California’s Burrowing Owl problem is getting some national attention thanks to author John Moir. In an informational helping hand, the Western Burrowing Owl is coming out of the dusty shadows and making its way to Washington D.C. with the publication of an article in Smithsonian Magazine. But for those of you in the know or who have been following my conservation activities, you recognize full well that burrowing owls break the nightlife habitats of their brethren and are routinely observed living life amongst the day dwellers.  Which presents a perfect opportunity for those of us who know where to look. 

Unfortunately, those in California have been battling diminishing populations because of continued habitat loss and rampant ground squirrel control measures.  It is a problem that has resulted in the antithesis of the following 1870s quote, “Probably one of the most common birds in California, and known to almost everybody…”

And I can’t even count how many people have approached me with variations of the same:

“I used to see them all the time.”

“Twenty-five years ago they were all over Contra Costa County.”

It is all about the obvious.  The burrowing owl population problem is so obvious due to an obvious lack of burrowing owl sightings in California because of the obvious decline in habitat and obvious elimination of ground squirrels.

But enough ranting for now as I am glad John Moir was able to incorporate a few of my personal burrowing owl experiences in the story , which I hope will spark more interest in burrowing owl conservation.  So check out Smithsonian Magazine’s article The Little Owls That Live Underground.

It sounds too good to be true.  Owls returning to the habitat from where they had just been evicted.  Owls re-establishing themselves just in time for breeding season and able to contribute to a declining Bay Area burrowing owl population.  Incredible!

Incredible is indeed the word and I must say perfectly describes the inconceivable antics of those directly responsible for a 27% drop in numbers since 1993.  It’s all about maintaining the land burrowing owl free so as to avoid the infiltration of breeding pairs that may play house this spring and prevent construction of MUCH needed homes.  Oh, but perhaps I spoke to soon as we are again being warned that the housing market recovery is still quite unstable.  As reported today in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Sales of previously owned homes plunged in January to their lowest level since summer, providing fresh evidence that high unemployment and tight lending standards are outweighing the government’s attempts to prop up the market.”

But, I believe it is not about whether houses are actually needed as opposed to keeping conditional use permits with the city of Antioch active.  I’m sure a trip to City Hall next week will confirm my thoughts.  In the meantime, owls in the form of decoys have been installed throughout the landscape in an effort to prevent the return of ground squirrels and burrowing owls.  According to the CDFG approved eviction plan,

“After western burrowing owls and California ground squirrels are removed from the project site, monitoring will commence to ensure that burrowing owls do not become re-established on the project site.  Monitoring will commence initially weekly for the first 60 days, and bi-monthly through the commencement of construction of homes on the finished lots.  As the project site will be cleared of all owls through implementation of this eviction plan, and continuously monitored, any owl that shows up on the site would be a very recent occupant and would not be nesting.  Accordingly, if a western burrowing owl shows up outside the passive eviction timeframe (October 1st to February 1st) eviction procedures would immediately commence again as approved by the CDFG. “

A few of the decoys installed to keep owls and squirrels away

And with the recent news from the Attorney General citing a conflict of interest, it is again up to the People to provide government agency oversight and ensure laws enacted to protect wildlife are actually being followed.  Here’s a hint…they are not.

The day has come for a response from the California Attorney General’s office in regards to my letter and request for burrowing owl assistance.  After numerous calls and emails to the ‘Office’ over the last month regarding burrowing owl evictions, I was informed during today’s conversation that there may be a potential conflict of interest.  And if you sense a red flag then you are most certainly not alone.

