Conservation Columns

The Conservation Column by Pepper Trail   Dire Threats to the Endangered Species Act Until recently, the Trump Administration’s attacks on endangered species protections – though far-reaching and devastating - had been largely indirect.  These had focused on prioritizing fossil fuel extraction over every other use of public lands, and gutting any federal action to [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail I-5 Wildlife Crossing Let’s start with some GOOD news. As many of you will have heard, the US Department of Transportation has awarded a $33 million grant for the construction of the Mariposa Preserve Wildlife Crossing over I-5. This grant was through the Federal Highways Administration Wildlife Crossings Pilot [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail As I look toward 2025, I have no doubt that we conservationists are in for the fight of our lives. With the election of Donald Trump, we must expect a massive, across-the-board assault on the laws, regulations, and policies that protect wildlife, public lands, clean air, and water, and [...]

The Conservation Column Klamath River Dams Update By Juliet Grable As I’m sure most of you are aware, removal of the Klamath River dams is proceeding on schedule. Drawdown, or draining of the reservoirs, was initiated at Iron Gate Dam on January 9, and on February 15 Klamath River Renewal Corporation announced that ini-tial drawdown [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail Editor’s Note: Due to the particularly sensitive and complex issues raised by the USFWS Draft Barred Owl Manage-ment Strategy, the RVAS Board held a special meeting with Dr. Trail in January 2024 to discuss the public comment letter that follows. Although the Board was not in complete agreement about [...]

The Conservation Column by Pepper Trail Welcome back from summer! With unprecedented heat baking the globe and political divisions at an all-time high, it's easy to focus on the negative. So let's ease into fall by highlighting two positive developments on the local conservation front. Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Expansion Wins in Court -- Again In [...]

Conservation Column By Juliet Grable The 2023 Farm Bill: An Opportunity to Get It Right Last month, The Guardian ran a story about a new study that highlights how agriculture is devastating bird populations in Europe. For the study, a group of 50 researchers analyzed data gathered from 28 countries over nearly four decades: “The [...]

Conservation Column By Juliet Grable Avian Flu Update One year ago, Pepper Trail provided an excellent summary on the status of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, aka HPAI, aka avian flu. At the time, it was evident that the newest subtype of the virus, called H5N1, was infect-ing and killing wild birds on a scale not [...]

The Conservation Column By Pepper Trail This month’s column focuses on a long-neglected but hugely important bird habitat in Oregon and the Great Basin: saline lakes. Lacking outflows, and too salty for fish, these lakes are perfect incubators for brine shrimp and brine flies, which in turn provide essential food for great concentrations of migrating [...]