Passenger Pigeon on the 100th Anniversary of Extinction

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Monte Merrick

passenger_pigeon_louis-agassi-fuertes-285 — © Louis Agassiz Fuertes

On September 1, 1914, The last known Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), who had been given the name Martha by the Cincinnati Zoo, died in captivity. She was 29 years old. She’d never raised young. When she died, so did the species. As the bumper sticker reminds us, extinction is forever. After 100 years, Passenger Pigeons are just beginning to be extinct. 100 years before the death of this last female, the Passenger Pigeon may have been the most numerous bird species on the planet.

Numbering in the billions these beautiful and highly social birds filled the skies and the dense deciduous forests of the East. Now the skies are filled with satellites, aircraft and far too many parts per million and the forests are shattered.

For North Americans born in the 20th or 21st centuries, our childhoods are filled with stories of the days when this or that species was so abundant that you could walk across the river on their backs, or it took days for the flock to pass, or the herd stretched from horizon to horizon, or the sun was darkened by their shadow. We hear these stories and wonder what they could mean. Our world is so much emptier now, we can barely imagine this – yet these stories are largely true. The American Buffalo (Bison bison), Eskimo Curlew (Numenius borealis), Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis), Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) – each of these species were once common, some so common that it was inconceivable at the time that they could ever be threatened with extinction. This is the important fact. In our time we protect (if we do) the threatened and the endangered species, but as we see, it’s the common species, the ones we take for granted, who’ve been driven to extinction by the thoughtless machine that grips us.

On this sad anniversary, why not take a vow to break free of the machine’s soulless grasp? Vow to be a bird ally, a wild ally. Live an authentic human life in the blaze of reality. What else is there?

To learn more about these species, and the terrible history of industrial civilization, start here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_parakeet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_curlew

Opossums Like Life.

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Monte Merrick

Our August fundraising drive is almost over! It’s not too late to help push us over $5000. Your donation goes directly to the Rescue and Rehabilitation of the North Coast’s injured and orphaned wild animals as well as humane solutions to keep wild families together and the use non-lethal methods to resolve human/wildlife conflicts. Thank you for donating today!

Every spring and summer at Humboldt Wildlife Care, we admit dozens of baby Opossums (Didelphis virginiana) for care. As with all of our patients, none arrive by pleasant means. Each of these youngsters is an orphan, their mothers killed. Cars and dogs are the two worst threats, it seems, for Opossum mothers.

Just weaned, a young Opossum explores his new outdoor housing.

The name Opossum is derived from the Algonquian word, Wapathemwa, or “white animal.”(1) Opossums are the only marsupial found in North America. Like Kangaroos, Koalas, Wombats and others, female Opossums have a separate pouch where their young continue their development after a short pregnancy. Born tiny (10 grams!), pink, and nearly helpless they crawl into their mother’s pouch to nurse and there they reman for the next 7-10 weeks.(2) A litter of twelve is not uncommon!

Of course, when a dog or a car kills a female Opossum, she may be a mother with babies in her pouch. At HWCC we take these babies in when they are found. Providing a good diet (which includes a specially prepared Opossum milk replacer) warmth, safety and as they age, an increasingly challenging environment to offer both mental and physical education.

A periodic quick exam assures us that this young Opossum is doing well.

Adept at living around farms, roadways, industry, and cities, Opossums find shelter and food easily, but are exposed to the risk that all wild animals who live near civilization face. Excellent climbers, Opossums have a prehensile tail. While it’s not true that Opossums can hang by their tail (ouch!), they do use it to grasp branches, fence posts, and sometimes, the beltloops of their care-providers!

All of our orphaned patients are weighed regularly to monitor their growth.

As their common name suggests, Virginia Opossums are not native to California or the west, but were introduced in the late 19th century by immigrants from eastern states. Unlike many non-native species, Opossums have little negative impact on the ecosystem they now call home.

Opossums are opportunivores! They eat whatever they can find. We are careful to present orphans with a wide variety of natural foods: insects, fruit and vegetables, rodents, fish make up their diet. Not only do their meals sustain them, but they also must continue to teach. “What’s this?” each item asks… the answer: It’s Opossum food.

Yet still, these gentle, unobtrusive animals are persecuted. Opossums are frequently hit by cars and sadly, sometimes this is intentional. (Want to see how normal it is to disrespect an Opossum family? Click here for an LA Times story from 1994.) Routinely trapped, killed, even tortured, Opossums face myriad threats in their daily lives. Opossums are reckoned to live not much more than two years.

