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• (541) 485-4007 • 207 Madison Street • M-F 9-5:30
BIRKENSTOCK
Tune up your Birkenstocks
for Earth Day-lt’s Free!
Saturday, April 21 10-5
Bring in your Birkenstocks and the
Footwise repair experts will seal the cork,
condition the uppers, and talk to you
about how to make your Birkenstocks last.
Multiple pairs may need to be left for a few days.
FOOTWISE
THE BIRKENSTOCK STORE
1181 E Broadway • Downtown Eugene • 342-6107
Please don’t feed the bears
♦ ♦
■ Problems concerning the
survival of young trees led
Weyerhaeuser Co. to handle
the bear problem on its own
Melynda Coble
for the Emerald
Many people think of trees when
they hear the words “Earth Day,”
and most people would agree that
planting more trees is a good idea.
But in western Oregon there is a
conflict between tree planting by
timber corporations and wildlife.
Wildlife biologist Bill Castillo
said the South Willamette District
of the Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife (ODFW) “fielded 67
complaints about black bears in
1999. Of those complaints, 25 were
from timber companies and all of
those bears were killed.”
Castillo said, “Young trees are a de
sired food source for a hungry bear in
the spring. Black bears peel back the
bark layers of trees and feed on the
cambial layer. This can kill or slow
the growth of the tree, which is bad
news for timber companies. ”
According to Oregon’s Black Bear
Management Plan, published by
ODFW, timber companies report an
immediate loss of hundreds of thou
sands of dollars and a potential loss of
harvest of millions of dollars. Planta
tions in western Oregon are usually a
monoculture of Douglas Firs. The
plan also explains that when a bear
finds a place it likes, it tends to keep
coming back. Females teach their
cubs where to feed, increasing the
population in a given plantation.
“Timber companies are aggressive
and effective at controlling bears in
their plantations,” Castillo said. They
set snares to kill individuals they
think are responsiblefor tree damage.
Trapping and killing bears isn’t
the only approach timber compa
nies use to control bear damage.
Steve Cafferata, a forester with Wey
erhaeuser Co., says there is another
approach — feeding the bears.
Ralph Flowers at the University of
Washington recommended feeding
bears food pellets scattered over a
wide area in the spring. He suggest
ed this would divert bears from the
trees and keep them fed until other
food sources became available.
Timber companies in Oregon and
Washington, like Weyerhaeuser, took
Flower’s advice, but instead of scat
tering the pellets — forcing bears to
roam and forage — they attached
large drums filled with food pellets to
trees. Castillo said the tubs of food at
Turn to Bears, page 6B
OREGON