For
more than a decade the Yurok Tribe has been pushing to reintroduce
the culturally significant bird to Northern California. Now, supported
by scientific research and a host of agencies and organizations,
a plan is taking shape.
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After
a more than 100-year absence from Northern California, the
California Condor might be reintroduced to its former range
as soon as 2019. Photo: Madison Roberts/Audubon Photography
Awards
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The last California Condor
of the Pacific Northwest was shot and killed sometime between 1890
and 1910 in a tiny town outside Redwood National Park. Glass-eyed
and dusty, the bird is mounted at the nearby Clarke Historical Museum
in Eureka.
Not far from Eureka,
along the same stretch of California coastline, the Yurok tribe
calls home an area around the Klamath River, which meanders from
Southern Oregon into Northern California. Like their ancestors,
the Yurok still build sweathouses from fallen redwoods and fish
the river for salmon. But the tribe aches to be reunited with prey-go-neeshtheir
ancestral name for the condor. To us, he is the king of the
sky, says tribe chairman Thomas P. ORourke, Sr. "His
absence is a hole in our hearts."
The Yurok believe that
when the creator was designing the world, he asked each animal spirit
to contribute a prayer in song; the gangly yet graceful condor crooned
a song more beautiful than any before it. Today, despite the birds
decades of absence, tribal dancers wearing condor feathers handed
down through generations chant his name during their annual renewal
ceremonies.
To reclaim this missing
piece of their cultural landscape, Yurok elders voted in 2003 to
reintroduce condors to their lands. For a group of native people
with limited funds, it was a bold and rare move. But the decision,
ORourke says, was an easy one for the 5,000-member tribe,
the largest in California. No world can function and stay
in balance until it is whole," he says.
Although the vote set
the Yurok community to action, the necessary state and federal agencies
were not yet ready to sign on to the project. To gather support,
the Yurok hired biologists to study the region's rocky coast and
foggy forests to determine if it could sustain a new population
of the birds, which historically ranged from British Columbia down
to Baja California before habitat loss, lead poisoning, and thinning
eggshells decimated their numbers. Small pockets of the endangered
species survive today in Big Sur and in parts of the Southwest as
part of an intensive breeding and reintroduction program, but none
live above the San Francisco Bay Area. A total of 435 birds exist
in captivity and in the wild.
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Scientists
hired by the Yurok Tribe found that the Klamath River region,
which includes Redwood National and State Parks, still provides
suitable habitat and enough food to sustain a California Condor
population. Photo: Gary Crabbe/Enlightened Images/Alamy
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The biologists were pleased
to discover that the Klamath River area remains ripe for condors.
The areas sparse human population means fewer hunting grounds
and power lines, and a glut of carrion options, including washed-up
whale carcasses, ensure plentiful food. The possible threat of lead
poisoning from bullets and fishing tackle, however, remained a worry.
Luckily, long-term studies revealed only trace amounts of the element
in other scavengers such as turkey vultures and ravensenough
to prompt lead education efforts among local hunters but not derail
the plan.
Once the Yurok-hired
scientists had gathered sufficient data and after condor reintroduction
programs showed repeated success elsewhere, the National Park Service
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service jumped on board. That was
2008. Now, a total of 15 agencies and organizations eager to collaborate
have agreed to help release captive-bred condors into Redwood National
and State Parks in Humboldt and Del Norte counties in the next two
years. The joint task force just completed its first round of public
scoping meetings and is in the process of drafting an Environmental
Assessment (EA) of the restoration plan, which will receive a second
round of public input before the final EA is published.
When we talk about
the power of this bird, we dont just mean its physical power,
ORourke says of the 25-pound modern day pterodactyls with
9.5-foot wingspans. We mean its ability to forge positive
relationships between people. Mike Long, a Fish and Wildlife
endangered species division chief, agrees that working relations
with the Yurok and between agencies have been incredibly smooth.
Its been a dream team, he says.
That alacrity was on
display during the week of scoping meetings held at the end of January.