Berries and mealworms buried in a tray of potting soil await discovery! Each orphan we raise must have basic survival skills. Our housing is our most effective tool to help these little ones learn. This is the sad reality of orphans of any species, what your mom and dad would have taught you you have to pick up elsewhere, with varying degrees of success..

If an Opossum is being a so-called nuisance, you can be sure that something is attracting that animal. Feeding pets outdoors and failing to secure garbage are the most common practices that draw wildlife into conflict with humans. For far too many wild neighbors these conflicts end with death. Perceived as disease-ridden by people whose connection with nature was damaged or severed long ago, even in our laws it is hard to find any but the most vague anti-cruelty ordinances that protect Opossums. (The 20 year old news story linked above is still relevant. Click here to see how poorly the University of California addresses conflicts with Opossums.)

Preparing housing for our patients requires imaginative inhabitation.

HWCC treats injured and orphaned Opossums all year – adults and babies. We encourage everyone to say a good word about Opossums, who live their short, mysterious lives to the fullest and teach lessons in how to love the ‘blaze of reality’ that burns through us all.

Your donation supports the care of these and all wild neighbors who need help. Thank you for making the North Coast and beyond a nicer place to be wild and free.

Opossum: rhymes with awesome. Coincidence? We think not.

All photos Laura Corsiglia/BAX

1. https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Virginia_Opossum.html accessed 16:32 29 Aug 2014

2. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Didelphis_virginiana/ accessed 17:23 29 Aug 2014

In an Infinite Universe, Size is Irrelevant (but you still need to find your mom and dad)

Posted on August 16, 2014 by Monte Merrick

A Young Hummingbird’s tale

A question we are often asked: The bird is so small, do you bother taking care of them? The universe is boundless, how can you tell what size anything actually is? None of us are any closer to the edges than anyone else, no matter our relative sizes! So, please, bring that injured hummingbird to our clinic!

Now in this particular case, it turned out the young Rufous Hummingbird was just that – young. She was still learning to fly. (click on the link to learn about this common bird who is also showing steep declines in population)

So we gave her some fluids to slake her thirst and packed her up and returned to the riverside trail in Orick (about 40 miles up the road) where she’d been found.

Re-uniting a songbird, or any animal, with his or her parents is a lot easier if you know what you are looking for – or listening for. “Please let the adults be present,” you wish fervently, “Please let our little guy cry for them so they know she’s around!” If the adults don’t come, the baby can’t stay. Re-uniting babies with parents can be a stressful operation.

When our team arrived in Orick and began to walk the levee along Redwood Creek looking for the best place to return this youngster, the sounds of adult hummingbirds filled the air.

After placing the bird on a blackberry leaf, no adults approached. Patience is important. These things, as they say, take time. And so our team waited.

Patience, yes, is a virtue. And so is action. So is believing in your own intuition. After several anxious minutes had passed, they decided to move the bird further from the trail into a more secluded location. Of course, as they approached, one of the fears of this kind of operation was realized – the bird flew on her own to a spot they couldn’t reach. Now it was up to the parents.

The team backed off and watched. The fledgling called. Adults circled above. Eventually one adult dropped down to the young bird. There was some conversation between them. The adult flew off to some nearby blossoms. Moments later, the adult returned to the fledgling. Feeding! The baby was back in her parents’ care.

An elated team drove home.

Your support makes efforts such as these possible. Keeping wild families together is the very heart of wildlife conservation. Wild families are the indivisble unit of wild populations. The seed, the growth, the flower and fruit of co-existence with – and embrace of – our wild neighbors, and therefore our own survival, is contained in the act of re-uniting a wild baby with her parents.

Thank you for supporting our work. To contribute to our August fundraiser (our goal is only $5000!) please donate here. Thank you!

Scroll down through the pictures of this bird’s return to her family.

Taking the young hummingbird, smaller than a human thumb, from the box.

Initially on this blackberry leaf, we waited, but no adults came near.

And then she flew deeper into the thicket, out of reach of everything but the lens.

A blur and blaze of beauty, the orange and green streak up and to the left of the fledgling is an adult Rufous Hummingbird who has just fed his baby. And so a small but mighty piece of the cosmos was restored. This is what your contribution supports. Thank you!

(all photos: Laura Corsiglia/BAX/HWCC)

Lost Juvenile Found in Redway

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Monte Merrick

Hungry, Anything Helps

In care at Humboldt Wildlife Care Center after making some inexperienced choices.