Proceeding a potential hardcopy that may formally arrive via mail in the next day or so was a scanned copy from the Natural Resource  Section patiently awaiting my inbox perusal.    The contents of the letter are as follows (click here for a larger image):

I can definitely understand the concept of a conflict of interest so no arguments here.  Oh, except that it is too bad California’s agencies do not appear interested in protecting the People’s burrowing owl populations and wildlife resources.  But to that I must say Bravo to those employees (scientists, biologists, etc.)  working to correct the status quo and make conservation a priority.  And the saga continues…

And just when one thought the burrowing owl dilemma in the East San Francisco Bay Area could not get any more incredible, a series of shady events unfolded during the last two weeks.  I held off reporting some of these facts because I have been in direct contact with and awaiting responses from the Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), but I could do so no longer.  As I huddled in the shadow of the Heidelberg castle in Germany amidst a light snowfall last week, I discovered via a text message that an owl occupied burrow had been blocked by numerous tumbleweeds.

These magic tumbleweeds managed to crawl up a retaining wall and settle on top of a burrow entrance.  And without any wind to propel the rolling plant and a locked chain link fence keeping out unauthorized personnel, I can only surmise that the culprits must have had a key to this patch of land.  And all of this occurred just days after the CDFG issued Monk & Associates a notice to remove all one-way eviction doors and refrain from collapsing any more burrows on the property.  Perhaps the CDFG should have been more specific in their request, but then again I could not have imagined such a crafty solution for evicting burrowing owls.

And after my tumultuous return from Germany and rush to address the Burrowing Owl Consortium last weekend, I visited the project site for the first time in a week.  To my surprise the tumbleweeds were gone, but unfortunately so was the owl.  It was then that I realized my victory was just as short-lived as the burrowing owls’ stay of execution.  By the way, I am still waiting for answers from the CDFG.

Yet the saga continued and the unexplained events were not limited to the prior week.  During a few stolen minutes from lunch on Monday , I witnessed tumbleweeds being collected and strategically positioned on a slope.   Had I not encountered a previous tumbleweed scheme, I may not have been so leery of the situation that unfolded before my eyes.  And so I waited for the day to end and the activity to fade.  And just before sunset I returned with a telephoto lens to capture evidence of an eviction door behind a wall of tumbleweeds.  No comments necessary!  Phone calls to the CDFG were not returned, and my emails were returned with zero information pertaining to the events. 

So the tale of Antioch’s Blue Ridge burrowing owls continues to twist in directions that I could never had imagined.  I am looking forward to some revelations next week that may in fact define our next steps.

I find myself in awe over what appears to be overwhelming support for a cause in which I have become completely ensconced.  As I sat on the runway in Frankfurt, Germany on Saturday my only concern was that I could potentially miss a slot that had been scheduled for me to address the crowd at the latest meeting of the Burrowing Owl Consortium.  As the time ticked away and the delay continued to expand from 10 minutes to 1 hour, I was beginning to think the ability to travel at the speed of light would be my only chance. 

However, favorable flight conditions provided an opportunity to gain an edge over the delay and by the time the wheels squealed on the runway at SFO I was JUST 40 minutes behind schedule.  Needless to say I did slightly push the limits of speed and successfully arrived at the Martinelli Event Center in Livermore just before 2:30pm.  And just like the airlines, the presentations were running long so I was able to catch my breath and relax…much needed after an 11 hour flight and 9 hour time change. 

So, THANKS to everyone who attended the Burrowing Owl Consortium meeting on February 6th.   Well, I will admit I am sitting here biting my lip in frustration while writing this post (details/updates to follow shortly), but I wanted to make the unreleased 2008 Department of Fish & Game report, Guidance for Burrowing Owl Conservation (download report), available as promised.  This report is designed to:

• Provide updated recommendations from the California Department of Fish and Game to biologists, planners, land managers, and CEQA lead agencies.
• Provide guidance that supersedes and augments or clarifies the Department’s Staff Report on Burrowing Owl Mitigation (1995) and the California Burrowing Owl Consortium’s Survey Protocol and Mitigation Guidelines (1993, 1997)
• Provide a statewide vision for burrowing owl conservation goals and actions.
• Promote a consistent approach to burrowing owl conservation throughout the State, while allowing local flexibility.

