20 Summer 2016 Applegater
OPINIONS
River Right: It’s for the birds!
BY TOM CARSTENS
When I’m on the river, I love to
watch the American dipper, also known
as the water ouzel (Cinclus mexicanus).
It’s better than a video game! This little
guy finds all his food beneath the surface
of fast-moving water. Dippers can swim,
so they produce a lot of protective oil for
their feathers, have special eyelids that let
them see under water, nostrils that close,
and a dense bone structure—all good
adaptations for a critter that can stay
submerged for up to 30 seconds. Out
on the rocks, he’s a real clown—bobbing
and weaving like a drunken sailor and
flashing white when he blinks.
I’ve got birds on my mind. I just
returned from a three-week camping
trip to the Arizona desert to watch birds.
Well, to be more accurate, to watch my
wife watch birds. “What’s wrong with the
birds here?” an Applegate Valley friend
asked me. I don’t have the answer to that
question; it’s not within my purview. I
just carry the binos.
Although dippers tend to stick
around all year, most birds migrate. So
my wife likes to watch them as they
transit through Mexico to points north.
Literally hundreds of species make the
journey. They like to take a break in the
mountain clusters that rise precipitously
from the desert floor. This trip my wife
added about seven new species to her life
list. We’ve done this before.
One of her favorite places is the
Ramsey Canyon Preserve owned by
The Nature Conservancy high in the
Huachuca Mountains near the border
southeast of Tucson. Migrating birds seek
respite in this cool, lush riparian zone.
up—they’re a nice bunch and have great
programs.
We’ve been hearing a lot about
political deals in the news lately. In my
I like The Nature Conservancy mind, a good deal is fair to all parties
(TNC). We’ve been members for decades. and moves the ball forward. It’s good
When we first moved to the Applegate for us and good for wildlife, including
Valley 12 years ago, I volunteered with the birds.
the local chapter and was assigned to pull
TNC recently featured an
thousands of non-native plants from the interesting article in their journal about
floor of the Agate Desert. It was pretty new ornithological research at the
boring, but they bribed me with great University of Washington. Dr. John
cookies, so I kept at it.
Marzluff and his graduate students have
What I like about this group is determined that, although wild reserves
that they’re environmentalists who provide shelter for lots of unique birds,
don’t scold you. As far as I can tell, they the suburbs are literally bustling with
don’t sue you either. They just try and them. This was a surprise to me. Marzluff
work things out. What a concept. They published a book, Welcome to Subirdia:
actually sit down with landowners, Sharing Our Neighborhoods with Wrens,
government, industry, and others to Robins, Woodpeckers, and Other Wildlife.
figure out best outcomes. They’ve come It turns out that wherever we live, we
up with some innovative, science-based tend to create lots of different kinds of
conservation approaches that have habitat. Residential zones can actually
actually kept a lot of precious land from foster diversity of bird species. Think
being commercialized, industrialized, or about all the different landscapes in the
compartmentalized. They negotiate in Applegate Valley.
good faith and show stakeholders how
Marzluff came up with something
they can profit while preserving nature’s he calls “Nature’s Ten Commandments.”
bounty. A local group, the Southern I know we technically don’t live in the
Oregon Land Conservancy, works deals burbs, but I thought that his ideas might
in much the same way. Google them be adaptable by us here in the Applegate.
I’ve summarized them in
American dipper feeding its youngster.
the sidebar.
Photo: Bob Armstrong.
The presence or
absence of birds tells a
lot. I know that when a
dipper is working at my
lunch spot, it means the
water is clean and the
river is healthy. And what
a show!
See you on the river.
Tom Carstens
541-846-1025
BLM releases proposed changes
to Resource Management Plan:
Applegate Valley residents weigh in
BY SUZIE SAVOIE
The Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) recently released its proposed
Resource Management Plan (RMP) for
western Oregon. This huge, 2000-plus
page document proposes some major
changes in how the BLM manages 2.6
million acres of federal land in western
Oregon, an area currently managed
under the Northwest Forest Plan. The
changes relate to how the BLM makes
decisions on a range of issues including
water quality, recreation, wildlife habitat,
and logging.
If implemented, the BLM’s new
RMP will drop both the Dakubetede
and Wellington Wildlands from their
currently inventoried status as “Lands
with Wilderness Characteristics.”
Dakubetede is in the Little Applegate
Valley—you hike straight through it on
the Sterling Ditch Mine Trail. Wellington
Wildlands is in the Middle Applegate
Valley between Ruch and Applegate on
the ridges above Forest Creek, Humbug
Creek, and Highway 238.
By dropping the status of these areas
as Lands with Wilderness Characteristics,
the BLM will remove important
environmental protections from some
of the Applegate Valley’s most intact
habitats and cherished recreational areas.
