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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2019)
A3 • Friday, March 8, 2019 | Cannon Beach Gazette | CannonBeachGazette.com LISTENING TO THE LAND A roadmap for saving the state’s coho salmon By KATHERINE LACAZE For Cannon Beach Gazette The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has developed a roadmap for getting Oregon Coast coho off the endangered species list, but it relies on coopera- tion from partners, including community members, con- servation groups, and timber companies. The purpose of setting a goal for recovery is to ensure “we have those spe- cies around for future gen- erations,” according to Kenneth Phippen, the Ore- gon Coast Branch Chief for NOAA’s West Coast region. On Feb. 20, he presented on “Breathing Life into the Oregon Coast Coho Salmon Recovery Plan” as part of the Necanicum Watershed Council’s Listening to the Land lecture series, hosted in partnership with the Sea- side Public Library. NOAA’s long-term strat- egy for de-listing coho salmon — and keeping them off the list — is out- lined in the Oregon Coast Katherine Lacaze Kenneth Phippen, Oregon Coast Branch Chief for NOAA Fisheries, presents on “Breathing Life Into the Oregon Coast Coho Salmon Recovery Plan” on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at the Seaside Public Library as part of the Necanicum Watershed Council’s Listening to the Land lecture series. Coho Salmon Recovery Plan, which was fi nalized in December 2016. The plan builds on past and current efforts to restore the coho salmon, particularly with a call for “continued actions to repair the ecosystem pro- cesses that infl uence the health and stability of the rearing habitats for juvenile coho salmon,” according to a plan summary. Using the plan as a foundation, the department can develop focused annual work plans with specifi c milestones. Too often, Phippen said, bureaucrats put together plans that sit on the shelf without leading to tangi- ble action, when “they’re supposed to be living doc- uments.” Nine months after the recovery plan was approved, the Oregon Coast Coho Salmon Workshop Team worked to develop a vision statement to ensure the document remained tan- gible and fresh. Additionally, the plan is supplemented by a Recov- ery Implementation Strat- egy, which includes excerpts for each of the fi ve strata on the Oregon Coast. Clatsop County is in the North Coast Stratum, which includes the Necanicum, Nehalem, Tilla- mook and Nestucca rivers. What does a recovery plan do? Out of 28 salmon spe- cies from the West Coast currently listed as endan- gered or threatened, the coho is relatively the closest to recovery, Phippen said, adding there is still work to be done. While there are multiple variables at play, he added, “We really need to dig down deep and fi gure out what we as NOAA Fisheries can do to implement the plan.” To that end, the agency devel- oped a ground strategy with several proactive and spe- cifi c goals, one of which is managing the riparian area along rivers and streams and increasing the quality, quantity and diversity of winter and summer juvenile rearing habitat. Other goals include establishing focused protec- tion and restoration efforts within forestry and agricul- ture; promoting actions that strengthen coho populations along with sustainable local community and economies that rely on working lands; and enhancing monitoring programs and science. “We’re actually mak- ing very specifi c commit- ments in our daily work in association to our recovery plan,” Phippen said, adding the ground strategy does not amend or revise the recov- ery plan, but rather “identi- fi es and prioritizes actions NOAA will take unilater- ally or in partnership with others.” For the fi rst time, he added, NOAA Fisheries is developing its annual work plans alongside the agen- cy’s Restoration Center staff to ensure their work is com- plementary and progressing toward similar objectives. As Phippen pointed out, success is not measured by merely getting coho salmon de-listed as an endangered species, but also through creating the infrastructure and environment for the species to continue thriv- ing so it does not become re-listed a few years down the road. Making a difference Phippen said they have seen success in the state when a couple smaller watershed councils or other conservation organizations build a coalition and con- solidate their efforts. His agency can provide sup- port through funding and by helping groups identify opportunities for working together. Additionally, community members can contribute to the recovery effort by shar- ing detailed information at the population level to help develop and implement strategic action plans along- side the Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife and other agencies and local stakeholders. “You know that ground,” Phippen said, adding that level of localized familiar- ity is especially valuable. “The bottom line question is, are you going to con- tinue this exciting journey with us?” The Listening to the Land series runs through May. Each lecture takes place at 6 p.m. at the library. In March, Jakob Shockey, a wildlife biologist and the owner of Beaver State Wild- life Solutions, will pres- ent on “Resolving Confl icts with Beaver using Natural Science and Design.” Elk tracking: The traveling patterns of the local herds By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian There are several ways to track elk in Clatsop County, offi cial and unoffi cial. Combined, these efforts reveal just how much — and how little — North Coast residents know about ani- mals they may see almost every day. But the answers, and questions, have gained a new urgency as city lead- ers struggle to address public safety and property damage tied to urban elk