Professional Documents
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November-December 2006 Sandpiper Newsletter Grays Harbor Audubon Society
November-December 2006 Sandpiper Newsletter Grays Harbor Audubon Society
November-December 2006 Sandpiper Newsletter Grays Harbor Audubon Society
page 2
speeches by Centralia Mayor as part of the “Project Science”
Tim Browning, State Represen- class. They have been bringing
tative Gary Alexander, Jenni- students to the trail for several
fer Kelly of U.S. Congressman years. Students are rewarded
Brian Baird’s office, and others for their work with a field study,
applauded the group’s efforts which is an opportunity for stu-
in making the trail a reality. A dents to come out and reflect
ribbon cutting ceremony at the on their experiences and record
trail’s entrance concluded the their wildlife observations.
remarks. The flat, one and a half mile
Project funding and involve- trail is made of dirt, compact
The Chehalis River ment came from several agen- gravel and sand. It borders ac-
Discovery Trail cies including the U.S. Fish and tive agricultural fields on one
By Janine Gates Wildlife Service, the Washing- side, and follows the Chehalis
The City of Centralia has a ton Salmon Recovery Funding River in two directions, making
new nature trail for the pub- Board of the Interagency Com- it a three mile hike round trip.
lic to use and enjoy. Dedicated mittee for Outdoor Recreation, Diverse eco-systems including
on September 23, the Cheha- and the Washington State De- the newly planted riparian zone,
lis River Discovery Trail near partment of Ecology. a coniferous forest of Douglas
Grand Mound is the result of a Twenty four markers along continued on page 4
three year partnership between the trail correspond with a self-
local and state government and guided tour booklet, available to
environmental activists. the public at the trail head. Sev-
Janet Strong, president of the eral benches will soon be placed
Chehalis River Basin Land along the trail, allowing close
Trust, passionately thanked a up views of the Chehalis River
crowd of about 75 trail support- and wildlife.
ers and volunteers, acknowl- As part of the group’s efforts, Announcing
edging them for their efforts. over 7,000 native trees and GHAS annual Christmas
The Land Trust is a non-profit shrubs have been planted along bird count
organization dedicated to the a one mile portion of the Cheha- Saturday, December 23, 2006
conservation, protection and lis River. The restoration plant- To participate in this impor-
restoration of ecologically sen- ings will protect salmon and tant national/international bird
sitive lands in the Chehalis Riv- wildlife in and near the river. count, contact Bob Morse, Grays
er Basin. Over 600 students, ranging from Harbor Bird Count Coordinator
Strong has been involved with 4th graders to Centralia College at (360) 943-8600.
the land trust since its founding students have participated with You will be assigned to a team
in 1994, starting their office out the plantings. Many of those and spend the day counting birds
of her home in McCleary, six students were in attendance at at one of several locations in the
miles from the Chehalis River. the dedication. county. You don’t have to be an
She and the Land Trust have “I wanted to see how the trees expert birder. All you need is a
worked on the trail project for I planted were doing,” said willingness to help count. Dress
three years. Christina Bubnick, 16, a junior warmly, bring your rain gear and
StellaJoe Straebler of Centralia at Rochester High School. Bub- plenty of water. Your group will
came to the dedication because nick came out to the trail about bird in the morning, break for
“this shows what citizens, with three or four years ago to par- lunch and then conclude your
cooperation from city officials ticipate. day with a supper meeting of all
and the community, can accom- Kathy Jacobson, Chehalis Ba- the teams to tally up your counts
plish.” Straebler, active with the sin Education Consortium Co- and hear the results. It’s fun and
Friends of Seminary Hill Natu- ordinator for Education School it helps us track our bird popula-
ral Area for 25 years, and friend District #113, has been working tions from year to year.
Lynn Williams walked the new with the Chehalis Land Trust The East County bird count at
trail after the dedication. for six years. She and Rochester Satsop will be held Tuesday De-
Attesting to the high level of Middle School teacher Martin cember 26th.
cooperation between local ac- Woodruff work with students,
tivists and government, brief involving them with the trail
page 3
Some tips for attracting Pine
Siskins to your yard:
∑ Don’t cut down your tall
weeds but leave them to go to
seed.
∑ Include niger seed and shelled
or whole sunflower seeds in
your tube bird feeders.You can
also put sunflower seeds in your
ground feeders.
∑ Don’t forget to include a bird
bath or two in your yard and
keep the water fresh.
Photo by Janine Gates ∑ I’m told they like suet…espe-
cially insect suet.
