Posted on 02/20/2006 9:37:12 PM PST by restornu
Project Location: Marin County, California: Point Reyes National Seashore, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Marin Municipal Water District, and Marin County Open Space District.
Project Summary
The Northern Spotted Owl is the well-known symbol of the controversy over the effects of logging. The Marin County population of this federally threatened sub-species in one of the densest even though it is located at the southern limit of the range. Much of the local forest was logged 50-100 ago and is now re-growing in permanent public ownership. Although logging is not a threat to this population, other human activities such as development, noise disturbance and pesticide poisoning do impact these birds.
Our current research project addresses these human threats by locating and monitoring nests and promptly communicating these results to local land managers. USFWS rules require that land management activities do not harm or harass owls or their habitat. Our data have resulted in better placement of new trails, timing of road and trail maintenance activities (mowing and grading) around nesting season, seasonal closure of shooting ranges near nesting owls, preservation of individual nest trees, and determination of owl activity centers to help with responsible placement of housing sites. Our habitat analysis has broadened concept of "potential habitat" locally and expanded where protections are applied.
Over the past 5 years we have color-banded almost 100 owls in our study area. These individuals have been followed from fledging, through dispersal, and are then monitored annually for nesting activity and the number of young they produce. This subset of the potentially isolated Marin population will provide us with an idea of how well this population is sustaining itself.
Recently we have implemented a woodrat density study. We are examining the density of rat houses across several different habitat types in order to assess what impacts fuel reduction activities will have on this favored prey of local owls. We are planning a meeting for this winter to bring together USFWS representatives with local planners and fire personnel, public land managers, powerline maintenance workers, local tree companies and environmental consultants in order to distribute our findings and update decision makers on the existence of this population and the regulations which protect them.
Contact: kfehring@prbo.org
It's the Japanese green atomic salsa from hell! One good thing is that your little tube will probably last a long time. It's very cost effective and gives you a lot of bang for the buck.
FReepmail me to be added or removed to the ECO-PING list!
Ecological problems rarely have simple solutions (i.e. save the forests- save the owls). Instead of preserving a museum forest, you need to ensure that that landscape is allowed to change and adjust. It amazes me how short-sighted people can be.
....probably Mexico is the host of the S/S/O.
Scoop Jackson would have never let the owl kill the forest industry.
Now they talk about preserving rat nests for spotted owls and you don't see that as a premise to prevent construction and retain dangerous levels of fuel near houses.
This isn't a Rush common sense moment at all. The brush in Marin is so thick that the owls don't have flyways to catch those rats. There's a balance that has never occurred to these idiots.
I thin the brush and use travel routes as owl flyways with tall trees at the corners, both of which they need. Rat nests go up in flames like a gallon of diesel so I leave only those that aren't under a tree. I've also added a barn owl box to see if I can get those re-established. It's become so wooded around here because of fire suppression that the great horned owls have chased out the barn owls completely.
It's a complicated balance all righty.
Rush can be incredible naive when it comes to environmental issues. It can be pretty frustrating at times when he goes off on his anti-environment(alist) tirades- a bit too reactionary for my taste.
For more reasons than you probably intended. He not only under-estimates the problems we face, he really doesn't get the depth of corruption involved either.
For example, it has been obvious that the greenie lawyers have been trying to kill barge traffic on the Mississippi for years. This carp makes a handy vehicle while Lloyd Bensten has organized a consortium to invest ag dollars in South America and is funding green groups with the intent of harming domestic ag production.
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