T.S. Eliot wrote “April is the cruelest month”. We who work and volunteer at the Jackson County Animal Shelter might well argue that May is even worse, because every year as the calendar creeps closer to June the general level of stress at the shelter slowly builds like a calm before a summer storm. We know all to well what’s about to happen, because it’s happened every late spring for as far back as anyone can remember.

Imagine showing up for work one morning and there’s a line of people waiting for the door to open, and most of them are holding a box or a cage with one or more cats in it. So you start your day scrambling to take care of a flood of cats and kittens, but the flood never stops. Hour after hour, all day long, and day after day until your week becomes a blur of cats cats cats, people keep showing up with a feral cat that’s been getting into the trash, or a tame stray who’s been hanging around the house as if he might move in someday, or a litter of accidental kittens whose eyes haven’t even opened yet, or a formerly beloved pet cat that the family just can’t keep anymore, or sometimes it’s the neighbor’s cat who been caught fertilizing the wrong garden for the very last time, and on, and on, and on it goes–for months.

Your public animal shelter employees and the army of volunteers who support them work tirelessly to find good, loving homes for our community’s homeless pets, but the sheer number the public drops off at the public shelter each breeding season is overwhelming. We find good homes for hundreds, but thousands more are lost.

There is a simple and inexpensive way to help: please spay/neuter your cats, and if there are strays wandering around your neighborhood, call and we’ll help you get them fixed, too. If you need financial assistance, low-cost spay/neuter certificates are readily available by calling Spay/Neuter Your Pet (SNYP) at 858-3325, or visit www.spayneuter.org.

Want to help by adopting a cat or kitten, or by volunteering at the public shelter to help take care of them? If so, please call Friends of the Animal Shelter at 774-6646, or visit us on the Web at www.fotas.org.

Robert Casserly is a communications manager for Friends of the Animal Shelter.

A coalition of conservation and animal welfare groups has urged lawmakers to reject legislation that would overturn Measure 18, an initiative approved by voters in 1994 that banned the use of hounds for hunting cougars and bears. The bill, HB 2971, would permit the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to deputize trophy hunters as government agents and allow the hunters to use hounds to kill cougars. In an April 1 letter to legislators and Governor Ted Kulongoski, a host of national and Oregon-based organizations, including Big Wildlife, Oregon Chapter Sierra Club, The Humane Society of the United States, BARK, and Oregon Natural Desert Association among others, said the proposal would undermine Measure 18.

“Legislators should respect the will of voters, who overwhelmingly supported Measure 18. Voters passed the ban not only because they believe hounding is unsportsmanlike but because they support conserving a diversity of wildlife in the state,” the letter said. The organizations also contend the reinstatement of hounding of cougars would adversely impact other wildlife, including endangered species, since dogs sometimes pursue and harass non-target wildlife. Hounds have also been known to chase bears and cougars with young, increasing the risk that cubs could be separated from their mothers. The coalition also said it was concerned the hounding of cougars could increase poaching of wildlife. “In states where hounding of cougars and bears is still permitted, it is not always easy for wildlife officials to distinguish between the legal use of dogs to pursue an animal and illegal use,” the groups wrote.

In addition, the organizations said they were deeply troubled by a number of ODFW actions that have steadily rolled back safeguards for cougars. “Over the years, the agency has bent over backwards to accommodate trophy hunters disgruntled with the ban. For example, the agency has reduced cougar tag fees to a paltry $11.50, extended the cougar hunting season to ten months and in some areas year-round, and permitted hunters to kill two cougars per year. As a result, more cougars are being killed by hunters in Oregon than ever before,” the letter said.

The coalition urged officials to halt the ODFW’s cougar plan, which was launched earlier this year. The groups maintain in their April 1 letter that “There is no scientific justification for such an aggressive approach to addressing perceived conflicts with cougars. Nor are cougars a significant threat to public safety. There has never been a verified cougar attack on humans in Oregon and nothing in the CMP would prevent an attack.” They said the ODFW’s admission that the agency had “mistakenly” killed three cougars outside the plan’s target areas was proof that “the Department was incapable of fulfilling its mandate to protect Oregon’s wildlife.”

