3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016
White-tailed deer move toward recovery
Federal status
upgraded to
‘threatened’
By CASSANDRA
PROFITA
Oregon Public Broadcasting
After nearly 50 years on
the endangered species list,
Columbian white-tailed deer
are moving up in the world.
Their numbers along the
Columbia River have more
than doubled since the species
was listed in 1967. On Thurs-
day, the U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service upgraded their
status from “endangered” to
“threatened.”
Oficials are celebrating
the occasion in Ridgeield,
Washington, where the Ridge-
ield National Wildlife Refuge
has played a key role in the
deer’s recovery.
In 2013, a dike at the Julia
Butler Hansen Wildlife Ref-
uge was faltering, putting the
refuge that was created specif-
ically to harbor white-tailed
deer at risk of looding.
Oficials moved 88 deer
from the Julia Butler Han-
sen refuge to Ridgeield’s
protected habitat with help
from dozens of community
volunteers.
“We had Boy Scout troops,
families. We had hunting and
ishing groups,” said Megan
Nagel, spokeswoman for the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice. “We had all these folks
from the surrounding com-
munities investing in the
recovery of this endangered
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Volunteers work with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biol-
ogists to capture and relocate endangered Columbian
white-tailed deer.
K. Meyer/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Columbian white-tailed deer have settled into the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
since 2013 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service relocated 88 deer to the protected
habitat. The species is on the rebound and moves from endangered to threatened status.
species.”
Since then, staff and vol-
unteers with the Ridge-
ield National Wildlife Ref-
uge have planted more than
30,000 trees to create ideal
habitat for the white-tailed
deer, and the population there
has grown to at least 110,
according to refuge Deputy
Project Leader Eric Anderson.
The relocated deer have
been tagged so biologists can
track them and their offspring.
“It’s exciting. They’re
doing great,” Anderson said.
“Last weekend I was here and
literally saw a female that was
fawned on the refuge with her
fawn. So, it’s kind of like a
grandparent moment — actu-
ally seeing your young having
young on the refuge.”
Hunting and
habitat loss
Columbian white-tailed
deer populations declined as a
result of uncontrolled hunting
and habitat loss from farm-
ing, logging and development
that took over the river valleys
and bottomlands the deer call
home.
Their numbers along the
Columbia River were down to
around 450. Now they’re up
to more than 900 deer.
To rebuild the population,
oficials have moved deer into
wildlife refuges and relocated
elk that compete with the
deer for food. Wildlife ofi-
cials have even killed coyotes
to protect the deer from their
natural predators while their
numbers rebound.
Oficials say the success
thus far is the result of collab-
oration by the Cowlitz Indian
Tribe, the states of Washing-
ton and Oregon, conserva-
tion groups, volunteers and
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
Major milestone
The new “threatened” sta-
tus is a major milestone for
one of the original endan-
gered species, said Paul Hen-
son, state supervisor for the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice in Oregon.
“In 1967, when the irst
version of the Endangered
Species Act was passed by
Congress, this deer, along
with many other iconic spe-
cies like the bald eagle and the
brown pelican and the Cali-
fornia condor, was originally
listed as endangered,” Hen-
son said. “They were in very
low numbers and now they’ve
come back.”
The deer are no longer on
the brink of extinction. But
they’re not fully recovered
yet, either.
“It’s like a patient being
released from the hospital
after pretty serious surgery,”
he said. “They still have to
come back and check in with
the doctor.”
The plan for easing pro-
tections on the deer includes
implementing a new rule
that will allow landowners to
manage deer on their prop-
erty. Henson said he hopes
that will make people less ner-
vous about having the deer on
their land.
The current population
numbers are nearly high
enough to consider removing
the species from the endan-
gered list altogether, Henson
said. But he said he wants to
see more deer populations in
more places before delisting.
The current range of the
Columbia River population of
Columbian white-tailed deer
includes areas on the Wash-
ington and Oregon sides of
the river, including islands in
the river.
Another population in
southern Oregon has already
been deemed recovered and
was removed from the endan-
gered list in 2002.
Brown, Pierce square off in fourth debate of the year
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
MEDFORD — Gov. Kate
Brown and GOP gubernatorial
candidate Bud Pierce courted
southern Oregon Thursday in
their fourth debate.
The debate, hosted by
KOBI-TV/NBC5, challenged
the candidates for solutions
to the region’s most critical
problems, such as inadequate
police protection in Josephine
County, painkiller abuse and
sex traficking in the Interstate
5 corridor.
Panelists also probed can-
didates about how they would
address southern Oregon’s
longstanding sense of discon-
nection from state leadership.
The complaint dates back to at
least 1941 when residents of
several counties in southern
Oregon and Northern Califor-
nia plotted to start their own
state, the State of Jefferson,
now the namesake for south-
ern Oregon’s public radio
station.
