NEWS BRIEFS
WOLF WANDERS TO CALIFORNIA
Thanks to Oregon’s wandering wolf, California saw its first Canis lupus in the
state since 1924. The young gray wolf known as OR-7, but now renamed “Journey”
thanks to conservation group Oregon Wild’s naming contest, was confirmed in the
Golden State via his GPS tracking collar on Dec. 29.
According to Sean Stevens of Oregon Wild, “I’d be hard pressed to think of a
more famous or accomplished wolf than OR-7.”
OR-7, aka Journey, was the first wolf west of the Cascades in 65 years, Stevens
says, and the first wolf in California in 90 years.
California, like Oregon, has not reintroduced the wolves that were once native,
but instead has awaited their gradual return. The California Department of Fish and
Game (DFG) says, “This particular animal is exhibiting normal dispersal behavior
for a young male and there is no way to predict whether he will stay in California,
return to Oregon or travel east into Nevada.”
California DFG officials say they will be sharing only general location
information on the wolf because it is protected under the Endangered Species Act.
The first known photo of OR-7 was recently discovered. It was taken in southern
Oregon by a deer hunter’s trail camera. Stevens says, last he heard, the wolf had
ventured deeper into California but was still in Siskiyou County.
Oregon currently has about four wolf packs — the Snake River, Walla Walla,
Imanha and Wenaha packs — and 24 or 25 wolves, depending on OR-7’s location. A
new pup was confirmed for the Wenaha pack in December. Only the Walla Walla
pack is currently able to be designated a “breeding pair,” meaning the pack produced
at least two pups that survived through the end of the year when they were born.
State wolf management rules say ODFW can only start removing state
Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves when there are four breeding
pairs on Oregon’s east side and four on the west side. Wolves are federally
protected in Oregon only west of Highway 395, Stevens says.
Wolves have been controversial in the West since they were reintroduced and
began to disperse. But California’s DFG says, “In other Western states the impact
of depredation on livestock has been small, less than predation by coyotes and
mountain lions,” and adds that “concerns about human safety are largely based on
folklore and are unsubstantiated in North America.”
OR-7 became an international sensation as wolf fans tracked his journey from
the Imnaha pack’s homeground in northeast Oregon hundred of miles across the
state to southern Oregon. Children from Oregon to Finland weighed in on Oregon
Wild’s contest to name the wandering wolf. The finalists were: Arthur (Arttu in
Finnish), Journey, Lupin, Max and Takota. Stevens says the name Journey got
about 42 percent of the votes.
— Camilla Mortensen
IT’S ABOUT TIME
BY DAVID WAGNER
B
otanists have an advantage this time of year
because they can sense spring coming. True,
with the solstice just behind us, most of the
official winter is yet ahead of us. Yet buds on the
leafless trees and shrubs are swelling, increasing in size
easily noticed from week to week. The woodland herbs are
emerging from the ground, splashes of bright green.
Those who only watch birds don’t have it as good. It is
indeed a treat to watch the shovelers and buffleheads
cruise around the Delta Ponds displaying their tidy
swimming style. They will leave when spring arrives, but
there’s no way to tell when that might occur just by watching
the birds. I’m sure the birds, like the botanists, watch the buds
SNOWBERRY,
swell and the herbs proliferate. We all wait for the days’
SYMPHORICAR-
lengthening.
POS ALBUS
Our climate is so mild that few animals hibernate. The animals that
remain active often work hard to find food this time of the year. Elk move into lowland
forests and eat lichens. River otters can be seen in urban ponds. Birds forage in flocks that
include pine siskins from the mountains.
A surprise to a botanist is how long the snowberries hang on to their fruit. They are
aptly named, practically glowing white at the tips of slender dark branches. It is one of the
few decorations in the valley woodlands this time of year. They must be distasteful to
birds, to remain so long. Maybe they are starvation food, last to be eaten?
David Wagner is a botanist who has worked in Eugene for more than 30 years. He studies mosses, liverworts and
hornworts and teaches moss classes. He may be reached at fernzenmosses@me.com.
8 JANUARY 5, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
THINNING HARMS
FLIGHTY RODENTS
Oregonians may not know it, but our
state’s forests are riddled with wide-eyed,
nocturnal, gliding mammals. The northern
flying squirrel serves many ecological
functions in Pacific Northwest forests, and
is considered to be a “keystone species.” It
is a vital part of the diet of the endangered
species listed northern spotted owl, and a
new study shows that flying squirrels are
negatively affected by commercial thinning
of timber.
Commercial thinning in regenerating
stands of previously logged Douglas fir is
supposed to provide a small amount of
lumber, reduce fire danger and give trees
room to develop old-growth characteristics
in which species like the flying squirrel
and the spotted owl thrive.
However, a recent study by scientists
from OSU and the U.S. Geological Survey
found that the thinning actually reduces the
density of flying squirrels.
Researchers used live-capture traps to
catch and count flying squirrels in the
Willamette National forest, east and
southeast of Eugene. “Our research makes
it clear that densities of northern flying
squirrels are particularly sensitive to
thinning in young Douglas fir forests for at
least 12 years after treatment,” researchers
Tom Manning, Joan Hagar and Brenda
McComb conclude.
This study demonstrates that forest
thinning presents a tradeoff: It will benefit
native
species in the long-term, but on a
na
short-term
basis it is detrimental to flying
shor
squirrels
(and therefore possibly to spotted
squ
owls).
ow
Hagar says that these findings
demonstrate the high level of ecological
complexity at play when it comes to forest
restoration. “No matter what we do in the
forest, there is a positive affect on some
species and a negative affect on other
species,” she says. Although this study
found forest thinning to reduce flying
squirrel population densities, Hagar says
she has conducted other research indicating
that thinning is beneficial for the density of
LIGHTEN UP
BY R A FA E L A L DAV E
native songbirds. “Forest thinning is a
great management tool as long as were are
well-aware of the impact,” Hagar says.
This study shows that, in the delicate
balance of forest ecosystems, the path to
restoration is not clear-cut.
— Caitlin McKimmy
MAJOR FIRMS
AVOID STATE
INCOME TAXES
Many of the nation’s Fortune 500
companies, including Intel, Oregon’s
largest private employer, have paid little
or no state income taxes in recent years
despite reporting large profits to their
shareholders, according to a report
released in late December by the Institute
on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)
and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ).
The report examined corporate filings
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) and calculated the
sum of all state income taxes paid by 265
Fortune 500 companies that were
profitable each of the three years studied,
2008 through 2010. Data on file with the
SEC did not allow ITEP and CTJ to
determine the amounts paid in taxes to
particular states, according to a press
release from Chuck Sheketoff, executive
director of the Oregon Center for Public
Policy.
“The report confirms the need for
state corporate disclosure laws,” said
Sheketoff. “Oregonians have a right to
know which large corporations are using
accounting gimmicks, special laws and
tax loopholes to avoid paying income
taxes on their profits.” Of the 265
corporations studied, 68 paid no net state
income taxes in at least one of the years
from 2008 to 2010 — even as these
companies together reported making
almost $117 billion in pre-tax profits in
the years when they paid no taxes.
Find this and other stories on the
Oregon economy on the OCPP website
www.ocpp.org
When five topless women show up in front
of your house, that’s not terrorism. That’s
an answer to a frat boy’s prayers.
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