Spencer Lennard • Big Wildlife, POB 489, Williams, Oregon 97544 • Phone: 541-941-9242 • Email: bigwildlife@gmail.com

The Rogue: A Stunning River that Deserves More

Ashland is nestled on the north slopes of the Siskiyou Crest in the Rogue watershed. Many would argue that Lithia Park and Ashland Creek are the crown jewels of our town. For an Ashland resident or visitor, perhaps there is nothing so lovely as a spring stroll through town, up the creek and into the forests that bring water to our taps. If one follows a raindrop down from Mt. Ashland and into Ashland Creek, they will arrive at Bear Creek, eventually reaching the greater Rogue River watershed and then the mighty Pacific ocean.

Southwest Oregon’s Rogue River flows through one of the most spectacular and biologically unique wildlands in the United States. Right now, only part of the lower Rogue’s watershed is protected, leaving a large adjacent roadless area open to commercial logging, mining, and road-building. With each timber sale and new road built, the roadless area shrinks in size, the valuable wildlife habitat is degraded, and recreational opportunities are lost. Now is the time to protect these roadless areas and free-flowing streams for this and future generations by expanding the incredible Wild Rogue Wilderness Area.

A Recreational Haven

The lower Rogue River is internationally renowned for fishing and boating. Hiking and nature viewing are also extremely popular. The Rogue River National Scenic Trail begins here and the Rainie Falls Trail on the south side of the river affords easy access to witness salmon jump Rainie Falls. Because of the demand, BLM placed limits on boating downriver from Graves Creek and set up lottery system to award permits. Tourism on the Rogue generates $13 million annually.

A Refuge for Wildlife

The Wild Rogue area is extremely important for wildlife. Habitat exists for rare species like the northern spotted owl and bald eagle. Mergansers, osprey, river otter, elk, black bear, and many other species use the river and surrounding environments. There are two distinct elk herds on the southern portion of the Zane Grey. BLM describes this area “source” habitat for the surrounding degraded landscape.

A Plant Museum

The Wild Rogue has exceptional botanical diversity, including rare plants, mosses and fungi. The white flowered ginger (Asarum caudatum var. novum) occurs near creeks in old-growth forest habitat. This species has yet to be described as “new” (to science). This species and the Rogue River Stonecrop (see Focus on the Family page 11) have only been found on BLM lands in the Wild Rogue.

Rich in History

For thousands of years Native Americans lived along the Rogue. Early French trappers fought local tribes and named them “les Coquins” (the Rogues). The river became known as “La Riviere aux Coquins” (the Rogue River). Gold was discovered in 1859 and white settlers moved into the area. The last battle of the “Rogue Indian Wars” was fought here on the lower Rogue, before surviving Native Americans were marched to the Siletz and Grande Rohde reservations in the north. The famous author Zane Grey purchased an old mining claim at Winkle Bar, where he went on to write several books. His cabin still stands today and is a popular destination for river and wilderness visitors.

The Future of the Rogue

Approximately 100 miles of streams that feed the Rogue River are eligible for protection under the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act and nearly 60,000 acres of roadless wildlands should be protected as Wilderness. Now is our chance. Please contact Rep. Peter DeFazio and ask him to “Save the Wild Rogue.”

Representative Peter DeFazio
405 East 8th Ave. #2030, Eugene, OR 97401; (541) 465-6732

Visit our coalition’s new website to learn more: www.savethewildrogue.org

A 3-day participatory workshop, including practical applications of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Restoration Forestry, Ecological Woodlot Stewardship, Permaculture, Small Diameter Utilization & Natural Building Friday, May 4 through Sunday, May 6, 2007 White Oak Farm in Williams, Oregon.

Discover the interface among Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), restoration forestry practices, permaculture principles, byproduct utilization and natural building. Leading indigenous cultural practitioners, restoration ecologists, scientists and permaculture designers will share valuable information about traditional ecological practices, local ecology and current restoration forestry principles. Explore Native American ecological techniques for cultivating viable plant communities for use as food, basketry and weaving materials. Stewarding the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion today can incorporate lessons from indigenous peoples’ use of fire, and the role that fire played in maintaining wildlife habitat. Practical hands-on experiences in the forest, woodlands and fields will help restore and enhance forest and woodland resiliency, species diversity, and site productivity. Join us to share ideas and skills that can be applied to tending your own land in this fire-adapted ecosystem.

For more info, visit Lomakatsi