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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2019
Winter steelhead stage comeback on Willamette River
Killing sea lions a factor
By KALE WILLIAMS
The Oregonian
A controversial plan to kill sea
lions in the hopes of bolstering
an endangered run of fi sh on the
Willamette River appears to be
working, offi cials said , with win-
ter steelhead showing their best
returns in three years.
As of Wednesday, more than
2,400 winter steelhead had tra-
versed Willamette Falls to the
upper section of the river to spawn,
according to the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife. Offi -
cials predict a total run of around
3,200 fi sh. That’s up from 1,829
steelhead last year and just 822 in
2017.
The uptick, according to Shaun
Clement, a senior policy ana-
lyst for the agency, is due, at least
in part, to the state killing 16 sea
lions, which prey on the fi sh at the
horseshoe shaped falls in Oregon
City.
“We’re encouraged by the fi sh
numbers and by the success in
implementing the sea lion removal
program,” Clement said in a state-
ment. “We’ve defi nitely been able
to reduce predation this year and
provide some relief to the fi sh.”
Winter steelhead were thought
to be one of the most imperiled
species on the u pper Willamette
with wildlife managers estimating
that up to 25 percent of the run was
being preyed upon by California
sea lions. The pinnipeds had been
AP Photo/Don Ryan
A California sea lion trapped at Willamette Falls in 2018.
congregating at the falls in grow-
ing numbers in recent years, where
steelhead are forced into a bottle-
neck and become easy prey for the
voracious marine mammals.
The state tried removing the ani-
mals, who assemble at the falls by
the dozen, but the sea lions often
returned to Oregon City within
days.
Sea lions are safeguarded under
the federal Marine Mammal Pro-
tection Act so, in 2017, the state
applied for a special permit to kill
animals that were seen habitually
preying on steelhead and other
endangered species of fi sh.
The permit was approved and
trapping began in late December.
In January, the state began using
lethal removal to try to bolster the
chances of endangered fi sh migrat-
ing upriver.
By March 11, offi cials said, the
state had killed 11 sea lions and the
river was free of the pinnipeds for
six days, during which steelhead
passage increased to triple digits.
The respite didn’t last, though,
and more sea lions were seen at the
falls within a week.
The theory, according to She-
anna Steingass, marine mammal
program lead for the state, is that
the animals that are removed won’t
be able to pass along their problem-
atic behavior to future generations.
It will likely take a few years, but
wildlife managers hope to break
Astoria Band Boosters
Judge fi nds national monument expansion lawful
The move did not
preclude logging
The expansion of Ore-
gon’s
Cascade-Siskiyou
National Monument did not
unlawfully preclude logging
on public land dedicated to
timber production, accord-
ing to a federal judge.
U.S. Magistrate Judge
Mark Clarke has recom-
mended the dismissal of a
timber company’s claim that
President Barack Obama
lacked the authority to
enlarge the monument in
2017 by adding 40,000 acres
of Oregon & California Rail-
road Lands reclaimed by the
federal government.
The Murphy Co., which
relies on so-called O&C
Lands for its log sup-
ply, argued that Congress
devoted that acreage to tim-
ber harvest, which meant
it couldn’t be included in
the national monument any
more than a federal prison or
military base.
“What the president has
done here is vacate the pur-
pose of those lands that
Congress designated them
for,” said Mike Haglund, the
company’s attorney, during
oral arguments last month in
Medford .
Commercial logging is
greatly restricted within the
national monument, which
was originally established in
2000 with 53,000 acres, but
local ranchers are also wor-
ried about grazing curtail-
ments within the expanded
boundaries.
The Obama adminis-
tration increased its size
by 48,000 acres consist-
ing mostly of O&C Lands
shortly before leaving offi ce.
The decision has been
defended in court by the
Trump administration even
as it’s pared down other
national monuments.
The federal government
was joined by an environ-
Bureau of Land Management
The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southern Oregon.
mental group, the Soda
Mountain Wilderness Coun-
cil, in arguing that O&C
Lands can lawfully be man-
aged for multiple uses, such
as creating reserves where
timber can’t be harvested.