Please enjoy the read and join me in my effort to understand why the Department of Fish and Game  management is not implementing the guidelines, continues to allow burrowing owl “take”, violates Fish and Game code, and is not concerned for the conservation of burrowing owls but yielding to politics and developer wishes.  This is not a fight that I will allow to be extinguished as has been done so many times in the past. 

I encourage everyone with information, questions and concerns to contact me directly. 

 Please read my previous posts regarding this report:

 Calling on Attorney General to Investigate Lack of Owl Conservation

 BREAKING NEWS: CDFG Suppresses Conservation Measures for Burrowing Owls

Perhaps in a bid to counterbalance the relentless activities of humankind upon the Earth, Mother Nature intervened just as time was running out for the Blue Ridge burrowing owls.  The finale was a spectacular culmination of a rather innocuous series of events that when I now look back appear to have been set in motion long before the onset of January 30^th, which is a day that would spark jubilation and a sigh of relief.  Whether you choose to believe it was preordained by nature or was simply a chain of coincidences, the outcome remains the same.

Throughout the month of January Antioch remained under fog, obscured by rain clouds, and could generally be characterized by many as “gloomy” weather.  I for one love the mystique of fog and rain, but I digress.  Interspersed throughout the darkened skies were 3 to 4 days of sunshine and a few off and on light showers that were followed by a weeklong storm that practically ended the first month of 2010.  And with the weather conditions less than amenable and owl conservation absconding with my free time, the yard work had entered a hiatus.  But as the storm passed it left a healthy legacy of weeds behind to adorn the perimeter of my home.  Since procrastination could not be tolerated during the sun’s weekend appearance, I systematically removed weeds from the saturated soil and just under an hour had managed to pull a record number I am ashamed to say.  And as I pulled our now full yard waste container around the corner of our lot, the habit I developed over the last year and a half of glancing towards the Blue Ridge property manifested itself as usual.

Upon the hill I saw an individual that was most definitely out of range for proper identification.  I immediately thought that the consultants, Monk & Associates, were on the scene scouting for owls and installing more one-way eviction doors.  I made a few more steps towards the garage but curiosity prevailed and I just had to know.  As I hustled down the sidewalk I was greeted by a burrowing owl that I had identified and confirmed its presence on the property in a new burrow the day before.  As a side note this owl had been evicted at least 2 times previously from other burrows.  As I approached the chain link fence an individual was peering through binoculars and sweeping the landscape.  And to my surprise there was a second person that was dressed in the uniform of the CDFG!

My attempts to catch their attention failed and my ability to approach directly was impeded by the fence. The only way to ensure a meeting was to run back and get my car, which is just what I did.  And in yet another instance of perfect timing, I found the pair just as they were exiting the site and putting gear back into their truck.  And so began a conversation that lasted an hour…

A warden and a senior environmental scientist had been dispatched to the Blue Ridge development to document the presence of any owls, squirrel bait/fumigants, and one-way eviction doors.  But much to my surprise evidence had been removed from the bulk of the property on Friday, including the tractor (hmmm, odd is it not?).  Thus, the CDFG was leaving under the impression that there were no owls on the property and that there were no eviction doors. Shocked by their findings or lack thereof, I blurted out that I just saw an owl and numerous eviction doors.  I was promptly asked if I could show them the location of an owl as they would like to document a presence.  I replied that I could not show them because I did not want the location relayed to those performing the eviction.  However, I soon discovered that their intentions were admirable and that they needed to document the presence of an owl in order to halt further evictions on the property. Eureka, an owl at last!  The senior environmental scientist confirmed the presence of the burrowing owl.  At 4:43pm on January 30^th, the California Department of Fish & Game informed Monk & Associates:

“THEREFORE to avoid violation of DFG Code Sect. 3503.5, during a Burrowing Owl nesting season, before 1st February 2010 you shall remove ALL one-way doors from Burrowing Owl burrows and you DO NOT collapse any remaining Burrowing Owl burrows.”

