Below is a summary of access issues identified for Southern Oregon in 2012.
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Issue: REASONABLE PEREGRINE CLOSURES 1,2
(Nation wide)
Description: excessive access restrictions without establishing a plan for monitoring actual raptor response to climbing at various locations.
Risk: high
Duration: all year to 6 months of each year
Priority: 1
Between 1939 until it was banned in 1966 the pesticide DDT was widely used throughout the U.S. and the world. Peregrine population declines were noted during the 1960s and further investigations revealed that this was due to the impacts of DDT and its metabolites on the falcon’s reproduction and survival. This severe population decline led to two species of peregrine (F. p anatum and F. p tundrius) being listed as endangered in 1970 under the Endangered Species Act of 1969. By 1994, F. p. tundrius subspecies populations had recovered and removed from the federal list of Endangered Species.
Seasonal restrictions to protect peregrine and other nesting raptors have been implemented since the 1970s. As the American peregrine falcon (F. p. anatum) population continued its recovery through the 1990s, the period between 1994 and 1997 saw a 40% increase in the number of new seasonal climbing restrictions, with 58 restrictions implemented in 1997 alone. At the time such restrictions were unusual as a management tool. Guidelines for managing peregrine were published in 1996 by the Peregrine Fund World Center for Birds or Prey and the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group. The following year, in collaboration with the authors of the 1996 guide, The Access Fund published guidelines for managing Peregrine in rock climbing areas.
On August 25, 1999, the American peregrine falcon was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (64 FR 46541). The plan for delisting called for monitoring peregrine falcons five times at 3-year intervals beginning in 2003 and ending in 2015. 2003 monitoring results were made public by the USF&W Service in 2006. During the 2003 monitoring period the USF&W Service determined there were 3,005 nesting pairs of American peregrine falcons in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, compared to approximately 1,750 pairs at the time of delisting. In 2003, their estimates of the nesting parameters and the additional data from across the United States indicated that the peregrine falcon population is “secure and vital .” The 2006 monitoring results are not yet available.
Resource managers have little data on which to base seasonal raptor restriction decisions. This has led to substantial discrepancies across the country on the criteria for which restrictions are made. Lack of available information has led, in some instances, to managers making decisions in isolation with little or no consultation with other resource managers or the climbing community. Biologist making recommendations often fail to meet minimum standards for objective review as directed under USDA’s Quality of Information Guidelines (USDA Sep 5, 2002). Independent peer review would be especially important for information that is relevant to regulatory policies limiting access to public lands. Unless such peer review is conducted with genuine independence and objectivity, recommendations such as those presented in Pegal, February 29, 2012 at the Menagerie Wilderness, OR and Pegal, 2011 at Summit Rock, CA can create the appearance of a conflict-of-interest. For example, it might be thought that scientists employed or funded by an agency could feel pressured to support what they perceive to be the agency’s regulatory position, first in developing the science, and then in peer reviewing it. Given that genuinely independent and objective peer review can provide a vital second opinion on the science that underlies federal closures to public access, the peer review of such information should be carried out under proper and clearly-articulated procedures.
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Issue: CALLAHANS STATE RECREATION AREA PROPOSAL
(Weyerhaeuser Timber Company)
Description: Managing the Callahans as a recreation area would help insure continued public access and alternative forms of timber management to maintain a more natural quality.
Risk: Implemented
Duration: possibly 5 to 6 months
Priority: 4
The Callahans represent a unique recreational opportunity within 20 minutes of Roseburg. Local interest in the area includes rock climbing, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and ORV use. The climbing area is owned by Weyerhaeuser. Adjoining lands along the crest of the Callahans are owned and managed by Seneca Timber Company and BLM. Prior to our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, BLM was showing interest in using available funds to acquire land within the Callahans for the development of ORV and other recreational opportunities. Local environmental groups have also shown an interest in helping to preserve the Callahans.
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Issue: ACKER ROCK
(Umpqua National Forest)
Description: There is a new District Ranger who is fishing for issues between climbers and quest staying at the Acker Rock lookout. It also appears that the Peregrine closure will also become more restrictive this year.
Risk: moderate
Duration: unknown
Priority: 5
In 2011, climbers partnered with the Forest Botanist for Umpqua National Forest establishing rappel transects and inventorying a rare species of buckwheat which has only been found on Acker Rock. Our plan is to establish additional transects in 2012. A potential access issue arose from a renter at the Acker Rock Lookout who reported feeling threatened by our presence and vacated the lookout. In the past renters have been provided with information addressing the presence of other user groups at Acker Rock. However, renters where not being provided with this information in 2011. This may have led to the renter’s unexpected response. The old climber scramble trail which navigates climbers along the base of Acker Rock and away from the lookout is in disrepair following a fire and has become difficult to follow.
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Issue: CALLAHANS CLOSURE
(Weyerhaeuser Timber Company)
Description: Weyerhaeuser has temporarily closed access into the Callahans while they log a portion of the cliffs.
Risk: Implemented
Duration: possibly 5 to 6 months
Priority: 6
The company’s main concern appears to focus on the need to feel that in allowing public access they have not lost the ability to manage their lands.