The majority of attendees supported the idea and wanted to see birds
in the air as soon as possibleespecially a 94-year-old Yurok
elder hoping to witness a condor flying up the Klamath in her lifetime.
Meanwhile, a member of the Nez Perce tribe in Portland lauded the
Yurok for exercising their sovereign rights in such a powerful way.
"You inspire us," he said.
Still, concerns do exist
among timber and energy companies that the introduction of an endangered
species to their region could disrupt operations. Cattle ranchers
wonder how it could impact their grazing land. And hunters in Oregon,
where the bird's range could extend, are anxious that condors might
prompt regulators there to ban lead ammunition, as California did
in 2013 with full implementation of the phased-in bill taking effect
in 2019. These worries were presented at the meetings and among
the more than 3,000 written comments submitted to the USFWS about
the proposal.
Long says he understands
the hesitation and that Fish and Wildlife is considering designating
the new condor group an experimental nonessential population,
which would offer more collaboration with stakeholders and ease
blanket Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections where appropriate.
It would allow for a more surgical approach, he says.
For instance, Long explains, the standard ESA designation could
prohibit logging altogether in certain parts of the birds' range.
But by applying the sub-rule to the federal law, only certain logging
activitiessuch as cutting down a nest treemight be outlawed.
It's an especially complicated piece of the regulatory puzzle that
continues to be studied.
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With
their massive wingspans, California Condors can reaching speeds
of more than 55 miles per hour, climb to altitudes of 15,000
feet, and travel up to 200 miles in a day. Photo: Richard
Simonsen/Audubon Photography Awards
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Audubon California, which
played a major role in the state's lead ammo ban, is fully supportive
of the reintroduction proposal. The chapter's Director of Bird Conservation
Andrea Jones says she's thrilled at the prospect of the black and
white buzzards once again roaming throughout Yurok ancestral territory.
"Seeing condors in the wild gives us a glimpse into Californias
historic and rich biodiversity and reminds us that we still have
landscapes large enough to support these giant birds," she
says.
Since 2008, full-time
Yurok biologist Chris West and his colleague Tiana Williams, a Harvard
graduate and tribal member, have lived and breathed the dream of
reunifying condors with their northern range. The plan, they explain,
is to start releasing six condors a year for 10 years beginning
in the fall or winter of 2019. The birds would be hatched and reared
at other condor recovery facilities before being transferred to
a flight pen constructed in the Redwood National Park's remote Bald
Hills. There they will acclimate to the area before being released
to fend for themselves. Food would still be provided outside the
pen so that the free-flying birds could still be recaptured for
tracking and testing purposes.
The ultimate hope is
that the condors will start breeding in the wild. A distinct population
in Northern California would enhance the species genetic diversity,
West says, and help guard against total extinction in the event
their southern counterparts experience some sort of catastrophe
such as a mass poisoning. Though condors can soar on thermals for
hoursreaching speeds of more than 55 miles per hour, climbing
to altitudes of 15,000 feet, and travelling up to 200 miles in a
dayit is unlikely the Yurok flock will interbreed with the
Big Sur band given the vast terrain in between.
West, whos worked
with multiple condor populations throughout his career, says it
was the personal connection biologists develop with condors that
drew him to the species in the first place. Because each bird is
so precious, great personal gratification comes with knowing his
research and hands-on care help each one survive. There are
so few birds out there, that when you see success, you see it by
the individual, he says.
Williams says shes
excited for whats ahead and to grow close with the condors,
known for their intelligence and individuality. Soon shell
head to the Los Angeles Zoo for handling and treatment training,
specifically chelation therapy in case she must nurse a bird with
lead poisoning back to health. For Williams, the recovery project
is imbued with a special sense of meaning, given the intersection
of her heritage and her job. This is really exciting for me,
she says. As a tribal member, its very significant.
Above all, Williams is
excited for the Yurok elders whove waited and prayed for their
sky spirit to return. Soon, their dream of seeing a condor once
again wheeling above the redwoods could come true. ORourke
says the sight will fill his heart. I know Ill have
tears in my eyes."
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