Mountain Lions

Mountain lions are misunderstood animals that are feared, hunted, and thought to be heartless and savage. Mountain Lions, though widely feared, have only confirmedly killed 6 humans since 1890. Recently, in the Wyoming Wind River range, biologists have placed motion cameras in dens and other secluded areas. Through these lenses, we can see into the lives of these animals and view their close family ties and how social, interdependent, and caring they are. Mountain lions face a variety of threats in their upbringing. Some of the threats that mountain lions face are predators, such as wolves, habitat loss, trophy hunters, and harsh winters. They face so many difficulties that fewer than one in five kittens survive to raise a family in the Wind River range of Wyoming.

Scientists agree that habitat loss and overhunting are the major threats to mountain lion populations. While cougars are one of the most adaptable of the large carnivores, their populations are vulnerable to extinction. A keystone species in California, mountain lions play a critical role in maintaining the state’s ecosystem. This means that the abundance of mountain lions disproportionately effects their environment compared to other animals. Mountain lions play a critical role in maintaining the structure of their ecological community, affecting many other organisms in their ecosystems and helping to determine the types and numbers of various other species in their community. Without mountain lions, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether.

WildFutures is one organization that is dedicated to protecting and preserving mountain lions. They work with scientists and wildlife agencies to understand and convey the role that top predators, such as wild lions, play in their landscapes. Their fight for the protection of wild lions is done with a combination of education, media, and science. They provide training resources materials and coaching for organizations agencies and scientists. Other organizations that are helping to maintain our mountain lion population are the Mountain Lion Foundation and the Mountain Lion Conservation organization.

With help from you, we can work to guarantee Mountain Lions' safe and rightful place and ensure that these remarkable, affectionate, caring, and critical animals are around long into the future.

If you would like to watch the story of a family of mountain lions and learn more about their journey, follow the link below!

https://www.wildfutures.us/video--the-secret-life-of-mountain-lions.html

Siuslaw National Forest

• Trees in steams slow rushing waters during floods, protect young fish and other species, create pools and trap gravels for spawning fish, and hold onto smaller organic debris that nourishes the entire web of life.
• We used to take the trees out of streams, but now we must put them back.
• This was done in the Siuslaw national forest.
• The 1993 forest summit resulted in the Northwest Forest Plan which designated certain areas as habitat reserve and other areas that remained open to logging.
• This didn't curve deforestation much in forests like the Siuslaw national forest since it also designated buffer zones along streams with salmon, which the Siuslaw forest had a lot of. 
• The road system of the Siuslaw forest went unmaintained. After a storm in 1996, much of the road system was destroyed.
• Road building and clearcutting on mountainous landscapes increases severity of landslides. 
• After storm, Siuslaw forest decommissioned rods, removed culverts, replaced existing culverts, and determined which roads would not longer be necessary. 
• Thinning done in Siuslaw forest generated money which was used to restore watersheds, streams and salmon. 
• Today Siuslaw is a model for collaborative groups designing successful restoration projects, generating funds to accomplish restoration work, and focusing on projects and work that translate into local jobs and economic benefits. 

If you would like to watch a video where you can learn much more about the changes at the Siuslaw forest, follow the link below:

https://vimeo.com/125160364

Life Cycle of Salmon

The life cycle for salmon begins in freshwater, when a redd, or female's nest of eggs is fertilized by the male salmon. These eggs remain in the gravel throughout the winter as the embryos develop. Cold, clean water is essential for healthy growth and survival of the egg. Water flowing through the gravel delivers oxygen to developing eggs. In the spring, the eggs hatch and alevins emerge. Alevins stay close to the redd for a few months. Once they have grown in size and consumed the yolk sac attached to their stomachs, they emerge from and gravel and are now considered fry. The fry swim to the surface of the water and begin to feed. The survival of fry is dependent on the quality of the stream habitat which they are in. Boulders, logs, shade, and access to side channels are important in allowing fry to hide from predators and prevent them from getting flushed downstream during floods. When the fry are one inch long, they are called fingerlings. The tiny fingerlings grow in backwaters and stream margins. As the fingerlings grow, they move to the main channel. Carried downstream by the spring thaw, salmon begin the amazing changes called smolting. Smolting is triggered mainly by the increasing daylight hours and rising water temperatures of spring. Individual territorial behavior gives way to more cooperative schooling behavior, gravel colored markings change to a silvery hue, internal changing mostly affecting the kidneys allow for the transition from fresh to saltwater. Estuaries provide a mix of fresh and saltwater habitats in which salmon smolts prepare for entering the ocean. Swimming with the tide, young salmon leave their home rivers, moving around the pacific ocean in varying migratory patterns, they live in the ocean for anywhere from 2-5 years, growing and maturing. Ocean life means escaping predators as well as avoiding fisherman. To preserve the dwelling fish runs, fishing limits are set on all takings of salmon. Researchers have found that while in the ocean, salmon often travel phenomenal distances for food. During this time, they increase in weight--often more than 100 fold. Temperature and food conditions can be highly variable from year to year. A large percentage of fish do not survive the difficult ocean passage. Eventually an instinctive trigger tells mature salmon the time has come to return to their home streams and reproduce. Triggered by an irresistible instinct to spawn, salmon find their way back to the river mouth, then head upstream with great determination. While dams block their way, many have fish ladders that allow fish to swim around the dams. The homeward bound salmon no longer eat, living off of stored fat, pausing only occasionally to rest. They endure weeks of struggle against powerful currents up hundreds of miles of river. Bruised and battered, wearing tooth marks from unsuccessful predators, they swim on to the headwaters, their health declining rapidly. Even after spawning, the cycle is not quite complete. Salmon carcasses give food to the forests, the predators, and the insects.

In 2001, the population of coho in the Russian River was down to less than 100 fish--potentially down to a population of around 10. Stream flows are elevated to around 7 times above the natural flow level on the Russian River. We can't reduce the flows because of the demand for water, but we can spread the flows to reduce the velocities. One method of doing this is creating channels for the fish where the waters will not move at such a high velocity. This creates the ideal rearing habitat for coho salmon. When there are winter floods and the flow goes up and the fish need to get out of the way of the high water, they can go into channels that are built. With small tags plants in juvenile fish, you can use antennas to detect when the fish enter the habitat features so you can know when the fish are coming and going from the habitat features. Fish stay in these habitats during high flood events for up to a week at a time.