populations in Gearhart and Warrenton. Offi cial efforts include things like annual helicop- ter surveys state wildlife biologists just completed of herds in the larger Saddle Mountain management unit. Or the driving surveys park staff and volunteers at Lewis and Clark National Histori- cal Park conducted last week on public roads around the park’s borders. Unoffi cial efforts look like a Facebook group for- mer Warrenton resident Lena Weil created in 2014 with traffi c safety in mind. Though the group — Clat- sop County Elk sightings! — has since morphed into more of a celebration of local elk, Weil believes it gives the community a sense of when elk are on the move or near roads. But despite all the eyes focused on elk, many ques- tions remain, and under- standing the movements of the Clatsop Plains elk in particular presents a unique challenge. Driving surveys Early one morning in late February, Carla Cole and Corinne Bird pointed their binoculars at a herd of elk grazing on a hill on the other side of Alternate U.S. High- way 101 Business, not far from the turn-off to Lewis and Clark National Histori- cal Park, where Cole works as the natural resources proj- ect manager and Bird volun- teers. They tallied the num- ber of bulls, cows and calves they saw and recorded the herd’s location. Katie Frankowicz/The Daily Astorian Katie Frankowicz/The Daily Astorian Corrine Bird, left, and Carla Cole count elk during a survey of the herds around the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. Photographer and naturalist Neil Maine watches a group of elk graze in the dunes near Gearhart with a map he uses to track their movements. The information is just another data point to show where elk have been seen around the park over the last 10 years. For now, the park employs two methods to track elk herd numbers and move- ments: driving surveys, done at sunrise every other month throughout the year on pub- lic roads around the park’s borders, and elk fecal pellet surveys, done on foot in park property by staff and volun- teers willing to poke at poop and bushwhack through dense forest. The driving surveys pro- vide far less concrete data than the elk pellet surveys, but they are a low-effort way to gather a little more infor- mation. Park staff can say with confi dence where they have seen — at least from the road — a lot of elk over the years, where they have seen only a few and where both sightings and abun- dance seem to be changing. The national park’s tracking work is, in part, an effort to untangle anec- dotal information and pin it to data. Because, as Cole said, “Everyone’s memory is faulty.” The journals of the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark pro- a busy highway. “Most herds don’t freak out if you fl y over them, but if they do, they run through fences or essentially stam- pede,” said Herman Bieder- beck, district wildlife biol- ogist. “And that’s the last thing we want to do in that area.” Like the national park’s driving survey crews, state trackers are limited by what they can see from the road and in open areas. Then, of course, there is what they hear from people who live in Gearhart and Warrenton who deal with the Clatsop Plains elk regularly. “We get reports of the size of the Gearhart elk herd and some people who don’t like the elk all that much have a tendency to give infl ated numbers,” Biederbeck said. He often relies on metic- ulous observers, like former vide a glimpse at what elk abundance around the mod- ern-day national park looked like before European settle- ment. But since then, War- renton has undergone rapid large-scale development in areas that were historically forests and fi elds. Many of the conversa- tions Cole hears now about elk in the area — and what constitutes normal herd sizes or travel patterns — seems to be set in a shorter, more recent time frame. “What people are remem- bering is from their own life- times and that’s not neces- sarily the best indication of what ‘normal’ is,” she said. “There could be pretty wide fl uctuations in both herd size and abundance and distribu- tion and pattens of use across the landscape. Those are the questions we’re really just trying to get more informa- tion on.” Park staff are in the pro- cess of refi ning the most recent years of driving and pellet survey data, and are interested to see what trends emerge when this data is con- textualized within 10 years of information. A plan to fi t up to six elk in the park with radio collars this year could reveal even more detailed information about how the Cannon Beach’s Best Selection of Oregon and Washington Wine! animals use the park. For now, Cole and Bird will keep driving. ‘Reasonably predictable’ Clatsop County’s herds are folded into a large group known as the Sad- dle Mountain unit. The Ore- gon Department of Fish and Wildlife manages many of the populations in the unit for hunting, keeping an eye on the ratio of bulls to cows and calves to cows. Though biologists use helicopters — and have experimented with drones — to survey herds in some parts of the unit, driving is really the only way to sur- vey the Clatsop Plains elk. These herds inhabit a mix of forested, agricultural and increasingly developed and urban lands crossed with public roads and divided by ST. PATRICK’S DAY Treats for the Little (or Big) Leprechauns in your life! • 2 LOCATIONS • (Easy & Convenient) Downtown Cannon Beach 256 N. 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He knows the herds’ usual routes, and believes the community could fi nd ways to better predict when elk will pop up at places like the golf course and use this knowledge to plan ahead. “They have patterns — they break the pattern all the time — but it’s reasonably predictable,” he said. & Seaside Outlet Mall WE CAN SHIP CANDY DIRECTLY TO YOU!
