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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 2018)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2018 Federal changes could spell trouble for condors Trump wants to ease protections By MIRANDA DAVIDUK Oregon Public Broadcasting Most people probably aren’t thinking about vultures. “We don’t notice they’re there, but we would notice if they weren’t,” said Travis Koons, animal curator at the Oregon Zoo. Known for their scaveng- ing tendencies and bald, fleshy heads, vulture species such as California condors are much more than ugly birds, Koons said. Vultures are like the friend who finishes off that last bit of food you’re too full to eat. They’re akin to street-sweep- ers, cleaning up remnant ani- mal carcasses that others leave behind. Without them, there would be higher rates of dis- ease, bugs and other undesir- ables, according to Koons. California condors have made a remarkable comeback from the brink of extinction, thanks in part to efforts at the Oregon Zoo. But recently pro- posed changes to the Endan- gered Species Act could have dire consequences for nature’s master recyclers. Originally created to pro- tect threatened and endangered plants, animals and their hab- itats, the Endangered Species Act has been recognized as the nation’s strongest conservation law. In July, the Trump adminis- tration proposed changes to the act that would make it harder to protect new species and easier to remove protections — or del- ist — species that are currently protected, like condors. “One thing we heard over and over again was that ESA implementation was not con- sistent and often times very confusing to navigate,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice Principal Deputy Director Greg Sheehan. “We are pro- posing these improvements to produce the best conservation results for the species while reducing the regulatory burden on the American people.” Proposed changes would allow potential economic con- sequences into the equation when determining protections for plants and animals. Cur- rently, the decision is based solely on scientific research. Threatened species would no longer be automatically granted the same protections as endangered species and critical habitats could shrink, among other things. The Oregon Zoo is home to one-tenth of the world’s pop- ulation of California condors. This one is named Kaweah. Photos by Miranda Daviduk/Oregon Public Broadcasting California condors have bald, fleshy heads to stay clean when they eat. “The proposed changes would reduce regulatory pro- tections and our influence over endangered species manage- ment,” said Dr. Donald Moore, director of the Oregon Zoo. “It might significantly decrease the condor’s survival as a species.” The California condors’ range once extended from British Columbia, all along the Pacific Coast and down to Baja California. According to Fish and Wildlife records, only 23 con- dors remained in the world by 1982. By 1987, all remaining wild condors were placed in a captive breeding program as a last-ditch recovery effort. It worked. The first birds were reintro- duced into the wild in 1992. As of 2017, global California condor counts were up to more than 460 birds, both wild and captive. That was a 6.4 percent increase from 2016. The Oregon Zoo boasts the second-largest condor pro- gram in the country, housing one-tenth of the world’s Cal- ifornia condor population, according to Moore. He credits the species’ recovery to protections from the Endangered Species Act. “We’ve been working really hard on producing con- dors and reintroducing them,” Moore said. “Any proposed changes that would weaken the act would weaken our abil- ity to keep animals from going extinct.” One big threat to con- dor recovery: lead poison- ing. When the current head of the Interior Department, Ryan Zinke, took office, one of his first acts in office was to rescind an Obama adminis- tration regulation that banned lead ammunition. Lead has been the great- est cause of wild population mortality, resulting in approx- imately 50 percent of known causes of death since 1992, according to a Fish and Wild- life Service report. To rem- edy this, educational programs such as the Hunting With Non- Lead initiative have been cre- ated to educate the public, par- ticularly hunters, on the lethal effects on wildlife from lead ammunition. “Lead exposure has been identified as the leading cause in mortality in free-flying juve- nile and adult condors,” said Leland Brown the non-lead hunting education coordinator for the Oregon Zoo. “It’s not Residential