So here’s the breakdown:

• 1) A wet month produces rampant weed growth
• 2) A weeklong rainstorm causes evictions to halt during 3^rd week of January
• 3) The fog lifts and the sun shines providing crystal clear views
• 4) Perfect Saturday weather forces me outdoors to pull weeds on the same day CDFG visits site
• 5) I finish pulling weeds and enter a position at the same time the scientist maneuvers into my line of sight 1500 feet away (thanks Google Maps)
• 6) I catch CDFG just as they were leaving and find out they were going to report zero owl observations
• 7) I noted the location of one of the remaining owls on Friday and was able to aid CDFG in documenting presence.

And on February 1^st, all eviction doors were removed from the property because of a chain of events set in motion by the forces of nature.

*My Legal Disclaimer/Note:  CDFG did not give me permission to enter the property and locations of owls and eviction doors were visible without a need for trespassing.

Over the last 9 years I have found myself many a time contemplating aberrant results.  If ever there was (or is) an inevitable lesson that one encounters in biology it is without a doubt a need to be at one with the occasional unexplainable event.  I can tell you firsthand this is indeed an inherent function of  microbiology, cell biology, molecular biology, and wildlife biology.  Even before I left the confines of high school I was introduced to this notion through the cinematic spectacle  Jurassic Park…you know the story.  Life finds a way.

And that is exactly what I thought was taking place at the Kiper Homes’ Blue Ridge development in Antioch.  Burrowing owls lose habitat, burrowing owls find habitat, burrowing owls evicted, and burrowing owls return.  As I posted on January 19th, Monk & Associates evicted the last pair of owls from their nesting burrow on the 13th.  By the time I made the news public it had been 6 days since I had seen any owls on the property.  I was resigned to the fact that the resident owls I had protected for over a year had become the latest victims in the struggle of man versus nature.  And to quote Jurassic Park, “The lack of humility before nature that’s being displayed here, uh… staggers me.”

Yet my wife and I continued to monitor the progress of the eviction even though the owls had gone and the rain fell incessantly.  Perhaps curiosity, maybe plain disdain, or more likely it was just a habit that kept us coming back.  And over a 9 day period human and owl activity could not be measured.   Life does find a way, and that happened on day 10.  Two individuals and the last evicted pair had made their presence known by excavating their sealed burrow entrances. Life had returned to the site despite the evictions and on the heels of an impending breeding season.  As the beginning of the week faded, I began to hold hope that the 4 owls might cross safely into courtship and thus start a chain of events for their ultimate protection.  But then the sun appeared on the horizon and Wednesday was born. 

Monk & Associates were seen canvassing the area, marking doomed burrows with red flags, and were once again uprooting owls. As Wednesday night turned to Thursday morning, the owls that had instilled hope were eviction victims for the second time. DAMN.

Life does not conform to the conveniences of humankind.  And with that in mind I clearly have some lingering questions.  Firstly, what assurances do we have and what precautions were taken by the evicting biologists to ensure the pair had not laid eggs?  Burrowing owls do not adhere to our calendar nor to a paperwork definition of a breeding season.

Secondly, why is the inadequate eviction plan not being followed as stated?  It is only a fragment of the recommended process yet portions of it still go unfulfilled.  Case in point, many evicted burrows are not backfilled or hand collapsed but simply plugged with a shovel full of dirt.  This leads to the return of owls and forces multiple evictions to be implemented.  Additionally, why are available burrows being closed with dirt as opposed to the use of one-way doors?  When 4 out of 5 burrows in a particular section are sealed with soil as opposed to being fitted with one-way doors it is quite disconcerting.

"The Giant Destroyer" gas bomb

Thirdly, can someone explain the presence of two used ground squirrel gas bombs at the entrance of  an owl-occupied burrow?  The following photo was provided to JournOwl.com on the condition that posting would be done with complete anonymity.  I have a few ideas that range from an innocuous biological event that occurred post-squirrel fumigation to one that is characterized by ineptitude. But I’ll leave it at that.

