CONSERVATION NEWS

by Ann Vileisis, president and conservation chair of Kalmiopsis Audubon Society

Summer 2010

Crook Point Resort—Advancing rapidly
On July 9, the Curry County Planning Commission considered the proposal for the Crook Point Golf Resort development. The hearing was held at the fairgrounds to accommodate the large number of people who showed up mostly to testify in favor of the development. The developer’s agent Leroy Blodgett gave a short presentation with powerpoint slides showing natural scenes morphing into golf greens to the oohs and ahhs of the audience. Then nine people got up to speak in favor of the resort. Some grumbled about how long the planning process takes and how the government is stifling free enterprise. Most said the county needed the economic boost and expected that the resort would be a great “economic driver.” According to Mr. Blodgett, the resort will employ nearly 180 people when it’s fully operational, will pay $370,000 in taxes annually, and they will spend a total of over $41 million.

Then it was time for those of us not-so-smitten with the golf course “vision” to speak. KAS board member Linda Tarr talked about the importance of avoiding pesticide use to protect the nearshore marine environment and contributed several articles about best practices that golf courses can use to prevent polluted runoff. KAS member Paula Cracas followed up on that theme explaining how Bandon Dunes uses worm compost tea as a means to fertilize. She also suggested that the resort use caddies instead of golf carts to save on energy and pollution and to create more jobs. Some brave neighbors in Pistol River raised concerns about the water system affecting their wells and also about the onsite sewage plant.

Then KAS board member, Tim Palmer did the heavy lifting for KAS, trying to review a very long, specific, carefully considered 15-point testimony in a 5-minute time slot. Tim had done extensive research on the proposal and had made a site visit with the developer, so he’d really done his homework. From KAS perspective, one of the key concerns is avoiding impacts to the National Wildlife Refuge. In the DR ordinance we worked on last winter, we were successful in securing language that says impacts to surrounding lands…including state parks and the national wildlife refuge need to be avoided or minimized. And so Tim stressed the need for vegetative buffers, especially in places where the golf resort’s holes are right up against the refuge. He raised many specific concerns about construction on steep slopes, stormwater runoff, provisions for routing of the Coast Trail, the need for dark sky lighting, and more.

Finally, I spoke as president of KAS. Much was made of the Crook pioneer family status at the hearing—so I mentioned that KAS had been around in Curry County for 30 years but that we were carrying forth a tradition of advocating for birds that was over 100 years old. I took time to explain the significance of the National Wildlife Refuge --that the seabird colonies located just offshore at Crook Point are the second largest on the Oregon Coast—and that colonies on Oregon’s coast is the most important for seabird breeding on the entire west coast. In other words, the seabird colonies here are not just important locally, but they have significance on the West Coast and nationally. The colonies have been recognized by the Oregon IBA Technical Advisory Committee as an “Important Bird Area.” (IBA)

I also thought it was important to explain our concerns more specially. One of the most significant things about these particular colonies is that they are covered with soil and plants, which means they are places that burrowing nesters, such as Storm petrels and Tufted puffins, can use for breeding. There are not a lot of offshore islands that have soil and grass where these birds can burrow underground to build their nests and so these birds can’t just go somewhere else. The island breeding colonies are also separated from the mainland, which means they are naturally protected from predators like raccoons, foxes, and people who might climb the rocks and unwittingly trample their burrows. However, the colonies at Saddle Rock, which are very close to land, are vulnerable at extreme low tides. If predators get into a colony of ground breeding birds, they can wreak havoc. It is well established that these types of predators increase in population in areas that are developed. Birds like crows and ravens can also increase in population, becoming pests and troublesome predators to seabirds that don’t have the ability to protect themselves because they have relied on the remoteness of their breeding areas as adequate protection. Increasing development in proximity to these colonies will increase the risk of predation and trespass. In particular, troublesome predators are attracted to improperly managed trash and to pets and pet foods left out.

A third thing that is important about these colonies is that they are very dark at night. This is important for Leach’s storm petrels in particular. These are birds that arrive in great flocks in the middle of the night under cover of darkness. They come and go and night to avoid predation, and artificial lights are known to disorient them. This is not just an abstract proposition. Last year, a resort in Hawaii that promised to take care with their lighting but did not follow through severely impacted a colony of Hawaiian storm petrels. This is a different species than our Leach’s storm petrel, and in fact, it is an endangered species. This is precisely the kind of problem that we want to avoid here.