Commercial Cedar Roof Treatments Exterior Repaint Specialist Over 25 years local experience 503-440-2169 Jeff Hale, Contractor Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 “They’d be a doomed spe- cies,” Koons said. Koons’ goal is to see con- dors flying over Oregon skies within the next five to 10 years. “In my lifetime, I want to go all the way up to Astoria and see condors flying where they used to be.” SUB-BIDS REQUESTED Seaside School District New Middle/High Schools Seaside, Oregon Bid Package: #4 All Other Work Pre-Bid Meeting: Sept 18 th , 2018 2:00 pm in Seaside Bids Due: Oct 4 th , 2018 2:00 pm Bid Documents: www.hoffmancorp.com/ subcontractors 805 SW Broadway, Suite 2100 Portland, OR 97205 Phone (503) 221-8811 Bid Fax (503) 221-8888 BIDS@hoffmancorp.com Hoffman is an equal opportunity employer and requests sub-bids from all interested firms including disadvantaged, minority, women, disabled veterans and emerging small-business enterprises OR CCB#28417/LIC HOFFMCC164NC WE HA HAVE 100 FLAVORS OF SALT, YET OUR BANK STILL SPICED UP OUR BUSINESS . Jeff Hale Painting • • • • WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Fre e Est Fast ima tes Call me ti Any visible to hunters — so they’re unaware that it’s happening.” When a lead bullet enters an animal, toxic fragments spread through the wound channel — leaving fragments of lead in the carcass. Scaven- gers ingest lead when feasting on the animal remnants lead- ing to lead poisoning. Although polls show that 90 percent of Americans support the Endangered Species Act, its efficacy is debated. Accord- ing to the Center for Biologi- cal Diversity, between 1973 to 2013, the act prevented extinc- tion for 99 percent of species under its protection. But crit- ics argue inefficiency, saying only 1 percent of species pro- tected by the act have recov- ered enough for delisting. California condors were one of the very first animals listed under the Endangered Species Act. “Condors are one of the most successful species of that program and it’s a direct result of that attention and aware- ness,” Koons said. “It’s pretty critical that we reverse this way we’re headed.” Since 2004, 51 condors have been reared at the Ore- gon Zoo and released into the wild, according to Koons. Six more will be released Sept. 22 in Arizona. But without pro- tections and funding, condors would likely cease to exist. LICENSED BONDED INSURED CCB#179131 I’d like you to join me in welcoming Eric J. Anderson, who is a new addition to our community. Eric is no stranger to the area or to the Hughes-Ransom Mortuaries, and has on occasion temporarily filled in to help at both the Seaside and Astoria Mortuaries. Some may recall that Eric was one of the funeral directors involved in the 2016 funeral services for fallen Seaside Police Officer, Jason Goodding, when he was tragically killed in the line of duty. When a full time vacancy became available at Hughes-Ransom, Eric moved back to Oregon from Park Rapids, MN. His arrival this spring has been a most welcome and much appreciated addition by the professional staff to manage both Hughes-Ransom locations. Eric was born and raised in Fosston, Minnesota the youngest of seven children. Being 100% Norwegian, Eric is very familiar with our local Scandinavian heritage. Eric attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota before graduating from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor’s Science Degree in Mortuary Science. Soon after graduating from college, Eric moved to Eugene, OR and worked in the funeral business 18 years. Eric is the proud father of three children, a son Drew who is in the Marines, currently stationed in Twenty Nine Palms, Ca and two daughters, Isabella is a freshman in college in Wyoming and Olivia is a Jr in High School in Minnesota. Eric enjoys the outdoors, golfing, fishing, hunting and camping. Eric’s experience with midwestern traditions and west coast experience is a great addition to the community. ~ The Hughes Ransom Family Mark Zoske | CEO | SaltWorks Divorce need not be expensive. We help you get the paperwork right and provide mediation to help you divide your assets. We helped SaltWorks grow from a spare bedroom to the largest gourmet salt company in the world. Columbia Bank’s financial expertise and SaltWorks’ knack for business complemented each other like gourmet salt on a prime steak. From the start, we’ve been providing financial advice, equipment financing and all the rock-solid support we can shake up. See how good your relationship with a bank can be. 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