Program Meetings

Ram Papish will explore changes in Bogoslof, a very actively volcanic Alaskan island north of the Aleutian Island chain in the Bering Sea ecosystem. Ram will present data on seabirds and seals from Bogoslof Island and the Pribilof Islands. The colonies are going in opposite directions. Wildlife thrives on Bogoslof, even as the same species decline over most of the Bering Sea. The presentation will include photographs from both islands as well as scientific information about the area’s wildlife. He has spent about 10 summers on Alaskan Islands assisting in seabird and seal research, and will share stories about camp life in these remote, seldom-visited areas. Other research locales in his past have included French Frigate Shoals, Laguna Atascosa NWR, Panama, Hawaii, and several more.

A Presentation by Joe Moll

The Willamette River and its tributaries have been an economic driver for centuries.

Due to its rich resources, the river basin is home to about two-thirds of Oregon’s population, and will continue to attract people to the region in the coming decades. Inevitably, this influx is leading to more conflict over demands for available water, and more pressure on water that remains in-stream.

With settlement and development, demands on the river increased, and the health of the river declined. The loss of complexity and floodplain connections have contributed to decreases in native and increases in non-native fish and wildlife populations. Water quality declined dramatically in the first two thirds of the 20th century but has improved in recent decades.

How have we and how will we deal with these changes? And what impacts might we see in water availability, fish and wildlife health, and community development? This presentation will focus on the conservation work of McKenzie River Trust in the upper Willamette Basin, from headwater streams to the mainstem Willamette River near Harrisburg. The Trust is a part of a growing network of organizations working to protect, enhance, and restore river processes. This recognition of a Living River, or one that is free to meander and change course throughout the seasons and throughout the years, has implications for how we choose to live, work, and play in the Willamette Valley.

Paul Engelmeyer will present on the topic of Oregon Marine Reserves and the conservation challenges and issues facing the Marbled Murrelet, forage fish, and coho recovery efforts. He is a dynamic speaker with a passion for his work in advocating protections for seabird populations, Marbled Murrelets, fish, and coastal habitats.

The Oregon coast is one of the wildest and most unique places in the state, offering exceptional opportunities for viewing seabirds, marine mammals, and other wildlife. It is also home to vast underwater kelp forests and rocky reefs that provide important habitat for the hundreds of fish and other aquatic species that live in Oregon’s near-shore waters.

List of poems read at Lane County Audubon Society Meeting “Poetry of the Natural World,” April 24, 2018 (Click for file download)

Anita Sullivan read:

“All Asleep” – excerpt from poem by 7^th century BC Greek choral lyric poet Alkman 

“Clear Cut” - Anita Sullivan (from Garden of Beasts)

“As Tree” - Anita Sullivan (from And If The Dead Do Dream)

“Subjectivity” - Jorie Graham (only a fragment of this poem) (from Materialism)

“Song for the Deer and Myself to Return On” - Joy Harjo (from In Mad Love and War)

“The Salmon Had Moved Me” - Anita Sullivan 

“That They May Breathe” - Anita Sullivan

Ce Rosenow read:

Ancient forests have been a great source of inspiration for Chandra LeGue, Oregon Wild’s Western Oregon Field Coordinator. For many years she has worked to protect and restore these natural treasures.

“The work of poetry is to direct our attention, with words, to the place without them, so understanding can occur."
 —Anita Sullivan

This month we focus on words instead of images, but what image-words! We’ve invited Alan Contreras, Ce Rosenow, and Anita Sullivan to give us a tour through the vivid world of nature poetry as they see it. Reading from their own work and the work of their favorite poets, they will also talk about different forms of poetry and how they and other poets have tried to convey particular images or themes through their poems.

In the late fall of 2017, longtime birders Dennis Arendt, Kit Larsen, Roger Robb, and Jim Regali traveled to Queensland, Australia. They are looking forward to sharing their adventures and misadventures with you.

In 2014-15 Clean Water Services (CWS) implemented a massive habitat restoration project within the Fernhill Wetlands in the Portland Metro region. Joe Liebezeit, Avian Conservation Program Manager for Portland Audubon, will detail the restoration that transformed 90 acres of unused sewage ponds into a complex native wetlands habitat designed to treat wastewater. Fernhill Wetlands has historically been an important Portland-area birding location. Designated as an Important Bird Area, it provides ecological connectivity for local wildlife. The Audubon Society of Portland (ASOP) has been working with CWS since spring 2015 to assess bird response to the habitat restoration effort. This community science effort has involved local birders, using formal bird surveys designed and conducted by ASOP, and analysis of historical birder surveys conducted at the site for decades. General predictions were that use of the restored area by bird species dependent on open water would diminish, while use by uncommon/vulnerable marsh species (e.g. rails, bitterns) and other species dependent on native wetland habitats would increase. Joe will tell us how that is working out.

The LCAS Board was notified the morning of January 25 that our Program speaker, Tim Blount, Director of Friends of Malheur, had been snowed in on the East Coast and would not make it to Eugene for the next night’s Program Meeting. We decided we should stick with the topic of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge since it had become such a hot news item, even though last fall when we scheduled the Program we of course did not know that an armed occupation of the refuge would occur.