Chehalis Trail continued from are discouraged, however, if
page 3 one chooses to bring them, they Membership meeting
must be on a leash at all times, Election of board members
Firs and cedar, a maple grove, and their waste must be picked The nominating committee
and black cottonwoods sup- up. members, Ann Haarer, Dianna
ports habitat for wildlife includ- For specific directions or more Moore and Gary Utter are busy
ing salmon, birds, beaver, otter, information about the Chehalis in November putting together a
coyotes, deer, and a resident pair River Basin Land Trust, contact slate of officers and board mem-
of bald eagles. (360) 807-0764 or www.cheha- bers for the December 3rd An-
The Chehalis River Basin Land lislandtrust.org. nual Members Meeting. They
Trust has experienced success Janine Gates, a resident of Olym- will present a single slate but
with other projects in its 12 year pia, likes to attend local events, walk members can nominate other
history. Across the river from around town, talk to people, and write. candidates from the floor. The
the Discovery Trail around trail She also just started her photography only requirement is that you get
marker 9 is a half-mile long ma- business. Please contact her through the permission of the person be-
ture black cottonwood stand, her website at www.janinegatespho- ing nominated.
reputed to be the largest such tography.com. The board meets 5 times a year.
grove left along the Chehalis They make decisions about the
River. It is protected under a direction of the chapter, set
conservation easement between chapter policy, monitor and ap-
the private landowner and the prove all financial decisions and
Land Trust. generally guide the work of the
A conservation easement is a chapter. Board members also
legally binding agreement be- work closely with the Conser-
tween a landowner and a conser- vation Committee of Washing-
vation group or agency, restrict- photo by George Jameson ton Audubon on key local and
ing certain land uses in order to Pine Siskins continued from statewide conservation issues.
protect the conservation values page 1 We hope you will attend the
of a property. As an incentive, a nests are in evergreen trees, and members meeting in December
conservation easement general- are shallow, saucer shaped and and participate in the election
ly offers a landowner significant heavily insulated with twigs, process.
tax benefits. roots, grasses, leaves, fur, li-
The Chehalis River Discovery chen, hair etc. The female sits Sunday, December 3, 2006 1:30
Trail, located off Old Highway on her eggs almost continuously -3:00 PM PUD Building Com-
99 near the Centralia Waste- for about 13 days, leaving only munity Room 2720 Sumner
water Treatment Plant, will be for brief periods. The usually 1 Avenue, Aberdeen
open Monday through Saturday to 5 eggs are greenish blue with Parking and Entrance in the
during daylight hours. Motor- brown speckles. They nest in rear
ized vehicles, horses, bikes, and loose colonies and flock togeth-
jogging are not allowed. Dogs er to forage.
page 4
on birds and wildlife. While Audubon Washington’s goal
Audubon and other conserva- is to assist the wind power in-
tionists strongly support wind dustry to make sound siting
power as a cleaner and more decisions, avoid construction
sustainable alternative to fossil delays or expensive mitigation
fuels, research has shown that measures, while at the same
wind turbines can reduce the time conserve bird populations
quality of habitat for ground- and the habitats they depend on.
nesting birds, can impact mi- In 2005, Audubon Washington
grating birds and fragment habi- began working with Washing-
tat for other wildlife. Monitoring ton State and several federal
of wind power facilities reveals agencies to improve the plan-
that birds and bats are vulner- ning frame-work for siting wind
Making wind energy able to collisions with turbine power facilities, with the goal
compatible with birds blades and towers. of reducing both the local and
and wildlife: avoiding the At the moment, siting wind fa- cumulative risks to bird popula-
salmon-dams controversy cilities to avoid cumulative im- tions in Washington State. We
By Tim Cullinan pacts to bird populations is not attended national, state and local
and Nina Carter coordinated at a state, regional or meeting to negotiate guidelines
In recent years the development federal scale. At the locale scale, or site-specific projects (Nation-
of industrial-scale wind energy pre-construction assessments of al Wind Coordinating Council;
facilities has accelerated rapidly risks to birds are passed on as Wildlife Working Group sub-
in the Northwest and throughout few as three months of monitor- committee; Washington State
the country. Since 1980, advanc- ing. Audubon supports two-year Fish and Wildlife; county proj-
es in technology have resulted studies of local bird populations ects). Audubon worked with the
in a ten-fold decrease in the cost to adequately assess migrat- Geographic Information System
of producing wind energy. Con- ing populations, which vary (GIS) Laboratory at the Uni-
sequently, wind generated ener- throughout the year. State and versity of Washington to cre-
gy is now economically viable, federal agencies have published ate (GIS) maps to analyze sites
even in the Northwest where it voluntary siting guidelines, but where high potential for wind
must compete with subsidized do not provide adequate tools development and high risk to
hydropower. Currently, wind to allow the industry to make birds may occur.
power contributes enough en- sound siting decisions. Now our goals are to:
ergy to heat 1.6 million Ameri- The wind industry is current- ∑ Conserve resident and migra-
can homes. At current rates of ly seeking the expertise of or- tory bird populations and their
growth, that number could reach nithologists and conservation habitats
2.3 million by 2006 and 6.3 mil- groups like Audubon to assist ∑ Improve the scientific meth-
lion by 2010. In California, the them in developing siting poli- ods used to assess the risks of
recent adoption of a Renewable cies that limit negative impacts and develop mitigation for wind
Energy Portfolio, requiring an to birds and other wildlife. De- energy facilities.