So as I sit here reflecting on the situation I find it necessary to update the timeline once again; Burrowing owls lose habitat, burrowing owls find habitat, burrowing owls evicted, burrowing owls return, and burrowing owls evicted.  Life does find a way, but man also finds a way to ensure development goes unimpeded.   I was reminded of a paraphrased quote from the Ken Burns’ National Parks documentary that was attributed to John Muir and highly applicable,

“The enemies of wilderness are invincible  and they are everywhere…but the fight must go on.”

Although true, they don’t win every time and to that I must add I’m quite tenacious.  But the leaders ordained to spearhead conservation and protect California’s wildlife continue to be mysteriously quiet on the issue.  A word of advice to CDFG management, silence is not always the best or most appropriate policy…especially when your employers, The People of California, are beckoning.

Dear Attorney General Brown,

I am formally requesting that an investigation be implemented into the current California Department of Fish & Game’s (CDFG) burrowing owl eviction policies.  As you may be aware, the S.F. Bay Area has become enveloped in an owl eviction controversy because of a CDFG approved eviction plan that is currently underway at the Kiper Homes’ Blue Ridge development in Antioch, CA. 

It has come to my attention that CDFG management in Sacramento, California has been suppressing a report by CDFG biologists and owl experts regarding the conservation of burrowing owls.  The burrowing owl conservation guidleines, dated April 14, 2008:

• Outlines the proper protocol for a passive relocation to minimize “Take”
• Indicates that current mitigation measures will no longer be used because it does not adequately compensate for habitat loss
• Takes advantage of temporary opportunities to conserve burrowing owls while longer-term regional programs and conservation plans are developed
• States that concerted conservation actions are needed to maintain viable burrowing owl populations in California and to help prevent the need to list this species under the state or federal endangered species acts
• Provides guidance that supersedes and augments or clarifies the current Department’s Staff Report on Burrowing Owl Mitigation
• And ubiquitously recognizes that because owls are dependent on burrows for survival and reproduction, excluding them from nesting, roosting, and satellite burrows on a project site may actually lead to direct or indirect take and therefore is a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (16 U.S.C. 703-711), California Admin. Code, Title. 14, § 251.1, Harassment of Animals, California Fish and Game Code Sections 1801-1802 (2008), CEQA, etc.

Even more disturbing is the likelihood that the CDFG is and has continued to conceal the report over the last two years in an effort to afford developers a free reign in removing burrowing owls from breeding, wintering, and critical California habitat. These actions beg the question as to why CDFG management does not like to ask developers to comply with an agency report designed to conserve an ailing burrowing owl population.  I have also come across information indicating that CDFG management is trying to quickly revise the policy without the input of CDFG burrowing owl experts.  This is a contradiction of the agency’s mission:

The Mission of the Department of Fish and Game is to manage California’s diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment by the public.

Additionally, this information comes on the heels of a 2004 revelation in which documents were made public through a California Public Records Act request.  The August 2003 Petition Evaluation for Western Burrowing Owl revealed that the CDFG covered up a department report recommending that the western burrowing owl be considered for endangered or threatened status under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).  According to the Center for Biological Diversity:

“The improperly withheld report evaluated a formal petition to list the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) submitted by conservation organizations in April of 2003. The California Fish and Game Commission voted 4-0 in December 2003 to reject the burrowing owl petition, based in part on a second contradictory CDFG report blatantly biased against listing and widely criticized by conservationists and owl experts as fraught with inaccuracies and inconsistencies. In contrast, the report CDFG refused to release to the Commission and the public recommended that the owl be immediately protected as a “Candidate” species while a year-long status review was conducted by DFG.”