“We hear from our view-
ers that they see their feder-
ally elected oficials far more
than they see their state public
oficials,” said panelist Patsy
Smullin, owner of KOBI-TV.
U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and
Jeff Merkley each hold a town
hall in every county of Oregon
every year, while governors
typically have not.
“If elected, would you com-
mit to doing an annual town
hall meeting in each county of
Oregon?”
Pierce, who has visited
Medford eight times during
his campaign promised that he
“absolutely” would.
“I’m committed to stay-
ing three months out of every
year in the rural communities
and actually living probably a
week at a time,” Pierce said.
“That’s key so you can be gov-
ernor of all of Oregon.”
Brown said she would con-
tinue to “reach out and be in all
of the communities throughout
the state of Oregon.”
“I will continue to work
to ight to make sure that we
make Oregon a place where
everyone can thrive, and I
will do that by being out in
the communities on a regular
basis,” she said.
Pressed by Smullin to
answer the question, Brown
said that she would love to
make that commitment,” but
she knows from her expe-
rience as governor that cri-
ses come up. For example,
she said she had to focus her
energy on responding to the
Umpqua Community College
shooting and recovery effort a
year ago in Roseburg.
Experience
Brown’s experience in state
government and knowledge of
the realities of the ofice dom-
inate her arguments for reject-
ing Pierce, who has never held
elected ofice.
She brought up her lon-
ger experience in answer to
question about how the can-
didates would combat human
traficking along Interstate
5, which passes through
Medford.
Brown worked on policy
that the Legislature passed in
2007 to tackle the problem and
created a task force to lay the
groundwork for solutions. She
said she would treat the prob-
lem similarly to domestic vio-
lence and sexual assault by
increasing access to services
and funding adequate shelters
for victims.
“It is absolutely critical that
this state play a role,” she said.
“I am the one who has leader-
ship experience on this issue
over the last 20 years.”
Pierce said he supports pre-
vention programs to identify
vulnerable individuals and
providing an easy way for vic-
tims to reach out for help.
Law enforcement
“Obviously, we need to
have aggressive law enforce-
ment getting involved in miti-
gating and identifying the peo-
ple who are being abused,”
Pierce added.
Inadequate law enforce-
ment protection remains a con-
cern for Southern Oregon’s
Josephine County, where vot-
ers have rejected tax increases
to pay for sheriff’s services.
Oregon State Police has had to
step in to cover cases.
Asked what the candidates
would do to keep Josephine
County safe, Pierce said he
would look for ways for coun-
ties to boost their revenue from
state forests.
“We need a massive stimu-
lation of the economy by that
and other measures such as tax
credits and enterprise zones,”
Pierce said. “Once people
make enough money they tend
to be willing to pay for those
services.” He said he would
commit to making sure basic
law enforcement services are
maintained in counties.
Brown said the state has
an increasing population and
decreasing federal money.
She said she also would like
to boost the number of Oregon
State Police troopers.
“As governor I will ight to
make sure we have additional
troopers on the front lines
to make sure communities
around Oregon remain safe,”
she said.
Measure 97
The candidates also sparred
Thursday over issues they’ve
covered in past debates,
such as Measure 97’s corpo-
Deborah
Boone
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
State Representative
HD 32, Democrat
Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500
GAME MEAT PROCESSING
OCTOBER 15
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Native Oregonian
Rural homeowner in HD 32 since 1974
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C elebration of L ife
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S ATURDAY
O CTOBER 15
1 TO 3
PM
of Gov. John Kitzhaber’s four-
year term. As former secretary
of state, Brown became gov-
ernor when Kitzhaber stepped
down in February 2015 amid
an inluence-peddling scandal
over contracts awarded to his
iancée, Cylvia Hayes.
Re-elect
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Dawn McIntosh rejoins Campbell & Popkin
Judge-elect Dawn McIntosh has rejoined Campbell &
Popkin to work closely with Chris Palmer, in whom
she has great conidence. Dawn and Chris are both
well-known for skillfully representing clients in di-
vorce, seperation, custody and other family law mat-
ters. Campbell & Popkin also provides services in
business law, litigation, real estate, estate planning and
probate. Dawn and Chris are both taking new clients.
Dawn McIntosh
rate sales tax on the Novem-
ber ballot and the $22 billion
unfunded liability in the Pub-
lic Employees Retirement
System.
Pierce, a Salem oncolo-
gist, is trying to unseat Brown
to complete the last two years
www.campbellpopkin.com
Service organizations are joining together to
bring you and your family a variety of
community resources including information
booths, presentations, individual sign-ups, and
details on how to prepare for the future, your
retirement years, Medicare, Medicaid and
much, much more.
November 3, 2016
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Grays River Valley Center (Johnson Park)
30 Rosburg School Rd., Rosburg, WA
Chris Palmer
503-738-8400 • 1580 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside
For additional information or Vendor registration contact
Carole Glowacki Wahkiakum County Community Outreach
360-795-8630 press option #4