Wednesday, December 13, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
HUNTERS: Growing
human population
has big impact
Continued from page 1
has initiated several pro-
grams to raise and sustain
interest among younger hunt-
ers and anglers, including
the Mentored Youth Hunter
Program, Women in the
Outdoors, and Free Fishing
Days, designed to help
expose Oregonians to hunt-
ing, fishing, and outdoor rec-
reation opportunities.
On the subject of wild-
fires, Heath said that overall
effects from wildfires tend
to be positive for ungulates,
as fire reduces canopy and
encourages new forage,
resulting in good green-ups
on summer ranges and ben-
eficial habitat for both deer
and elk populations. Wildfire
effects on winter ranges can
be more damaging in the
long term, depending on the
amount and timing of pre-
cipitation, and particularly if
bitterbrush ranges are heavily
impacted.
Last winter’s unusually
heavy snow load seemed to
have no effect on elk popu-
lations this year, Heath said,
noting that elk found very
good conditions in the spring
and that ODFW field biolo-
gists recorded the highest
cow-calf ratios on record.
Deer populations did not
find the same success coming
out of last winter. According
to Heath, this year’s fawn
populations were reduced
by nearly half of normal,
district-wide, meaning that
deer will head into this win-
ter with a severely reduced
yearling crop. The same dra-
matic loss was true of adult
populations, as last winter’s
extraordinarily harsh condi-
tions were very hard on deer
survival rates.
The Nugget asked Heath
about mountain-lion popula-
tions, and their overall effect
on deer and elk herds, given
persistent rumors among
hunters that cougars are deci-
mating both populations.
“ We h a v e p r e d a t o r
impacts, for certain,” Heath
said. “There is no question
that mountain lions are eat-
ing deer and elk, but those
impacts also depend on the
overall health of the (prey)
populations. If population
recruitment is not able to
keep up with mortality rates,
if habitats are lost, those pop-
ulations end up declining.”
Locally, we have a
healthy cougar
population.
— Corey Heath
In some areas, Heath told
The Nugget, predator impact
may be the principle rea-
son for declining deer herd
populations, but in Central
Oregon, where human popu-
lations have skyrocketed in
recent years, there are a host
of other variables to consider.
“Locally, we have a
healthy cougar population,”
Heath said, “and we have
predator impacts, but there
are also other factors. We
lose deer to road kill, disease,
habitat loss, car accidents,
fences, tomato cages, bad-
minton courts, soccer nets,
Christmas tree lights, and
other mortality factors, and
so the impacts (of predators)
are not so straightforward.”
According to ODFW
reports, at the end of 2016
there were approximately 112
known wolves in Oregon,
though the actual number
of wolves is, according to
ODFW, likely higher than
that. Although larger wolf
packs are principally concen-
trated in the northeastern cor-
ner of the state, individuals
and mating pairs have been
observed as nearby as Silver
Lake; and the Rogue Pack, in
western Klamath County, is
thought to consist of at least
six wolves.
Given the extremely
emotional political debates
that rage around the topic of
wolves, including the recent
high-profile case of a hunter
in eastern Oregon who shot
and killed a wolf he report-
edly believed to be stalk-
ing him, The Nugget asked
Heath what Central Oregon
residents might come to
expect from the continuing
westward expansion of wolf
populations.
“ Wo l f n u m b e r s a r e
increasing,” Heath said,
“and they have been since
they first came out of Idaho
into northeastern Oregon.
Since that time we have had
several individuals travel
through Central Oregon into
Klamath and Jackson coun-
ties. It is probably just a mat-
ter of time before they are
established on the east slope
of the Cascades, and farther
west.”
It remains to be seen if
wolves will begin to settle
in Sisters Country, and what
impact that might have on
local game herds and live-
stock populations. And given
that there is at least one
documented case of Oregon
wolves snacking on moun-
tain-lion kittens, the effects
of an apex predator returning
to Central Oregon are, at the
very least, intriguing.
31
Agenda
Sisters City Council
Sisters City Hall
520 E. Cascade Ave.
4:30 p.m. Executive
Session: Performance
Evaluation.
5:30 p.m. workshop:
• Council review — public
events; transient merchants.
• Charter review update.
6:30 p.m. regular meeting:
• Memorandum of
Understanding between
Wildfire
Planning
International, LLC. and the
City of Sisters.
• Contract for system
development charge (SDC)
study to Donovan Enterprises
Inc. in an amount of $17,947.
• Contract for profes-
sional services for the Sisters
Country Community Vision
Project to NXT Consulting
Group, LLC. in an amount
not to exceed $45,000.
• Audit review.
City Parks Advisory
Board appointment.
• Staff comments and
updates.
• New business licenses.
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