“Not every tree on every
acre of O&C Lands needs
to be cut. If not every tree
needs to be cut, why can’t
the president set aside those
48,000 acres?” argued
Coby Howell, attorney for
the government.
The judge has deter-
mined the Obama adminis-
tration was within its author-
ity under the Antiquities Act
— which allows presidents
to create national monu-
ments — in adding the O&C
Lands to its footprint.
Although the statute gov-
erning O&C Lands repeals
confl icting federal laws, it’s
not entirely incompatible
with the expansion of the
Cascade-Siskiyou National
Monument, according to
Clarke.
“Although there may be
tension between the dom-
inant purpose of the O&C
Act and the conservation-
ist purpose of the Antiqui-
ties Act, there is no irrecon-
cilable confl ict between the
two a cts,” he said.
The dominant purpose of
O&C Lands is timber har-
vest, but the law’s require-
ment of a “sustained yield”
does not mean logging must
be maximized — “the prin-
ciple merely ensures that the
CAN & BOTTLE DRIVE
1 P.M.- 3 P.M. • SUNDAY, APRIL 7 TH
AT ASTORIA HIGH SCHOOL
timber resource is managed
in perpetuity while provid-
ing the BLM with discretion
in how to achieve that objec-
tive,” Clarke said.
The Murphy Co. has
two weeks to fi le objec-
tions to Clarke’s recommen-
dation before a U.S. district
judge who will issue a bind-
ing decision in the case. The
government and the Soda
Mountain Wilderness Coun-
cil will have two weeks to
respond to any objections.
Ch ec
k th e L a b e
l
!
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
the yearly cycle of sea lions return-
ing to the falls every spring to feast
on steelhead and salmon.
“As a pinniped biologist, it’s
better for the salmon,” Steingass
said soon after program got under-
way, “but it’s better for the pinni-
peds too because we won’t have
hundreds of other animals learning
this behavior.”
The permit allows for the
removal of up to 93 California sea
lions, though Steingass estimated
that no more than 40 or 50 ani-
mals would be killed. To kill the
sea lions, wildlife biologists use
the same traps that were unsuc-
cessfully used in their relocation
efforts. The animals are taken to a
location offsite, anesthetized and
euthanized using a combination of
chemicals.
Travis Williams, executive
director of Willamette Riverkeeper,
doesn’t explicitly oppose the sea
lion removal program. The winter
steelhead run has teetered on the
edge of extinction in recent years
and he recognizes that something
had to be done. What gets lost in
the conversation, he said, is all the
factors that led to such a small pop-
ulation of fi sh where predation by
sea lions became a breaking point
for a whole species.
“There are big systemic prob-
lems,” he said, noting that many
of the Willamette’s tributar-
ies have fl ood control dams with
inadequate measures to help fi sh
migrate past them. “We address
the issue as if sea lions are the only
factor.”
P LEASE , NO EARLY DROP - OFFS
Items must have the 10 cent, OR redemption label
in order to benefit the band programs
The Band Boosters are the primary source of
funds to keep Astoria’s school band programs
functioning. Please help by dropping off your
empties or making a donation.
Call (503) 791-8134
or email i_want_to_help@astoriabands.org
for more information.
Heidi Wintermute
North Coast Symphonic Band
Directed by Dave Becker
“In the Spotlight”
2 PM , Sunday , April 7
FREE Concert
Prelude at 1:30: Northern Lights Flute Ensemble
Liberty Theater, 1203 Commercial — Doors Open at 1:15
Guest soloist: Alan Pierce, retired bass trombonist, Oregon Symphony
www.northcoastsymphonicband.org
With sincere gratitude, we would like to say “Thank You” to our friends
& family for your caring and thoughtful expressions of sympathy for
the passing of our dear mother, and wife, Shirley Tadei. Your loving
messages, memories that were shared, prayers, generous donations, lovely
flowers, gifts, and beautiful cards have touched our hearts and helped
tremendously to ease our sorrows and loss. We feel blessed
for the support and friendship which will always be
remembered and appreciated.
A special thank you to Father Oruko for the
memorial masses said in Shirley’s memory.
Sincerely, Vince Tadei and Family
