an outpouring of heartfelt public concern at the April State Parks Commission meeting, the Commission directed OPRD to re-start the process with a new and more inclusive working group, finally including representation from wildlife and recreation groups. (Portland Audubon and Oregon Shores are the official conservation representatives to the state’s working group.) The initial, highly permissive proposal would have allowed drones to take off everywhere in Oregon’s State Parks, except in specific places where they would be disallowed as determined by park managers. The new working group is now tasked with developing specific criteria for where exactly drones will be allowed to take off and land within State Parks. After criteria is developed, OPRD staff will map the areas and develop further policy, with additional workgroup input before a new rulemaking process begins next year.
We’ll have to see how this new process goes. From the outset, it still looks like OPRD’s goal is to accommodate more drone users in Oregon’s State Parks, even as so many other State Park systems –Colorado, California, Texas, Florida—have just said no to drones, as has the National Park Service. We’re following this issue closely because on the coast, our State Parks are especially important for birds and wildlife and also for recreational “wildlife watching.” Also, we have seen that the drone users nationwide have been particularly well-organized in aiming to make Oregon a model for permissive drone rules. Stay tuned.
Rogue River Bear Canister Project
I am glad to report that the Rogue River bear canister rental pilot project is now up and running. If you plan to hike the Rogue River National Recreation Trail this summer or fall, you can now easily rent a bear canister for $3/ day when you arrange your car shuttle with Whitewater Cowboys (www.whitewatercowboys.com). The goal of the pilot project is to help reduce bear human conflicts, which have been increasing in recent years in the Rogue River canyon, in part because growing numbers of recreational users are not doing their part to properly store food.
While seeing bears in their home habitat is one of the highlights of hiking or floating the Wild and Scenic Rogue River, it’s a problem when bears are attracted into camps and become habituated to human foods and garbage. Bears that become habituated to human foods cannot be relocated and unfortunately have to be killed if they become too persistent in seeking people’s foods.
Though the Forest Service provides mini-electric fences and some bear-proof boxes for food storage at popular camp spots in areas known to be troublesome for bear conflicts, the bottom line is that visitors must take personal responsibility for properly storing food and trash. This is critical for safety and also to help protect bears in their wild habitats.
To better educate visitors about how to be “bear aware” in the Rogue Canyon, the Oregon Department of Wildlife (ODFW), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently produced a video series to help educate the public. The bear canister rental project also helps provide this information to hikers before they set out.
This year, there has already been a lot of black bear activity in the Rogue Canyon, likely owing in part to the late rains and late ripening of salmon berries that are the bears’ natural food sources. While the bear canister rental pilot project won’t solve all the problems, we hope it will help. The project has been a collaboration of Kalmiopsis Audubon, the Humane Society of the United States, Rogue Riverkeeper, Whitewater Cowboys (also known as Orange Torpedo), as well as ODFW, BLM, and the U.S. Forest Service, with funding from the Oregon Wildlife Foundation, River Network, and a donation from Bear Vault. We appreciate everyone’s efforts to help keep the Wild and Scenic Rogue River’s black bears wild and free!