There are so few roaming the United States, it's currently estimated that there are only somewhere between 300-1000.
They like colder climates than the Willamette Valley, climates like the Mollala Mountain Range in NE Oregon. None have been sighted in other parts of Oregon in the last 30 years until last Monday along the Columbia River near Portland...
Then on Wednesday, this same wolverine was spotted about 15 miles south of the Columbia River in a small area called Damascus, the extreme SE corner of the Portland Metropolitan Area. East of Damascus is nothing except the Cascade Range. This is the area where the first settlers entered the Willamette Valley through the "Barlow Pass"...
https://www.instagram.com/p/CqJe2NQr...eo_watch_again
https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2023...-movement.html
Growing up, the Bald Eagle almost became extinct. I see them every week now as there are thousands and thousands thousands of them within 50 miles any direction around here, including at least a thousand within five miles radius of here.
There were only 14 known Gray Wolves in Oregon in 2009. As of the end of last year, there were 175.
There's a bill going through Congress right now that allows States to request federal protection of specific rivers, this in hopes of trying to reverse the processes of dying rivers. The River Democracy Act builds on legislation Congress passed in 2019 that added more than 250 miles of Wild and Scenic rivers in Oregon. The state now has 2,173 miles designated in the Wild and Scenic Rivers system, but that total remains only a small fraction of Oregon’s 110,994 miles of rivers and streams. Oregon’s rivers and streams fuel outdoor recreation, an economic engine in Oregon. According to the Outdoor Recreation Industry, outdoor recreation supports 224,000 jobs and generates $15.6 billion in consumer spending.
The River Democracy Act:
Designates approximately 3,215 miles of rivers in all corners of Oregon as “Wild and Scenic Rivers” to expand recreation access and boost local economies, protect drinking water for families, reduce wildfire threats, and sustain endangered fish and wildlife species;
Requires federal land managers to assess wildfire risks in Wild and Scenic River corridors, implement a plan to reduce wildfire risks to homes and businesses near Wild and Scenic Rivers, assist local governments mitigate wildfire risks and restore water quality should a fire strike near a Wild and Scenic River;
Encourages federal land managers to develop river management plans in collaboration with Native American tribes and ensures Native American tribes have a voice in how rivers are managed; and
Ensures that only federal lands are affected by Wild and Scenic designations, while protecting private property rights, water rights and existing permits and rights of way on federal lands.
At a hearing on the River Democracy Act last year, Jennifer Eberlin, National Forest System Associate Deputy Chief at the U.S. Forest Service, affirmed that the bill gives federal agencies the flexibility to mitigate fire risks, allow for continued livestock grazing, respond to wildfires and help restore watersheds and infrastructure should a fire strike. Click here to watch the exchange.
Updated maps can be found here.
Updated legislative text can be found here. (some of those links to maps can be found in the main article https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/pr...-democracy-act ) [I'm not a Democrat, so I'm not trying to post anything political by posting this particular Democratic Party website, but it has the information on the conservation efforts going on. ]
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Originally Posted by Kingspoint