Sometimes when you first leave home, things don’t work out as you had hoped. Take a wrong turn and, instead of clear skies and easy sailing, you’re caught in one of the traps that seem set for the wayward juvenile.

This young Brown Pelican, like all the other pelicans her age, had recently left her hatching grounds far to the south and made it all the way to the North coast. And then for some reason, who knows why, she strayed from the sea, the only place where she can eat, and wandered into Redway. She was found walking along the road.

Day 12 in our August fundraising Drive: So far we’ve raised $600 of our goal of $5000 by the end of the month. Your help is needed. Every donation helps. Thank you for being a part of this wildlife saving work!

Emaciated from starvation and very weak, with a few scrapes as badges of her courage, she was plucked from certain death by a kind woman in the area.

Feeling better! Brown pelican exercises her wings in our Pelican aviary in Bayside, CA

To recover from severe emaciation, as long as no other problems are present, takes about 3 weeks. Once the young Pelican was stable we housed her in our purpose-built aviary. Each day she consumed 3-5 pounds of smelt, a kind of small fish that is safe to feed in captivity to aquatic birds because it has less oil content than other fish and is less liklely to soil very important feathers. In all species of birds, clean feathers are critical, but for aquatic birds, contaminated feathers are a fast-acting death sentence.

With routine checks performed every few days, we knew she was doing well and bouncing back to her normal weight. At each examination we discovered that her strength was returning as well.

Soon she was flying well and using the high perch in her aviary. (see top photo) When she was ready to go, her health good, her flight strong, her feathers impeccable, our interns and staff took her to a spot on Humboldt bay favored by pelicans. We were glad to see several adults in the group she joined. Hopefully they can show her a few more of the ropes she’ll need to make it in the wild world.

Your support made her rescue, rehabilitation and release possible. Thank YOU!

(All photos Laura Corsiglia/Bird Ally X)

Improvements that will protect Pelicans coming to Shelter Cove

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Monte Merrick

Day 11 in our August fundraising Drive: So far we’ve raised $580 of our goal of $5000 by the end of the month. Your help is needed. Every donation helps. Thank you for being a part of this wildlife saving work!

Three years ago, August 2011, Bird Ally X began responding to fish-oil contaminated Brown Pelicans in Cresent City and Shelter Cove. Besides the 50 birds rescued, we noted that the infrastructure at both locations were the cause for the contamination. In November of that year we presented this information to the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District. It seemed that the situation would be rectified. A positive aspect of this event was our partnership with Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, which eventually led to the unification of the two organizations.

Unfortunately, in 2012, it became obvious that the problems hadn’t been fixed. We ended up mounting a large response, treating over 250 Brown Pelicans out of our very small facility in Bayside. Trying to get the discharge pipe that was spewing fish waste into the water of Shelter Cove stopped was very frustrating. While some modifications were made, the outflow continued. It wasn’t until Brown Pelicans left the area and headed north that the contaminations stopped. (read about our 2012 efforts)

The discharge pipe at Shelter Cove – July 2012 (photo Daniel Corona/Bird Ally X)

Dead contaminated Brown Pelican – July 2012 (photo: Drew Hyland/Bird Ally X)

Brown Pelican released at Shelter Cove, September 2011 (photo: Laura Corsiglia/BAX)

Now, two years later, we are happy to see that the Harbor District is taking its responsibility for the fish cleaning station at Shelter Cove seriously and moving forward to stop the discharge pipe. What follows is a news story from the Redwood Times that ran this Spring… We’re glad we were able play our part, with your support, in bringing these needed changes. Thank you for helping us meet our mission!

Harbor District meets with RID and the public in Shelter Cove

Sandy Feretto, Redwood Times

Posted: 03/18/2014 04:21:00 PM PDT

On Thursday, March 6 the Humboldt Bay Harbor Recreation and Conservation District met with the Shelter Cover Resort Improvement District and about 100 members of the public in Shelter Cove.

Jack Crider, chief executive officer of the Harbor District told the Redwood Times that the meeting addressed a variety of issues.

The Harbor District has a goal of eliminating the discharge pipe from the fish-cleaning table into the bay that has caused problems for the pelicans.

The first step is to eliminate the carcasses, Crider explained, and the next step would be to process the water from the fish-cleaning table and dispose of it in the resort district’s sewer system.

The solids separated from the water and carcasses can be frozen and sold as bait.

Crider said that over the last year the Department of Fish and Wildlife has finally acknowledged the district’s right to remove and sell the fish carcasses from the fish-cleaning table.