This will enable the BLM to log the small
amounts of timber from these mostly
oak woodland, chaparral, and grassland
areas, degrading the wilderness character,
the wildlife habitat, and the recreational
experience.
The Proposed RMP will also drop
the status of the Applegate watershed as
an Adaptive Management Area (AMA).
Designated in 1994, the Applegate
AMA helped engage local residents
in the BLM planning process, and it
mandated that innovative and adaptive
forest management techniques would be
implemented in the Applegate.
Applegate Valley residents and
nonprofit groups are currently reading
through the hefty document to figure out
how the new plans for our public BLM
lands will further affect the Applegate
Valley. Below are some of their initial
reactions to the proposed changes:
“Recent revelations regarding
widespread overcutting of spotted
owl habitat in the Medford District,
compounded by significant blowdown
of trees in recently thinned forest stands,
mean that BLM thought it had much
more spotted owl habitat than actually
exists. Therefore, calculations underlying
the RMP that quantify harvest levels,
land allocations, and wildlife habitat
are based on inaccurate information.”
—Chant Thomas, Threatened and
Endangered Little Applegate Valley
“The BLM is mandated to protect
watershed and streamflow and, with our
hotter, drier summers and decreasing
water flow, they are failing by cutting the
riparian reserves in half. The trees they
cut are essential to protect the streams for
salmon habitat and water conservation.”
—Cheryl Bruner, Williams Community
Forest Project
“BLM’s Proposed RMP threatens
to compound watershed issues already
threatened by lax and under-enforced
ODF [Oregon Department of Forestry]
logging regulations on private lands. It
is unwise to increase logging on public
lands while rural and urban communities
are already feeling the negative effects
of the last 50-plus years of intense
logging, which has led to water quality
degradation and an increase in fuel
loads and fire intensity. What we need
is ecologically appropriate management
based on community safety and fire
resiliency, and not on the false pretext
that the timber industry is going to
create jobs.” —Lydia Doleman, Speak
for the Trees
“BLM continues to kick the OHV
[Off Highway Vehicles] issue down the
road. If I were grading this RMP, they’d
get an ‘incomplete.’” —Jack Duggan
Marzluff’s Ten
Commandments
Adapted slightly for Applegaters
1. Keep your lawn small. Devote
more of the land around your house to
native species, gardens, ponds, etc. This
kind of landscape is easier to care for,
requires less fertilizer, and saves a lot of
water. The birds will love it.
2. Keep your cat indoors. Our feline
pets kill wild birds by the billions.
3. Make your windows visible
to birdies. Go ahead and wash your
windows, but try applying decals or
striping. Just five percent coverage will
do the job.
4. Don’t light up the night sky. Use
outdoor lighting only when necessary
and face lights downward. Think of the
owls.
5. Provide food, water, and nest
sites. Leave some dead snags for nesting
cavities and food. Hummingbirds love
sage blossoms.
6. Don’t kill the predators. The
toxins we use to control insects and
rodents are deadly to hawks and eagles.
7. Foster a diversity of habitats.
Let the birds landscape for you.
“Birdscaping” is chaotic, but beautiful
and natural. And a lot less work.
8. Make wildlife-safe zones. Leave
corridors of natural grass and shrubs on
your property. The birds will dine in style.
9. Work with local authorities.
Protect our parks and riparian zones.
Cantrall Buckley and Fish Hatchery
parks are bonanzas for ducks, herons,
eagles, and other wildlife.
10. Cherish what we have. Did you
know that ecologists consider southern
Oregon one of the most biologically
diverse spots in the country?
Conserve what you can and enjoy!
“I will mourn the loss of the
Applegate Adaptive Management
Area and the Lands with Wilderness
Characteristics.” —Luke Ruediger,
Klamath Forest Alliance
“It’s unfortunate that the BLM is
still operating from an outdated mind-
set. The new plan lacks recognition of
the importance of carbon storage in
our forests. It weakens stream buffers,
which affect wildlife and fish. The BLM
should be embracing the expanding
recreation economy and emphasizing
forest health rather than increasing the
number of board feet produced by our
forests.” —Marion Hadden, Applegate
Neighborhood Network
“If enacted, BLM’s RMP would
be devastating to businesses like ours,
and to wineries, organic family farms,
recreation, and other businesses that
depend on the beautiful ambiance and
natural services provided by these BLM
lands in our neighborhoods, including
the official Oregon State Scenic Trail, the
30-plus mile historic Sterling Mine Ditch
Trail.” —Susanna Bahaar, Director, Birch
Creek Arts and Ecology Center
The 30-day protest period for the
proposed changes to the RMP is now
over, and the BLM will soon release
their final record of decision. To read the
BLM’s proposed RMP, visit www.blm.
gov/or/plans/rmpswesternoregon.
Suzie Savoie
Applegate Neighborhood Network
klamathsiskiyou@gmail.com
