Bill Weiler
Thanks to the mighty efforts of Joy Markgraf, her tenth “Wild About Nature” series recently returned to White Salmon. These fascinating natural history talks were held on the four Fridays in April and the first Friday in May. Each evening featured two speakers. The first Friday’s (outstanding) presentations this year focused on western pond turtles and the Pacific fisher, both now found in the Columbia River Gorge. These were inspiring and hopeful wildlife talks.
Even just 25 years ago, the last stronghold for northwestern pond turtles in Washington State was a handful of ponds near Lyle, WA. Now there are six populations with growing numbers, including two sites in the Puget Sound region. The turtle population has grown from 150 individuals to more than 800.
The Pacific fisher was actually extinct in Washington; but through successful releases in three locales including just north of the Columbia Gorge, the porcupine-eating, forest dwelling carnivore has returned.
I took my grandson Allen to the event, and it was simply fun greeting, meeting, and catching up with many familiar faces. Allen noticed my conversing and asked me whether I knew everyone there. Great question, and I replied, “It feels that way.” And it did.
The mood at the multi-generational meeting was utterly relaxed, positive, and represented an outpouring of common purpose, intellectual curiosity, and even detachment. Of course, there were initial “technical difficulties” with the power point system, but no one seemed to mind the delay. The wall-based projection screen fell down, and many rushed in to ensure the safety of the person, who ended up being fine.
It was the combination of education and social engagement that made the night so special. There was plenty of time before the first presentation, and between the first and second talk, to view artwork and just be relaxed in conversations that were not political or divisive, but instead, endearing and light.
Besides learning about the fascinating biological traits of pond turtles and fishers, what moved me was the incredible number of people who work tirelessly on behalf of these wild animals: A large team of utterly dedicated people spend most spring and summer days removing the main threat to pond turtles…bullfrogs. They have been amazingly successful after their multi-year efforts. Biologists track the turtles using radio telemetry, and veterinarians from universities across the country are trying to figure out the cause and cure of turtle shell disease. The Oregon and Washington Park Zoos, and prisons involved in the Sustainability Project, take in baby turtles through a head start program and raise them until they are large enough not to be consumed by the bullfrogs.
With fishers, I tip my hat to the scientists in subzero temperatures tracking the movements and behaviors of these endangered mammals, and to the non-profit organizations, Tribal Interests, federal and state agencies in Canada and the US who respectively raised funds, lent their support, and actually conducted the live trapping to return an important ecological piece back to Washington State.
There were approximately 80 folks who attended the April 7 Wild About Nature program, yet many more are directly involved in ensuring a bright future for two of Washington’s wild creatures. Wild About Nature is about community and conservation.