Since the harbor district first discussed the idea, Patrick O’Shea, of Shelter Cove, has entered into a lease agreement with David Mollett, the owner of Mario’s Marina that included the commercial boat-launching contract.

O’Shea intends to upgrade “the green building” that is in the middle of the parking lot at Mario’s. He plans to sell the frozen fish carcasses for bait and fresh, locally caught fish from the building. He has been in the process of obtaining permission from the Coastal Commission, Crider said.

Crider went on to say that the Harbor District’s easement covers the public access road down to the beach for recreation purposes, the breakwater, and technically the Harbor District owns the fish cleaning equipment. There have been some improvements made to the breakwater, but Crider said they are having some problems with sand that will require maintenance.

The Harbor District also has safety concerns with the public parking at the bottom of the beach access road. The district will post signs at the bottom to remind people not to park there.

He said that the Regional Water Quality Control Board has asked the district to test the beach sand and water in order to determine the impact of allowing cars to drive all over the beach. It will cost the district about $10,000 a year and take two or three years to yield results.

Brown Pelican Snared In Fishing Line Healed? Why, yes!

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Monte Merrick

Please help our fundraising drive for the month of August. Our goal: $5000 by the end of the month! Every donation gets us closer. Thank you!!!

A juvenile Brown Pelican, caught in fishing line, stranded – a sadly common story. All over the world, all over the country, all over California and here on the North Coast, derelict fishing gear, open bins of fish waste, poor angler practices, and more contribute to an environment with more hazards than ever for these iconic, magnificent birds.

Humboldt Wildlife Care Center/Bird Ally X has the expertise and the facility to provide the specialized care these birds require – and these are not easy resources to come by. Years of experience, and a lot of effort go into acquiring skills and the infrastructure to provide excellent care. Yet even with these, still we aren’t complete. We need you. Your support – moral, physical and financial – makes our work rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing injured and orphaned wild animals possible. You make it happen!

Found on the beach in Crescent City, she suffered from abrasions caused by fishing line wrapped around both wings. She also had a nasty constriction wound where the line had wrapped tightly around her left leg.

She also was severely thin, starving because she was unable to eat. Brown pelicans plunge dive from as high as 75 feet into the cold ocean. A remarkable feat that requires top form… soon this young bird would have died without rescue…

Constriction wounds can be very tricky. With circulation cut off, tissue on the far side of the embedded line can die, leading to complete loss of her foot. A Brown Pelican needs both feet to thrive. Fortunately, we got to her in time, removed the line and her foot survived.

To keep track of each patient we give them temporary colored leg bands. This young pelican was given a yellow band, and written on the band, the word YES. Her code for the duration of her care? Y for yellow followed by YES, or Y-YES!

It took nearly a month for her wounds to heal and her weight to climb back into a healthy range. When she finally was ready to go, man did she!

Check out her release photos below. And remember, it was your support that gave her a second chance! Thank you!

Donate

All photographs Laura Corsiglia/BAX

Help us meet August donation goal!

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Monte Merrick

Now is an excellent time to support your local wildlife care center! Help us meet our goal of $5000 this month!! That’s only 500 ten dollar donations!

Wildlife Services Contract Renewed

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Monte Merrick

Wild places and wild things constitute a treasure to be cherished and protected for all time. The pleasure and refreshment which they give man confirm their value to society. More importantly perhaps, the wonder, beauty, and elemental force in which the least of them share suggest a higher right to exist–not granted them by man and not his to take away. – Richard M. Nixon, 1972

67 Coyotes, 9 Mountain Lions, 38 Black Bears, 235 Striped Skunks, 218 Raccoons, 57 Opossums, 17 Gray Fox – animals reported killed by Wildlife Services in Humboldt County between 2010 and 2013.

We are deeply disappointed with the Humboldt County Board of Supervisor’s decision to renew our County’s contract with one of the US Government’s least accountable agencies, Wildlife Services, whose illegal activities, cover-ups, opacity, and lack of regulatory framework have been as well-documented as possible given that very opacity. Still, we are glad for the opportunity to have much needed discussion regarding this agency’s activities in our own backyard. Past contract renewals have slipped by without notice. With an approach to human/wildlife conflicts as outdated and entrenched as Humboldt County’s it certainly must be true that it will take more than a couple of hours of 3-5 minute public comments to undo decades of poor practices.