The CDFG has no authority to authorize the “Take” (defined by CDFG code as hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill, or attempt to hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill) of burrowing owls or other raptors except pursuant to a Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP).  Because existing practices for excluding owls usually employ only portions of the appropriate methods or employ the methods inadequately, there is a higher likelihood that current policies are resulting in direct take or are the proximate cause of take. Thus, the CDFG is actively approving eviction plans that are responsible for decreasing numbers and are in direct violation of California Fish and Game Code.

On the behest of the people of California, I ask you to intervene to protect the State’s natural resources by stopping CDFG’s policy of evicting burrowing owls, a California species of special concern, and hold the CDFG management accountable for suppressing an agency report designed to protect a declining California burrowing owl population.

Sincerely,

Scott W. Artis

[This letter was sent to CA Attorney General Brown and copied to Governor Schwarzenegger, Asst. to AG Brown, and CDFG Director McCamman.  The letter was accompanied by the Kiper Homes Blue Ridge eviction plan approved by the CDFG, the 2003 recommendation to list under the CESA, and the 2008 report for burrowing owl conservation.]

A government cover-up.  Policies established that cater to industry.  A few officials pulling the strings.  Millions of dollars at stake.  And a lone report that trades hands under the cover of night exposing the plot.  We have all seen fictionalized  stories unfold at the movies, and have undoubtedly read actual accounts that now comprise the annals of history  and are so named with the all too famous and fashionable suffix “GATE.”

But this time we have another variable entering the conspiracy equation…burrowing owls.  In a California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG)  document recently obtained by JournOwl.com and followed by subsequent conversations held under the condition of anonymity, CDFG management has been sitting on a report designed to “Provide guidance that supersedes and augments or clarifies the Department’s Staff Report on Burrowing Owl Mitigation” for the last 2 years.  And during this time burrowing owls have continually been subjected to CDFG approved relocation and eviction plans that are recognized as inadequate and may be contributing to the decline of the species in the Bay Area and California.

The report ubiquitously recognizes that because burrowing owls are dependent on burrows for survival and reproduction, excluding them from nesting, roosting, and satellite burrows on a project site may actually lead to direct or indirect take and therefore is a violation of Federal and State laws.  The report, which would take advantage of temporary opportunities to conserve burrowing owls while longer-term regional programs and conservation plans are developed, recommends a change to standard mitigation developed by CDFG and the Burrowing Owl Consortium in the early to mid 90s because it does not compensate for habitat that is actually lost.

According to sources within the CDFG:

“They are trying to quickly revise it [report] without the input of CDFG burrowing owl experts to allow developers to do what they want to do.”

In essence we are looking at a state agency responsible for species conservation, yet through antiquated policies have aligned themselves with developers and are ignoring conservation actions “needed to maintain viable burrowing owl populations in California and to help prevent the need to list this species under the state or federal endangered species acts.”

CDFG sources have also told JournOwl.com that the report, “…has been held up because management doesn’t seem to like asking developers to do what the report says needs to be done to conserve species.”

However, this is not the first time burrowing owls have been subjected to a CDFG cover-up.  During a 2003 petition to list the burrowing owl under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), a department report that recommended listing was concealed from the public while a new contradictory report was generated.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity in 2004:

“The improperly withheld report evaluated a formal petition to list the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) submitted by conservation organizations in April of 2003. The California Fish and Game Commission voted 4-0 in December 2003 to reject the burrowing owl petition, based in part on a second contradictory CDFG report blatantly biased against listing and widely criticized by conservationists and owl experts as fraught with inaccuracies and inconsistencies. In contrast, the report CDFG refused to release to the Commission and the public recommended that the owl be immediately protected as a “Candidate” species while a year-long status review was conducted by DFG.”

A letter requesting immediate action and intervention, along with copies of the CDFG report,  an eviction plan recently implemented in Antioch, CA, and the buried 2003 petition recommending CESA protection has been registered with Attorney General Brown, Governor Schwarzenegger, and CDFG Director McCamman.  

An inquiry left with the CDFG Deputy Director Kevin Hunting has not been returned.