increasing percentage of power veloping sound policies early ∑ Improve state and federal
from alternative energy, is driv- on will allow industry investors siting guidelines to avoid or
ing state and federal agencies to to avoid costly negotiations and decrease impact on birds and
adopt guidelines to site wind fa- mitigation in the future and en- wildlife.
cilities. In Washington, there are able the industry to be sustain- ∑ Encourage construction of
currently six major wind gen- able into the future. We have wind energy facilities in areas
eration facilities under develop- all witnessed the lengthy and where there is a low risk of im-
ment. Other coastal and plains expensive restoration work for pacts on birds.
states are targeted for more wind salmon due to dam construction If residents in Washington want
facilities to meet a growing de- in the Pacific Northwest. Let’s to help make our wind farms
mand for alternative energy. not repeat the mistakes of the safe for bird and wildlife, then
With the rise in development of past. We should plan ahead for they should support Audubon
wind power, there is increasing wind power and make it a truly Washington’s work as we advo-
concern among conservation- sustainable, bird and wildlife cate better siting guidelines at
ists about cumulative impacts friendly source of energy. state and federal levels.
page 5
There are no biological controls Bottle Beach project pre-
currently available for English sentation on January 7th
ivy. For the last year members of
If you have ivy in your yard, Grays Harbor Audubon have
make sure it stays contained. If been working with Washington
you don’t have ivy, don’t plant State Parks and other stakehold-
any. ers on the development of Bottle
Reprinted with thanks from the Heron Beach. The new plan calls for
Herald handicapped access features, a
parking lot, a new trail through
What’s so bad about the park and bird blinds for ob-
English Ivy serving shorebird as well as
(hedera helix)? other park birds. On January
Gardeners and homeowners 7th, Parks staff will present the
in the Pacific Northwest have proposed new plan to the Grays
planted English ivy for years as Harbor Audubon board of direc-
an attractive, low-maintenance How long does a bird tors. The presentation will be
alternative to lawns; it is ever- live? at 1:00 pm, before the regular
green, relatively pest-free, cold- Generally, the larger a bird is, board meeting. Members are
hardy, fast-growing, and re- the longer its life expectancy. welcome to come for the parks
quires little care. It also does not Small birds, such as migratory presentation portion of the meet-
like to stay contained. When ivy songbirds, appear to live as ing at 1 pm. It’s an opportunity
spreads beyond its intended bor- little as two years, on the aver- to see what the features of the
ders within an urban landscape, age. They could live longer – new park will be and provide
as it inevitably does, it causes for instance, one Black-capped last minute input.
tremendous damage to all three Chickadee is known to have
zones of a plant community— lived 10 years and an American
the forest floor, the shrub layer Goldfinch 7 years, but life in the
and the canopy. out-of-doors for a little bird is
In the under-story, it forms dangerous and unpredictable,
a thick evergreen mat which and most of their lives are cut Tribal leaders remind us
quickly smothers and kills other short. Predators, disease, acci-
plants and shrubs. This tangled dents, migration stress, starva- Whatever befalls the earth be-
mat is not used by our native tion, habitat loss, and hunting falls the children of the earth.
wildlife. If there is a tree nearby, are among the hazards. Bigger We do not weave the web of
it then begins to climb. birds seem to live longer. Many life-we are merely a strand in it.
Interestingly, ivy only reaches waterfowl have survived as long Whatever we do to the web, we
maturity and goes to seed after as 30 years, and gulls and alba- do to ourselves.”
it has grown up a vertical sur- trosses have been recorded at 30 Chief Seattle
face, a fact that may be the driv- to 40 years of age.
ing force behind its vigorous Reprinted with thanks from the Heron Only when the last tree has died
climbing habitat. As a climbing Herald. and the last river been poisoned
vine, it engulfs and kills the tree and the last fish been caught will
branches one by one as it wraps we realize we can’t eat money.”
around them and continues on Cree Indian Wisdom
up, blocking light from reach-
ing the tree’s leaves. The tree it- Salmon recovery begins and
self is steadily weakened by the ends with the Big H - habitat.
choked, dying branches and by Billy Frank Jr.
the sheer weight of the vines it
is now carrying. The estimated
weight of ivy removed from one
tree in Olympic National Park photo by Mac Knight,
was 2100 lbs.
page 6
GHAS Board of Directors
Chapter Officers
page 7
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page 8
Membership Meeting
Grays Harbor PUD
Community Room
Sunday, December 3, 2006
1:30 - 3:00 PM
Inside this Issue
News & Editorial Dead wood tales
send materials to New members 1
P.O. Box 1044 and children Birdstar 1
Westport, 98595-1044 welcome. President’s Perch 2
or email to Discovery Trail 3
rd@olearycreek.com Christmas Count 3
Copy deadline January 5th Trail continued 4
Birdstar continued 4
Membership Meeting 4
Wind Energy 5
English Ivy 6
Bird life span 6
Bottle Beach 6
Board & Officers 7
Member Application 8
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