Humboldt Wildlife Care Center operates in every district of Humboldt County as well as Northern Mendocino, Del Norte, Trinity, parts of Siskiyou and even Curry County in Oregon across the state line. We respond to calls regarding injured, orphaned, and so-called nuisance wildlife every day of the year. We run on the proverbial shoestring budget, utilizing volunteer labor and relying on the generosity of our community. We assist with any problem, and when something is beyond our local capacity, we have resources around the State and the Nation on which we can rely.

The decision to renew the contract is disappointing, not only because it legitimizes past unnecessary wildlife kills, and not only because of the future unnecessary wildlife kills it will allow, but also because it undermines the public education and outreach work on which HWCC/BAX spends a significant amount of resources.

Incredibly, it was even suggested by the Supervisors that HWCC/BAX could collaborate with Wildlife Services. With our commitment to co-existence, to the intrinsic value of wild animals, to non-lethal measures, transparency, and accountability to our community, obviously we find little in common with the branch the Sacramento Bee calls the “Killing Agency.” Our work in this county, to promote co-existence between people and our wild neighbors, to educate on the laws regarding how wild animals may be treated, competes with the County’s diametrically opposed message.

Trapping wildlife does not solve human/wildlife conflicts. Trapping doesn’t address or control rabies. The circumstances that bring a wild animal into conflict with people are most often, if not always, sources for food, water or shelter that are provided, intentionally or not, by people – often by the same people experiencing the problem. Removing these provisions usually results in the wild animal moving on – trapping and killing the animal changes nothing, leaves the attractant in place for other animals, risks orphaning any young of the trapped animal, and needlessly applies a capital penalty on the wild animal for a human transgression. In short, trapping is lazy, cruel and ineffective. Humane solutions are not only ethically superior, humane solutions last.

The Board’s statement, that there is no problem that needs to be addressed, displays a callous disregard for the lives of countless wild animals who have been killed without cause, their disrupted families, and also the values and concerns of a majority of people everywhere. According to Humboldt County Agricultural Commissioner Jeff Dolf, since 1921, Humboldt County has contracted with Wildlife Services. The number of animals senselessly killed over the last 9 decades would be astonishing if it were calculable.

The Board of Supervisors has neither the the knowledge or experience to make decisions on these matters. Presented with legitimate concerns regarding a controversial program, it is our view that the Supervisors did not perform due diligence in seeking alternative perspectives from knowledgeable sources. Rather than research the issue, members of the Board stood by childhood playmates, gross misapprehensions of disease vectors and a poor understanding of the successes of more advanced programs in other counties. The decision to continue contracting with Wildlife Services does a disservice to the County, to the citizens of this County who deserve better leadership, and to the wild animals who have as much right to their existence as we have to ours.

We of course will carry forward with our mission. We will continue to provide quality care for injured and orphaned wildlife, to partner with trustee agencies to provide non-lethal solutions for human/wildlife conflicts and embrace and support the progress our culture has shown in our ability and willingness to share in the bounty of Mother Nature.

While we wish to find a way forward toward a more humane future for Humboldt County and California, it would be negligent of us, as citizens of this county and as one of the many voices for this county’s wild residents, if we did not express our sorrow and disappointment with the Board’s decision and the deeply flawed reasoning that produced it.

Meanwhile, please take a look at this online petition to bring transparency and accountability to Wildlife Services. If you’ve already signed it, please share it with your circle of friends and colleagues. https://www.change.org/petitions/wildlife-services-stop-slaughtering-millions-of-wild-animals

P.S. This kind of advocacy work may not cost us much in food, medicine or other resources, but it does take time. Please contribute what you can. Help us supply the ounce of prevention… Thank you for your support and for your love of wildlife

Wild Babies Need Your Love!

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Monte Merrick

Check out our new eNews, just sent out today!

Wild Babies Need Your Love! (it’s true, they do!)

Like the eNews? sign up by following the link to the right————->

Fire Wildlife Services! Local Organizations’ Letter to Humboldt County

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Monte Merrick

Bird Ally X; Environmental Protection Information Center
North Group, Redwood Chapter, Sierra Club;
Klamath Forest Alliance; Friends of the Eel River
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
July 18, 2014
Humboldt County Supervisors
825 5th St., Room 111
Eureka, CA 95501

Re: Support for Terminating Humboldt County’s Contract with APHIS-Wildlife Services
Dear Supervisors Bohn, Fennel, Bass, Lovelace, and Sundberg,

The undersigned organizations write to express our support for the June 30, 2014 request from the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), the Center for Biological Diversity, and other groups to terminate Humboldt County’s contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s APHIS- Wildlife Services (Wildlife Services) and bring the county’s wildlife control activities into compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The Wildlife Services program relies on antiquated and cruel methods to kill wildlife, and it operates under a heavy veil of secrecy despite being funded by taxpayer dollars. Non-lethal alternatives are time-tested and prove to cost less while being more effective in protecting livestock, and we urge Humboldt County Supervisors to join Marin County, Sonoma County, and the City of Davis in moving toward an alternate approach.