The Crooks have promised to install Dark Sky lighting and animal proof trash facilities, but I emphasized the need to get it all into writing. As we all know promises go only so far. Early on, the Crooks promised a small resort, but now we have a large resort proposal. The Crooks wanted to do a small resort, but the backwards state law makes it such that “small resorts” require an extra legal hurdle (goal exception), so they were compelled to plan a large resort (more rental units and more spending). But the key thing is, even with the best-stated intentions, circumstances change. Yet the many of the points we raised –about polluted runoff, buffers, trash and light management-- are incontrovertible if the public resources of the National Wildlife Refuge are to be protected from impacts, as required by our Destination Resort ordinance.

Our testimony went over like a ton of bricks to the audience of mostly hard-core golf course fans. (As Kermit the Frog sang: It’s not easy being green.) But the planning commission and the developer listened hard. It is our hope that all the hard work we’ve invested in working on the ordinance, studying the plans, and meeting with the developer, will ultimately pay off in making the Crook Point Golf Resort a better place. Already the Crooks have promised they’ll do dark sky lighting, best trash management, Integrated Pest Management, and that they will route the Coast Trail through their property (this has been a huge gap in the trail.). We want to make sure that all these promises will be kept when the plan is finalized.

The public hearing was continued until August 12 at 7pm at the Fairgrounds, again, when the planning commission will reconvene to consider more public comments and to deliberate. Written comments can be submitted to Curry County Planning Department’s Director Dave Pratt (prattd@co.curry.or.us) or can be submitted in person at the hearing. It should be mentioned that county planning commission members are charged with an enormous task of going through the extremely fat proposal and analyzing weaknesses in matters as diverse as fire safety, road standards, and stormwater runoff and making recommendations for approval. Their expertise and efforts as volunteers is to be commended by everyone. If you want to see the Crook Point Golf Resort plan for yourself, it is available at public libraries and also online at the Curry County Planning Department's website.

Chetco Gold Mining Threat
Much has been happening with the gold mining issue on the Chetco River over the past several months. You may recall that last fall, our Senators and Congressman DeFazio, recognizing the threat that expanded suction dredge gold mining posed for the National Wild & Scenic reach of the Chetco River and requested that the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior administratively withdraw the Chetco from new mineral entry until Congress could take action to upgrade protections for the river. The governor sent a supporting letter; the Senators and Congressmen sent another letter, and so did a group of state legislators. Remarkably, despite all this high-powered attention, the Obama Administration’s Secretaries have not responded.

Seeing that efforts to protect the Chetco were stalling out and that the start of dredging season was fast approaching, this spring KAS joined with some other regional conservation groups to nominate the Chetco River for the national group American Rivers “Most Endangered Rivers” list of 2010. We felt that only attention at a national scale could help to catch the attention of the Secretaries. And in early June, American Rivers announced that the Chetco did, in fact, make their notorious list.

The Most-Endangered designation did draw a lot of national attention to the plight of the Chetco and to the issue of instream mining in Oregon’s salmon streams. You may have hard radio programs on OPB or read about the issue in the Oregonian and the Curry Pilot. All of the concern and discussion caught the attention of Congressman DeFazio and our Senators again, who along with other members of the Oregon delegation introduced new bills in both the House and Senate to upgrade protections for the Chetco.

At the same time, the state of Oregon has been grappling with a very closely related suction dredge mining issue. Last year a lawsuit brought by miners about the purview of the Clean Water Act resulted in the finding that the state was not adequately regulating suction dredging. And so the state has been scrambling to put together new regulations for their 700 PM general permit. KAS submitted comments regarding the new permit regulations, urging the state to take size of stream and water quality impairment into account, to not allow suction dredging in national wild and scenic rivers or in essential habitat for threatened or endangered species. No new state permits will be issued until the new regulations are created, but the 2,000 miners who already hold permits can continue mining under the existing regulations.

July 15 is the day that dredging season will officially open on the Chetco. Will miners come in droves to mine for free on Mr. Rutan’s claims? There are two theories. On one hand, Forest Service documents and the county comprehensive plan say there is very little gold in the lower Chetco. This is the reasoning the Forest Service has used for years to avoid taking action to upgrade protection for the Chetco that was recommended in its 1993 Chetco River Management Plan.  On the other hand, miners enjoy dredging in a beautiful river, and gold values are currently at a record high. Already there’s at least one miner camped and waiting at Tolman Ranch, and CRME has stated that 12 miners have inquired about mining on the Chetco.