According to the Washington Post, Wildlife Services killed more than 4 million animals last year alone, including 75,326 coyotes, 866 bobcats, 528 river otters, 3,700 foxes, 973 red-tailed hawks, and 419 black bears.1

The agency uses snares, traps, poisons, and aerial gunning to kill wild animals, often killing pets and other non-target animals by mistake. An investigative series by the Sacramento Bee found that between 2000 and 2012, Wildlife Services “accidentally” killed more than 50,000 non-problem animals, more than 1,100 dogs, and several imperiled species – including bald and golden eagles.2

In addition to endangering outdoor recreationists and their pets, these practices disrupt the natural balance of wildlife populations, degrade habitat, and increase disease, causing the “loss of many ecosystem services that benefit human society directly and indirectly.”3

In spite of these impacts, Wildlife Services operates with a complete lack of transparency or oversight of its actions, and has steadfastly refused requests from the public, lawmakers, and others to disclose details on the lethal methods it employs, the poisons it uses, and how its money is spent.

Bipartisan members of Congress, including Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., and Jackie Speier, D-Calif. are calling for national reforms and requested a congressional investigation of the program. And due to related questions and controversies, the Office of Inspector General is now conducting an audit of Wildlife Services.

Marin County ended its contract with Wildlife Services in 2000, choosing instead to develop and implement its Livestock and Wildlife Protection Program, which assists ranchers with livestock protection in a nonlethal manner. The Marin County Agricultural Commissioner calls it a “good move” that substantially reduced livestock losses to predators, saying it cost more to operate in the beginning than today, but it now operates at about half the cost as it did under the Wildlife Services contract.4

The City of Davis voted unanimously to end its contract with Wildlife Services in January 2013 after the agency killed five coyotes, including four pups, without consulting City staff, which “did not concur that these animals exhibited behavior that warranted removal.”5

The City of Davis now implements a Coyote Management and Coexistence Plan at an estimated cost of $8,000 a year. Sonoma County also recently elected to forego its contract with Wildlife Services and is now exploring a program similar to the one used in Marin County.

We encourage you to take this opportunity to take the lead of other local governments and help establish a regional model the rest of the nation can emulate. Humboldt County citizens are known for their environmental ethics and forward-thinking ideas. The time has come to end the outdated practices employed by Wildlife Services here, and to come together as a community to realize a better solution that protects our public trust resources and values.

Sincerely,

Monte Merrick
Bird Ally X
PO Box 1020 Arcata, CA 95518
mm@birdallyx.net

Natalynne DeLapp
Environmental Protection Information Center
145 G Street, Suite A Arcata, CA 95521
natalynne@wildcalifornia.org

Diane Fairchild Beck, Conservation Chair
North Group, Redwood Chapter, Sierra Club
PO Box 238 Arcata, CA 95518
dfbeck@northcoast.com

Kimberly Baker
Klamath Forest Alliance
PO Box 21 Orleans, CA 95556
kimberly@wildcalifornia.org

Scott Greacen
Friends of the Eel River
PO Box 4945 Arcata, CA 95518-4945
scott@eelriver.org

1) Fears, D., USDA’s Wildlife Services killed 4 million animals in 2013; seen as an overstep by some, Washington Post (June 7, 2014)

2) Knudson, T., The killing agency: Wildlife Services’ brutal methods leave a trail of animal death, Sacramento Bee (Apr. 28, 2012)

3) Bergstrom, J.B., Arias, L.C., Davidson, A.D., Ferguson, A.W., Randa, L.A. & Sheffield, S.R., 2013, License to kill: reforming federal wildlife control to restore biodiversity and ecosystem function, Conservation Letters, v. 6, p. 1-12

4) Scully, S., Sonoma County’s contract for wild animal control under fire, Press Democrat (June 1, 2013)

5) Staff Report from Robert A. Clark, Interim Public Works Director, City of Davis to Davis City Council (Jan. 15, 2013)