So what can YOU do to help now? Three things:

1) At home, PLEASE write a thank you note to Congressman DeFazio and to Senators Wyden and Merkley. Thank them for introducing legislation to protect the Chetco and urge them to continue their efforts. (If you click on links below, you can find their email contact pages.)

Congressman Peter DeFazio/ 405 East 8th Ave. #2030
Eugene, OR 97401/202-225-6416/ www.defazio.house.gov

Senator Ron Wyden/ Federal Courthouse, 310 West 6th St. Rm 118
Medford, OR 97501/ 202-224-5244/ www.wyden.senate.gov

Senator Jeff Merkley/10 South Bartlett St. Ste. 201
Medford, OR 97501/ 202-224- 3753/ www.merkley.senate.gov

2) Also at your home computer, visit the American Rivers website (www.americanrivers.org), click the Most Endangered Rivers Link, and then on the Chetco link to write and send a quick but IMPORTANT letter to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior.

3) On the river, keep an eye out for suction dredgers. They are supposed to be sited ½ mile from each other and are not supposed to create a plume of discharge 300 feet downstream of their dredge. Here is a list of State and Forest Service requirements for suction dredging. If anything seems awry, take a picture and call Oregon State Police Trooper Dan Stinnet at (541) 247-6641. He will be the one who knows the laws and has enforcement authority. Even if nothing “illegal” is happening, it will be helpful to have a record of what happens on the river. Please keep me posted on what you see.

Also, you can keep up to date on this Chetco gold mining threat by visiting the Save our Chetco website.

 UPDATE and ACTION ALERT: On July 20, the Forest Service announced that it will withdraw the Chetco from new mineral withdrawal. This is very good news! However, they process that they have chosen to do so will take several months and will allow mining to continue in the meantime. The Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior will still have to approve the withdrawal--so please still do ALL OF THE ABOVE!

Chetco RGP For Gravel
While the suction dredge gold mining issue heats up on the National Wild & Scenic stretch of the Chetco River, which is above River Mile 11, plans for a Regional General Permit (RGP) for gravel extraction have been advancing with repercussions for the lower river. Back in March, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) made preliminary recommendations for the RGP. The permit was supposed to rely on scientific information derived from inte-ragency Technical Team studies conducted over the past few years with regards to gravel recruitment—in other words, they were supposed to determine how much gravel actually gets accumulated in the river system each year and how much can safely be removed. Recent science has suggested that removing too much gravel can significantly destabilize estuarine ecosystems with impacts to salmon. The idea of the permit was to streamline the regulatory process so that there aren’t so many appeals and problems by coming up with a science-based program for how best to allow for continuing gravel extraction and fisheries.

One of the Tech Team’s recommendations was to establish a floor reserve level of gravel—in other words, gravel companies could take gravel only if more than the reserve level of 26,000 cubic yards came down the river. This is to ensure replenishment. The Tech Team also recommended rest periods into the gravel extraction schedule to give the riverbed time to recover from disturbance. The gravel companies argued that they couldn’t operate a business if they couldn’t work every year. The Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC) took the lead in this case and argued that the Corps’ proposed RGP did not rely on recommendations of the Tech Team, did not consider alternatives, and did not properly address fishery issues.

The Corps of Engineers came back with a second proposal in July. This time they disallowed gravel extraction downstream of River Mile 3 entirely and added two restoration projects at Social Security Bar and Jacks Creek, which is great. However, they also went back to annual gravel removal, and they did not follow the Tech Team’s recommendations to accordingly lower the amount of gravel that could be extracted. At first, I thought, well maybe that’s an OK compromise, but then I read through the recommendations of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which underscores that the 26,000 cubic yards reserve “will only maintain conditions of the Chetco River at their degraded level, continuing the current negative physical and biological consequences. ….This reserve volume does not provide for improvement of these conditions. Improvement, and recovery, of the aquatic environment and processes of the Chetco River would require a greater reserve volume.”

Since I know we all want better for the Chetco than to continue its current degraded state, I submitted comments urging the Corps to follow the Tech Team’s recommendations. If the gravel companies cannot accommodate the recommended rest periods, the Corps must—at the very least-- change the level of gravel extraction so that it is in accord with the Tech Team’s recommendations for a regime of annual gravel extraction (50 percent of excess over the reserve volume instead of the currently proposed 80 percent).

Ten of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of dollars of taxpayer monies have been invested in the Tech Teams efforts. By explicitly choosing to NOT follow the Tech Team’s carefully considered recommendations, I think the Corps is abdicating its responsibilities to spend taxpayer dollars wisely and to protect public trust resources as required by the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. If we want gravel extraction and salmon, which I think most people in Curry County do, then there needs to be a fair compromise. If the gravel companies want no appeals and annual gravel extraction, then the river needs to keep more reserve gravel. At this point, it would be great to move beyond appeals and politics and just move forward with a science-based approach recommended by a team of experts who spent several years studying the issues. KAS also signed on to more detailed comments submitted by NEDC.

New Trouble for Cormorants on the Rogue
Cormorants that fly up the Rogue River will be in for some new hassling this fall owing to a new proposal and plan.

This spring, the Curry Sportfishing Association (CSA) and the Port of Gold Beach (PGB) proposed to initiate a study and program of cormorant hazing on the Rogue River with the goal of increasing the number of fish in the river. They submitted a proposal to the Forest Service’s Resource Advisory Council (RAC) for $60,000 over two years.

Although the initial proposal called for killing 200 birds to study stomach contents, the plan has apparently been revised at the recommendation of ODFW. Now only hazing is proposed. Hazing includes driving a powerboat into congregations of birds that may be eating outrunning smolts, and setting off pyrotechnic devices to scare the birds away from the fish.

On June 29, several KAS members met with ODFW Avian Predation specialist Michelle Schuiteman in Port Orford to learn more about the issues associated with cormorants and fish. On the Columbia River, a large and growing colony of Double Crested Cormorants has raised concerns about the number of outgoing smolts the birds eat. Because the birds there nest right in the river and feed their young directly, the predation is significant. However, biologists have recognized that the situation on the Rogue River is very different. The nearest breeding colony of cormorants is at Hunter Island to the South and at Sister Rocks to the north. A recent survey indicates that there are only about 275 pairs of breeding birds at both these sites, and these birds feed their young with pelagic fish. (In addition, a recent Status Assessment found that the number of breeding cormorants on the Oregon Coast for the period of 2003-2009 was lower than for the period of 1988-1992.) Nevertheless, local fishermen are concerned that predation caused by cormorants could be making a big dent in the Rogue’s fishery and have pushed ODFW to take action.

As a result, Michelle Schuiteman explained, the ODFW intends to move forward with its own hazing and monitoring proposal this fall. She assured us that cormorants are generalists as eaters and so they would be able to fly to the ocean and eat different fish there. She underscored that there would be a monitoring aspect to the project. She also explained that the CSA/PGB proposal, which is unrelated to the ODFW proposal, wouldn’t start until 2011.

KAS board members Deb Buiron and Gary Neuchterlein, who are avian biologists, and other scientists attending the meeting pointed out the need for ODFW to do baseline studies before any hazing actually begins to assure that data collected will be useful for making management decisions in the future. Apparently there are currently no studies with baseline data (in several other cases, hazing was started with political expediency but without sufficient attention to scientific protocol). There are also no studies that show the efficacy of cormorant hazing efforts with regards to fish numbers.

At our meeting, we decided to send a letter of concern about CSA/PGB Cormorant Hazing proposal to the RAC. It is scheduled for funding decision at their late July meeting. The RAC is responsible for divvying up Title II money, which is federal taxpayers’ money from the Secure Rural Schools Act intended for local habitat restoration and enhancement. In my estimation, this project to haze cormorants, which are native birds in their natural habitat, does not meet the stated purposes of the federal legislation to “implement stewardship objectives that enhance forest ecosystems” or to “restore and improve land health” as indicated by the proposal.

Moveover, in these times of fiscal austerity, $60,000 is a lot to spend for an approach that may not be effective. Although there is no doubt that cormorants consume some juvenile salmonids, no study has ever shown cormorants to be a limiting factor for salmonid populations in the Rogue River. Yet every study done in the Rogue River basin has found destruction of spawning and rearing habitat to be the key factors limiting salmonid populations. For this reason, it’s clear that that money for fish enhancement would be best invested in habitat restoration projects.

To express concerns regarding ODFW's hazing plan, contact Michelle Schuiteman, Avian Predation specialist at ODFW, you can reach her at 503-842-2741, ext. 251 or at michelle.schuiteman@state.or.us



Helpful Additional Resources:

Journal Article: Historic Populations of the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus): Implications for Conservation and Management in the 21st Century

A Status Assessment of the Double Crested Cormorant in Western North America: 1998-2009

UPDATE: On July 20, ODFW informed us that they had considered our comments about baseline studies and will be proceeding with their hazing program, starting in August, without any such studies. The RAC met on July 20 and declined to fund the cormorant hazing program.

Last updated July 22, 2010